When you Blow It....and We all do

Three Steps to Sin:
1) Contemplation
2) Rationaliation
3) Consent
P.S. - sin always affects others
Ruth Bell Graham

I think Ruth pretty much nailed this one. Short, sweet, to the point and pretty darn accurate. Odd, how easy it is to sin, especially when you consider we actually have not one but 3 choices to make. We have to choose to contemplate it, choose to rationalize, and choose to consent. That means we have 3 chances to stop the process too, knowing there are dire outcomes (sin always affects others,not to mention yourself) if we move onto step 2 or 3!
Yet, we all do it, we all mess up.
Which is why I love the story of Peter and the crowing rooster. Here is Jesus with his disciples having their last supper together before his death on th cross. Jesus knows what is coming, he probably feels quite alone as there is no one else around the table even amongst his closest friends, who get his pain.
Jesus looks at Peter and says "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back strengthen your brothers (Luke 22:31).
Peter emphatically insists "Lord I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!"
But Jesus says "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."
Later that night, when Jesus is arrested Peter follows at a distance. He is attempting to keep his fiery words of complete and utter loyalty. So as he sits by the fire trying to look inconspicuous, someone across the way is staring intently and accuses "This man was with him!" Peter quickly contemplates what to do. He rationalizes, if he admits it, he will be caught and then what good would he be to Jesus! So he gives his consent and lies "I don't know him." He does this two more times, getting louder and more insistent believing his lie. After the third time the rooster crows and Jesus turns and looks straight at him. It is a knife to Peter's heart, he knows he has blown it and he runs out to weep bitterly. We can all relate to how Peter felt. I know I Can!
Afterwards, Peter gave up on himself, he went back to fishing. He probably felt, "I'm no good to even be called a disciple of Jesus. I'm just a dumb old fisherman, that's all I'm good for."
So when he finds himeself sitting around another camp fire, this time with Jesus, he can barely look him in the eye. He hangs his head in shame. But Jesus reinstates him, not once, twice, but three times, wiping off each of Peter's mistakes. He directs Peter to do the very thing he now has expertise on, looking after Jesus' sheep. Peter has been through it, he has been sifted by Satan, he knows what it feels like to blow it. Jesus knew this would happen, he was praying for Peter even before the events took place.
"And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
The best person to remove a sliver out of another's eye is the one who has been through the same thing, who has removed not just a sliver, but a whole plank.
When we blow it we can come back stronger, and be there, with compassion, understanding and grace to help someone else through.

This Week in the News!

I hope you all have had a great week! It's Friday for me, week's nearly done. And it's been a pretty typical one. Ups and downs, ins and outs, highs and lows - zoom another week gone in my life in the blink of an eye.
It started with the most gorgeous Thanksgiving weekend ever. We drove the kids back to their respective schools....the other side of Toronto...on the holiday Monday. Needless to say, I would not recommend that little, I mean long, bumper-to-bumper drive. Why weren't all these people snug in their Grandma's farmhouse eating turkey in the backwoods somewhere???
We got home late but Tuesday was back to work so with sleepy limbs and fuzzy eyes I headed into the office. "What....I have to do the Minutes for 2 meetings back to back all afternoon?"...."And what are we talking about??" I magooed my way throught that and somehow produced two coherent sets of Minutes. Came home to find cheques in the mail from the government!!! Yeah!! None for me however, two for Adrian, one for Randi. But, it all pans out for the whole family in the end, believe me.
Did Laundry
Made Cookies
Made Lentil and Sweet potatoe soup
All those other everyday things we women do. Blah blah blah
I had dance last night and survived yet again!
So here we are on Friday, my day off. I paid the bills via the internet (I love internet banking). And find that this week, we have no money so we will be on a tight budget.
I will be getting groceries today, working out and maybe, if I'm lucky, will get in that 3:00 nap!
This weekend will include yardwork and prep for winter, who keeps hinting he's coming for a visit soon. I have a lovely backyard

And here is our deck - 5 years and counting. Maybe next year we can actually use it! Sheldon has made steady progress this year so I'm hopeful.

Hope you all have a great Friday a great weekend and enjoy the everyday things of life.

Prince Edward County

If I hop into my car and drive around the corner, down the block, take one more corner and then a right over the bridge, I find myself in Prince Edward County.

"The County" is a place I spent a fair bit of my childhood (Grades Kindergarten to 6) in a variety of houses as my parents rented what was available/affordable. The County was a farming region, a little island with a great beach, where we got apples, potatoes and fresh corn.

But "The County" is grown up. Suddenly, it has become a mecca for artists and gourmets, not to mention the biggest thing growing there now are wineries! I still love to visit as it is filled with childhood memories, beautiful landscape and now that is all grown up, really great food and wine!

Last weekend we went with friends to "Taste" a culinary celebration so to speak. For a pretty penny you can nibble on all sorts of gourmet goodies made from local ingredients and sip the lastest fruits of the vine. If you ever get a chance to go, it is a nice albeit pricey, way to spend a day. So there I am on the Picton Fairgrounds, the same place that as a child I would go every Tuesday night for skating lessons, the same place I would ride the scrambler at the Picton Fair, the same place where I hung out with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the grandstand watching the horse show (true story). Now, I'm walking about with all the other adults looking pretty pleased with the assortment of goodies to choose from and enjoying live jazz. My, how life changes!

After nibbling and sipping, we travelled about a bit and landed in the middle of a party at the Sandbanks Winery. Seems they had a harvest party earlier in the day and everyone was, well, celebrating the harvest, in a big way.

The trees are pulling out their very best colours, the air is crisp and fresh, the food is good - you should come visit!