It is spring break...and spring has broken in on us. At last we can sleep with the windows open. The dog has found her favorite spot on the concrete. She basks like a seal...with the heat of the sun warming her old dog bones...and her old dog bones.

Old houses are a lot of work. Our house isn't as old as this one...(I took its picture because I was quite sure it was about to fall down, this old house was a block away from where we lived in Medicine Hat). Our house was built in the 70's (not the 1870's)... and it was time for some more changes. Phase 2 of kitchen renovations is about mid-stream. We have put in new countertop...(almost granite...) and painted everything in sight. A new sink and tile backsplash...and best of all...a new fridge. Our outgoing fridge has had a screaming demon for over a year...so we feel no remorse in sending it to fridge hell...

Another best of all is the fact that our kitchen counters are almost six inches deeper than before. WE HAVE GAINED GROUND! This is clearly a big deal to me...attached in some way to the fact that wider counters guarantee some happiness on some level.

The whole renovation has been a chore...but there is a level of satisfaction...oh...

...and another best of all...we built in a dishwasher...yes can you believe it after three years of family bliss over the supper dishwater...we will have a machine take care of the stains and remains! (I think this is the best...best of all...!!!!)

Satisfaction comes in the form of doing so much of it myself...other than wiring...it has been done by the sweat of my brow..oh and Tage's brow and Peg's brow! It is hard to believe what you can learn to do...when you start to see what it might cost if someone else was to do it.

Soon the pots and pans will move back in. The breadmaker and mircrowave will make small talk about the improvements. The toaster will blush at its grime in the gleam of the new sink. And all will be well...

Internal Anxiety...

Well the day trip with my boss went well. But by the time I got back to the hotel and dropped him off, I had a mind splitting migrane. The kind that combines pain with dark blotches and waves of nausea. I staggered to my room and settled down to a mid afternoon nap.

I woke up to the phone. Headache somewhat subdued. He wanted to talk we got together and he described what any counselor would call spiritual abuse. He was even tuned into the thought. But he was resistant...unwilling to call it what it was. It revolved around the idea that major life choices (career, lifemate etc.) needed to be approved by a pastor in order to recieve the blessing of the church. Not the church universal...a local church! Without that approval there would be no blessing. Yikes...

We talked a little more but could make no headway...

Then off to supper with my boss...After a day of talking bottom line, margin, profit centers etc. he shifted into a very personal discussion of his life and kids and family...I was pleasantly surprised. A human face!

I have to go to Lethbridge with my boss. I must feel some anxiety over it...or I wouldn't think so much about it. Four hours of travel, three hours of sales presentation...7 hours of time with my boss. He's a good guy...and I know that I will get to know him better...and perhaps he will get to know me.

I love my job. However I am trying hard not to define myself with it. When I am with him, we talk business, bottom lines, books, books and more books. I never thought when I took the job that I would find the relentless interest in profit and margin such a grind. When I travel on my own...I discover lots about myself, but don't tend to spend hours focusing on how I can increase my account base. (Perhaps that is why I discover a lot about myself!)

Money seems to be a big draw these days. I talked with a friend who is thinking maybe a lifetime calling in ministry isn't for him. A lot of his reasoning revolved around the salary cap that comes with a job like Pastoring. No room for cash bonuses or incentives for increased sales. It is hard to imagine for people who have never done it...but a salaried job is demotivating and can often call you to mediocrity. I think it is part of why the communist regime fell...same pay for everyone....and when the pay is low...why work harder?

Coins in the mouth of a fish

Matthew 17:24ff When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?" 25 He said, "Yes." And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?" 26 Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. 27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."

Do you know this story about taxes from the Gospels. Catch a fish and check out the fact that it has coins in its mouth. Miraculous!

We were hung up on filing our tax return. We were missing one T4 slip that had slipped away. Last night we looked for it. This morning we looked for it. Nowhere...sigh....no where.

I was making supper. I took out the Spaghetti pot and filled it with water. In the holes of the collander (technical point...the collander inserts into the pasta pot...you know!)...I could see letters...here and there...and white spots here and there. When I fished out the paper...it had been fully immersed...there it was...the missing T4 slip. Like coins in the mouth of a fish...

It snowed last night...the first real snow we have had this winter. I have been waiting...months ago I wrote a spot on this blog about Winter coming to Saskatchewan. I suppose I could have called this...Winter comes to Alberta...but who wants to read about winter in March?

Tage and I drove across the city in the endless pursuit of his vocation and calling. We stopped at a church in a neighborhood I lived in 22 years ago. I used to jog by these beautiful mosaics...they are...you guessed it....the Gospel writers... Back then I wanted to photograph them...and never did. Today...we stopped and took some time to put them back on the front page of my life...22 years later. Pretty stunning pictures...if I say so myself...I love how the guy on the left seems to reading a good book while his buddy watches to see when the next bus is coming. They stand back from the street and snow while they wait. Careful to stay within the shelter...so as not to get snow on their sandaled feet...
I know I go on about life being a big circle but I am often reminded of this and feel compelled to remind you...22 years and they were still there. Waiting patiently for me to take their picture.