'Tis the Season to be JOLLY!!!!

After a brief blogging hiatus, to which I’m sure my millions of readers where deeply saddened (please note the SARCASM), I’d like to personally tell you that I’M BACK BABY, I’M BACK!!!!

‘Tis the season to be JOLLY and there’s plenty to be jolly about. Let me show you what I love most about this season….

This

And This

And that right there

Oh and this too!

And I can't forget my annual Christmas pic....here's one right here...

...So since Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year, I thought I’d better share some of my favourite things….

#1 ~ Peppermint Mocha Frappacino’s at Starbucks (this is the only time of the year where they’ll put the    

        chocolate shavings on the top).

#2 ~ Getting to bust out my very best winter scarves.

#3 ~ The pond being frozen, it’s pond hockey time!

#4 ~ Getting dressed up for Christmas parties.

#5 ~ Having a legit excuse to eat so many yummy goodies! ;)

#6 ~ Watching Christmas specials on tv with the fam, while cuddled in a blanket on the couch.

#7 ~ The streets lit up from Christmas lights.

#8 ~ Christmas Music….I LOVE it!!!!

#9 ~ Giving and getting gifts (Giving gifts is my expressive love language but it’s fun to get them too)!

#10 ~ The smell and twinkle of our REAL Christmas tree in the living room, there’s nothing better!

So there’s just a few of my holiday favourites.

Hope you’re enjoying your favourite things this holiday season!

We have much reason to celebrate,

~The Kindred Spirit

Only Part Of The Story...

I’m sitting here at the airport in Port Au Prince, Haiti. I arrived here quite a bit early so I have some time to sit here and think. It seems I’ve been doing a lot of that lately. I woke up early this morning and it seems that before the sun even rose I knew that the word for this day would be bittersweet. I have been here in Haiti for almost 2 weeks and in that short time I’ve been moved beyond words. Now it’s time to go back home for a while, which is sweet in every way but also a bit sad because I will miss the people that I have grown to love in such a short time.

Tonight I will arrive back in Canada. The cold air will welcome me. The Christmas lights will twinkle hello as I pass them by, reminding me of the quickly approaching celebration. I will not be in the minority any more and I will understand the words people are speaking around me. I will return to a country of order where you must have a seatbelt if you are riding in a car, the price on something to be purchased is set, not bartered and I must travel a great distance to see beautiful mountains.

As I traveled the Haitian roads this morning for the last time, for a while at least, I tried to take in everything I saw, every person, every glimpse of the homes, of the vehicles, of the mountains and the sea because I never want to forget it. I never want to forget that there is another part of the story. That my home and the places I know and the faces I see every day and the way we live is not the whole story. There is another part and God knows it, He created it and He cares for it. I want to celebrate that my part of the story is only a very miniscule piece of the puzzle. I want to celebrate that there is a big world out there and it breaks down every wall of my box. It breaks down every thought I have about how I think things should be and it challenges the boundaries of my faith.

I was talking with one of the Haitians a few days ago, someone who has become my friend and I asked him why he loved Haiti? In the few English words he knew, he replied, “because I am Haitian”. I think for a long time I thought that my way of life was what everyone needs, what everyone should want and that thought too has been challenged during my time here. The people here love their country and they care for one another and they don’t NEED my way of life. My way is not better or the way it should be, my way of life is simply different, it’s just one part of the story. So, Lord please forgive me for thinking that I know better, for thinking that my way is better, rid me of thinking or even acting that I am and my way is superior. I wonder what would happen if I loved Canada and it’s people like my friend loves Haiti? I wonder what would happen if we as Canadians prayed for our country like the people at the Church of Hope pray for their country? I have a lot to learn from the people here.

I hope that someday I’ll be able to return to Haiti but until then I have a million memories that leave me with feelings of the best kind of nostalgia. I will cherish these and treasure them in my heart without fail.

Haiti has been one of the sweetest gifts, one that will always captivate a piece of my heart.

And today, throughout the tangled web of my feelings I think the biggest one I feel is thanksgiving. There is so much I have to be thankful for and for right now it’s the one I’m going to revel in because the other stuff will unravel itself with time.

So thank you for your prayers and your thoughts especially over the past 2 weeks, it’s been an incredible adventure and I look forward to many more to come!

Blessings on you today,

~Darcie 

Greetings From Haiti...

Well I made it safely to Haiti last week and I am experiencing so much. I just did a guest spot on Diana's blog where I write a bit about my experience thus far. Please check it out here! 

More to come soon!

I appreciate all of your prayers.

Love, 

Darcie

A Short Little Update From Moi...

Oh wow.....these past few weeks seem to have been the busiest EVER!!!!!!

First of all I moved....again, yes I know!

But I just moved down the road....it's a lovely house. I had a bit of a meltdown trying to move my stuff from a very large room to a very small room but I'm moved in, mostly and adjusting quickly to my smaller but very cozy room. It still needs to be painted but that will come. Unfortunately I hurt my back and neck and have been trying to nurse those injuries for the last week (blah) and hopefully they will be somewhat better when I leave for Haiti next Thursday.

YES.

You heard me correctly....I'm flying to Haiti next Thursday to visit my very best friend and kindred spirit Diana. I'll be staying with her for 12 days and I'm a bit nervous to say the least. Nervous for so many reasons, most of which I'm not sure I can even explain. I still have to pack but I have had a twinrex vaccine, a typhoid vaccine, a cholera vaccine and some malaria pills, which are still going strong for another 6 weeks, too bad there's nothing to prepare me for the heat I'm about to experience! Hopefully I'll have a chance to blog a bit in Haiti and I can fill you in on my short term experience. I'd greatly appreciate your prayers.

I'd also like to share a few of this cutie pie pics with you.....hello Halloween....

Aren't these seriously the cutest kids!

So I apologize for my short update....hopefully I'll blog more later.

Sweet Dreams,
Darc

They're Getting MARRIED!!!!

So about a month and a bit ago one of my very best friends got ENGAGED! This is BIG news. For such a long time my dear sweet friends Vicki and Diana have been my single ladies....we've walked the single road hand in hand celebrating the joys of the life and struggling with the longings of the heart. Although it was a bit of an adjustment to our little singles club when Vicki started dating Donald my heart leaped for her because she had found someone to love who would love her in return! I was SHOCKED when Vicki and Donald called me right after he popped the question....I knew they were talking about marriage but I never expected it so soon....I think I was speechless, which happens rarely (the last Oprah show being one of these times).

It's a pretty adorable story really. Vicki is a bit older than Donald....she was even his youth leader for a short amount of time. Donald has always loved Vicki....she's always been the apple of his eye. We used to joke about it....the cute little crush. Well about 2 years ago Vicki wanted to learn how to snowboard and so Donald made it his project to teach her. He was diligent about this and researched the best ways to teach someone step by step from the beginning stages.  He did a great job too...Vicki indeed learned how to snowboard. Somewhere in here things started to change....I even started picking up on a few things. Diana and Vicki and I were having a girls night one night when I remember saying "you know Vick, Donald has a pretty big crush on you, like I think it might be more than a little high school crush, he really likes you....you wouldn't ever consider going for him....would you?" It was in that moment that Vicki's face said it all....she was considering it. The rest is history....they started dating, they both moved out west to go to school for a year, which we all thought would be the test of the relationship and they came back stronger than ever. And next June I will get to stand beside one of my best friends and watch her commit herself to the man that she has waited so patiently for. And we are going to DANCE and LAUGH and CELEBRATE love and remember that it's so worth waiting for.

Here's a few pics of Donald and Vick....

I know....they're a pretty good looking couple! Oh and did I mention that I get to be a bridesmaid for the FIRST TIME EVER?!?!? Can you tell....I'm just a tiny bit excited!

So here's to waiting for love....so happy for you Donald and Vick,
~Darc

Love, Love, LOVE FALL!!!!

 Oh how I love fall...

We took a little trip to the pumpkin patch!

Above is me sling shooting a little gourd....check out that form!

 These have got to be the cutest little twins ever...and they have red hair, which seriously makes them like 10 times cuter and they're on teddy bear leashes...be still my heart!

 These two beautiful girls are my sweet cousins who I definitely don't get to see enough of....luckily Thanksgiving reunited us once again....so thankful!

I LOVE this child....I think my heart has been stolen by this cute little pumpkin! 

My Brother, The Musician...

For us Canadians this past weekend was Thanksgiving and boy did we have beautiful weather! I had to work most of the long weekend but thankfully I had the Saturday off. I got to spend the day with friends and family and I even managed to fit in some time to practice my photography skills (at least the ones I've been trying to acquire through my class). My brother came home from Ottawa for the weekend and so I convinced him to let me take some "band shots" of him since he is the musician in the family.

I know he secretly loved it...here's just a few...

You can check out Greg's music here....DO IT!!!!

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful....I know I have SO much to be thankful for! :)

Yours Truly,
The Kindred Spirit

I'm Speechless So I'll Blog About It...

I'm still in utter disbelief....

I was watching Oprah today...

yes, I know....

moving on....Oprah had a man on the show who has 4 wives and 16 children all together.

4 WIVES!!!!

All of the wives and their kids, except for one, live under one roof.

And I watched the show and listened to these women talk and in all honesty they seem fairly happy but I'm having a bit of trouble understanding as a woman how it's ok to share your husband with 3 other women?

I'm having trouble understanding how you have a marriage and all the things that marriage means with someone who you know is married to other people as well.

I just don't get it?

Honestly, I've just never seen anything like it in my life....I had to blog about it...lol!

Free, Free at Last...

A few days ago one of the gentlemen from another one of the group homes under the organization I work for passed away. One thing you must understand is that each group home is different, each one has a different group dynamic, each one looks different and each one has a different name. In many of the group homes the clients have lived together for many years of their lives and so in one sense they are each other's family. They laugh together, they fight with one another, they learn to know each other's moods and voices.

The group home that this gentleman lived in is a house full of older men. They are a sweet bunch of fellows and if you'd see them in their sweater vests and trousers you'd probably think they looked like your grandpas. They are all developmentally disabled and most of them all have physical disabilities as well. These men have lived together for most of their lives.

Today was the memorial service for the one that went to be with Jesus. It was my first memorial service as a support worker and we took several ladies from our home. The service was a lovely one; a great tribute to the memory of this individual. I'll admit that I wasn't expecting to be gripped really at all. I didn't know this individual very well; I've seen him on several occasions and stopped to chat only a few times. I know a few of the other men in his home a bit better and I shouldn't have favourites but in this house I do. There is one of the men who I stop to talk with frequently. He is small and his body is very crippled and you'd have to listen very carefully to make out his speech but he is spirited and very smart. He has the best laugh and to my dismay he loves the Toronto Maple Leafs. He drives his automatic wheelchair up and down the road and on the sunny days the staff always put his umbrella up so he doesn't get a sun burn. Hands down, he is without a doubt my favourite. This morning, I watched the men from the group home from my seat at the back of the chapel. Several of the staff were crying but I was taken back when about midway through the service my favourite grandma from the house started weeping. The sounds of his sobs filled the room as the lady sitting beside him helped to wipe his tears. My eyes welled with tears as I listened to this sweet man grieve, knowing all too well what it feels like to lose a brother.

As I am still reflecting on the service my thoughts come back to the type of community I witnessed today. I am reminded that you don't have to share the same blood to be family. I think about this in the home that I work in as well. Last week one of the ladies wasn't feeling the greatest and wanted to stay in bed for most of the day. I propped her up in her bed and sat and fed her some lunch as I chatted with her, even though she wasn't in a very chatty mood. On the other side of the house one of the other ladies was agitated and screaming quite loudly and as I sat with the woman she chuckled and said "too loud" so I asked her who it was and she told me right away. I am reminded over and over again about how well these ladies know one another. I am fascinated by the way they interact, good and bad. I would argue with anyone in the world who says that people who have severe developmental and physical disabilities cannot experience community because if you would have been at that memorial service today and heard the sound of those tears you would have no doubt that what you just witnessed was a direct result of community. Hellen Keller once wrote this: "When indeed shall we learn that we are all related to one another, that we are all members of one body?" This truth rang true once again today.

If you remember to, say a prayer for these men as there is an empty room in their house now and as we are certain in this case that it's a lot harder for the ones left behind than it is for the one who is free now.

Yours Truly,
~The Kindred Spirit

A Sabbath in Every Way...

I am one of those people who gets the somewhat unfortunate job of working every weekend. I say unfortunate not because of the nature of the work but because of the fact that most of the people I get together with have the weekends off, which means that we typically have opposite schedules. I've been working every weekend for almost a year now and it's beginning to take it's toll. I don't mind working Saturdays but working Sundays is the kicker for me. I'm a pastors kid and throughout my life Sundays have been made up of church, lunches out with the youth, movies, afternoon sleeps, hockey games, and take out night with the fam among other wonderful things. I think there's a chance that I took having Sundays off for granted. Last Sunday was our church's annual Barn Party at Balls Falls. One of my co-workers took pity on me and said she would work my Sunday if I worked her Monday shift....BLESS THIS WOMAN! So last Sunday I had the entire day off! I went to church and I wasn't distracted by thoughts of having to head to work right after lunch. I went out for lunch with a bunch of friends and then we headed to the Barn Party. The day was wonderful and such a blessing for me, it was a Sabbath in every way. Balls Falls is also a beautiful location for picture taking, which of course I (and a few of my camera jealous friends) indulged in...

These are the types of days that remind me of all that's good in the world.

Yours Truly,
The Kindred Spirit