Remembering Mom Karen

 

To think that it was a year ago today that we celebrated the life of a precious soul on this earth, Mrs. Karen Harris. During the summer of 1998, while I was serving at Royal Heights Baptist Church near Vancouver, I became very close to the Harris family. They took me in as one of their own. It wasn't very long until Mrs. Karen became Mom Karen to me. She would usually sign cards and emails to me 'from your North Delta Mom' (they live in Delta, a suburb of Vancouver) and I became 'your Mississippi daugther'.

Mom Karen had the gift of making anyone feel special. She took such good care of me each time I visited the family.

In August of last year, she was diagnosed with cancer in her sinus cavity. In less than 2 months, on October 18, she was gone. I couldn't believe it and I think there are still days that it's surreal for me. I've made 3 trips to the Harris home since Mom Karen was called Home and it sure was wierd not having her at the house. I am so thankful to have known her and that a part of her will always be with me in so many different ways, including her daughter, Becky, being one of my best friends. Mom Karen loved Anne of Green Gables and the Maritimes. I'm so glad that I got to experience what she loved so much.

The entire Harris family are so very special and my life has been enriched by knowing each of them.

In the collage are just a few pictures of my favorites with her. The top left one was the last time I saw her. It just so happened that God allowed them to visit PEI the summer of 07. I'm so thankful for that lunch and visit we got to have. The middle one was from her son's Matt (Amber)'s wedding in April.

Being Thankful

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Canada yesterday. Even though I've been in Canada for over 8 years now, it still seems wierd to celebrate Thanksgiving in October! But hey, being American, I get to celebrate it somehow next month too!!

With it being the Thanksgiving season, I've been thinking about what I am thankful for. My last few blog entries have been about the difficult times lately, so I thought it was time to be a bit more positive.

Here's my top things I'm thankful for:

~that Jesus didn't give up on me, that He saved me and I will spend eternity with Him
~how God provides for me and I have Him to turn to each and every day
~my precious family who I miss dearly
~friends all around this world
~my Canadian family who shows such love to me and makes me feel like part of theirs (there are a number of families that feel like my own)
~the churches God has allowed me to be a part of
~music that speaks to the soul
~clothes on my back, a car to drive (even if the heat isn't working right now, but it gets me around!), food in my cupboards, a roof over my head in the basement suite of a wonderful couple that I work with
~a wonderful job where I work with incredible people and get to interact with missionaries and help educate our churches about missions
~laughter
~smiles
~children
~and the fun things that life brings

As I communicated with some missionaries last week about stories for our International Missions Offering prayer guide, I told them that I am so thankful for how they give themselves away to advance the Kingdom of God! As I read more of their stories and get their prayer requests, I realize the sacrifices they are making in serving our Father.

What are you most thankful for?

I am so blessed! In the difficult times, may the blessings around us keep us going!

Prayer for my PEI friend, Cindy and her boys

I got word Friday night that my friend, Cindy, in PEI, lost her husband, John. He passed on Friday afternoon, a day after their 4th anniversary. John has been sick for awhile. I pray he knew the Lord and is all healed! Cindy has children from a previous marriage and 3 are still at home: twin boys who are 12, I think, and another son who is maybe 13. Please keep Cindy, Jeremiah, Elijah, Isaiah, and John's children in your prayers. The visitation is tomorrow night with the funeral on Tuesday.


I met Cindy and her precious boys the summer of 2007, when Seth, Freda, Kendall, and I were involved in ministry in Slemon Park, 45 minutes from Charlottetown. I only saw John a few times when I would visit Cindy and the boys. John was usually sleeping because he wasn't feeling well. Community Baptist has been seeking to plant a church in Slemon Park for many years. We feel that Cindy is the 'person of peace' or the Lydia in this area of Prince Edward Island where there is no CNBC church. Community was able to meet some practical needs for Cindy and her family and she and her boys were our faithful ones as we sought to have a weekly ministry in Slemon Park.

I have been able to keep in touch with Cindy since I moved away and was able to briefly chat with her via yahoo yesterday. Obviously, they are very sad and she feels lonely, heartbroken, and empty. She knows that she and the boys will get through this together. Please pray for God's strength and peace during this time.

I also ask you to pray for my friend Frances in North Carolina. She came with a team to PEI the summer of 07, as they did ministry in Slemon Park and another area. Frances' sister passed away suddenly last weekend. Frances is the oldest of eight with neither parent alive and another sister died in early 07, I think. Pray that Frances and her family knows God's peace in a powerful way.

(Frances is 2nd from left, standing)

from the words of Paul: "All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God's comfort." (1 Corinthians 1:3-7 NLT)

Love Happens

Have you seen 'Love Happens'? www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB4NxGvd4kI

I wasn't sure about going to see it because I hadn't read any reviews and the last thing I really needed was a chick flick and a movie that wasn't worth my money. Well, I can say that it wasn't too bad...I could have done without the language, but that's Hollywood for you. I am not one to recommend a movie when it uses the Lord's name in vain. Take the language and sexual references out and this movie might have an A+ in my book.

I thought 'Love Happens' was gonna be all about a man and woman who meet and fall in love when least expected. Sure, that was the gist of it, but the main character is an author who is now a celebrity because of his self-help book. His wife died and he wrote a book about his experience with dealing with grief. I'm not going to spoil the movie for you, in case you haven't seen it, but the title deals with much more than love between a man and a woman.

This movie has really got me thinking about how I deal with grief. Death has really hit home in the past 2+ years and I sometimes wonder if I have dealt with it all as I should be. We all deal with death differently and it's a process. I'm just thankful that I have God in my life, so I can somehow try to make sense of things.

If you haven't seen the movie and plan to, take your tissues. You'll need them!