The Gigantic Garage Sale is now past history except for the junk that didn't get sold. People sure do buy some odd stuff. The useful stuff is the last to go. Old jewelry, even old Sunday School attendance pins were hot stuff. We even had a purple Kool Aid stand that one of the men was threatening to buy and take home. His wife was praying that anyone else would buy it. Not sure what was the end result.
Tonight we are up late doing what a well organized mother would have made sure was done earlier, except that I was already doing too many other things. "We" are doing laundry. You see we have in our house an unwritten rule that everybody has to make sure that their own clothes are clean. We also have some procrastinators living in this house that just didn't get it done. I think my procrastinator of the moment is not admitting to being a bit stressed and excited. Patrick leaves tomorrow for Vancouver and although he was home most of the day, he is doing his laundry as he packs. Patrick won the Saskatchewan French music competition for performance of three of his compositions. He will now go on to the western Canada competition in Vancouver so he is justifiably pretty excited in a "cool" sort of way without admitting it. I guess this is a chance every budding guitarist would love because he has a chance of going on to Quebec to compete there, he'll meet lots of well connected people in the recording industry as well. So if anyone is in Vancouver take it in at the Waterfront Theatre on Friday at 7:00 or watch CBC - the French channel and you will see Patrick Kongawi perform. And yes I am a bit proud of him! Patrick

Leo had to move out of his office today. He is not doing enough clinical medicine to justify using up space in the clinic so he has to pack up all his books and bring them home. We are wondering where we are going to put them here. I guess we'll fit as many as we can into the office space at home and then who knows. We seem to have lots of bookcases but not as much floor space as they require. I suggested he take as many as he can to his MHO (Medical Health Officer) office but he doesn't think he has room for them there either. When it comes to books, he's not a good thrower outer. Me neither. Good news - He got his American Society of Addiction medicine certification and should get the Canadian one soon. Between the books and the diplomas and certificates we don't need to worry about needing more artwork to cover our walls. Leo's quite proud of his new certificate and I guess he earned it by his hard work so should be.
Christain, Grace and I went over to the church to help set up for the Giagantic Garage Sale. It is a fund raiser for CHIC so lots of the kids were there. We are hoping Christian can go but we don't have his US visa yet. He is a landed immigrant but still a Congolese so has all the hassles of being labeled as a potential assylum seeker by the US. Can you imagine! Anyway this garage sale sure has a lot of junk! It always seems to me that we take some junk there and bring some different junk home but we never really get rid of any appreciable amount of junk.
So tomorrow my day is already mapped out for me - help at the sale and then get some groceries before I get fired as a mother for having no Pizza Pops in the freezer.

Beyond Magazine led me to a fantastic piece of reporting on the Congo done by David McLaughlin and others at the CBC. Take a look. You need time but if this sort of thing interests you it is time well spent.

Just had an e-mail this am from our boys dad in the Congo. He was bit by a cat. He is worried. We are worried. Rabies is prevelant there. Vaccines and immune globulin are not so easy to come by. Bring Jacques before God today.

I was reading the story about the Pharisee and the tax collector this morning. It is so easy to play the role of the Pharisee at least for me. The material I'm reading asked the question "Who do I despise, where do my prejudices lie?" On the surface, I look pretty good. Yet the prejudices are deep in there and come out in my attitudes towards people. I know I come across as prejudiced and hypocritical to my oldest daughter but I chalk that up to her life choices that are not compatible with my values and what I hold dear. There seems to be a very fine line between being pharisaical and trying to live according to Christs principles.

The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
For he understands how weak we are; he knows we are only dust. Psalm 103: 13,14

God help me watch my attidudes! Remind me again and again of your compassion to me.

It's a beautiful evening. I sat outside in our new porch swing but then the mosquitos began to come out in full force. Now, under the remote threat of West Nile Virus we are exhorted by our good sense to think about applying some of that vile smelling stuff to ward off the little beasts. Sometimes it's just easier to go inside.

Greg is over tonight. Lingala lesson number three or four. Patrick has taken it upon himself to teach him since Greg is going to be spending several months in the Congo for his field experience towards his degree in Intercultural Studies from Providence. Greg will be working with Patrick's dad - a doctor(Congolese) with American Leprosy Mission.
Lingala is my third language and a pretty simple one as languages go. If you can't find the right word or if no word exists in Lingala(this happens quite often actually) you steal a French word and lingalacise it. Works great! I guess we are not above doing that in English or French for that matter. It still strikes me ear as strange when my kids who speak French Canadian French use the word "fun" as in C'est du fun. Just sounds weird to me. But then we commit faux pas and write resumes so I guess with time my ear will get used to it and I won't cringe when I am in a situation where I actually use it myself.

I can see where I may need to add a page explaining a bit about my family if I keep mentioning them in my blogs. Can't be a mom without mentioning the kids and the man in our lives. Our family is a bit unconventional - large and multiethnic, multicultural, and even ecumenical in a sense. However I think I will use this site a bit and get used to the changes I've made before I do another big change.

This internet stuff is a challenge for me. I think I am catching on a bit. Thanks Randall.

When I was the age of my kids there were a few huge computers somewhere but I had no illusions I could ever use one. We started using a PC in the Congo. Both Leo and I had to develope a lot of our own teaching materials and found the computer to be very appropriate technology. Now it is the way we communicate with friends around the globe. Wow! If we had had the internet while we were back in the Congo I would have done a prayer letter on a blog site. I guess we had no phones either but now with SAT phones its a possibility. Actually that is how we communicate with our Congolese boys father and mother via e-mail and occaisional voice communications. I might just have to take a laptop with me when I go out there next summer. The possibilities just seem incredible. Bear with me - I'm a dreamer!

Reading Jordon Cooper on the Congo really shook me up tonight. Why are we so helpless to do something. Sorry, I guess I am too close, too entangled in the web that is the Congo. The hurt is too much for me and my tendancy is to put it on the back burner somewhere in the recesses on my mind so I can go on functionning. We Canadians agonize over one lost child. What would we do if all the children in our city were slaughtered over the short span of a few weeks. There are no flowers on sidewalks in front of Congolese children's homes and no mothers left to weep. Sorry I am having a very hard time dealing with this slaughter.

I still seem to be having trouble changing my template. Sometimes machines are frustrating.

I think I figured out how to upload a picture. If you want to see my daughter in her game go ahead. She's the black girl - my baby. 14 already. God's special gift to me.
Sara soccer.jpg

I am trying to make some changes to my site but it seems that today was not a good day to try and change the template, so I will have to try over the next few days.

I got my first sunburn of the year today watching soccer - not too bad though, at least it doesn't hurt, I'm just very pink. I should know better but I forgot the sunscreen. It was a beautiful day for being at a soccer game, especially when my daughter is on the winning team. By the way, you Saskatonians, our girls kicked butt the last two days, beating Hollandia and Aurora both.
Sorry, I was going to put a picture in here but there is obviously something I am doing wrong - so another day!

We had a great visit this evening with a family from Belgium/Congo. They have two of the cutest little girls. And they speak very good French, which is good for my French. It is always easier to speak it by the end of the evening, I guess practice makes perfect. It's good for our kids too since their girls really do not speak much English. Multilingualism is a skill that our children do not appreciate enough. I earned my second language the hard way - as an adult - but it was worth it.

It is a beautiful start ot a new day. The sun shines, the grass is green and I am able to look out from my window as I write and watch the geese on the river. And I've just been talking with God and it was good.
I am getting ready to go to practice for worship this morning. I am thinking that this is one of the most anticipated joys in my life. I get to participate in the worship in a way that I hope brings glory to God. At least He is very indulgent and tolerates my joyful noise! God help my fingers hit the right notes today, at the right times!
As I was bringing my prayers to God this morning, I was bringing each of my children before Him. He made me realise that if my children were all perfect, I would probably never have needed Him so much. God keep my hands tightly grasped in yours as I live my life before them. Help them not to see only my weaknesses but some glimpses of You that would attract them to you.

We have a big busy day at our house today. Leo worked midnights so went to bed early last night to be able to function - was called at about 1:30 am and worked till 8:00am today. Then Christian went up to be his "chauffeur" and they are off to Saskatoon where Leo is attending a short conference on the provision of medical services in the Francophone community. I was to go too but Sara has her first real soccer game in the Premiere league at noon today so our plans had to change. I can't miss her first game! Our other son is helping to be a french language translator for a Judo competition here in Prince Albert - so he has already left for his "job" for the day. After the soccer game today I will have to go down to Saskatoon to pick Leo up. He does drive, in case you are wondering, but didn't think he should after being up all night. Good thing I like to drive - two trips to Saskatoon in three days.

I'm an early riser. There is no better time of the day for quiet in our house. If I don't put on the music too loud, I can sit and listen, talk to God, read, etc. without interruption. Front page on MSN is this article on meditation - how to. I wonder if there would ever be a front page link on how to pray and meditate in the Christian context- hmmmm.

Today was one of those days when I just didn't accomplish much. I had to fast for blood tests so my day didn't even start out with a good cup of coffee. Then I got to the lab and computer problems were preventing them from printing labels. The bloodletter had the bright idea to write them out by hand so we did eventually get the tests done. I must say that whoever the tech was, she did a good job - painless and I have those collapsible veins that usually require more than one attempt.

Today was also my day to supervise the School Dental Program(an in school treatment program to serve high needs kids) so I went over to Queen Mary School. The child I needed to see the most was out of school on a field trip so I couldn't do her work. There are too many field trips and not enough school - ought to make them work harder I say! So by midmorning I was free.

Went and bought some bedding plants. Was amazed that most of them are sold out. How did I get so far behind? Maybe that's why my plants start to bloom in September just before the first frost! I never seem to catch up with the speed with which summer passes. Wasn't it just snowing last weekend?

It was a unique experience taking my father and step mom to Saskatoon this afternoon for a doctors appointment. My Dad has Alzheimers and has had for a few years now. But today he seemed to have a big deterioration and so it really hit home how much of him we have lost already. I guess I am grieving the loss of a big part of him. He was always a person for whom I had a great deal of respect - intelligent, able to put a lot of stuff together in his mind, compassionate, patient, well respected in the community both for his work with special education when it was a brand new field, for the Christian counseling agency which he initiated and for his role as a pastor. Now he needs help to find the passages of scripture in a Bible study and gets lost in his own neighborhood. As I watched the doctor examine him so many thoughts and memories came into my head and I thought to myself "Doctor, do you know who this man is that you are examining? This is one of the most intelligent men I know. He's my Dad. He may be housed in a very old and crumpled body and mind now but he was every bit your match at one time." The doctor was good, the visit reassuring to me as he explained that part of his problem may be related to the new medication and that made a lot of sense to me.
We went and had supper before heading back up to Prince Albert. Driving back as we watched the sun set Dad started to sing the words of a song I hadn't heard for a long time "Day is dying in the west, Heaven is touching earth with rest..." We talked about some old memories of mine and it didn't really matter that two seconds after he couldn't remember anymore - I do. Love you Dad.

For someone being brought up in a traditional evangelical setting I find I am drawn to the postmodern concepts more. I just discovered the comparison chart on Jordon Coopers website. But these questions plaques me - Am I too old for this? Am I just resisting becoming old? Does God want me to become dormant and let another generation take over or does He want me to participate in it? If I'm too old for this why do I find myself feeling alive as a Christian for the first time in a lot of years as I participate in worship and explore new ways of bringing Christ to my kids generation?

Well tonight I am tired. I got up at 4:00 am to drive Sara to catch the van for her school trip to Drumheller. Oh the joys of being in a small school! The whole class of 10 grade 8's talked the teachers into taking a small detour from Drumheller to Calgary so they could go up the Tower(to make the trip of some educational value) and then go to the Chinook Mall for shopping, then back to Drumheller for more educational stuff. Quelle priviledge d"etre dans une ecole francaise! (Not sure how to get the accents into a blogging site). Anyways, once a person is up at that beautiful hour of the day and work starts in less than four hours, there isn't' much to do but stay up.

Today was "sedation day" at work. My assistants hate it and I can't say that I love it all that much either but somehow trying to treat under sedation seems a better choice than having the child wait the year or so it takes to get them in for a general anaesthetic when they are in pain. Today we had one real good experience out of five. Aside from the extremely hard work of holding onto a small body, wriggling, full of energy, while doing something as precise as a filling, being spit on and bit, today went as well as could be expected. The medication may erase their memories of the experience but not mine or their mothers. I wish there were more general anaesthesia facilities or more hospital time, or maybe just parents who knew how to look after their kids in such a way as to actually spare them the agony of rotten and abscessed teeth. If anyone out there reading this has children Please don't let them be constantly eating snacks or pop and juice and please brush their teeth for them -whether they like it or not starting from the day the first tooth comes in. It's just part of loving your kids. That is the word from my soap box today.

Sometimes it would be easier not to work on kids but I can't escape that part of my calling. Maybe its the fact that they hurt too often because we adults just haven't cared enough, or been too tired or too wrapped up in our own problems to do a good job of being parents. They are the innocent victims. Maybe it's the guilt from having inflicted some hurt on my own children. God forgive us parents. Help us to keep trying to love and do the right thing for our children and all the children you put in our lives.

I also have to celebrate with another of my kids tonight. She won first yesterday in the Midget 100 meter dash for her school(St Mary High School) and today won her heat in the city track meet and placed fourth over all. She came up with second place since it was a competition between the public and separate schools. Way to go, Grace!

Last night we as a family celebrated Leo's birthday. He actually has one more day left as a younger man. We have this thing about his age since I am a whole two months older than him. I think I was as excited about giving him his gift as he was in receiving it. Before Christmas I discovered in a used bookstore in Saskatoon a copy of Stanley's In Darkest Africa. Over 100 years old and still in almost perfect condition. A great indulgence but he is a Bibliophile and it's about Africa.

I seem to be running into all sorts of references about age. Maybe it's just birthdays and then watching my own dad wear out. At times I feel restricted because I know I am getting older - my body tells me so. But I would like to preserve an open outlook on life, not become too set in my ways as I see some older folks becoming.
So here I read in Psalm 92: 14-15

Even in old age they will still produce fruit;
they will remain vital and green.
They will declare," The Lord is just!
He is my rock!
There is nothing but goodness in him!"

I guess I hope I am still vital and green for awhile yet.

I read a good quote today by Dan Stover of the New York Times in the Readers Digest.
"At the genetic level, race doesn't exist. Studies of human DNA have found far more genetic variability between individuals within a "racial "group than between two such groups."

Psalms 90:12 and 14
Teach us to make the most of our time so that we may grow in wisdom...
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.

Today was a fairly lazy day so I don't know how well I made use of my time. So I don't suppose I'm much wiser today either!

Went over to visit my dad. He seems to have had a TIA today around noon. Leo went over, checked him out and started him on aspirin. He was better this evening which is typical. His loss of memory over the last few years makes him hardly the same person as his thoughts are very confused. He's still the dad that held me on his knee, prayed with me as I invited Christ in, taught me to ride a bike and drive a car, married Leo and I and loved and prayed for me all my life. I suspect God can still follow his wandering thoughts and put them together for him. Praise be to God for his neverending love to us. Keep Dad in your care, God.

"A burden will lessen after time but a calling will intensify over time." p.95 God Whispers by Margaret Feinberg

I spent a lot of time last night listening to my son agonize over the war in the Congo. He is hurt by the passion he has for his own people and the indifference of most everyone around him. He doesn"t know how to handle his passions for his land. He wants to know what he can do to solve the problems. He wants to go back and fix things. He is like a fish out of water and he is having a hard time breathing this Canadian air. He wants to wake the world up. I am afraid he will be hurt by the indifference to his passion by his high school peers.

It is early in the morning still and the house is quiet. The sun shines and the geese sit on the sandbar in the river in front of our house. The wind has died down considerably from yesterday so maybe today will bear the promise of spring and warmth that the May long weekend should bring. That will mean yardwork! Not that I really mind - its just the getting started. It feels good when I'm out there doing it.

I love spending time with God in the early morning on a beautiful day like this. Amazing that the Creator of all this beauty is listening to me.

OhGod!
The sun rises and brings warmth
To the dormant earth.
The birds return
Their calls announce the spring.
You whisper
And my heart hears.
Your love surrounds me
Like the light of the new day.
Like the sun calling the growing buds
You call me to yourself.
Infuse me with your life
Grow me.

Here I am, Linea Lanoie, wife, mother and taxpaying contributor to a large and dysfunctional, mixed race, mixed cultural family of nine. An anglophone myself, I am wife of and mother to four francophones. Three of our children are anglophones. Three of our children are white, two black and two mixed. I have come to love the French language, Lingala and most things african except for the painful stuff going on there. I have been blessed with a myriad of life experiences. And I like practicing well the profession (of dentistry) God called me into. I have always rebelled a bit at the expectations of the established church and also at the pre-feminist views of what a woman should do with her life. Now I rebel at being catagorized as too old to try and appreciate new worship strategies and styles. I am discovering the pleasure there is in the melodies, beat and significant messages of today's music. It is good to experience the intensity with which my children make music, dance and play. I feel freer now to worship than I ever did in the past. It takes some of us a long time but God works to free us to fully enjoy His presence and worship Him with all of our beings. I like it!


I decided to give blogging a try. I have always liked to write to express myself - usually in free verse. I will, from time to time post some verse here. I think it will also be an intellectual challenge to try writing again - a forum for my thoughts.