The Pain of Loss

As life marches on we find more and more people in our community circles dealing with very difficult and painful things. Loss of relationship is one that is getting more frequent, whether it is loss through death or loss through seperation/divorce. I am saddened by how often I hear the word divorce increasing amongst people I care about, I can't begin to imagine the pain behind that kind of decision.

But if there is one thing I've learned about pain, it changes you. It can change you for better or for worse, but you will change. It would be so helpful if we could instantly get paired with someone who has walked that road before us and survived, if they could come along side us and help us realize we'll be ok, and help us choose the changes that will be good for us. I have a friend going through a seperation right now and I feel so unhelpful.  I have very little experience with the ending of a committed relationship. I can't offer what I don't have and don't even know she needs.

Fortunately, there are people who have come out of the other side of loss and have found a life full of hope there, and they want to share that hope with others. They volunteer Friday nights at our Church in DivorceCare and GriefShare. I don't often promote my recovery ministry here but I wanted the word to get out past our Church walls about these 2 programs in particular because they only run for 2 sessions each year, rather every week like the central recovery program, and they are both beginning October 12th until January.

If someone you know is hurting, and experiencing loss in their life, make sure he or she knows about these vital support resources. It might just be the best thing you could do to help!

Celebrate Recovery Winnipeg: Divorce Care & Divorce Care for Kids: STARTING OCTOBER 12 @ CELEBRATE RECOVERY - DIVORCECARE is a weekly support group for people who are separated or divorced.

Celebrate Recovery Winnipeg: Grief Share: STARTING OCTOBER 12 @ CELEBRATE RECOVERY - GRIEFSHARE is a weekly support group for people grieving the loss of someone close.

Just a little in love....

actually that's an understatement. made this today :)

Sick & Tired of Being Sick & Tired

Have I used that title already? Lol. Seems familiar, but of course this is a cycle of life that likes to revisit often.

For someone who doesn't have children I find it odd (and a little worried for the future) that this 'back to school & sports' time of year that keeps everyone else so busy, gets SO busy for me. In between the increased opportunities to hang out with family, the relaunch of Celebrate Recovery, prepping for being a team lead for Global Leadership Summit volunteers, work getting busier again, I am feeling a bit wiped and not seeing much relief until November.

In addition to all that we do have a 'back to school' element this year too, Sean begins his once a week evening courses tonight, and that will go on through to next June, just not sure if it will always be Wednesdays the other semesters. Next year he will have even more evenings away at school. Which will be interesting, because evening courses begin at 6 pm, I only pick him up around 5 pm, we get home somewhere between 5:15-5:30, and then he has about a 30-40 minute drive to school. Looks like the best plan is to leave him with the car downtown and I bus home so that he gets there on time, because I don't want him to have to bus home after from that remote location, he'd probably only get home at 11 pm-ish.  Fun. His supper on Wednesdays is another thing we have yet to figure out :/  But, those are small sacrifices to make considering he is finally on the road to doing something he will love. That makes us both much happier people :)

Then there's the almost instant shift in weather when September hits, the sunshine and vitamin D start diminishing as does my energy. Not to mention the cold that we've been fighting for a week that doesn't make for good quality sleep. I resorted to taking a gravol last night to hopefully keep me 'under' all night and I do feel quite a bit more rested today.

And of course, the emotional element wants to come out and 'play' too. We've been a little consumed with struggles that some friends of ours our going through, and we of course wouldn't want to be anywhere else but along side them trying to support and encourage them, it's just gotten a little complicated and then of course emotional. I also happen to be preparing to give my testimony again this coming up Friday, and so I've been re-writing it a little to update it, but of course that means rehashing those old emotions. I've become much better at that, and I see things with more clarity even from this time last year, but it's hard to let go of things I held onto to just get me through recovery. I know I'm more healthy now for knowing but emotions don't listen to logic very well :)

So yeah, I'm a little wiped. But, life marches on and so I take a little rest (mostly from blogging, sorry!) and carry on.

September Numbers

I can't believe it's already the 10th of September!

It's been 13 days since my last blog post, I haven't been that negligent for a while!

My nephew is 2 months old today! Happy 2-months Paxi! :)

This is Jodi holding Pax at a Goldeyes game where we lost 15-1, but who was counting, mom and my sisters and I were too busy talking and being distracted by our lil' P-nut.

I'm about to begin my 2nd year serving as a leader at our Celebrate Recovery Ministry, wow!


11 more days until I give my testimony again....it is getting easier :)


I'm now on an 8 month count down to my next tattoo, wahoo!

I completed 2 new hire orientations over the last 2 weeks at work, that's a 13% growth in just a span of 8 days!

9 more days until my hubby starts school again!

I finished my 9th collage painting, for a belated birthday gift to my sister Tami.

I, along with my co-hosts, created almost 50 of these mini-7 layer dip cups for my sister's baby shower, for our 25 guests.

 There, it's only the 10th of September, and that's already a lot of numbers (reasons) I had to blog but didn't have the time! :)