Jonathan's Fifth Blog: Deja-vu All Over Again

Welcome to Bus-Taking 101. I will be your teacher and guide through another episode of: 'Why Jonathan loves taking the bus'. Today's episode was even more exciting due to the fact that Aidan was awake and crying just about every hour of the night and early morning. Teething. Good times.

Again the bus was practically empty upon my boarding, giving me a great seat to eavesdrop on the woman with two kids who was complaining that she only gets paid once a month and that's why her credit cards are all maxed out. Uh....maybe try living within your means and uh, pay off those credit cards somehow so that you don't get charged 18% interest every month! (Props to my mother and father for raising me fiscally sound. My mother would say that she had nothing to do with me becoming a 'tightwad' though.)
So we hit the downtown area and I'm beginning to limber up for my detour-induced run for the roses. But low and behold, there is no detour! Therefore I have absolutely no problem walking my 234 meters in 4 minutes. And not only that, I also get my 'back-bench' seat on my transfer! Life is good! No sign of 'plastic-surgery man', or 'mummified-boy', I ended up between 'Dozy' and 'Snoozy'. Snoozy was the superstar of the two, waking up only 2 stops away from the place he wanted to get off. Impressive, most impressive.
Trivial side note: A guy asked me for the time, and instead of just saying that I didn't have a watch, I felt obligated to show him my empty wrist as well. I haven't worn a watch in years (maybe 10 or so), ever since I started to really get into drumming. I used to wear a watch on my belt loop, but every time I went to check the time, it looked to others like I was fixated on my crotch.

That's it for now, please note that we will be taping tonight's episodes of Survivor and CSI, so if we could please keep the spoilers to a minimum, that would be great!

JG

Jonathan's Fourth Blog - All Filler, No Killer

Well, as your regularly scheduled blogger is not available, I shall have to entertain you with bubbles and nonsense!
Today Amanda went on a date with Aidan to Cine-babies. (not sinning-babies) The big movie theatre at West Edmonton Mall (Silver City) has a once a week 'bring your infant' movie showing. Today she is seeing 'First Daughter' starring Katie Holmes, which I'm pretty sure is a lame chick-flick, so hopefully she enjoys it. I know I'm enjoying not having to see it, that's for sure. And of course tomorrow is my weekly bus ride to work day, so here's hoping that something exciting and new happens.

Ok, what else is there.....

Have I mentioned how disappointed I am with the new Survivor season? I mean, its still better than "Joey", (most shows are) but it's getting old. Every episode it basically the same, "I'm hungry, I'm wet, I'm tired". Followed by a reward challenge, some inter-tribe fighting, an immunity challenge and a tribal council where the person that everyone talks about voting out is not the one who gets the boot. It was especially apparent how boring Survivor has become, after we had finished watching the last episode of 'The Amazing Race" and then tuned into Survivor.
The Amazing Race: Exciting, nervewracking, edge of your seat viewing!
Survivor: "I'm hungry, I'm wet, I'm tired". Depressing, unoriginal.

We also taped the first episode of CSI:NY last week. (When you fast-forward through the commercials, you can watch an hour show in just over forty minutes) Thanks to all bloggers for not giving away the ending, by the way. We both love the original CSI, and fortunately we both absolutely hate the CSI: Miami version, David Caruso needs to stop taking acting lessons from the William Shatner School of Drama. It was a toss up on CSI:NY, very dark looking, and other than Gary Sinise, the acting wasn't the greatest. We'll probably tape a couple more episodes just to give it a fair shake before we decide.

That's it for now,

JG

Aidan's Brag Day 2

Another brag day for Aidan, since there is nothing else to say...

He is starting to babble, which is really neat. He mostly combines 'aggy's and 'gee's. It is really cute and it is as if he is trying to whisper to us. I love it and it always makes me smile!

He is always trying to rearrange other people's faces. This is something new within the last few weeks. He grabs on to your nose, mouth, eyes, etc. and pulls as hard as he can. It really hurts if I have not cut his nails in a very long time. If anyone else tried to do this....but since it is our son....Oh the things we will do for our kids.

One of his favorite things to do is to sit outside on the front step and watch the tree. He likes to watch it when the wind is blowing and talk to the leaves. It is really cute, but sad because all of the leaves are falling off the trees. Soon his friend will be gone. It is like his closest friend in all the world, so it is a little sad for me as a mom to see it departing.

We cut his hair around his ears because it was growing too long. We could tuck his hair behind his ear like a girl...not so cool! So I finally took scissors to it this weekend...

Well, I think that is about it. He keeps growing and changing into his own little person. I can't believe that he is 6 months old! Boy, how half a year has flown by!

Have a wonderful autumn day enjoying the beauty of God's creation!

Love,
Manders

Mountain of Allegiance

Jonathan and I go to church on Saturday nights. This week we were both on worship team, which is always a big fiasco...(getting to church with all of our stuff for Aidan, having him babysat, feeding him supper, taking him to the nursery, etc.) This week was no exception.

The service was on the cross and that we are all living stones in the church and that we need to give ourselves fully to God. To symbolize this, Pastor Bob Opperman (our Senior Pastor) gave everyone a rock, and as they were coming up to get communion, they went up and placed their rock at the foot of the cross. There was a stream of people coming up to the cross with their rocks. The image was very cool.

His sermon was very bold on letting God use you for whatever He has in mind...healing, preaching, giving, etc. Let the Spirit be your guide. Pretty bold for an Alliance message or any denomination for that matter!

I guess what really struck me was that we started off our main worship time with a video that we made for a few Easters ago. It is set to the song "What Kind of Man" which I think is by Lincoln Brewster (Jonathan can correct in the guestbook if I am wrong). Anyway, the song basically states, 'What kind of man would die for you and me? What kind of man would die to set us free?' The verses are about how many of us would not do that, no matter what. And so, we should be willing to give ourselves to God and His will.

The video is a whole bunch of scenes from the movie "Matthew" (The Visual Bible), which if you haven't seen, you should definetly see it. It is 4 tapes and the exact words of Matthew, but Bruce Marchiano (www.brucemarchiano.com) who plays Jesus is just amazing. (He also wrote a book "In The Footsteps of Jesus", about his experience of playing Jesus which is quite a story...God really had a lot in store for him!)

All this is to say that I sometimes forget what a great price Jesus paid for us and that I should be willing to let God use me in whatever way He needs me or wants me to be used. In our Bible study we are learning about being loyal to God... Sometimes I am not very loyal to Him. I choose the world instead of Him. I choose to go my own way instead of letting God lead me. I want to just believe that God will use me. I mean, He died on a cross for me and all He asks of me is to obey Him and love Him; to choose Him in everything I do.... That shouldn't be as hard as I make it out to be...Should it?

I just thought that Saturday night's service was so powerful. I had to share it with you. I will leave with the loyalty quiz that is in our bible study this week. Try and be honest with yourself....God knows the answer, so you don't need to hide...(At least that's what I had to keep thinking as I was taking it.)

Loyalty Quiz: Test of Loyalty:
Rate each from 1-10 (1 being disloyal; 10 being loyal)

Do all things without grumbling or complaining (Phil. 2:4)
"Be patient, bearing with one another in love" (Eph. 4:2)
Study and correctly handle the word of truth (i.e. the Bible) (2 Tim. 2:15)
Love one another deeply from the heart (1 Pet. 1:22)
Think about things that are true, pure, right, lovely, and praiseworthy (Phil. 2:11)
"Rid yourselves of all malice, and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander"(1 Pet. 2:1)
"Do not love the world or anything in the world" (1 John 2:15)
Do "not give up meeting together" (For worship) (Heb. 10:25)
"Be completely humble and gentle"(Eph. 4:2)
"Be holy in all you do" (1 Pet. 1:15)
Do not even tolerate a hint of sexual immorality (Eph. 5:3)
"Pray...on all occasions" (Eph. 5:18)
"Show proper respect to everyone" (1 Pet. 2:17)
"Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger." Forgive (Eph. 4:31-32)
Do not be insensitie to sensuality, impurity, and other evil (Eph. 4:18-19)
Give cheerfully (2 Cor. 9:6-8)
"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing" (1 Pet. 3:9)
"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness" (Eph. 5:11)
"Do not be anxious about anything" (Phil. 4:6)
"Be imitators of God" (Eph. 5:1)

Hard, I know....But, Jesus said it would be hard: "I anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his own soul?" (Mark 8:34-36) If God was willing to die for me, surely I should be willing to be loyal to Him and obey Him.....

Love,
Manders

Childlike Faith

Yesterday I had Daybreak in the morning. It is for women to sit around and talk about God, life, experiences, etc. We have life stories shared by speakers as well as a bible study on the fruits of the Spirit. Yesterday our Senior Pastor's wife shared her life story. It was interesting to learn about where she had come from, since all you ever see is a Pastor's wife, who I am sure we all think must be perfect in some way, to be a pastor's wife. (Maybe I am the only one who thinks this, even though I know that we are all human...) After her sharing, we split up and talked about some questions that she had for us. This leads to a whole bunch of conversation about God and life. It is pretty cool!

For some reason we started talking about one of the other lady's son. He is 4 years old. Anyway, she shared with us that he will sometimes go into the corner and talk to God. He might be walking along and start talking to God about what he is seeing. Then at night, he said to his mom that he couldn't go to bed without praying... This lead to one of the other mom's talking about her 3 year old. While they were walking to Daybreak yesterday, he said to his mom that his legs were sore. And Marla (his mom) said that he still had to walk. (Knowing that he just wanted her to pick him up!) So, then he said, "But, God is stronger than you and me, right mommy? So He can give me strength when I am tired?"

All I could say after this is wow! I mean, I want that for my son. I want him to see the power and presence of God when he is really young. I know that as parents we are the biggest influences and role models for our children. It seems like such an awesome responsibility, but I have been praying about this since I found out I was pregnant. We need to watch what we say, do and how we act so that we are showing Aidan God. I want my son to see God through me and be interested and wanting to know Him.

The other thought that I had was that I wanted their faith. Children are so innocent. They are not tainted by the world, the thoughts in their heads, their egos, their own attitudes...They just believe and know. Jesus saw this when he came: But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Luke 18:16) We need to have a childlike faith. To believe in God without all of our 'adultness'....It is hard, but no one said the path would be easy.

I hope you all have a good weekend and see God's beauty, especially in the falling leaves!

Love,
Manders

Jonathan's Third Blog: Take the Bus Gus

For those who have been paying attention, you'll know that today is Amanda's day to go to Daybreak, (www.spac.ab.ca), and my day to entertain you. (please, hold your applause until the end of the blog. Thank you.) So my adventure today consisted of:

Jonathan's First Bus Ride in a Long, Long Time!
In order to save Amanda from having to drive me to work and then drive all the way to the church (about an hour and a half depending on traffic volumes) I decided that I would suck it up and take the bus. Now luckily we live very close to a bus depot/transit centre, which offers us the advantage of getting on the bus early in its route. There was one person on the bus when I boarded, as opposed to 1.3 million when I departed. Maybe it only felt like that many cause I had my face pressed against the glass window.
The most excitement came half way through the ride when I had to switch buses. Now the transit website, (www.takeets.com) had told me that to make my transfer, I was required to walk 264 meters in 4 minutes. No problem. What the website neglected to inform me was that the downtown area is a construction nightmare. Thus the bus I was on was required to take a detour. I was left with this dilemma: 1. Stay on the bus as it travels the detour, hoping that it takes no longer than 3 minutes, therefore leaving me with 60 seconds to catch the elusive #3 bus, or 2. get off the bus and travel 1.1km in the beforementioned 4 minutes. My impatience got the better of me, although it did reward me with a nice running tour of downtown Edmonton. I reached my transfer with seconds to spare and was presented with something I had dreamed about as a small child. The back seat of the bus! It was everything that I had hoped it would be! Sandwiched in between a guy that looked like he had just undergone plastic surgery on his nose (bandage included), and a guy (I think it was a guy), who had pulled his hooded sweatshirt over his head and was doing an impressive impersonation of a dead person. Even better was the way I got to stare down people in a: "you'd better find a place to park your butt up there, cause there ain't no room back here" kinda way. Good times!
I'll be more than happy to join the rest of the road-raging drivers tomorrow in our 'see who can save 5 minutes and get to work the fastest' race. But I know that in every bus I pass, there will be a guy who is dozing peacefully enjoying his stress-free ride to work.....Sucker.
JG

Mountain of Anticipation

I have been taking a women's bible study on Tuesday nights. (Always the student! Always wanting to learn!) My first class was last week. It is for women 18-25 which means that I just barely make it into the class...I will be 26 in December. So, when I got there last week, I was the oldest one there, other than the teacher. Anyway, the class is called "Vertically Inclined" and our teacher is the author of the book. (Mary Kassian) When I walked in last week and I was the oldest one...well, let's just say that I wanted to bolt for the door. I mean, what do I have in common with a whole bunch of High School students or recently graduated HS students? The class was good. I enjoyed myself, but felt like everyone was wondering what I was doing there. (married, mom, two university degrees...)

Anyway, I figured I would do the daily lessons and give it a shot. Maybe I would learn something. I also prayed to God that He would show me if I was supposed to attend this class or not. Well, let me tell you, when you pray something like that, God doesn't leave any doubts.

See, the lessons are based on Mountains and climbing higher in your walk with God. Each week is a different mountain. Last week we started with the Mountain of Anticipation. We talked about expecting the unexpected and listening to God's voice. She shared a story about God telling her to carry $100 with her when she went to Walmart. She forgot to have it when God told her she needed to give it to someone. So, she ran to the ATM and got the money and then ran like a maniac with her cart all over the store. (During the Christmas rush) She finally found the lady and gave her the money. Anyway, she asked us if anything like that had happened to us...and I forgot about praying for Jonathan when he was coming to pick us up in Red Deer when we visited my family. I had an urge to pray for him right before he got there. I saw our car rolling into the ditch after being hit with an object! Anyway, when Jonathan got to Red Deer he told us he had almost been hit by a 2X4 that had fell off a truck in front of him.

After that talk last Tuesday, I began trying to see God in the little things and listen to His urges. On Friday night, I dreamt that I was working at Mundare Elementary school. Who knows why? I don't even know why...Anyway, on Saturday our power went out while we were sitting at home watching TV. We were planning on just sitting like vegetables in front of the TV, until that happened. So, we all got dressed (I showered in the dark) and went out for a drive because Aidan fell asleep in the car. One thing you know as a parent is that you never wake a sleeping baby...So, we ended up driving to...MUNDARE! On the way I told Jonathan about my dream. It was pretty wierd. We stopped at this little diner called the 'Kozy Korner' and had hamburgers. It was really neat. A really good day...though nothing happened extraordinary.

On Monday afternoon, Aidan was really grumpy. His gums were really bothering him because he has gotten quite serious about this whole teething business. I decided to call my mom about things that she did when we were teething because I was desperate. I wasn't sure if I should because it is expensive to call long distance during the day, but I knew that she would have some Godly wisdom for me. My mom answers and says, "I'll call you back in a second and tell you why I almost quit my job today." (She was on the other line with my aunt!) (She's an Education Assitant/Library Assitant at an Buchanan elementary in Calgary) So, I said fine. It turns out that one of the 'problem' kids at her school totally lost it. He started biting, kicking, scratching, etc. It took three adults, including my mom, to hold him down. They called 911 and the paramedics showed up and sedated him, but they had to call for back-up because they couldn't control him, either. He was admitted to the Children's Hospital and is (of course) not coming back to school. My mom had to go to the emergency and get blood work done because the boy is from Afganistan and you just never know. My mom was so happy I called. She was home by herself and needed to talk things out. (And she told me to use OraGel, in case you were wondering!)

Needless to say, I went to my Bible study last night. This week we are learning about the Mountain of Loyalty....I can't imagine what God has in store for me this week.

Love,
Manders

Therefore, the LORD longs to be gracious to you, and therefore he waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for him. (Isaiah 30:18 NASB)

Jonathan's Second Blog - Huh?!

Catchy titles eh? Well, it looks like Tuesdays and Thursdays will be my special blogging days. Amanda has a New Mothers Group and a women's Bible study on Tuesdays and Daybreak (another women's get together @ church) on Thurdays. I have an hour lunch, so the creative juices better start flowing.

Amanda has put it out there for all to see, that I am the funny one. I think what she meant was that between the two of us, I am the funnier one. As in, I am one percentile funnier than her. Humour is relative anyway, not everyone thinks that a specific joke or situation is "funny". Most of what my humour consists of is: Reactionary Humour. EXAMPLE: Someone says something and I procede to make comments about what they've said, how they have said it, etc. So if you are looking for some Seinfeld-ish stand-up comic laughs, sorry, you won't find it here.

What you will get from me will be commentary on things like sports, TV, movies, and pop culture in general. Whew....ok, with all that being said....

WARNING*** SPORTS TALK AHEAD***

In my bid to bring more guys into the blogging fold, I will now rant about the present situation in the world of hockey.
What have we learned so far?
1. The owners (ie rich people) have 'locked out' the players (more rich people) due to the fact that there is no CBA (collective bargaining agreement) presently. (the old one expired last week)
2. The owners want the new CBA to include a salary cap. (a limit on money a team can spend on player salaries.)
3. The players have refused to agree to that salary cap. They think the owners should be able to budget how much they spend.
4. Barring an act of God, there will not be a hockey season this year.

So, who's right and who's wrong? On one hand, the owners are to blame for the enormous contracts that have been paid out to great and not-as-great players. Then they complain about all the money they're losing because people stop coming to the games cause they have to sell their first-born to be able to afford tickets. It's like me going to Future Shop and paying $500 for a $300 TV cause I don't want anyone else having it and then complaining that it doesn't make me breakfast in the morning.
Even worse are the players. If I was making $5 million to play a game!, I probably would have to shut my mouth and not complain about how unfair the world is. I have no respect for a guy who, while under contract to play, decides that he's now magically worth more money than what he's getting right now. And then procedes to sit out games (ie sulk) until his stupidity is rewarded with more money. It sure would be nice if I could do that at my work! "I've decided that my time is now worth $20/hr, and I will be sitting at home until you agree with me". The insane thing is that the owners usually give into the morons, rather than fire their butts. The players need to realize that the popularity of hockey is actually decreasing (especially in the USA) and what they are worth monatarily is going to decrease as well. Hockey rates lower in popularity then football, basketball, NASCAR, & baseball so something is definately needed to curb the astronomical salaries and escalating ticket prices. Is a salary cap needed? Yes, if only because it would help the small market Canadian teams compete with the big city markets like New York and Colorado. Will the players still get lots of money? Of course, through signing bonuses and performance bonuses. Will there be a season this year? No, probably not. Will anyone still care at the end of all this? No, not so much.
Hey, when does the basketball season start?
JG.

10 Things I Love About Jonathan

Okay, I said that I wasn't going to do this here, but I have decided that if you don't like it, you don't have to read it. And since I have yet to make a list up at home...I have decided that I want the whole world to know why Jonathan is such a great husband... So, without furthur ado....(drum roll please)

Ten things I love about Jonathan:

14. Jonathan is willing to teach me about sports and doesn't mind my stupid questions. (And believe me there are a lot!)

13. We share a love for things like 'Survivor' and 'The Amazing Race'.

12. We can share our musical talent with each other and both use it in ministry together. Our wedding vows included the statement: 'to serve God and others' and I believe we do this by being on the same worship team together. Jonathan was thinking about quiting for a bit, but secretly I wanted him to stay around because I LOVE being on the same worship team as him.

11. He has an amazing sense of humor. He always makes me laugh. More importantly, he always makes other people laugh, which is really important to him.

10. I love how he tries to make me laugh when I am mad at him. Even when I am pleading with him to stop trying, he always succeeds and I always forget what we were fighting about anyways.

9. Jonathan is an awesome drummer, but he thinks that he is not that good. I love his modesty and how he always has in mind that he can achieve more through his technique and style. I love it that he is starting to try different things because he is getting bored. (I can't wait to see where God takes him with this ability....I know He has good things in store!)

8. Jonathan was deathly afraid of being a father. The responsibility overwhelmed him when we would talk about it before I became pregnant. When we found out I was expecting last year, I was the overwhelmed one. Jonathan was so cool and collected for me, even if he was freaking out on the inside...He stayed strong for me because he knew I needed this. (He does this a lot for me....)

7. He loves Star Wars.

6. He loves playing with toys, especially Lego.

5. He is a great thinker. He won't discuss something serious until he has thought about it for a while. He needs to mull things over in his head first. I love that! The answers or discussions after his thinking are amazing....

4. He IS smart, and don't let him tell you otherwise. He likes to think that he isn't or pretend that he isn't because it takes the pressure off. (But, I know differently!)

3. He is especially good at grammar. I wouldn't have been able to write all those essays without his grammatical corrections.

2. He is a great father. There is so much I could say right here, but the most important thing is that Aidan absolutely adores him. And I wouldn't be able to do this without him. He is my balance. He is my better half.

1. He loves God. This is the first thing that I fell for in Jonathan. I remember on Morning Star when we were in Nova Scotia, we went out to this light house in Yarmouth. There was this cliff near the ocean and Jonathan stood on it and shouted, "My God made this!" I will never forget that as long as I live. It showed me his absolute passion for God. He has taught me so much about God, through his own walk with the Lord. I am so thankful to God for providing a loving example of Christ in Jonathan.

I love Jonathan so much. He is my best friend. We share everything - dreams, hopes, joys, sorrows, life. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us down the road of life. I know that whatever it includes, Jonathan will be by my side, hand in hand, forever.

In this life I walk with you

Side by side

Hand in hand

Holding on

To the promise of forever

Enduring

The peaks and valleys

Gaining strength

With each passing mile

Discovering

Learning

Sharing

Becoming inseperable

I choose this path

It is hard

Yet

It is the only way

To be

Happy

Loved

Cherished

Enjoyed

Complete

In this life

Side by side

Hand in hand

Holding on

Forever

I love you Jonathan. I will always love you no matter what. Don't forget!

Love,
Manders

Aidan's Brag Day - Number 1

Today is the first ever 'Aidan Brag Day'. Time to time, I will just tell you everything that is happening with Aidan. This is important for me to brag and for family (especially in Ontario) to get updated on him. So, without furthur ado...

First of all, Aidan is trying to act really cute to get on my good side. This is nice since he has not been sleeping through the night since...well, since I went to my parents house in Calgary at the end of August. I think his teeth are bothering him. He also gets a stuffy nose at night. As a result, he wants to suck on his soother, but needs to breathe through his mouth. A few nights ago he was waking up almost every hour. (Note: If baby wakes up when he is usually sleeping, and you haven't fed him in a few hours, you may just want to give him a little snack.) Anyway, last night he woke up and couldn't breathe. So, I gave him a little Tylenol. I feel bad, but I know his teeth hurt and he can't breathe. I also know I need sleep and he needs sleep. So, bring on the drugs...

Secondly, all Aidan does all day is make new noises, especially blowing rasberries. (and especially while his mouth is full!) It is very cute. He has a thing lately with sticking out his tongue, for no apparent reason. Jonathan and I have come to the conclusion that his tongue must be too big for his mouth. (Just kidding!)

His hair is coming in quite nicely. It doesn't just stick straight up in the air anymore. Everyone loves his hair.

This morning I had Daybreak at church, so I put him in the nursery. (Only his 4th time!) Anyway, he usually cries a lot when we put him in there, but today he only fussed a little bit. Then he played, laughed and fell asleep. I am so glad it went well. I am on worship team on Saturday nights, so I need to put him in the nursery. He has to get used to it and being away from Mommy.

He is not sitting by himself yet, or crawling, but he does like to roll eveywhere he needs/wants to go. Our living room floor is covered in blankets so that he can roll all around. (My carpet is not that clean!) He loves his jolly jumper.

Anyway, I hope that you are all having a good day. I just thought I would update you on Aidan's progress.

May you do something special today.

Love,
Manders

A Comfortable, Old Pair of Shoes

Well...what to write after such a statement....(as tears fall down my cheeks!)

Love is hard. Being married is tough. Being a family is tough. Once you get past the "honeymoon" stage, things just get more difficult. No one said marriage wouldn't be hard, but the world thinks that marriage should be "warm fuzzies" all the time. NEWS FLASH - marriage is not like that at all.

Marriage is like a comfortable pair of shoes. You know the ones. They are the ones that you continue to wear even when they are falling apart. When people start to ask why you still have those shoes, you just smile and say, "Because they are comfortable and I love them!" There is nothing like that pair of shoes. They fit perfectly. They are formed to your foot and the way you walk. They know your feet, sometimes better than you know your feet. You continue to keep the maitenance up on them because it is important that you always have them. And even though they may smell sometimes, grow tattered and torn, wear out on the sole, they are still your favorite pair of shoes.

Jonathan is my favorite pair of shoes....(WHAT???!!!??? After he bought you flowers and wrote all those nice things? All you can say is Jonathan is my favorite pair of shoes???!!!???)

What I want to say is that I am unworthy of such a person. Sometimes I am really good at loving Jonathan. Sometimes I am not. Jonathan deserves the world, yet he chooses me. I decided a long time ago that I was going to love Jonathan for the rest of my life - through thick and thin, ups and downs, peaks and valleys. He is the one that God made for me on this earth. The one God chose and said, "Jonathan, here is your helper, Amanda. Amanda, here is your husband, Jonathan." We compliment each other. We balance each other. We love each other. Love being not just a feeling, but a decision. My choice.

Our son Aidan is the perfect completion of our love for each other. I remember looking at him and thinking, "This is a tangible example of Jonathan and I and our love." Forever and always, people will look at Aidan and think about Jonathan and I and our love. It made my heart grow 100x with love for Jonathan.

I was going to write my own Top Ten reasons why I love Jonathan, but I think that would be too much sap. (Okay, Sappy?) I do love Jonathan for many reasons (i.e. humor (Of course! It's his best feature. Everyone loves it. It's the first thing I remember about him when we met!), his logic, he's the sexiest man alive..., etc.(I'll save the rest for later, honey!)), but mostly I love him because of his steadfast faith in God and that he understands me more and more everyday. (Even though he might feel like he's still in the dark!) I will love him always and forever, no matter what may come. In the end of this life I will still be standing beside him. He is my partner in this life... (By the way, the flowers (red roses) are gorgeous! I wish you could all see them!)

Okay, so now that we have totally turned you off reading our blog....I will sign off for today. Just let me say this: You may think that we are crazy, but you should take the time. Take the time to tell those you love that you love them. It is worth it!

Love,
Manders

There you are my love

I knew you'd be here

Sometimes my senses

Pick-up on things near

In my thoughts, my love

Once again, my dear

When I see you

There's nothing left to fear

You don't know me

Know who I really am

You don't know me

I'm your biggest fan

I'm the one in love with you

Jonathan's First Blog - Eleven Things I Love About Amanda!

1. The way she laughs at all my jokes, even if she's heard them a million times. Also the way she steals my "lines" and makes them her own.
2. She's a great "Mom" to our son. She has done incredibly well adjusting to the stay-at-home mom thing as opposed to the previous working student gig.
3. How smart she is. She thinks I'm smarter because I can get the answers to Jeopardy questions quicker, but that just makes me a faster reader! I think it's really cool the love she has for literature and poetry.
4. How sexy she is!
5. The way she's begun to get into sports more and understand them, because she knows that I like watching them and she wants to connect with me that way.
6. Her voice. She has a powerful singing voice that she uses to give God glory and to entertain our son. She has a superb version of "I'm a little teapot"!
7. Her patience. Even when I'm 'dumb like post', she still puts up with my selfishness and egotistical nature.
8. Did I mention how sexy she is?
9. Her love for me, Aidan and God; all of which are unconditional and grow stronger everyday, and will last forever.
10. The way she'll ask me a question like "why do you love me?" at 11 o'clock at night just before I fall into a deep sleep and then listen to me sputter for five minutes about how illogical the phrasing of the question is and still love me in the morning.
11. The look on her face when I bring home flowers tonight for no apparent reason. Maybe she'll even cry.

Well, it's not Friday, but there's your Top Eleven list. Not that there's only eleven things I love about my wife, but I only get so long for lunch!

Amanda, I love you - Always and Forever, no matter what!

JG

Time Where You Going To?

Last night I went through my Bible which has a ton of stuff in it from my Morning Star days, sermon notes from past services (when they used to give out sermon notes), and letters from my mom, my friend Janet, little encouragement cards with catch phrases on them from Jonathan, etc. It was nice to read through some of these things over again. I guess I was having a sentimental moment.

After reading them, I felt a lot better. I was really having a rough night last night, so going back through my past helped me to see what a great present I live in. Sometimes it seems like we get so caught up in our own little problems, that we forget that these problems will pass with time. Sometimes we forget to allow ourselves that time to get over things, especially when we explain how we are feeling, as women, to our husbands. Jonathan is always trying to fix everything, right away. There must be a solution to this problem...that's his thinking. For me, I need time to think, to feel, to pray, and to cry sometimes. I need TIME!

I guess all this is to say that time is a precious commodity. Something that we often take for granted when we are trying to deal with our problems. Something we do not use wisely, on the important things of family, God, prayer, etc. There are so many things I could be doing right now instead of blogging, that are more important in the end....

"What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short." (1 Cor. 7: 29a)

"Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility have you created all men! What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave?" (Ps. 89: 47, 48)

I guess what I am struggling with is what to do with the time I have been given. I heard someone say once that we will not be judged by our acts, our feats, our triumps, our feelings, our thoughts, but what we do with our TIME! Time is so important. Should we be reading books, praying, doing a devotion, cleaning (that's for you Mel), spending time with family, etc. What should we be doing more of with the time we have been given?

I just throw that out there. I am going to have breakfast, shower, wake up my son and make sure that I cherish all the little things that he does today. My challenge is for you to do something today that is a good use of your time....whatever that may be for you.

Love,
Manders

Time is fleeting

Time passes as water in a stream

Swiftly, quickly, unnoticed

Flowing in one direction

With you I realize

We cannot go back

Cannot retrace our steps

Moments, seconds are

Important, precious

One day

I will want these days back

Time passes as water in a stream

Swiftly, quickly, unnoticed

We cannot go back

-by Amanda Grant

A T.V. Wasteland

All the new shows are starting and so optimistic me (Yeah, right! I am not very optimistic. I like to think of myself as optimistic with a nice dash of realism. Others say I am pessimistic, but "perception is reality!" saith Jonathan.) hopes for a show with morals, values, standards, good roles, especially for females. I don't know why I hope for such things, but I figure that eventually people will get tired of watching some desperate girl looking for her husband on TV. Or some guy 'looking' for a wife, but testing all the women in the house out first....Aren't we bored of that yet?

The answer is no. It seems like all the money is on reality TV these days. There is no money being spent on new dramas or comedies of any value. Instead we have 'Wife Swap' which is different from 'Trading Spouses', another 'Bachelor' (or is it Bachelorette?), 'The Contender', 'The Apprentice - 2'....The list goes on and on. Personally, I am tired of many of these. The only reality shows we watch are 'The Amazing Race' and 'Survivor'. We sometimes watch 'Big Brother', but even that is getting silly. How many more reality shows can we take????? Stop the insanity!!!!

All the reviews for the new series, non-reality TV shows has been horrible. Some of the ones that we have seen are 'Father of the Pride' (Funny, but very edgy. Lots of jokes that are not appropriate for younger viewers!), 'Arrested Development' starring Jason Bateman(Funny (at least Jonathan thinks so.) Again, lots of inappropriate humor. Was too much for me last night, so we watched football instead.), & 'Medical Examiner' (It was alright, but it is no CSI!), 'Joey' (I couldn't believe how not funny it was. Joey is not Joey without the other Friends....sigh! I was really hoping!). I think that is all.

Non of the above are anything like what I remember as a kid. I remember being so excited when a new show came on because it was usually good. Remember: The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Facts of Life, Life Goes On, The Wonder Years, Murphy Brown, Perfect Strangers, Full House, Family Matters...I could go on and on...Who's The Boss...Roseanne...etc. The good ol' days when we could all sit down as a family and watch TV. Those days seem forever lost to me. Now that Friends is done, I just don't know what is left. At least Survivor (18 contestants this time...Hmmm! I wonder why...) starts again on Thursday. Jonathan and I can't wait.

I guess I just feel like I need to watch what I am watching because of our wee little one. Having a child makes you look at everything differently. I guess I am just worried that the shows on TV will continue to get worse and worse. What will be left when my son becomes an adult? What will my grandchildren watch? Will they be able to watch TV at all? These are just some questions that I am always thinking about. As a parent, you really need to be thinking about what boundaries you will set. I know that my son is still really young, but I think you need to start thinking about this before you get there.

Oh, well. I guess I will just have to take one show at a time. I hope you all have a good day. Tonight it is Monday Night Football....

Love,
Manders

Jesus praying to God about the believers, before his death: "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." (Jn. 17:25,26)

A Memorial

Today's Top Ten List was supposed to be done by Jonathan, but he ended up being to busy to complete it. So, it's still me!!!

Tomorrow is the anniversary of 9/11. I feel as though we all need to remember what happened 3 years ago. (Was it actually that long ago?) So, today's Top Ten will not be as funny as my others. I feel it is appropriate to remember what happened and take a moment to lift up those who were affected by this in prayer.

Top Ten Things I Remember about September 11, 2001:

(12) That it was a beautiful day outside.

(11) Turning on the TV and thinking that something was wrong with all the stations because they were all showing the same thing.

(10) Watching in horror as a second plane rammed into the other trade tower. Staring at the screen in disbelief, as if it was a movie, not reality. Listening as the anchor on television stumbled over his words in shock and horror.

(9) Jonathan calling me from work when he got there. He wanted to know if what he had heard on the radio was true. While on the phone with Jonathan, the first tower fell down. I realized that this had happened before the announcer on TV did.

(8) Seeing people jumping out of the windows of the tower because they knew that they would never escape. But jumping seemed better to them than sitting around waiting to die. Such hopelessness. Such sadness.

(7) Getting reports of another airplane crashing into the Pentagon. The images on the screen seemed to be of another world.

(6) Crying for the families, the people trapped in the buildings, the people running from the buildings covered in dust as the towers began to fall down.

(5) Not being able to pull myself away from the TV to get ready for school. Ended up watching the TV and getting ready at the same time.

(4) Thinking to myself on the bus ride to school that no one seemed to be acting as though anything was wrong....Seemed strange. Quiet.

(3) Arriving at school and our professor dropping everything that she had planned that day and instead talking about what had happened. We spent an hour and a half just sharing our thoughts and horrors at what we had seen. Our biggest question, "who would do such a thing?"

(2) Being the most frightened that I have ever been in my whole life. It is at this point that I realized that no country is safe from terrorism. Walking to the bus stop I remember keeping my eyes on the sky....Would they attack us too?

(1) Realizing that I would never be the same, the world would never be the same.

I hope that we all take a few minutes to remember what happened that day. I also remember some good things that came out of this event. Most importantly, many ministries were started in New York because of this tragedy. Many people looked to God for comfort. This is a good thing. Something that we should all be thankful for.

I know I will keep all those affected in my prayers. The war still wages on and the search for Bin Laden has not ended. (3 years ago Bin Laden wasn't even a household name!)

Anyway, no matter what happens in the rest of my life, I know that I was impacted tremendously by that day. I will never forget.

Love,
Manders

Tradition vs. True Faith

I was attending a New Moms group on Tuesdays. It has since ended, but we still meet on Tuesdays for lunch. We form a stroller brigade and invade the food court at Bonnie Doon mall. It is quite funny to see the expressions on the people's faces as we approach the food court. There are either two responses from the elderly: (1) Oh, look at all the wonderful, precious babies! OR (2) Look at all of those cranky, crying, screaming babies...why are they invading OUR food court!

Anyway, on Tuesday when we met I ended up sitting with some of the moms that I don't normally sit with. Usually I sit with Irene and her son Joshua who are the only other Christians in the group. Unfortunately, Irene was late. So, I was sitting with a few of the other moms. They began talking about getting their babies baptized, not because they believe in God, but because the grandparents wanted it. I just sat back and listened intently. One mom said that she had decided to have her baby baptized because, as she put it, what could it hurt...

I go to an Alliance church, so we don't believe in baptizing babies anyway. But, I did grow up in a Lutheran church. So I know what it is all about. At an Alliance church we dedicate our babies, not baptize them. It is up to you to take the step of baptism after you have become a Christian and accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior. It is a public declaration of your faith. (For Lutherans that's what your confirmation is for.)

Nevertheless, no matter what denomination you are, there is something so unsettling with parents who are baptizing their babies just because it is tradition. For Jesus said, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16) The key word here is "believes". True faith is more important than any tradition.

I hope and pray that you all experience true faith today. May God bless you in all you do.

Love,
Manders

Light In Darkness

After reading my message board, I feel as though I must explain a little bit about why I am blogging.

My blog page is a way for me to talk about my life, practice writing, share what I have learned, and be connected. It is like my own mountain peak. A place where there is no one telling me what to do, what to say, what to write. I have complete freedom here. It is my own place of reflection and peace.

When I started my blog page, I wanted to be able to share God's light with everyone. Everything I do, everything I experience, I always try and relate it to God. I always try to learn from my mistakes and see that God is making me clean, molding me into the pot of clay that He wants me to be. I guess I just wanted to share my thoughts and feelings about God and life and somehow have people look at their own lives differently.

So much of the internet, and more generally the world, is filled with junk. Things that are unimportant. Things that bring darkness instead of light. (Mel - I am still stuck on that from 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad ;) ) Not that there is anything wrong with anyone else's blogs. I just wanted mine to be something different. Unique. Individual.

When I read my message board, I thought to myself, 'No one likes my blogs', 'I should stop blogging', 'I knew no one would want to read about a stay-at-home mom!'. Silly, I know. But I had to reevaluate why I was writing these blogs. Was I doing it so that people would like me or was I doing it for myself....

My conclusion is this: I will continue blogging because I am doing it for myself. I need this outlet. I need this mountain peak. I will do this even if no one ever reads my blog page. That is not important to me. I am doing this for me....

Secondly, Jonathan will be taking over my Top Ten Fridays. To be honest, I am not that funny anyway, and he is. Plus, he doesn't have time to write a blog everyday. He is too busy. This way he can think about what he wants to write for a week and then go nuts.

I enjoy all of your blogs. Every morning I can't wait to see what you have written. They always brighten my day. Thank-you for reading my blog page. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it. (Mel- maybe Billie was right! Perhaps I should be a writer....)

Blessings to all of you. May God teach you something new today.

Love,
Manders

P.S. It wouldn't be my blog without a scripture verse. God was teaching me about being a light in the world last night (go figure!). Anyway, here are some verses that touched my heart.

When Jesus spoke again to the people he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

God is the light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)

Amanda's Top Ten Fridays - Vol. 1 No. 2

Okay. It is the day you have been waiting for with baited breath. The anticipation has been building since last Friday. Just when you thought that Friday would never come again.....Here it is: Amanda's Top Ten Fridays!!!!!! (I know! I know! I can hardly contain myself as well!)

As promised I have composed a new top ten list for this wonderful Friday. I hope that this weekend holds lots of fun surprises in it for you. (I also hope that your neighbors don't fight and scream at each other at 4-6:30 am in the morning!) (Will write about that later I am sure!)

Anyway....(drum roll please, Jonathan).....Here is the new addition of: Amanda's Top Ten Fridays!

Top Ten Reasons It Is Better To Be A Girl Than A Guy:

10) You can go shopping and spend as long as you want at the mall without people wondering, "fruity..."

9) We get to wear earrings without people thinking it says something about our lifestyle.

8) Wearing any color is a-okay. (Pink, brown, black, fuscia, purple...)

7) Language and socializing are our two best skills.

6) Eating chocolate is a rite of passage. If you don't like chocolate, people think there is something wrong.

5) You are allowed to be crabby pretty much whenever you want. You can always just blame it on PMS. (Of course if a guy blames it on PMS....watch out!)

4) Being pregnant for nine months....(Those who have been will understand. Those who haven't...Let's just say you have a lot to look forward to!)

3) We get to eat a lot and no one will say anything about weight when we are pregnant or PMS-ing.

2) We're prettier.

1) We are unpredictable and are allowed to change our minds. (This means that guys are never bored because they are always trying to figure us out.)

I hope you enjoyed this addition of Amanda's Top Ten Fridays! Be sure to tune in next week!

Blessings everyone. Have a great long weekend.

Love,
Manders

P.S. Mel - it's good to have you back!

The Importance of Daddy

When you are a stay-at-home mom, it is sometimes easy to forget how important it is for your child to interact with their father. I mean, you know that it is important, but you forget the importance for both sides. (Dad and child.)

I was reminded of this yesterday when Aidan and I were coming home from Calgary. We had arranged to meet Jonathan in Red Deer, with my mom driving us up to Red Deer and eating supper with us. Jonathan would drive up after work, meet us for supper, and then we would drive home.

As soon as Aidan saw Jonathan last night, he was all smiles and giggles. He's always that way with Jonathan, even when Jonathan is just coming home from work. It was really great to watch them interacting. Of course Jonathan wanted to sit in the backseat on the way home and keep his son company. Aidan slept most of the time, but every once and a while I would see Jonathan peek at his son and smile. It really warms my heart that they have a special relationship with each other. It just a reminder that both parents are so important in a child's life.

I had a wonderful time at my parent's house, but as always, it is nice to be home again. (Plus, I missed my hubby!!! :) )

Love,
Manders

P.S. Stay tuned tomorrow for Amanda's Weekly Top Ten List!