February 16, 2008

Valentine's

So, I married a saint and revel in the continual and surprising love I am blessed with by him. We had our "Valentine's" night out Feb 12, since I worked the rest of the nights that week. It was great. I was secretly hoping that he would have something planned when I got off work, and when I got in the door and he said "Go get ready", I was like, "YES!!!" So, I showered and to speed up the process, he picked out my clothes (which I like when he does, so I don't have to stand there, trying to decide) and got ready. We left the house with toques and mitts and enjoyment in the air, not to mention, hungry stomachs!

We arrived at the Amuze Casual Dinning restaurant, which is on the third floor of an old building on Main St. and it has a pricey but really good and unusual menu. We took a table right beside the little fire place and warmed up while we looked at the menu. Finally, we had decided. He ordered Paella (a spanish dish of chicken, rice, shrimp, vegetables and sausage) and I ordered a half soup (which was Borscht), and a curry chicken sandwich. While we waited, we talked and I thought it was perfectly fun to be there and while scolding myself that I hadn't brought my camera, he admitted that he had! What a thoughtful man! Of course he would know that I wanted pictures of the evening! I was perfectly delighted that he had thought of it and proceeded to capture him (and he, me), and our surroundings, and the food when it came and while we ate. My sandwich came in a create-it-yourself style, so I had wedges of pita, a bed of various lettuce leaves, and a saucer in the middle with the flavored chicken mixture. Drake's came on a steaming hot skillet, all mixed together, so while I put mine together, we ate and we chatted and all of it tasted good. After we were finished, he paid and we followed the three flights of stairs down, back out to the cold again. However, when we reached the car, he informed me we were not driving.

So, he led and we walked only a block or so and arrived at Coffee Encounters for desert! Mmmmmm, I love desert! I had a hot chocolate and he had a brown sugar cinnamon latte, and we shared a piece of marble swirl cheesecake. It was fun. I asked him if we were going to play chess (since we do every time we're there), but since he knows I always loose and wanted me to enjoy myself, we didn't. We just sat and sipped our hot drinks and felt warm and lazy and tired and content. Well, he hadn't planned the rest of the night concretely, so he said I had a choice of four options, and I could pick one. So, after a hesitant moment (because I didn't want to miss out on anything good), I chose option #2. And he said ok. I was wondering what I had chosen, but he remained silent, letting me be surprised with the outcome.

Then he mentioned that we had some time before option 2, so we decided to go shopping a bit. We went to Superstore and I got some candles on clearance (yes I'm cheap, I know), but other than that we bought nothing. After browsing for a while longer, he said it was time to go, so we got back into the car and he drove us to the theater! When we pulled into the parking lot, I was suddenly so excited I had chosen #2 and with a big smile, asked what movie it was we were going to see. He responded with "27 Dresses" and I thought to myself, "what a great man I have, taking me to such a girlie movie!" He is always loving me like that- setting aside himself to make me feel special and loved. I had wanted to see this movie since the last time we had been at the theatre, so we bought our tickets, and though we were early, continued into the theater to take our seats. We were the first ones there and joked about making out (since we actually behaved ourselves when we were dating), but refrained, laughing. The previews began and others joined us to watch. The movie was good and we enjoyed it- enjoyed ourselves- and when it was over, we went home. And that's where this story ends....

February 15, 2008

"Pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Just sharing a devotion by Oswald Chambers that spoke to me...

February 14, 2008
The Discipline of Hearing

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops —Matthew 10:27
Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into "the shadow of His hand" until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2 ). "Whatever I tell you in the dark. . ."— pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.

After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, "How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!" And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.

February 12, 2008

There is hope in the Clouds

Well, I have to say that things are looking up ever so slightly- I had a hearing test last week and apparantly my hearing problem looks like it may be fixable! I am so excited and releived. What good news -(thank you Lord). I will be seeing my doctor on Feb 25 to find out more (since the hearing people faxed him the results), so either I may be getting hearing aids, or have surgery to correct it, we'll see. As far as the other frustration I had, there are no signs, positive or negative when it may change, so for now I will look toward the issue that is actually changing, until further developments. I'll keep you posted too... if anyone read this! haha