Do You See What I See?

I must really love my husband.  I am at David’s house with Russ and Morgan, we came to join David watching the NFR Rodeo finals on TV.   I really hate watching rodeo, the potential for disasters seems to be happening all the time.   At least that is how it seems to my tender self.   I am here because Russ invited me and I figured I could bring my laptop, be near my fellas and David, and ignore the stressful stuff on the big screen.  The situation strikes me kind’ve funny actually.  I brought some ministry books and I have been reading and getting my head around a couple special services coming up, including our Blue Christmas service.  I’m not working as a minister officially but I do fill in for special services when the ranch schedule allows.  So here I am pondering caring liturgies while off to my side the Powell’s projector makes it seem there is a life size rodeo going on.  The National Finals Rodeo is in downtown Carnduff!

Now its time to blog a little bit. 

The week has gone by very fast.  Russ and I ended up deciding to go to Minot for a 48 hour trip.  It was such a treat.  One of our favorite stops in Minot is Ebenezers Irish Pub & Restaurant.  We had some of our favorite food and drinks and felt really lucky to be there and to feel relaxed.  We had earned it we thought, after doing so much close up work with our entire herd in the weeks prior. 

It is now a couple days later, not “at the rodeo” anymore……It was easy to decide to go to Minot, the money we spent on our hotel was more than made up for by the exemptions at the border that a 48 hour journey gives us. However, for days and days we have been flying in and out of our house and doing the BARE minimum. The word “tsunami” has been applied to our place this week. I really could have used and should have used the days away working in our house. I shouldn’t even be writing right now. I should be house and Christmas prepping. But sometimes you just have to give yourself some room for expression and making memories. 

Are you noticing that Russ and I are wearing matching shirts in our Eb’s pictures? Russ loves that. I am well aware how weird it is but it honestly makes Russell so happy. Teams wear uniforms and I guess you could say, that is our deal. We had matching tops for each of our days away. 

If you follow the blog you will know how much I go on about “being seen” at times, you will know the blog address (iseeyouyouseeme.ca) has meaning to me. This week a few things have come my way that say “I see you”, each in their own way. There is humor and wisdom in them.

In one of my recent blogs I featured a picture of one of the personalized ornaments I made last year. It was for Gina and it celebrated her accomplishments in stage combat. One of the readers mentioned they would like to see more of our ornaments. In the last week I got the package at the post office that held our ornaments for this year. I feel a little guilty but I think mine is the cutest. So thinking about that reader’s request…..Marj this picture is for you! We order from personalizedornamentsforyou.com and find they do a great job of supplying ornaments that work for our annual highlights of each year. Noone else in the family has seen their ornament for this year so I can’t feature them. Unfortunately I broke Jill’s when I held it up to take a picture of it and it slipped out of my hand, it was a very fragile one. I couldn’t believe what I had done. So…my ornament for 2023.

I am curious what you see when you look around the places where you live. I have two things on my mind alot these days. I am worried about our postal workers. With online shopping the volumes of bulky parcels that they are dealing with every day seems overwhelming. Amid it all, our local staff are staying kind and patient and I admire them so much. I feel like I could easily become aggressive if I was to be in there and find anyone treating them with anything but respect. But who am I kidding, I would probably just come home and blog about it versus finding the strength to stand up for my postal heroes. I suspect all customer service jobs are trickier in this season, there are so many people burning the candle at both ends in our world, healthcare workers for sure, for always, and right now, these warrior women in the post office. I need to tuck them all into my prayers in a more vivid way.

We also have a terrific team working on something in our community called “Santa Cause.” Their mandate is to create a Christmas gift experience for children whose families are challenged to do so. In what feels like one of the most trickiest seasons, emotionally, time-wise and more, they are finding the time to think through and make happen the collection, preparation and distribution of these gifts. I can’t deal with what is in front of me let alone take on other families. To me these women and the community generosity behind them is one of the most important “I see you” messages out there. It says to burdened adults and hopeful children, you are seen and you matter. The leaders and the generous community members giving to the cause are living one of the essential truths of the Christmas message. That God became one of us, and the whole way it unfolded affirmed that we are all of great value, our needs matter and we each have a place in the story. That last sentence basically sums up why I am a minister. Before this turns into a sermon, which it could….I will sign off. By the time I write again Christmas will have passed. I wish all you beautiful supporters a Christmas experience that really touches your soul and fills your cup and gives you something to grin from ear to ear about. God bless you.

Okay, not done. I read it to Russ and he said this very cute picture of Buster really needs to be included. They “held hands” for a long time.

Russ also objected to the fact that the cows we love are barely even mentioned. So, one little ditty, late on Sunday afternoon we ran 9 calves through the chute. We had been at a concert where absolutely beautiful sounds were made, and we got to see our friend Lori doing what she loves to do. Lori and her family had us in a tender heart space. 

We came home to those calves. They had been in the barn recuperating from sickness when the rest of the herd was treated last week. It was hilarious how daunting it was to face going out to do 9 animals. We were slow, we couldn’t care less about taking a picture, we were on the verge of cranky and we made mistakes. I think we definitely need a rest! However we can now say that all the Bar MW cows have had Ivomec!

One last thing….really…..A picture of cows to make Russ happy and because I love it. Do you see what I see? Tenley and Jordanna are on either side of the picture and they are having a conversation across a herd of cows. Liz Griffin’s picture captured something so beautiful and also typical of these two.  A good friend can see you and hear you, even across distances. 

Now….Merry Christmas and God Bless!