a list: things I loved about my trip to Canada

June 29, 2014July 1, 2014 melodyanndayLeave a comment

I’ve been away from home for a few days, visiting my grandparents in Strathroy, Ontario. Because I lived there as a child and I don’t always remember things as they actually were, I’m always surprised when I visit: These old stomping grounds still hold a piece of my heart. Anyway – I really enjoyed my time up north and thought I’d share a list about my trip…

10. I like crossing the border, especially when the wait with customs isn’t too long. It’s sort of magical – it feels different the minute you step over. Yes, Canada and the U.S. are two very different places.

9. The biscuits. I LOVE Peek Freans. There are lots of different types of cookies to have with your tea – but there is nothing better than these.

8. My Grandparents: I rarely see them. This time I was alone, without my hubby and kiddos, so I was able to spend a little time with them undistracted. And that was special.

7. Mark and Amy. My cousin and his wife are way above par when it comes to hospitality – and I got to stay two nights with them. Vitamix smoothies in the morning and mojitos with fresh mint in the evenings, and lots of good conversation and laughter in between! (this is a photo of me and Amy… sorry, Mark! forgot to snap your photo!)

6. The cream buns. This is extra special and will probably get its own separate blog post, but – Amy, who has taken the time to learn how to make Grandma’s Cream buns, taught me how to make them this week. And I can’t wait to make them on my own at home for a special occasion.

5. These guys. I got to be with my parents. I haven’t had this much time, just me and my folks, in a really long time – and it was amazing to get to be together. My heart needed that.

4. My extended Brubacher family. I love who I am and where I come from ; these Brubachers are a part of me. We are big and loud – and being together is so much fun. I was able to connect with so many people that I love and it was wonderful! (This photo is all of the cousins with their spouses – some of my favorite people on the planet are in this photo. Only my sister, my cousins Ang, Dave and their spouses are missing, oh, and Michael.)

3. Grandma, Celebrating 90. Living far away I rarely get to be there for the little things, let alone the big deals. I’m so grateful I was able to be there for my Grandma’s birthday celebration. It was a very special day.

2. And there’s this. I presented the completed, printed and published family cookbook to Grandma, which is dedicated to her. What a broad spectrum of emotions! I was beyond elated to share it with everyone, completely relieved that we had delivered such a beautiful book, but, a tiny bit sad because my partner in crime, Ang, couldn’t be there to celebrate.

1. Most of all: these people. Because being apart reminds me just how much I love them! And I get to go home to them today! 🙂 Yay!

friends and loved ones

the countdown

June 23, 2014June 22, 2014 melodyanndayLeave a comment

(Lily the puppy, waiting to come home in a few weeks.)

It has become a daily routine that Mackenzie checks in with us, “How many days to Lily?” This is the all important question, that must be asked regularly. I think she asks in hopes that maybe the timeline has changed. like BAM – our answer will be, “She comes today!” or something like that…

We are actually about 3 weeks and a few days out from Lily’s arrival. And we have been diligently preparing for her. We’ve fenced in the backyard. We have purged a lot of tiny toys from our house. The deck now has wire to protect her from falling off . So on and so forth the list goes. And the work continues.

She has no idea how good its gonna be.

* * * * * * *

In the car my children and I have been listening to “The Last Battle” by C.S. Lewis. His portrayal of the end of the world, followed by the beginning of the New Narnia is so filled with all of the satisfaction, wholeness, perfection and wonderful-ness a human heart and mind could possibly hold.

As we finished the last chapter, on our way downtown last week, I nearly pulled over due to the fact that I found myself in tears. Ugly crying, in fact. I was so taken by the fact that the characters in the story had found the new Narnia to be such an amazing, technicolor, 3-D version of the former shadow.

Listening to that story, I began to think, “What will this New heaven and New Earth be like? As a believer I’ve heard of it my entire life, and yet – I still don’t know what to really expect. What does He have planned for us? Is this joy and peace and love and wonder, so well conveyed by Lewis, a tiny taste? Is that even possible?”

* * * * * * *

Lily, our puppy coming to us soon, is going to experience so much love and joy when she arrives. We’ve done everything we know to do to prepare a home for her, and to prepare ourselves as her family.

If we’ve done all of this lovingly for her, we being so human and flawed and sinful, I keep thinking… How much more is He doing for us? What has He planned? What’s He got up His sleeve? The God of the Universe, who created and formed so much majesty and goodness in the world around us – what has He orchestrated?

Even if I knew the answers to all of these questions, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to comprehend it.

* * * * * * *

We’re counting down the days to Lily – excitedly awaiting her arrival – because that’s what you do when you love an adorable little puppy you’ve only met once…

I can’t help but wonder if He’s preparing for us, or if He’s on some kind of official countdown to eternity? I guess we’ll know. someday.

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Double Berry Crisp…

June 14, 2014 melodyanndayLeave a comment

What happens when you find blueberries in your freezer, on a rainy week in June, when you’ve done most of your chores and you want to procrastinate doing any laundry?

You make blueberry crisp, of course!

Except in my case, out of necessity, I changed up a recipe I found on the blog savorysweetlife.com and made it my own. I kinda had to, because I didn’t have quite enough blueberries. oops.

This recipe I’m going to share with you is how it turned out – and yes, it was really, really yummy! I thought I should share it now because blueberries are about to be in season…

Seriously, you may need this recipe on hand…

Double Berry Crisp

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
4 cups blueberries and 2 cups chopped strawberries
1 tbsp of lemon
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed in ½-inch squares
1½ cups rolled oats
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
In a large bowl, mix the sugar and flour.
Add the blueberries, strawberries and lemon juice and gently toss with the sugar. Transfer the blueberries to the prepared baking dish.
In a food processor, add the flour, brown sugar, and butter and pulse the ingredients until it resembles coarse meal. If you don’t have a food processor, work the mixture with your fingers by rubbing the ingredients between your thumb, fingers.
Add the oats, cinnamon, and salt.
Evenly sprinkle the mixture over the berries.
Bake for 45 minutes or until the topping is slightly brown. Serve the crisp hot or cold with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

It is definitely worth the 10 minutes this takes to throw together! Give it a try and satisfy your summertime blueberry cravings.

friends and loved ones

answers to things I didn’t pray for…

June 13, 2014 melodyanndayLeave a comment

(My sweet baby girl, at the park…)

I’m a worrier. There I said it.

And I’m not a worrier about big important things. My heart strives over little stuff around the house, with my kids, about my husband. Trivial, that’s how I roll. But, I also worry about wild crazy things – that will never, ever happen, most likely. Outlandish nightmares sometimes creep in, as though they’ll be my reality. It is nuts.

Now before you come to believe I’m an absolute loon, I can tell you that the Holy Spirit has been my victory in this way. I can tell you that at this time in my life, He overcomes my strange and obnoxious worries with a whisper and I don’t live a life of fear at all. Scripture memory is a big part of that victory, of course – and I know where my heart rests.

Over time I’ve learned to set aside the worries, along with my lack of control and simply abide in the hope I have in Christ. What this means for a worrier like me is I don’t pray like I used to. My prayers used to be exhausting: “Please don’t let this happen, and please keep this at bay, and please make this stop before such and such happens…”

Every human knows, there’s no praying for all the “what-ifs”. right?

I cannot pray away enough “maybes” for my loved ones. It just isn’t possible. And so I have to rely on a simple prayer of protection on them all and believe that my Heavenly Father is in control and knows all possible outcomes.

With all of this in mind, I want to tell you about a miracle that happened just last night here at our house.

I was at the bottom of the stairs, when I heard loud thumping – as I looked to my left, I saw my sweet baby girl falling helplessly head first down the stairs, with great force and inertia, her chin coming to a rest at the landing. Very loud wailing ensued. I rushed to her, and picked her up to hold and comfort her.

As I looked her over, I could hardly believe my eyes. Though her face had basically taken the brunt of her fall there was no blood, no cuts. All teeth were still firmly rooted. No stitches needed. A small bruise on her chin received an ice pack treatment.

I’m about to say something weird.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I was this happened. You see the truth is, I’ve never prayed – “Please keep Mackenzie from falling head-first down the stairs. And if she does, please keep her from being hurt.” Nope. I’ve never prayed anything of the sort. And yet, it is an answer to the prayer I didn’t pray. I believe He allowed it to happen, but also protected her from being hurt… confirming His truth. There is no need to worry.

(Of course, I also believe that, if she was hurt, there would be something good to come from that too, ordained as a part of His will… If I were posting photos of Mackenzie with stitches across her chin, that would not upset my belief that He is good.)

In the moments following her fall, I was so relieved to find that all of the Scripture I’ve been relying on about not worrying is true. His loving care and provision is full and complete.

from Matthew 6:

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

green thumb envy...

waiting for blooms

June 11, 2014June 11, 2014 melodyanndayLeave a comment

I have a few new beauties on my back porch this summer. Hot pink geraniums, in a large planter. Whenever I see them, I smile. Partly because my husband brought them home for me from the nursery, these bold flowers of pink, when I had asked for something red. He’s color blind, but thought they were just right – and he was correct. Turns out they are perfect.

Today I went out to water them, lingering a few moments to “dead head” the old and dying flowers, preparing for the new blooms to pop out. The blooms were shut tight, heads hanging down. But, slivers of pink show at the tips, betraying the truth that maybe, just maybe we’ll have new flowers show casing God’s handiwork any day now.

How I love the beauty of God’s creation!

These geraniums reminded me of His truth today. Just as the flowers have to wait patiently for me to water and care for them – I too need to wait. My life is full of gifts from the heavenly father, waiting to bloom – but they are only buds, sealed up – and I must wait for Him to tend my heart. I must rely on Him to draw out the gifts of His spirit in me, in His time, and His way. Every opportunity, every possibility – a part of His providence – is a gift that allows me to bloom fully and more beautifully than I ever could by my own design.

I want to tell you that I do the growing – and that it lasts forever. That would be nice, wouldn’t it? My geraniums, they flower a bit, and then they die – and then more buds pop out, they open and flower, and then they die again. It is a continuous cycle. The same thing happens to me: I learn. I grow. I forget. I sin. I learn. I grow. I forget. Over and over there is dead fruit to contend with : impatience. anger. pride. selfishness. Graciously, He helps me to reckon with my own sin, forgiving me when I repent, plucking it away, and preparing me for new blooms.

I love the words from John 15, because it reminds me that without Him I’m completely disabled. My fruit is completely and totally reliant on Him.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

It is his glorious plan, and I am grateful that He is the most tender and patient gardener of my heart.

friends and loved ones

Just a few verses from Psalm 103…

June 4, 2014 melodyanndayLeave a comment

I’ve been trying to read Scripture by asking questions, like: “What does that phrase mean in my life?” “How does that include me?” “Why does that say about my heart?” I know most people probably already do that. But, I’ve been reading Psalm 103, trying to apply the words to my heart in the most honest sense… and I thought I’d share a few verses of it with you this morning.

( Just to be clear, I’m not writing a paraphrase, or translating anything, only making it real for me.)

Psalm 103: 1-5

Today, I will remind myself to praise you Lord, with my whole body – inside and out – I will bless You in Your holiness and for your goodness, quietly and out loud.

I won’t forget all of the good things that come with belonging to You.

My sin, my shortcomings, my failures – my anger, my impatience with my children, my gossiping, my inability to follow You well – You have forgiven it all!

My lymphoma, can I bless you enough that I don’t need treatment right now? I don’t know exactly where it all stands right now, but I know You have helped me overcome my disease, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally!

And, let’s talk about all of the havoc I’ve brought on my own life – making poor choices, continuing in them when I know better, and still you didn’t allow it – you turned my life upside-down in order to redeem the mess I made. I truly don’t deserve the life I live now!

To top it all off, you love me with great patience and mercy through all of my waywardness ; graciously You’ve given me a loving husband and beautiful children, with a home where we can rest and live well.

By Your Spirit I’m empowered with strength and health and all that I need to live the life You ordained for me.

I will shout Your name from the mountaintops so that all know who You are and what You’ve done!

friends and loved ones

keeping secrets

May 22, 2014 melodyannday1 Comment

Most who know me well, know I’m terrible at keeping secrets. If I know something, I tend to ‘spill it’, with very little pressure applied.

So, I’ve come to the place where I can’t keep this particular secret any longer. A few know, but, I think we’re ready to tell everyone now.

The Day family has decided to grow by one more member this July and we couldn’t be more excited.

Meet Lily.

friends and loved ones

de-bunked

May 21, 2014May 21, 2014 melodyannday1 Comment

We live in a three bedroom house. 1300 square feet. max. None of our bedrooms are large, not even the master. So, when our third child came along a few years ago, the natural solution was bunk beds so that two children could share one room comfortably.

For several years Emily and Isaac shared a room and peacefully slept on the bunk beds. All was well at bed time in the Day household. However, when we did a little rearranging recently, Emily went solo in her own room, which left Isaac and Mackenzie to begin a new bunk bed partnership. We expected the same arrangement. peace and quiet.

How could we know the outcome? We are just the parents, after all.

Night after night, since he moved to the top bunk, Isaac was distressed. He was totally out of sorts, but he couldn’t tell us why. We tried to convince him it was the coolest and best place to be. No longer was he a “bottom bunker” – he was on top now. He was the king of the castle. His top bunk was his own private space like a club house. But he wasn’t buying what we were selling.

He didn’t like it.

After more than three months of trying to sort all of it out, we discovered the problem a few nights ago. He felt alone. Although he knew Mackenzie was in the room with him, that she was just below in the bottom bunk, he couldn’t see her. As a bottom bunker he could always see Emily above, and that kept him at ease. But now, he couldn’t get his mind around it. We had to prove to him he was in good company.

So. We de-bunked today.

Tonight Mackenzie and Isaac’s beds are side by side. And for the first time in quite a while, they went to bed as happy and snug as two bugs in a rug. All because Isaac could see Mackenzie and reassure himself that he was not alone.

I had to de-bunk my own myth this week. I found myself not believing something that previously I had known to be true of my Heavenly Father. Honestly, I’m embarrassed to admit it. Though He has always met my needs, and I have seen Him present and active in my life consistently to this point, something came up – and in my humanity I became convinced He wasn’t working on my behalf. I couldn’t see. and it made it hard to believe.

Well, He proved me wrong a few days ago. Lovingly, he dismantled my disbelief with provision, beyond what I was expecting.

Just because I can’t see what I want to see, doesn’t mean I can let my faith give way to doubt. And I realized once again the truth of Hebrews 11:1 – Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

I am thankful for a Heavenly Father, who cares to remind me of His love and faithfulness to me, drawing me to himself time and time again. My heart is strengthened and my spirit renewed.

friends and loved ones · in my kitchen

mashed potato protest

May 20, 2014May 20, 2014 melodyanndayLeave a comment

My daughter stood at the doorway of the kitchen and wailed this evening, as I peeled and diced potatoes. I was preparing to make mashed potatoes for dinner. But my sweet baby girl wasn’t having it. She stood there and cried, “Mama, mama, mama” incessantly until I finished and picked her up.

Many thoughts went through my head at the time mostly revolving around the idea of never making mashed potatoes again. But I’ve thought about it since then – and I have learned something. Two things actually. And I couldn’t decide which to share with you, so I will share them both. I have realized from this experience why I want so desperately to be just like my baby girl. But then also, in another way why I hope I’m not like her.

huh?

Okay – first – my daughter had some serious perseverance. She was not leaving the kitchen without me. She did not get distracted. She did not get quiet. She cried and called out again and again until I answered. She did not waiver once.

I need to be more like that. By comparison my prayer life is weak. I call out to my Heavenly Father, but I give up easily. If I don’t hear an answer in a few minutes, I give up. I’m distracted by other possibilities, other earthly offerings and I walk away. I do not always press through to reach His heart. Sometimes He wants to know I mean business, and unfortunately a lot of times I show Him that I don’t.

Now, what you need to know is that my daughter didn’t know what I was doing. Mashed potatoes are her very favorite. She requests them regularly – “Hot potatoes! Hot potatoes!” I think she would eat them at every meal. But here she was, pitching a major fit, trying to get me to stop my work in the kitchen and move me to do something else entirely.

I wish I wasn’t like this, but I am. There have been times in my life where I know that I have pitched a similar fit because I couldn’t see what God was doing, and therefore I assumed it wasn’t going to be good. So, I let him know, trying to get Him to stop the work, not realizing that what He was doing would be a huge blessing for me…

But there is good news. With my Heavenly Father there is always good news. He loves me in spite of it all. He knows what His plan is for me and He blesses me. In spite of my inability to pray properly, in spite of how many fits I pitch, His love knows no limits.

And so, I’m hopeful after learning these lessons from my baby girl. The next time there is something uncertain or unknown, I’m going to try to remember to spend time sincerely in prayer. But, I’m not going to protest – it might be mashed potatoes.

From Jeremiah 29: 11-12 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”

Originally written February 2011.