Foreign News, Part 2

I wrote recently about listening to "Labrador Morning," and I have continued thinking about why I enjoy it (and "Newfoundland Morning" and "St. John's Morning Show") so much.

One of our assistant pastors mentioned Sunday that short-term missions is good because observation (of life & ministry elsewhere) informs & motivates our involvement.  He was speaking specifically of prayer.  

Learning about daily life in another place through these podcasts is a (listening) observation of life in another place, and I wonder, "What is the state of God's Kingdom in Newfoundland & Labrador?"  We know Grenfell had a great ministry there, but what remains and what is it like today?  I don't know yet, but my curiosity is up. 

On Valentine's Day, they interviewed couples, and one long-married & really fun-seeming couple spoke of meeting at church.  They were a winsome testimony at least to being church-going but also possibly to knowing the Lord.  Later in the interview they mentioned the death of their 18 year old son some years back.  I think a random person listening (like me) would think, "Wow! Their faith has really helped them!"

In another episode about war brides from Europe after the World Wars, a man told of his ?great-grandmother who arrived in Newfoundland & Labrador in 1919 I think, and lived with her husband in small settlements of 4-5 families.  He spoke of how the only medical care was what Grenfell was providing.  Something I had only read about was connected to a real-life person telling his family history.  

Some of these broadcasts are only 8 minutes.  It's like me quick little trip to a foreign country. :)

Foreign News

One night when I was suffering from insomnia, I turned to a podcast, and for some reason, the Apple Podcast app recommended "Labrador Morning" from CBC - Radio Canada. 

It sounds funny, but I have become a huge fan! :)

Sometimes I listen to other podcasts from other parts of Canada (full list here).

Why should I care about the local news in Newfoundland?  It's actually refreshing, because it is not closely related to me, and I don't have a preferred opinion about their local decisions.  

I think I enjoy it because it's cross-cultural, yet it's accessible since it's in English.  

One of the episodes I listened to this week mentioned the Grenfell Gallery of Art, and then I fell in love with the podcast even more.  I read a biography of Wilfred Grenfell many times over as a pre-teen and teen.  So, I've "visited" Newfoundland & Labrador before. :)

Little Black Tool

I ran across one of these upstairs the other day.  And then when I handed Little Guy the post office key to get our mail today, I noticed one of these was on the post office key ring. 

Do you know what it is?

We used to keep them everywhere!

It is a "key" to unlock the battery door on pediatric hearing aids.  Hearing aid batteries are small and easily swallowed (!) ... and fatal!  When babies are fitted with hearing aids, it is important that they cannot open the battery door.  As they grow older and learn to change the battery on their own, if they have a younger sibling, it continues to be important that little hands cannot open the battery door.  

I have not used or seen one of these in over two years (except for when LG's current hearing aids were in the shop and we were using his old ones), but for five years, I used one multiple times a day. 

And just like that, one day, it faded from our daily life.  When I saw it today, it seemed good to pause and remember a former era and how quickly it faded from our memory. 

The Case of the Missing Toothpicks, part 2

Jim announced that FedEx had delivered a large box. I said, "It's probably the toothpicks." He said, "It's a large box." I said, "Yes; it's probably the toothpicks."

Indeed it was a large box ... with toothpicks (& a baking mix) and wadded up brown packing paper in it as filler.

And, look!  A separate box contained a small tube of BioFreeze.

 Free shipping ... but how will the cost be passed on to the customers?

The case of the missing toothpicks

Tuesdays are swim lessons ... which start at 6.30 pm (insert shocked emoji here).  Thankfully we carpool.  I drive Little Guy and his second cousin the 20 miles to the swim school.  His second cousin's mom (who works in the city) meets us there, stays for the lesson, and brings the boys home (around 8 pm).  

On some Tuesdays, Little Miss and I pick up our Walmart order on the way home, as we did last night.  By the time we get home, it's past LM's bedtime.  Jim and I divided and conquered. I put LM to bed, and he brought the groceries in.  

When I came downstairs, I gathered up the non-food items to put where they belong.  My thoughts went like this:  "Toothpaste, etc. goes upstairs.  The white paper bags are for LG's class Valentine's party.  Wait! Where are the two containers of colored toothpicks for his party???"  I searched the table, the counter, the fridge, the back of the van.  Finally I looked at my email receipt.  "Hmmm. Okay. I guess I didn't push 'add to order' when I was looking at the toothpicks.  Okay, well, I'll go to Dollar General tomorrow to see if they sell colored toothpicks.  This could be a problem."

And then I looked, not at my email receipt, but at my Walmart account.  Some of the items I ordered were for shipping only.  A baking mix, an over-the-counter medicine, and the toothpicks will be arriving today via FedEx ... in two boxes (hopefully not in two deliveries).  

Whew! I'm glad the toothpicks will be here in time for the party, but I'm concerned Walmart is losing money on shipping items free to my door!

Thankful ~ hymn memories & expository preaching

 

This is the hymn that came to mind as our pastor preached from Philippians 4.8-9 this Sunday.  I see that Indelible Grace has a version also (this link is worth looking at for the devotional comments).  I have only sung it privately to the tune of "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus."

Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him?
  Is not thine a captured heart?
Chief among ten thousand own Him;
  Joyful choose the better part.

Ch: Captivated by His beauty,
Worthy tribute haste to bring;
Let His peerless worth constrain thee,
  Crown Him now unrivaled King.

What has stripped the seeming beauty
  From the idols of the earth?
Not a sense of right or duty,
  But the sight of peerless worth.

Ch: Captivated by His beauty,
Worthy tribute haste to bring;
Let His peerless worth constrain thee,
  Crown Him now unrivaled King.

’Tis that look that melted Peter,
  ’Tis that face that Stephen saw,
’Tis that heart that wept with Mary,
  Can alone from idols draw:

Ch: Captivated by His beauty,
Worthy tribute haste to bring;
Let His peerless worth constrain thee,
  Crown Him now unrivaled King.

And this link includes a few more verses.

Had you ever heard this hymn?

Thankful ~ common grace

I'm thankful for the Lord's common grace of medicine, doctors, and nutrition.

Of course I am thankful for His healing hand & power, the fact that He is the Great Physician who created my body and knows it better than anyone else and who could heal it in a split-second if that were His will. 

But, while I still live with diseases that affect my immunity, I am thankful for doctors who truly care about me and use their God-given skill to help me thrive.  I am thankful for medicines that help relieve my symptoms.  I am thankful for people who donate plasma (at plasma-for-pay centers; not the Red Cross) which is made into the IVIG (description here) that I receive every four weeks.  I am thankful for a health coach who is helping me learn and make different nutritional choices to see if they help my body. 

A Saturday in February

We are enjoying this unexpected 5-day holiday (one day of remote learning + two traditional snow days + the weekend).  We are enjoying our new family room (after our room switcharoo in December).  And we are enjoying the Olympics. 

Translated, we are staying up late. :) One member of our family has trouble sleeping past 6.30 AM (Ahem, Little Miss!!).

So, while it's only early afternoon as I write, it has been a long day.  

LM & I read 13 library books (& duly crossed the circles off on her reading log).  We have eaten two nourishing meals.  I cut LG's hair (finally realizing that doing it every 3 weeks vs every 3 months is a lot smoother for all involved!).  The children and I ventured out for the first time since Tuesday and visited the library & post office.  

At the library, LM received a free book for completing 300 books on her way to 1000 Books Before Kindergarten and moved her name up higher on the wall.  We returned a huge bag of books (+ one DVD) and checked out another huge stack of books (+ one DVD).  

I have ordered loose leaf tea (from Harney & Sons - hooray for a $10 off $30 coupon!!) and done a few other chores on my list.

And now I am relaxing with a cup of freshly brewed tea (East Frisian) and "Hymns for a New Year" playlist by the Gettys on Spotify.  After days of snow, and despite record cold temps today, I am thankful for bright cheerful sunshine! 

The dishwasher is humming.  The washing machine is whirring.  LM is listening to "Read to me" on the iPad, and LG and Jim are at the Pinewood Derby!  I have a new library book (and a comfy couch) calling my name. :)

Snow Days

Our first snow day was a remote learning day, and our second snow day was a traditional snow day (and added on to the end of the school year).

Remote learning is not for the faint of heart!

Most of us had a slow start to our day, and I had a mid-morning zoom, so the only school that happened before my zoom was LG's 20 minutes of reading. 

After my Zoom, it was time for me to make cornbread (delicious grain-free cornbread) in a skillet in the oven. Yum!  And then make a H-U-G-E pot of vegetable beef soup. 

So our remote school day basically started after lunch.  Ugh. We pushed through the second grade worksheets, and then we did the list of Pre-K activities. Pre-K was much more fun. :) 

2nd grade worksheets are to be turned in when they return to school, and that will determine whether or not they're counted present on that day.

Pre-K parents had to send in pictures of the various activities in order for their child to be counted present. 

I'm not sure why it really matters, since in the age of Covid, perfect attendance is not lauded.  But we did the right thing. :) 

Our second snow day was a true sleep-in day (if 7.22 AM counts as sleeping in).  We even had bacon for breakfast!  After some creative fort building & wallet making, some book reading and puzzle working, the children bundled up and went out in the snow... in the 15*F temps (-3* F windchill).  Four neighbor children came out, and the six of them had a blast.  It doesn't surprise me that our two outlasted the others ... building a tunnel in the snow pile and eating snow from what the snow plow piled up (blech!!).

And we still have a full afternoon ahead of us (& perhaps another snow day???).