USE THE FORCE TINK, USE THE FORCE!

O.K. so it has been awhile.
What can I say?
With CWO cutting out their "Spring into Summer" writing contest, I have no more topics to blog about. Boo Hoo.
I liked the writing contests as it gave me ideas of what to blog on. Not that I ever thought I would win any of the contests. I know my forte is not in writing - but - you just never know what might happen in the blogosphere. Miracles can and do happen.

So what have I been up to you might ask - if you really wanted to know - if you didn’t then why ask at all? Huh. O.k. I am in a mood and just wanting to do something with my time so I am just writing whatever comes into my head. As I was saying - please quit interrupting me. As I was saying - what have I been up to? Well how would you know if you didn’t ask. I can’t ask you now can I? So I guess I just better tell you myself - seeing you asked.

On a Friday about three weeks ago, I gave a type of resume to this place that I thought MIGHT be hiring someone for part time office work. Now, they never had an office person before but word of mouth said that they had been thinking of getting someone. So I acted on gossip I had heard and wrote a resume. Here is the resume - if you can call it that.

To whom it may concern,

I heard you MIGHT be thinking of hiring someone for office work. I would like to apply for the job.

I am 55 years old and have not worked out of my home in years.

Many many years ago I took a course at Red River Community College. At that time I took "Clerical Bookkeeping and Office machines". Many of the machines I learned to use are now obsolete. When I left school I could type 80 W.P.M. on a manual typewriter.

I worked in an office doing some bookkeeping, accounts receivable/payable, payroll, as well as other clerical duties. I love working with numbers and I love working on the computer. (I am self taught on the computer and own Windows XP.)

I cannot give you reference numbers, as most of the companies I once worked for are no longer in existence.

I can offer to work for you for free for the first month or so till I get to know your program and how you do things. If you like my performance at the end of that time you can elect to keep me on or let me go.

I am only looking for an office type job as I have bad legs and cannot stand for long periods of time. I would also like part time work as I don’t know if I could keep up the long hours.

To talk further on this matter you can call me at xxxxxxx or email me at xxxxxxxxx

All I can offer is my best. I would try to be a valued employee.

Well, surprise, surprise, I got a job.

They liked my resume. (Snark, snark) They said it sounded so "honest." I can’t believe I even wrote a resume like that - I learned how to do resumes both in school and at Red River but I did not put much thought into writing this resume at all. I guess I stumbled on a great piece of advice for resume writing - BE HONEST!

They took me on for two weeks to see if I would like it and if they would like me.
I handed in the resume on a Friday and started working on a Monday. Tomorrow will be a month I have been working.

I only work three days a week for approx. 4 hours each day. (Mon, Wed, Fri.) Some days I work 6 hours but only if there is something pressing that needs doing.

The first thing I do when I get there is enter the sales and credit card sales onto sheets of paper. Then I file the days accounts and warranties. Up till now I have been working on some books. I check each item in the book to see the sales history and jot down info. These books are all done for this time. We only will be doing them twice a year. At the end of the month I got all the invoices from the files and sent them out to customers. The other day I sorted through files and stored old files making room for newer ones. Each day I go to the bank to buy change and stop at the mailbox and pick up the mail. Sometimes I have to go to the other store to get them change or drop something off.

Basically I am a gopher or a pilot. I go for this and that or I pile it here and there.

At first I was soooo very nervous.

You don’t know nervous till you get to be my age and haven’t worked in an office for over 35 years. And in all my years, I have been very much a loner. So entering the "Work Force" was the scariest thing. It was like joining the Air Force or some other sort of "Force". I did not know if I was ready to use the "Force" yet.

As I sat at my desk Yoda’s little voice sounded in the distance. "Ready you are, worry do not. Trust the force Luke, use the force." Oooops, oh, where was I. Oh yes, I was very very nervous.

As I sat at my desk the first few days, my body went through the motions they were supposed to go through - I think, but my mind was waging a battle.

Part of me was praising God and thanking him for this remarkable miracle of a perfect job for me.

The other part of me was accusing me constantly for being inept and saying that I would screw up. It also kept reminding me of having to drive all that way each day and what about summer traffic and winter snow. Then I would argue that I didn’t really have to work, that I could make it, if I only cut out a few things. Then I would argue that I didn’t have to stay, I could quit if I wanted to. I wasn’t dependant on a job. Then another part was saying hey, give it a try, what have you got to lose. These and many other thoughts kept reeling in my mind.

When I would get home from work I was totally exhausted from all the thinking. I didn’t even want to talk to anyone yet everyone wanted to know how I liked it.

It is a miracle I even made it through the first week but having the day off in between really helped "The Force" begin to work in my life.

Now it is going to be four weeks and I feel a lot more at ease working and driving. I am even beginning to understand some of what I am doing.

Daily I ask Jesus "THE Force" to either help me to love the job or to hate it. He seems to be leaning towards getting me to like it a little at a time.

I am beginning to feel the "Force" getting stronger and stronger in me. Not that the "Force" gets stronger cause it already is the very strongest, but that I would get stronger at using the "Force" and recognizing the "Force" in and around my life.

For now I will leave you wanting more, more, more.

Till next time - May THE Force be with you.

BLESSED BY BLOGGERS

This article is my submission to the blog challenge sponsored by Darlene Schacht,, the founder and editor of CWO Magazine, Uniting Women of Faith.

Write a post telling us some of the ways God has blessed you through blogging

As many of you know, I am a widow and live alone in a very small town. Through blogging I have met many wonderful friends. My computer is my life line to the world.

If I am feeling lonely all I have to do is read someone else’s blog and I am reassured that I am not alone in my struggles. If I feel like ranting about something, I can do it through my blog and I know that people will read and only take what they need.

I have been so blessed by the comments that people have left on my site and the fact that we are a community of believers.

The blog world is a place where people can drop their ‘masks’ and be themselves. Even when they are trying to be something else, it seems to come through in people’s writing.

Writing seems to be a window to the soul of a person. Even though we may never meet the other person we are reading about, there is connection of spirit and soul and we will know one another in heaven.

Jesus was not recognized after his resurrection until he spoke to the two men on the road to Emmaus. Then they recognized his soul or spirit.

I believe that is what the blogging community is like. If we read someone’s posts we get to know their spirit and will know them when we see them in heaven.

I have also been blessed by personal emails from bloggers wanting to get to know me better and I have also had bloggers send me gifts for Christmas.

When needed I have had a large army of prayer warriors on my side fighting the enemy along the way.

God has blessed me with an extended family of loving caring brothers and sisters in Christ.

I love my blogging community.

SHARING GRACE

This article is my submission to the blog challenge sponsored by the devotional team blog, "Laced with Grace."

"How do you share the grace you receive from God on a day-to day basis?"

I signed up for this challenge and boy is it a "CHALLENGE". I wanted to take my name off of the list as I was sorry I entered. How does one share the grace they receive? That is a very hard question.

First of all there is the ‘age old’ question; What is Grace?

At the beginning of the epistles, it seems to be used as a customary form of salutation or a blessing of some sort for all Christians in common.

Grace seems to have many definitions but mostly it is understood as the unmerited "favor" of God. It seems to work opposite of "works". It is something you cannot earn for yourself but must just receive it from God.

So we get back to the question, How does one share the grace they receive from God, on a day to day basis?

O.k. so maybe I don’t share that grace on a day to day basis. I do try to live a life that I think would be pleasing to God. Knowing me I am probably deceiving myself and am doing everything wrong. BUT!!! regardless of how I live my life, I have been promised that I would receive salvation if I truly believed in Jesus. Now that is Grace. Living with the knowledge that all my sins - past, present and future - are already taken care of. I can now live my life guilt free of sin (although that isn’t always the case.)

I think Grace brings HOPE. And Jesus is our blessed Hope. I live in hope daily thinking that ‘perhaps today Jesus will come back".

I don’t spend every day trying to live like a Holy Person. I just live my life in Jesus and try to let him have full Reign. I don’t try to work my way into heaven. I don’t do things for others so that I can get points with God. I do things for others because of a genuine love that God has placed in my heart.

I love giving things away. Maybe that is a form of grace. I enjoy making others happy. I love making things and then just giving them away. If I am out shopping and I spot something I think someone else might like or could use, I try to pick it up for them as a little gift of love from me.

So all in all, I can only think that grace is the unmerited favor of God. God loves me and that is all I need to know. God loves me no matter what I do or don’t do.
I can live my life with hope and knowledge that the creator of the universe loves little ole me.

That is Grace.

GAETEN (GATOR) RAYMOND CHARLES IVANISKI (1964 2007)

GAETEN (GATOR) RAYMOND CHARLES IVANISKI (1964 2007)


Suddenly and unexpectedly on March 31 at his residence in Winnipeg Beach, Gaeten passed away at the age of 42 years.

He is survived by his loving mother Pauline (Cesare); brother Eugene; sister Charlene (Shane); nephews, Travis and Jesse and only niece, his princess Natalie, of whom he loved dearly; his aunts, Gert (Ian), Lavina (Barrie), Joyce (Jim), Marvel (Dan), Dorothy, Jeanette, Olga (Bert), Vi (Ron); uncles, Les (Loretta), Nick (Ruth), Walter (Betty) and Bill (Barb); great-aunts, Ellen, Evelyn (Eigill), Rubina and Pearl; and over 100 cousins. He was predeceased by his father Steve in 2004, which he never really got over; his grandparents, Jim and Gladys Johnston and Jack and Mary Ivaniski.

Gaeten was born on June 16, 1964, in Selkirk, MB. He attended school in Selkirk, participating in hockey, football, baseball and Ukrainian dancing. Gaeten joined the 737 Canadian Regiment in 1980 for three years. He worked numerous jobs over his short life, but his most memorable was working security at concert events in the old Winnipeg Arena.
His unique personality and humour will be greatly missed by his friends and family.

Honorary pallbearers are his close friends whom he enjoyed the company of.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 7, 2007, at 1:30 p.m. in the Gilbart Funeral Chapel, Selkirk, with The Ven. Godfrey Mawejje officiating.

Dear brother, our family is getting smaller, the crib table in Heaven is getting crowded, give Dad a kiss from us till we meet again - we love you dearly and will hold you in our hearts forever.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Gaeten's memory can be made to Evergreen Basic Needs, 96 3rd Ave., Gimli, MB R0C 1B0. Gilbart Funeral Home, Selkirk in care of arrangements.


I am sorry to say that I did not get to attend the Funeral as I didn't know about the services till Monday. My prayers go out to the family.

This article is my submission to the blog challenge sponsored by Art Bookbindery, "Empowering Writers to Self Publish."

As I reflect on the resurrection of our Lord, I am reminded that if he had not risen from the dead, our hope would be in vain. It is his very resurrection that makes our faith what it is today.

In thinking on that, I wonder, how does one celebrate life? In our world we are constantly celebrating life. When a child is born we celebrate it’s birth. When someone graduates from high school we celebrate their graduation. When someone gets married we celebrate the big day. We celebrate Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc. These are all part and parcel of what we call celebrating life.

But looking closer; the best way I have found to celebrate life is to look through the eyes of a child. Children are full of life and energy. Everything they see and experience is new to them and they want to learn.

I remember when I first became a Christian that my life was full of wonder and learning. I could not get enough of the Bible and what God had to say to me. I was a little child taking baby steps I was learning about where my father wanted me to be and what plans he had for me.

I went through the terrible twos where I rebelled at everything my father put before me. I threw temper tantrums and yelled at him because I thought things were too hard. I got frustrated because I couldn’t get my message across to him.

Then I matured a bit and thought I could do things on my own. After all, I was grown up now. But my father patiently waited along the sidelines till I gave up trying things on my own and then he lent a helping hand. He is always faithful that way.

When you begin to see your life, through a child’s eyes and as the father sees his child, you will really begin to experince life the way it should be experienced.

I find myself reminding myself quite often that in the Old testament men and women lived to be nearly 1000 years old. In that way of calculating, I am only a child in God’s eyes and I will remain His child throughout eternity. He has adopted me into his family.

I am reminded of a song:

He was there when you drew the breath of life
He could hear your voice the first time that you cried
Though you couldn’t see him
He was very near
And there’s something now, that he wants you to hear

You will always be a child in his eyes
If you need some love his arms are open wide.
Even when you’re growing old
I hope you realize,
You will always be a child in his eyes.

He was there the first time that your prayed
And he heard all the promises you made
As you came before him
Saying Father I have sinned
He said I love you child
And made you clean within

You will always be a child in his eyes
If you need some love his arms are open wide.
Even when you’re growing old
I hope you realize,
You will always be a child in his eyes.

How many children do you know that worry about their next meal or the clothes they are going to wear? How many kids worry that their parents might leave them and abandon them? How many children do you know who worry that they wouldn’t have a bed to sleep in or a house to live in?

We know that our heavenly Father takes care of these things. If he knows the very number of hairs on your head don’t you think he knows about every need you might have?

Our whole life is a celebration of His life and resurrection. Our lives should be an exaltation of that life He provided for us.

Soon our Bride groom is coming to take us to the grand wedding banquet he has been preparing for us. It will be the most elaborate celebration of all. It will be a time of celebrating our Eternal Life with the Father. Just as a bride is getting ready for the special day, each of us should be ready and waiting for the arrival of our spouse. He told us to watch and wait as we have no idea when that time will be.

Meanwhile we are busy making preparations to celebrate that glorious day. Our gowns are ready and waiting. We have been preparing special crowns for our beloved. We constantly talk to our spouse long distance and anxiously await his arrival for the big day. We are busy inviting friends and neighbours for the grand celebration. The excitement is mounting. All the preparations are ready and the final touches are being added.

What a glorious day that will be when we see our Saviour, face to face.

This little child plans to crawl up on the Saviour’s knee and embrace his face and give him a great big kiss.