It's the end of a busier than normal week for us...and it's snowing again! I managed to be organized enough to get my grocery essentials before it got ugly! That almost never happens! Yesturday, from inside our warm, cozy house, as i watched the snow start to fall...i was smelling homemade chicken soup from the slow cooker, freshly baked oatmeal cookies and my coffee, wishing SO much to look forward to someone coming home at the end of the day to share it all with. It was just one of those lonely days i guess. BUT the boys were hungry and ate lots and lots, so i'm not complaining, i did something right, and at least their bellies were filled and we were all warm and cuddled up!
As for this past week...Dad and I had a meeting for the RELAY 4 LIFE through the Canadian Cancer Society) happening locally at the end of May. This year, they asked Dad and I to be the Honorary Co-Chairs for the event! What an absolute honour it is for both of us to be apart of such an inspiring group of people. Mixed with cancer survivors and people affected in some way by the disease. What an amazing way for us to give back and make change happen in our community! I am planning on posting a link and more info on the event or about how you can get involved and register your teams, if you feel you want, too!
Wednesday night was the annual Police Parade held at the Cypress Centre. A chance for the department and their families to get together all dressed up and looking great, might i add, and hear about the previous year and the year ahead. What an incredible group of officers who make up this Police Family...it made me miss the life we would've had being apart of it...Colin was watching though, of that i'm sure! I had the oppertunity to sing O Canada, which was fun, but it was bittersweet. Last Year Colin was apart of his first and last Parade, i'm so grateful he was able to do that, but i wish it wasn't just one year! This past November marked Dad's 30th year in Policing...so it was great to have our whole family there to watch him march and show him how so very proud we are of him!

This week my little Keegan has had this awful chest cold that's making it's rounds, so i've been trying to make sure he's getting better and not any worse, hopefully he can kick it soon!
I wanted to share this quote i read from Oswald Chambers, he wrote one of my most favorite devotional books, and it reads, "We do not need the Grace of God to withstand crises - human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatureal grace of God to live 24 hrs of every day, as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God - but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people - and this is not learned in 5 minutes." The thing that spoke to me about that and the thing that i'm learning so clearly is that i never dreamed how hard it would be to walk through Colin's journey and his fight to the end with his disease...but honestly, i was never fully prepared for how difficult the "after it all" would be. I mean, spiritually, with others carrying us on prayer and surrounding us both physically and spiritually...now, i have to do it on my own. My relationship with God has grown, changed, bloomed, and stretched me to limits i never thought possible, but it is my own...and now is where i have to dig in and get dirty and keep going, praying like crazy i'm prepared for any other battle that comes my way! This has been the most difficult but the most beautiful part of my journey. Most days i go to bed feeling like i've failed miserably in more ways than i can count, but knowing that only God can fill where i come up painfully short, and that He will grant me another day to try again! There is true beauty in ashes, i've never understood that statement so clearly. So as this month of January is usually the longest month at the best of times, the plan is to pray for the "me" to step aside and let God do the extraordinary however He see's fit to do so!
Keegan's sound asleep and it's time for me to have some warm soup and get under a blanket for some quiet time of my own!
Keep warm! Enjoy the day, hopefully from an inside spot!
Love, Melissa