Whooaaa, alright everyone - yesterday John’s blog write-up make me sound like I’m perfect!!
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I am NOT! But Sonya said I needed to let him do it - I listen to my friends! We have shared lots though and had lots of fun along the way – So things that didn’t seem fun at the time now we laugh with fond memories. I kept a prayer journal for about 10 years – very good to do – I love to read it now as my memory isn’t always good – yes son, Darryl it’s the 2nd time I told you the story! Life just seemed to get busier and busier and I haven’t written since 2004. But God has got my attention this time with this cancer! I have learned to delegate and am enjoying that so much now! Now I pray for time if that is what he has in store for me. We have so much wonderful talent at work!! God is blessing us even now in our business because of our wonderful staff pulling together!
John forgot to mention some of my faults: I am not always kind, don’t always think of others, sometimes talk to much, some times sarcastic and sometimes a back seat driver,
sometimes like to plan too much….. But God is Good – I do love John with all my heart! So it was a Happy 33rd Anniversary yesterday!! (I think our new grandson wanted his own special day – so no baby yet!) We do work, love, laugh, breath and worship God together and me - I ask God to use me any way He can! I did have to let John write on the blog what was on his heart – even though I’m feeling this isn’t about me. It’s like when people pass away and people only say all the good things they’ve done. It’s easy to forget the imperfect. I guess cancer enabled him to give me a gift that I could hear about. It was kind of a gift – I will admit it. Last night we went to buy our watches, we had a wonderful person helping us – amazing when your kind to people how it changes their day and yours and how easily you are able to share a little of your story! I love my new wig – even though I don’t need it – and yes I am a little vain, I don’t want grey hair – so no despair – if you see me I haven’t lost my hair yet, but I do like my new look – so yesterdays picture is the new me for the next 3 or 4 month. Yesterday co-worker, friend Coby, my driver for radiation for the day had fun as we enjoyed asking a young makeup person in Shoppers how 50+ could look like them? We had fun!
John forgot to mention some of my faults: I am not always kind, don’t always think of others, sometimes talk to much, some times sarcastic and sometimes a back seat driver,
sometimes like to plan too much….. But God is Good – I do love John with all my heart! So it was a Happy 33rd Anniversary yesterday!! (I think our new grandson wanted his own special day – so no baby yet!) We do work, love, laugh, breath and worship God together and me - I ask God to use me any way He can! I did have to let John write on the blog what was on his heart – even though I’m feeling this isn’t about me. It’s like when people pass away and people only say all the good things they’ve done. It’s easy to forget the imperfect. I guess cancer enabled him to give me a gift that I could hear about. It was kind of a gift – I will admit it. Last night we went to buy our watches, we had a wonderful person helping us – amazing when your kind to people how it changes their day and yours and how easily you are able to share a little of your story! I love my new wig – even though I don’t need it – and yes I am a little vain, I don’t want grey hair – so no despair – if you see me I haven’t lost my hair yet, but I do like my new look – so yesterdays picture is the new me for the next 3 or 4 month. Yesterday co-worker, friend Coby, my driver for radiation for the day had fun as we enjoyed asking a young makeup person in Shoppers how 50+ could look like them? We had fun!
Please don’t think bad of me, but yes I am an intentional person, before I was diagnosed part of my job was to work on raising funds for this year. It was a little scarey to how we were going to get people to donate. – how do we raise $45,000. We are just a small program with 35 kids – how will people notice?! Well, we just won’t spend it until we have it. So far the first 6 months a handful of people at Bethany CRC have been donating to our expenses. We only spent $6,000 from March to June. Hamilton City Kidz founder Todd Bender advised: “remember time is your most precious commodity, watch you don’t spend a lot of time on small projects to raise money – sometimes all you just have to do is ask. And watch God work. Wow, I am! His other advise is – don’t worry about numbers – remember it’s about the ONE!!
Am I using my cancer – you bet I am. MY MESSAGE ALL ALONG – USE THE PAIN OF YOUR LIFE TO GOD’S GLORY AND WATCH WHAT HE WILL DO. SO HERE IT GOES! So many people have shared wonderful stories with me – that’s why I’m talking so much – it’s not a energizer bunny that they put in my head during surgery really John! Feel free to share on the blog – so I don’t have to talk so much!! Because God can use my cancer, not a good thing to His glory. Realize in your life that God can use your pain too. I asked another crazy grandma to meet me at Rose City Kids today. Are we willing to be used by God? "AVAILABILITY IS HIS ONLY REQUIREMENT"!!
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Am I using my cancer – you bet I am. MY MESSAGE ALL ALONG – USE THE PAIN OF YOUR LIFE TO GOD’S GLORY AND WATCH WHAT HE WILL DO. SO HERE IT GOES! So many people have shared wonderful stories with me – that’s why I’m talking so much – it’s not a energizer bunny that they put in my head during surgery really John! Feel free to share on the blog – so I don’t have to talk so much!! Because God can use my cancer, not a good thing to His glory. Realize in your life that God can use your pain too. I asked another crazy grandma to meet me at Rose City Kids today. Are we willing to be used by God? "AVAILABILITY IS HIS ONLY REQUIREMENT"!!
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John & Sonya’s (President and Director) ability to work with youth and all their experience going on mission trips (the last 5 years) doing Kids programs, doing KIDS CHURCH once a month at Bethany have all worked up to this, dragging youth to Brooklin, New York on Easter weekend to see the biggest program you can imagine to feel Metro (Brad and I attended once). Hielke, one of the directors has been on all those trips too and even inspired the City Kids Hamilton/Metro Ministry one. Hielke is a kid magnet as anyone in our church will tell you – really he is a retired chicken farmer with time on his hands! We did end up going on a trip to Honduras (10 of us and 15 from B.C. met up with us) this past June all together with these youth (son Brad telling us – you need to go on a mission trip) – this year and we had a blast doing it. John and Victoria (girl on our website) enjoyed going into the streets of Honduras and inviting children to come to the program this afternoon – they came back with tons of kids from every direction. It was amazing! 3 days before returning home – John got violently sick, even though we had our needles (probably parasites from carrying these young kids on their shoulders). Our youth prayed downstairs as a group as we thought for sure he was dying. I was scared, he was scared, we just held each other! Suddenly he sat up and said is someone praying, I feel a little better! John’s brother and wife (missionaries in Honduras) got their nurse to prescribe something the next day for probably parasites and he slowly got feeling better.
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Elise, our Consultant Program Director is the most creative person I know as she makes videos for our program with other youth and who spent 2 years at Hillsong in Australia – she is hired for 16 hours a week consulting and does many volunteer hours as well, we have in mind to hire one more part time. Bethany has scooped her up the other part of her week as they had fun with a successful Day Camp for Fenwick youth this summer!! I’m a firm believer that ministry people need to be paid fairly! Everyone else is volunteer – our youth have stepped up to the plate! They are young, enthusiastic and open to share the gospel, they inspire us – they teach us age 50’s people a lot about their openness!! Hamilton City Kidz have sponsors, like CHCH News who will also be giving us Christmas gifts for our kids this year too. I just checked and World Wide Christian Schools is also mentioned on their special race. Is that awesome or what! They have great sponsors like McDonalds/Canadian Tire who see the kids lives be worked on – they know the next group of kids becoming teens in Hamilton will have had some great times before they reach that hard age and maybe, just maybe God is using them. Their story is a wonderful story of 15 years of God’s Grace. So this is much easier for us then for them! They are celebrating 15 years this year! Kids are volunteering now as leaders who grew up in the program. They have made it their mandate to start up City Kidz type programs all over Canada. We are a first pilot project too. ***************
I’m praying that when you watch the video’s at http://www.rosecitykids.com/ that you will be inspired by all the youth talent and participation in our volunteer program that you will be able to give a small donation (before we get tax status maybe). Friday we applied with Rev. Canada for our charitable status and those who know me, know that I am not above instructing my lawyer to add a compassionate letter about my cancer and plea to fast track this please? Sometimes God works through pushy women I think!! (another fault) We have a $60,000 budget this year and we received $15,000 from http://www.citykidz.ca/. We have entered into a partnership agreement with them for a year. So we say we are affiliated with them. So our official company name is Rose City – Kids Ministry.
Today (every other Saturday) we are off to 77 Division Street for Rose City Kids. Welland has a NIAGARA FOOD FESTIVAL TODAY celebrating 150 years. Not sure how many children we will get with that going on. Welland might be very busy! But our two buses are going out. During the week our volunteers visit the homes of their group of kids. We will also be working on improving our website with, exciting, fresh and lots of creative ideas as to how we can change positive values in the kids of Welland, even though it is known being one of the drug cities of Canada! See what God will do! But now I don’t have to say all this when I bump into you as we do life together!
I’m praying that when you watch the video’s at http://www.rosecitykids.com/ that you will be inspired by all the youth talent and participation in our volunteer program that you will be able to give a small donation (before we get tax status maybe). Friday we applied with Rev. Canada for our charitable status and those who know me, know that I am not above instructing my lawyer to add a compassionate letter about my cancer and plea to fast track this please? Sometimes God works through pushy women I think!! (another fault) We have a $60,000 budget this year and we received $15,000 from http://www.citykidz.ca/. We have entered into a partnership agreement with them for a year. So we say we are affiliated with them. So our official company name is Rose City – Kids Ministry.
Today (every other Saturday) we are off to 77 Division Street for Rose City Kids. Welland has a NIAGARA FOOD FESTIVAL TODAY celebrating 150 years. Not sure how many children we will get with that going on. Welland might be very busy! But our two buses are going out. During the week our volunteers visit the homes of their group of kids. We will also be working on improving our website with, exciting, fresh and lots of creative ideas as to how we can change positive values in the kids of Welland, even though it is known being one of the drug cities of Canada! See what God will do! But now I don’t have to say all this when I bump into you as we do life together!
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p.s. Now I don't have to say this to every one of you when we meet in the street - I can say read my long winded blog. 2 days left of radiation - Monday and Tuesday. PRAISE GOD THROUGH IT ALL!
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