Took a drive out to Indian Trail Road this afternoon and returned to see the damage and try to make sense of what we experienced last night. There was lots of damage to see all around a very small areas. Many large, healthy trees uprooted and all pushed over in the same direction. Some powerful straight-line wind damage, folks.

Saturday, July 2, 2011 — a relatively normal day turned scary. I’m writing now, grateful for a happy ending.

It was approaching 9:00 pm on a trip home from Toronto. I was with my sister and her four kids and we were taking a series of backroads to get back into Guelph. It was just getting dusky outside when I received a call from our folks on my cell phone. Having left Toronto a little earlier than we had, they just arrived at home — but to a big change in the weather with pitch black skies and strong winds. This would be our warning call, which was used to help kick our brains into gear for what we were about to experience.

Two kids were asleep. The other two quietly occupying themselves. (I must comment here that the trip *to* Toronto was absolutely *nothing* like that description of the trip home.) The skies were not foreboding at all but we were keeping our eyes peeled for any changes, hopeful that there wouldn’t be much to see.

Then we saw something. The change in the sky was so pronounced that we would have noticed something was wrong even without the advanced warning we had been given. The clouds were unnerving but we pressed on. The rain started to fall and the thunder and lightning were very present but, again, we pressed on. The wind was freaky, growing in strength at a disturbingly rapid rate. It seemed utterly confused about the direction it should be blowing, which was also unnerving. Then the rain began to fall with such volume and force that we could hardly see at all. But we pressed on. Then all at once we could see *something*. But that *something* was a large tree down in the middle of an intersection. And power lines were down.

It was ridiculously frightening and, with little option but to turn around, my sister carefully manoeuvred the mini-van and headed back in the opposite direction. At this point we had freaked out kids, all of whom were awake, and freaked out adults who were trying to figure out what to do. We were looking for somewhere to stop and be safe. Having lost our bearings on the usually familiar road, we were wondering where exactly we were. And we were trying to decide what poor unsuspecting people’s lives we should barge into for shelter.

Then, suddenly, we knew exactly where along the road we were. We found the Eden House retirement and nursing home and pulled into the lot. I ran in (and got quite soaked in that 3 seconds I was outside) and spoke with somebody about the situation and asked about cover for the six of us. I ran back out, motioning to my sister that it was OK to come in. Then the kids were released, with the oldest three moving the fastest I’d ever seen them move and entered safely into the home. I went in for the youngest and carried her out through the rain, then sent her in with the others. I grabbed something from the van and told my sister “this sounds a lot like a train… get in here quick”. Soon we were all safely inside Eden House.

The place had lost power — likely related to the tree we found and the power lines that were snapped on the ground. They were running on the power of a generator and were busy trying to deal with the challenges that the storm was causing for them. At the same time, they could appreciate how crazy things had turned out there and were quite kind to accept the intrusion.

Not too long after being there, we were taken to a lounge/dining hall area. This is where the nurse in charge told her staff that they had a family stranded here due to the storm and they’ve got scared children and they need snacks and juice. The team was deployed and moments later they all returned with a cart filled with cookies and drinks and pudding. And they brought us blankets. (Once I realized that I was drenched and shivering, I was particularly fond of the blankets being made available.)

We just did our best to stay out of their way. They had plenty to do without us being there. There were false readings from the system due to being on generator power. They were trying to arrange to get the power back. And of course they were also doing all their regular things, like helping residents.

I was glad to be there because I knew we were safe and I knew that it was the best kind of place to be if anything got worse outside. It was a place with procedures already set and people that knew what to do, who also had connections with emergency services and such…. this was a nice place to be!

We were there for a little while – staying safely off the road in the very brunt of the storm, getting the kids settled down from the scariest part of the journey, and us taking a break and trying to plan our next leg of the journey. Being so close to home and yet stranded was a little disappointing but we knew that once we could get back out there, we didn’t have long to drive. Once things settled down enough outside, we said our goodbyes and piled back into the van. Still raining – still thunder & lightning. But hardly any wind and and only raining very lightly in contrast to the hour earlier.

We needed to take an alternate route home, as the road we were trying to take had been closed by the OPP. There was a lot of debris on the alternative path — including a second tree nearly down, which we managed to get past. The kids were still pretty shaken. My sister and I just wanted to get off the roads before anything else could happen!

Now we’re all safely home. I pause to consider, with awe, the power of nature. Also, I can’t get that part of Matthew 25 out of my head: “I was a stranger and you took me in…” from verse 35. Tonight, we were greatly blessed by complete strangers, crashing their home which already had extra and unexpected complexity, and had an immense demonstration of hospitality and kindness lavished upon us, the travelling strangers in need of safety and shelter. Greatly blessed, indeed.

Matthew 25:34-40 (NIV)

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

(Subtitle: Why Pro-Choice and Pro-Life makes a matching set)
Listen to the letter.

Dear {candidate’s name}:

My name is Donna Harris and I am Pro-Choice. I am also Pro-Life. These two statements are not inconsistent.

A woman has the right to choose what she does with her body. She can choose to engage in sexual intercourse with the full knowledge that a possible outcome of that choice is becoming pregnant when she does so. She can choose to abstain from sexual intercourse with the full knowledge that she will not become pregnant when she does so. She can choose to make use of contraceptive measures to lessen the likelihood that she become pregnant when participating in sexual intercourse with the full knowledge that it is still possible for her to become pregnant when she does so. She has a right to choose what she eats, what she drinks, who she spends time with, where she lives, and any other number of things. These are choices available to her and they are hers to make. I may or may not agree with all of her choices, nor she with mine, but she is free to make them.

But, if that same woman decides that she cannot tolerate her neighbours for some reason, she will also choose what to do about that situation. She can choose to try to work out some arrangement with her neighbours in an effort to improve their relationship, or at least make living nearby more tolerable. She can choose to move to another location, another city even, so she doesn’t have to be anywhere near them. She can even choose to knock them off, ending their lives and also the inconvenience of having them as neighbours. The latter is a choice that she is free to make — but it is neither moral nor socially acceptable. Why? Because it is murder, ending the life of other human beings. It is a blatant violation of human rights. While it would be her choice to do so, the woman has no right to kill her neighbours. And if she did so, she would be tried under the fullest extent of the law and face the consequences of making such a horrific choice.

We, as a society, make abortion a legal option for a woman to choose. But by doing so we have told her that she has the right to choose to end a human life. This same woman does not have the right to end the life of her neighbours — nor should she have. She, like any human being, has the right to choose — as long as her choices do not violate the human rights of another human being. We should not be giving her this option, nor should we be telling her erroneously that she is right to have this option. In addition, we should not be employing medical professionals to provide this option.

I understand that there seems to be some confusion as to when human life begins. But this is something which is made far more complex than it needs to be. The fact is that at SOME point human life DOES begin. Everybody has to agree to that. If we, as a society, are in any way uncertain of when this happens then we simply have no moral right to guess. It isn’t something we can afford to be wrong about. Neither do we have any right to say “this is the point at which life begins to count” or “this is when life starts to matter”. It is a violation of human rights to abort a pregnancy. When an abortion is conducted, the rights of an unborn — yet alive — person are given no regard whatsoever and, to make this more deplorable, an unborn person has no voice of their own to use in self-defence.

Some people will say that abortion is no longer an issue and bears no relevance to political campaigns or day-to-day business of the government. But when our society readily accepts the message that some human rights matter and others do not we have a serious problem. What does it say of our nation — which supposedly prides itself on being a safe, peaceful, fair, and just society — when we cling so tightly to this duality under the guise of making a “choice”?

If we live in a free country, where human rights are upheld and human life is honoured, being Pro-Choice will also mean that one is Pro-Life. In a free society, an individual’s choices in all arenas would always ensure that life is preserved and respected. There would be no conflict between these two.

But because we live in a country that considers abortion to be a moral and legal medical procedure — when in truth it cannot possibly be moral and should not be legal — we do not live in a free country at all.

I want a Canada that is a free country. A nation that other nations will look to as a true example for human rights, clearly demonstrating how human life is precious and to be treated with the utmost respect. I want leaders who respect all human life. Only then can I know that the government’s activities and decisions rest upon a foundation that places the lives of all residents as highest priority. This is a foundation worth having in our country.

With respect,
Donna Harris.

I promised myself I’d write something tonight.

I have no grand illusions of it being well crafted or even well thought out. I would like to do more well thought out writing, employing more rigorous self-editing and/or peer-editing processes. But tonight, I simply write.

That was the disclaimer. You have been warned.

Fear is a funny thing. Some fears are obvious to us. Great phobias or maybe tiny irrational things we can usually reason through for ourselves. Often fears are wrapped up in the unknown. But my least favourite kind of fear is the one I don’t know I have.

Every so often (and likely more often than I recognise!) I get absolutely hung up on something. Sometimes I get stuck on some aspect of something, usually when trying to make a decision about it, and can’t seem to get back on track or shake it off. Now, I am definitely known by those close to me for my over-thinking and my analytical way of processing some things. (Not all things, though, which is part of what makes me absolutely fascinating.) I think this problem and this trait must somehow be related.

Whatever it turns out to be, that which I’m over-focusing on ends up being a smokescreen. This is news to me — I didn’t know that until this evening. (Thanks to the analytical thing, I do now!) But the pattern does follow back through a wearying timeline of events spanning over three decades.

So the crazy smokescreen goes up. For made-up example, “I don’t see how I have time for lunch. There is no possible time I can go out now for lunch. I’m not sure I feel like Chinese food today. “. And usually people look at me very oddly. But when it came right down to it, I had lots of time and I rarely pass up Chinese food. It turns out that it’s always about something else when I get in a state like this. So, following my made-up example some more, maybe it’s an underlying fear that the people going don’t really want me to go and I fear I won’t be comfortable. Or maybe it’s the fear of what somebody else will think if I do go, because I’m out for lunch again. Or maybe it’s the fear that I won’t have anything interesting to say if I do go.

Oddly enough, when things present themselves like this for me I don’t see it at the time. Ah, the unknown, underlying fears… fears that I would usually be capable of talking myself through, if not out of completely. But instead are somehow hidden by what pretends to be reason or thoughtfulness, or, even worse, as “making the tough decisions”.

Somebody stop me… I’m afraid I’ve written too much. ;)

Anyway, my big fear (which I fully recognise) is that I’m the only one on the planet who does anything at all like this (or is silly enough to write about it) and it just makes me stranger than I was before. But, ah well. Too late now.

2010 is almost over. Once again, it has not been a big blogging year for me. I have written a couple of posts that I am very proud. That made it worth it. But wow, right now, overall, it just looks like I don’t have anything to say on here.

But that’s not true at all. I have so much to say. Too much to say. And that is accompanied by an overwhelming combination of not knowing where or how to begin and a perceived lack of time. I say ‘perceived’ because, as busy as I am, I recognise that I have a few strikes against me in the perception department. And they continually thwart me in the form of bad habits. Booooo!

2011 will be a remarkable year. I cannot tell you why. I do not know all the reasons why. Stepping back, I never claimed 2010 would be a good year. There were lots and lots of good things. I’m really very blessed but it was not really a good year for me. But 2011… while I always carry great hope into each year (and with good reason!) I haven’t had a feeling like this since 2007 rolled around. And 2007 was also a remarkable year. And a lot of the good things that have come since 2007 are because of great things that happened within 2007. So, with that history, I feel like I have an extra reason to hope and dream for an amazing 2011.

I lead the Guelph Songsters on in singing an arrangement of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” this Sunday morning. Longfellow’s words are pretty great. “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep!” That’s gotta be a favourite line of practically anybody who appreciates this carol. But, while God is not dead and not sleeping, I have to say that 2010 was something of a sleeper year for me. There are a lot of wrong ways to take that, potentially, but I’m leaving it there. What I want to say about this is that we can all be sleepy or dead in some aspect of our life. Or maybe many aspects. For some of us it turns up in the form of a sleep or deadness within our personal Christian faith. It could be in that relationship with Jesus, but might also be seen in our relationships with friends or family. How about choices we make around our own health? Avoiding physicals or dental appointments. Eating poorly. Not exercising regularly. What about the sleepiness or death of our own hopes and dreams? Those [good] things we once loved so much but, for some reason, felt had to be permanently set aside.

I’ve never been one for New Year’s Resolutions, although I don’t frown on those who set them. But, having said that, I do a lot of reflecting and goal setting around this time of year. While it rarely takes on the form of a ‘Resolution’, it’s still a member of the same family. Tonight, as I meandered around with a bunch of words and no set focus for this blog post, I just feel as though I should remind those few who may read this to take those moments to check out those sleepy/dead spots in your life. Maybe there is something to discover. Maybe there is something to do. Maybe there is something that will help set you free.

As my parting thought: God is not dead, nor doth He sleep. Am I ever thankful for that!

The WOTD consistency flopped pretty quickly, didn’t it?  Honestly, I’m not a total flake.  The best post I had written for it, I actually never posted…. I love the idea, but I need to grow something different out of it I think.

Some people might be wondering what the heck I’m doing on Facebook these last few days.  I resolved to post silly, nonsensical statuses for a few days.  Initially, it was a stress relief.  Now it’s also a way to keep me from posting anything too deep and not thought through.  There is so much going on in my head and heart right now.  It turns out I need that space.

A crossroads.  That’s where I stand.

And a familiar one at that.

Time to shake off old habits and attitudes and move in a new direction.

Something like that.

A common passage.  A treasured promise, for me and many others.

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  (Psalm 37:4  NIV)

Have you noticed the focus often placed on “… he will give you…”?  Because we want the desires of our heart.  I know I sure do.

But…

The other part comes first… “Delight yourself in the Lord and…”

They are not disconnected, as much as we try to do that.  It is more like ’cause and effect’.

So, if I am sitting around expecting the desires of my heart to materialise without delighting myself in the Lord then I might as well keep on dreaming.

Placing our primary focus on God is ridiculously difficult because we really just want to focus on self.  When we delight in the Lord there is no room to delight in self because God is just soooo big.

And what of the desires of our heart?  He’ll place the best and truest ones within it, while we’re busy looking at Him most likely, and then He’ll delight in giving those desires to us.

You know, it does make sense.  After all, it is the desire of His heart for us to delight in Him, to know and love Him.

Just some Thursday morning thoughts as I wake up… in more ways than one.

I’ve determined that life just isn’t easy.

My observation skills have been in overdrive lately considering and pondering far too many things.

Not much is easy.

• It’s not easy being single.  It’s not easy being married.
• It’s not easy living with your family.  It’s not easy being on your own.
• It’s not easy having kids.  It’s not easy not being able to have kids.
• It’s not easy working for a living.  It’s not easy being unemployed.
• It’s not easy taking on something that is new.  It’s not easy sticking to the same thing for a long time.
• It’s not easy being sick or injured.  It’s not easy watching people you love suffer.
• It’s not easy exercising to become truly fit.  It’s not easy exercising to challenge a truly fit body.
• It’s not easy being lonely.  It’s not easy being in demand.
• It’s not easy going unrecognized for things you’ve done.  It’s not easy being recognized for things you’ve done, especially if you remain unknown for who you actually are.
• It’s not easy when somebody else gets the credit.  It’s not easy when you get to take all the credit — or the blame.
• It’s not easy when you don’t know what you don’t know.  It’s not easy when you do know what you don’t know.
• It’s not easy to know what you want.  It’s not easy to get what you want.
• It’s not easy to recognize what you need.  It’s not easy to accept what you need.
• It’s not easy to view ourselves as others see us.  It’s not easy to stop trying to see ourselves as we believe others must see us.
• It’s not easy to be seen.  It’s not easy to be ignored.
• It’s not easy to stop writing like this when I could literally go on all night following this form…

With very few exceptions, regardless of what we do, or don’t do, there is an element of “It’s not easy…” to it.  Getting somewhere just isn’t easy.  Going nowhere usually isn’t easy either.  How often we long for or pine after something that isn’t our present experience.  A key point I’m trying to make tonight — and primarily to myself — is that the motivation had better not be because that “other thing” is easier.  Because not much is easy.

For me, this is a big lesson for some reason.  I’ve had to scrap the mentality of “if only … happened” or “it would be good when … finally happens”.  Sure, it has been great when some of these kinds of things have actually happened… and also sometimes for them to have come and passed by, thankfully.  But the value in these things must come from so much more than the thing itself.  It has to be about the journey to get there, or to survive it, or to be made more compassionate to others because of it, or to find joy, perhaps.

It’s not easy being green.  It’s not easy being human.  That’s the way it is.

But, “not easy” does not necessarily equate to “not good”, thankfully.  There are an awful lot of not easy things worth fighting for or fighting through.  And sometimes, even just worth putting up with.

• It’s not easy to be a good friend or family member or spouse or parent.  But how good these things can be, and are meant to be.
• It’s not easy to learn something new.  But how good that knowledge can be for us or for somebody else we can help because of it.
• It’s not easy to put up with crap day in and day out.  But how good it can be when we take that stupid stuff and relate to another person because of it, or shine brighter because we didn’t give up when things were rough, or perhaps because we chose not compromise standards despite the constant pressure.

It’s not easy.  Anybody who knows their Bible knows that Jesus’ life was not easy. Anybody who has been alive for a moment knows it’s not easy.  But it is possible.  And there is value in living out the “not easy” things.  ”For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:36-37)  And nothing wasted either.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)

- Not sure what a “yoke” or a “burden” refers to in this passage?  Take a look at this commentary for more insight.

Have you ever heard that overnight successes often take years to come to fruition? Usually accompanied by lots of hard work and hard knocks.

Tonight I was thinking that, even with all of that long and winding road of an experience, there must always come a point where it’s the figurative “night before”. What does that make it — Overnight Success Eve?  I don’t know.  Whatever we try to call or not call it, there is always that moment even if we cannot recognize it.

So, is it the same with dreams?  Sometimes we wait an awfully long time wondering if a dream will come to pass or fall by the wayside.  Sometimes we can “make our dreams come true”.  A good friend recently said something to this effect: a dream becomes a goal only when we set the plan in motion to achieve it.  I liked that thought very much.  It puts the responsibility and the accountability to me to DO SOMETHING.  Oh initiative…

But sometimes there isn’t much we can do with our dreams but wait.  Watch.  Pray.  Be patient.  Wonder.  Worry.  Forget.  Remember.  Dream some more.  And sometimes we find out that our dream isn’t actually the dream we thought it was.  Maybe we’re not fully aware of the dream yet.  Perhaps it’s not fully formed in our mind’s eye.  Or maybe God’s got something in mind that we can’t even handle yet, so that part of the dream is not revealed to our hearts until the time is right.

Whatever the journey is right now, whatever the dream – big or small, we can rest assured that (as another friend said, and I re-quote frequently) God wastes nothing.  If you believe Him to be the God of all the details (and I definitely do) then you get this statement.  He will put all our experiences to use – especially when we let Him.

And just think…

like with the overnight successes… one morning we could wake up to find a day where a dream or two will come true.  The sleep might have been fitful or beautifully restful, but the morning brings word of His unfailing love.  And with that the hope of dreams realised.

This weekend is yet another busy weekend, but one that I am really looking forward to.  The overwhelming event of the weekend is Marked By Love going to North York Temple in Toronto for the Palm Sunday service, and all the rehearsals that go with that.  But definitely looking forward to singing together and celebrating… I will marvel yet again at how it all plays out, I am sure.  There are many things that seem exciting possibilities, so that adds to the anticipation even in all of the busy-ness.

I’ve already been out for a fine meal with friends and tried orange roughy for the first time.  I really enjoyed it, but may never have it again after reading a little about it.  We’ll see… a little anti-climactic there!  But the company was great too… better than the food.  The restaurant itself I also feel that I can and should recommend.

Saturday is “my” girl Allison’s 5th birthday.  That is very unbelievable news to me.  It seems like it was just the other day that she was born.  Of all of my sister’s kids, she was the one I held the earliest, and she might even be the most like me in many ways.  (Scary…. probably for both of us.)  Anyway, we’re going out for breakfast in the morning, so I really shouldn’t still be up.  But I’m looking forward to that… really hoping that she’ll enjoy it too.

In fitness news, I just did 13 consecutive knee-based push ups tonight.  That’s a personal best so far.  I was discouraged the other day that I wasn’t going to be able to advance to the 3rd week of the 100 push up plan (see hundredpushups.com and my plan to accomplish this goal) without repeating the 2nd week of the plan.  I could hardly handle day 2 of this second week, so I could see the writing on the wall.  After today’s session I was just shy of meeting the requirements to proceed to the 3rd week plan, BUT I was MUCH stronger than I expected to be today.  Seeing this improvement already is definitely encouraging.  Hopefully this second shot at the 2nd week will be much easier and my maximums will be much higher.

I also went for another fitness walk on Thursday, this time after work.  That felt really good.  I listened to some interesting podcasts while I was out and also found it easier to blow my cornet at band practice later on that night.  I hope to get out on Sunday after getting back into Guelph… that will depend on the time and the weather, of course.  The weirdest thing about my fitness walk on Thursday?  The OPP police car ripping down Brant Avenue with full sirens blaring… and I was just about to cross the road…. very thankful that I waited on that decision hearing sirens somewhere.