Couple getaway...Banff...Douglas Fir...A-frame style chalet...all to ourselves...unmet expectation...different chalet then last year...wood stove NOT wood fireplace...just not the same...wouldn't stay lit...smoke filled room...a little disappointed...walk around town...in and out of little shops...LuLu Lemon store...bought nothing...liked a hoodie...$108...really...a lot of cash for a shirt...gave up on yearly hoodie-buying tradition there...bought journal at Indigo and Wes bought book "Love Wins" by Rob Bell...delicious supper at the Keg...steak and crab legs...nice seat for two...movie at the theatre...all to ourself..."Lincoln Lawyer"...liked the twists...loved the company beside me...bedtime reading..."Me and My Big Mouth" by Joyce Meyer...9:15am wake up...sleepin' in...have no where specific to be...no one specific to see...enjoying our Tim's coffee brought from home...thank you for having coffee makers in the rooms...switched to a different room...in search of a real fireplace...one of my favorite things EVER...yup found it...went for lunch and for a walk to see the Hoodoos...windy and cool...shoulda brought a jacket and some shoes with socks...nope not this girl...flats with bare feet and a hoodie...back to room...fire with a afternoon siesta...Cozy Toz...wake up to coffee time...marvelling at God's creation out our window...bible reading...bible dictionary look up for "mercy", "Pharisees", and "righteousness"...started reading book of Romans...heavy...refresh outside...different view needed...Old Spaghetti Factory for supper...Shauna-spaghetti with spicy meat sauce...Wes- tortellini with chicken...Apple-tini and Jolly Rancher to drink...Banff Springs hotel...grandeur...love the age...love the "oldness"...the original furniture, light fixtures, door knobs make me happy...hockey game back in room...scrapbooking magazine for me...asleep by the fire...crackling and heat and glow...in a whole lotta love with my man...waking up to a winter wonderland...heavy snowfall...anxious to see our 4 wonders...Wes finished reading his book...back to work mode...back to reality...how lovely it is when seen with a "fresh" set of eyes and ears...how awesome to share it all with a man after God's own heart...thank you Jesus for your unfailing love...to take in and comfort us and to pour out to others because...I stand amazed and full of JOY at the wonder of it all.
Outside my window...The glorious sunshine is beaming into my "office" west facing, dirty window. I am thinking...About the last few days...a little getaway with my loving husband in Banff...how thankful I am for parents that will love on our kids when we go away to refresh...how full of gratitude I am for a good relationship with Aidan's dad and family and that our oldest boy is so very loved amongst both families...how the quiet is nice but the sounds of our children are missed when I have too much time to think...how we serve such an awesome God and I look forward to getting to know more of Him and about His character every single day...how happy the sun makes me as Spring feels like it is finally here as I saw some of my perennials starting to pop out if the brown, dead foliage...beautiful and green....LIFE! I am thankful for...good girlfriends who share the same passion for God as me and how our conversation is so life-giving, the ability to open our home to friends and their families every Sunday evening for Life Group, for the freedom we have in Canada to own a bible (or several) and take them out in public, and to read them wherever we want....a husband that works so hard for his family and enjoys it...seeing Ashers excitement on his face and in his voice when we gave him his "real" birthday presents today :) From the kitchen...I made pulled pork sandwiches for supper...looking foward to doing some baking this week coming up... ginger snaps and banana bread on the list I am wearing...jeans, lulu purple sparkly zip up, bare feet I am creating...hmmm...haven't been creating much lately...need to get back to getting my Project Life together...more then a few weeks behind
I am going...to take Asher to meet his soccer coach/team tomorrow morning and later in the day watch Aidan play inline hockey twice as he has an Ice Breaker Tournament tomorrow I am reading... "Me and My Big Mouth" by Joyce Meyer, my bible (thanks to Lori for the awesome bible reading plan), scrapbook magazines, Taste of Home magazine, Paper Crafts magazine I am hoping...that all of my children make the faith they grow up with their own with minimal heartache I am hearing...the hum of my lap top and that is all...all the little ones are in bed asleep and Aidan is at Ben's tonight and Wes is out closing a deal Around the house...a big pile of laundry awaits me from our little getaway and the kiddies sleepovers at Grandma and Grandpas house, going to make a plan to do one cleaning job per day (and maybe give myself permission to take one day off??) One of my favorite things....a real wood burning fireplace - the crackling sound of the wood, the heat, the light...everything about it A few plans for the rest of the week...Asher soccer mtg, Aidan inline hockey, serving in 56ers this Sunday as Pastor Mike is away and asked us to switch weekends, looking forward to catching up with friends in our Life Group on Sunday evening as we missed last weekend with them because of Easter, need to have a coffee date with a couple of my favorite ladies, work on Project Life
A photo for today... the birthday boy...Happy 4th Birthday my dear Asher! Here he is at Easter outside playing with one of his favorite things...a toy airplane (that is now on Grandma Linda and Papa Ken's roof) Love you so much my "best friend" (as he calls me)
I joined the church choir for the Easter service. This is a one-day three-services kind of opportunity. And yes I will be up there on stage with 50 or 60 other people singing my little heart out celebrating the awesomeness of Christ's victory!
If you have ever heard me sing you may be asking yourself..."who would let her join the choir?" or "yikes, have you heard her voice?". Believe me friends, the voice I hear in my own ears is not one I would classify as "good." It isn't awful but in no way would I win a Canadian Idol audition :) So, onto what really matters....
Last years Easter service was remarkable to me. I finally GOT IT! I finally understood what happened and it meshed with my soul that Jesus died....yes...sad but true. BUT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD and was victorious over the enemy. I cried during the service....I cried in the van on the way home. I remember seeing the people in the choir worshiping and loving the Lord with all of their hearts...the excitement I felt was exhilarating. I want every. single. person to feel that...it is amazing!
So when the worship Pastor at our church announced that they were looking for choir members immediately the thought came into my head that I should be up there. I told Wes about it joking that if there was enough of us that they could drown out my voice. I did bring it up at one of our Sunday night Life Groups about this prompting I had (why me...why this voice??). So that was the end of it for a few weeks. I left it alone. Then this past Wednesday I was leading my last Friendship Factor bible study and we were talking about God Confidence. In developing this I was teaching (from a book, not my own ideas) that to develop more of our confidence in Him and what we can do through Him we need to risk stepping out in faith and do something you believe God wants you to do. So immediately in my head comes the the prompting I have received about the choir. I share this with my ladies....2 of them are in the choir as well and encourage me to come to Thursday practice. That afternoon I email Pastor Dallas and ask him if there is still room, he sends me this:
Hi Shauna,
It is great to hear from you. We would love to have you as part of the Easter Choir. Our first music rehearsal is tomorrow. Everyone else has had the songs for 2 weeks now, but I would still enjoy having you come and be a part of it. I can give you the music tomorrow along with a practice CD. If you are willing to play a little bit of catch up and can make the rest of our rehearsals(Thursday March 24, Thursday March 31, Thursday April 7, and Wednesday April 20 - each from 7pm-9pm) then we can make it work.
There have been a few occasions when the worship leaders have gotten together and talked about people who inspire us as we lead. You and Wes have certainly come up in those discussions. Your passion for Christ and desire to praise Him flows out of both of you. Thanks for setting that example.
Let me know what you think. Hope it works out! Talk to you soon.
Dallas
I was pumped after I read this email and for the rest of the day really....more encouraging words...ok Lord I haven't heard anything bad from anyone yet...just something within myself saying I can't possibly do it. Well the enemy will not win as I step out to bring more of His kingdom here on earth...no siree!
So Thursday night I go to practice. He puts me in the "soprano" group. The first notes coming out of the others ladies mouths I knew I was in the wrong group...I can't sing that high. So I left and joined the "alto" group in another room. I took my sheet music and tried to act like I knew what I was doing...I know the songs in my head...they were familiar to me. What I didn't know was that we (as choir ppl) are responsible to have some control over our voices and sing according to a key or note or something like that. So the Ashley, the leader who was playing the piano, was saying stuff about C sharp and E...and the words were so foreign to me. Ladies were writing notes on their sheets....Jodie, a pastors wife who I stood beside, offered me a pencil for note-taking and I wondered what I was supposed to write down. Within the first 10 minutes I felt defeated...tears actually came to my eyes and feelings of failure were flooding me. I fought them...no no no...tears you will not fall dang it! Keep trying I heard in my head...then You don't have to come back again...just get through this one. And then I would focus on the words I was singing...."You are stronger....You are stronger...." Then words like "melody" "harmony" "riff" "tenor" "bridge" and a variety of letters were being shot out at me. As I sang and we went through the songs I noticed the music notes on the paper...as they went up on the bar our voices were supposed to go up....OK I could do that....to a certain extent. So, in the end.....I made it through to 9pm. And I will go back and practice again...because with my voice I worship Him as it says in
Psalm 100:2
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
So all I can say is DO IT...whatever you may feel a prompting to do for His Kingdom I challenge you to step out in God-confidence and trust in Him.
I love the Lord and want to live the life that God has planned out for me. I am married to an amazing man and we have 3 sons and 1 daughter. Being a MOM is my joy even with its struggles and hard times. The joy of the Lord is my strength and I strive to seek Him in all I do.
