Becoming Wiser

Jan. 13, 2006 - Disgusting Mouth Rinse

Okay...I don't even know if the people involved in this story KNOW this story...

I was staying at my Aunt and Uncle's for the night. They have three grown-up children still living at home. In the middle of the night, I got up and I was SO thirsty. Their tap water isn't that great and their pitcher of filtered water was empty. I saw a glass of water on the counter, so I just DOWNED it. It had a funny aftertaste, but not gross or anything.

Fast forward to the morning. My cousin asks at the breakfast table..."Did anyone see my cup on the counter this morning? It was the one I used to rinse my mouth with Listerine last night."

YUCK! YUCK!YUCK!

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Jan. 9, 2006 - A Good Baby Story

Someone asked me to tell this story today, so I thought I'd share it with you faithful readers. My second daughter's birth was an incredible experience for me. I was seriously on an emotional and spiritual high for about a month afterward. We lived a province away from my parents, but naturally, I wanted my mom to be at my delivery. We knew it may be impossible, but we'd try to make it work. With my first baby, I was WAY overdue, and when my due date came for the second, we knew I'd be overdue AGAIN. Finally, my mom decided she would plan to come two weeks after my due date because that way, if I had the baby before she came, she could help me out when I got home. If I DIDN'T have the baby before she came, she would just stay as long as it took! The plan was for my dad and brother to drive my mom to our place on Saturday. They'd stay for Sunday, then Dad and Brother would leave early on Monday morning and mom would stay for two weeks and FLY home. Saturday arrived and I was really discouraged about the weekend. I was disappointed that my dad and brother would only be out for one day. I thought it would be really disappointing if I went into labor the day after they left or something. I began to pray that I would go into labor while Dad was there. We had a great time of socializing on Saturday. Sunday morning, I woke up around 6am and realized I was having contractions. They were five minutes apart, consistent, but not at all painful. I got up, showered, did my hair and make-up (if I WAS in labor, I may as well do it in style!), and then went back to our bedroom and told my husband. At first, he didn't believe me because I was so calm, but the contractions were now four minutes apart. I waited till after 8:00 to go wake my parents and let them know TODAY'S THE DAY! They laughed at me and didn't believe me at first! My dad was in awe at my calmness. I was laughing away and having a great time! Everyone got up and started to get ready for the day. I really wanted to go to church AT LEAST for the worship (music) part of the service. (We lived next door to the church.) So, the plan was, we would go to church, Dad would go grocery shopping (we DESPERATELY needed groceries), and then we'd all meet at the hospital. As I'm writing out a grocery list, my mom's making breakfast and my husband asks me how far apart the contractions are. They were about 3 minutes. Everyone was still in disbelief and constantly asking, "Are you still in labor?" because I had no pain and just looked normal the whole time! Anyway, when they heard the contractions were 3 minutes apart, they began to think it was NOT a good idea to go to church. I really wanted to go, so my husband convinced me to at least phone our worship pastor (also our really good friend) and tell him what was going on in case we had to leave in the middle of it all. So I'm on the phone with him and he says, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Get your BUTT to the hospital ASAP!! We've been PRAYING for a quick and painless delivery and it's actually happening, so BELIEVE IT AND GO!!!!" I think that snapped me out of this dream-like state and I realized, yes. I am in labor and I am having this baby VERY soon! So, we took our daughter to my in-laws and headed to the hospital. Dad still went shopping because he thought he had all the time in the world. We get to the hospital and they tell us I can't stay at that particular hospital because there is no anesthetist there that day. I assured them I wouldn't need one, but they said it was hospital policy. They put me in a labor room and told me to wait there while they prepared an ambulance to take me to the next city's hospital. I DID NOT want to have the baby at the other hospital because I did not think I'd make it to the hospital before I delivered. And I DEFINITELY DID NOT want to have the baby in an ambulance. We prayed that things would speed up and I'd have the baby before they could get me into the ambulance. The hospital staff was just as unbelieving as my family because of my calmness. I finally convinced them to get the doctor to at least CHECK me before putting me into the ambulance. That bought me a few more minutes because they had to page the doc. The doc comes and checks me and says, "You're not going anywhere. You're having this baby here, right now." HOORAY! I was SO thankful. They moved me into a delivery room and left me there with just my mom and my husband. They thought they had some time to get everything else organized and finish up whatever they were doing before I got there. They were wrong. Within a matter of minutes I was ready to push. I called to the nurse who was across the room and I said, "I'm going to push now." She stayed where she was and told me to relax and she'd be right over to have a look at me. I said, "No, I'M PUSHING RIGHT NOW." I could not stop myself. I began to push, involuntarily and felt the head of the baby crowning. The nurse looked over, then RAN over and said, "Oh my! You ARE having this baby right now!" She looked stunned and confused and flustered. Then she RAN OUT OF THE ROOM!!! I heard her paging the doc on the intercom in a panicked voice. It was hilarious. I was actually chuckling. Within SECONDS, the doc was there JUST IN TIME TO CATCH MY BABY GIRL! It was miraculous. I LOVED that whole experience. It was light-hearted and funny and relaxing. It was also so...GOD! God orchestrated that whole thing. It also taught me a lot about the power of prayer and faith and the word of God because I had been meditating on scriptures for my labor and delivery. I laughed when Maya was born and I felt like I wanted to deliver another baby right away.

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Dec. 14, 2005 - Our Little Prayer Lessons

There have been a couple of times in my oldest daughter's life when God really proved Himself to her - and ME! They are memories that have really meant a lot to both of us. I thought now might be as good a time as any to share them with you all! The first was when my son was a wee baby. We did not have a vehicle and it had been raining steadily for three days straight. Well, we needed milk and we needed it soon. The baby was getting hungry. I was getting desperate. I told the girls that we had to pray and expect a miracle. So we did. Literally, within THIRTY SECONDS, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and we were out the door to walk to the store to buy milk! We were SO excited about it, we were singing and dancing and praising God. It excites me just to remember it! Another was last Christmas. Gabrielle really wanted a new dress. I knew she was getting several dresses as Christmas gifts, so I told her if she wanted one THAT badly (Christmas was only two weeks away) that she would have to use her own money to buy it. She said she wanted to do that. She proceeded to tell me that she wanted a navy blue velvety dress, with shimmery sleeves and it had to be no more than $15 because that's all she had (her life savings)! I told her she would have to pray for God's help if she was going to be that demanding! We went to the Saan store (the only store in town that would have a dress for a girl her size) and guess what! There, on the first rack, was a navy blue velvety dress, in her size, with sheer sleeves and it was on sale for $12.99. Thank you, God! It was a neat lesson that God cares about whatever WE care about!

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Dec. 2, 2005 - My Wedding Dress Story

In light of our upcoming anniversary (seven years December 6th), I thought I'd share this with you all. Every time I share it, people love it, so I thought some of you might like it, too! I met my Lee in July of 1999. I was living on Vancouver Island. I went home to Alberta for a visit at the beginning of September. I knew, at this point, that I wanted to marry him and that he wanted to marry me, but I had NO IDEA about WHEN we would become engaged. During that visit, my mom and I had many heartfelt discussions about my relationship with Lee and our future, etc. One of those days, we went shopping. There was a bridal shop in a mall and we decided to go in just for fun. Well, the saleslady ASSUMED I was engaged. Why else would I be looking in a bridal shop, right?My mom gave me this look that said, "Just play along. " (Whether that was the right thing to do or not is beside the point and you'll find out why in a minute.) ANYWAY, she asked what style of dress I was looking for. Obviously, I hadn't thought about this much, but I responded by telling her I'm not big on "really fancy" and I don't like lace. I like simple, classic and elegant. I don't mind pearls and I didn't know if I wanted pure white because it doesn't look good on me, etc, etc,etc. Also, it's important to note that Lee and I were both technically unemployed because we were in ministry. And my parents had just started a new business and had just moved to a new province, so money was scarce. Back to the wedding store. This lady takes a look at my 5'2'' frame and says, "I have the PERFECT dress for you. It just came in this morning." She escorts me to the change room and hands me the most perfect wedding dress I'd ever seen. It was strapless with an empire waist. It had a bit of VERY simple pearls on the bodice and the rest was just PLAIN "winter" white (which is not pure white). I tried it on and it fit SO perfectly that it didn't even need alterations!!! My mom got all teary and I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe I had tried on a wedding dress and I wasn't even engaged. Then I was overwhelmed because it was so perfect for me and I was afraid that I'd never find another dress this perfect when I WAS actually looking. It frustrated me. I feared that I'd become engaged a year later and that I'd go dress shopping and wouldn't be able to find anything that came even close to what I was wearing at that moment. The saleslady knew it was the dress for me. She ASSUMED we'd buy it because my mom and I were so thrilled about it, etc. I mean, how often can a 5'2'' (or ANY size) bride find a wedding dress that doesn't need alterations? BIG PROBLEM: There was no wedding happening!!! Well, mom and I decided to leave it in God's hands and continue our day. Later that night, I was laying in bed and it was already passed midnight. I just couldn't sleep. I knew I had to have that dress and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I went upstairs to my parents' room, woke them up, and tearfully explained how much that dress meant to me and that I was sure Lee and I would be getting married SOMEDAY, etc. After patiently listening to my impassioned speech, my parents look at each other and grin. Then they turned to me and said, "We already bought it." NO JOKE! My mom had talked to my dad when we got home and then she had phoned the store and paid for it with her credit card. They were holding it for me. Can you believe it?!!! Now get this! I go back to the island after my two week visit. A month later, on October 6th, Lee and I become engaged. TWO months later TO THE DAY, we were married. The funny thing is, Lee kept asking me if I'd found a dress and when I was going to go dress shopping, etc. I kept that whole thing a secret from him until we'd already been married for a year. NO ONE but my parents and I knew that I had bought my wedding dress even before I was engaged. HAHAHA! I LOVE that story! OH YEAH! And the other miraculous thing about it is that MY dress was the CHEAPEST dress in the store!! It was only $500 BRAND NEW and PERFECT!

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