My Twenty Second Wedding Anniversary Part Two

 The morning of the wedding was full of makeup and chatter, set up and beauty,  kindness and sweetness. It was glorious and lovely and so fun.

                    

                                                       

During the wedding I took no photos and there was a professional photographer that took the most beautiful photos imaginable. 

Then it was time for the reception just a few feet away from the ceremony.

               

                                                       

  The wedding went late into the evening and my husband and I had such a happy time. It was a lovely way to turn twenty two and my hope for these two newly weds is that they will feel God close in their most broken moments and their most joyful ~

xo

My Twenty Second Wedding Anniversary

  On the day that my husband and I turned twenty two we were invited to a wedding. This wasn't just any wedding to me. It was a wedding that felt incredibly special and one that I had done a lot of praying for. On my wedding day the weather was warm and sunny, the bridesmaids wore green and the wedding was outdoors at my husband's parent's property. My wedding bouquet held white Lilies. Twenty two years later we attended an outdoor wedding that was held at the bride's parents home, the bridesmaids wore green and there were white Lilies in the bouquets. 

It was such a beautiful special day that was filled with intention, beauty and angels all around.

Here is Drew and I at twenty two years old. He video taped the wedding on our little old camcorder and I held up his cell phone and captured moments. It was so kind of him to do this.

We went over the night before to help out although most things had been done already. It was special to get to be there at that time.

The next morning I arrived to capture moments which is my favourite thing to do ever!

Go to part two :)

Charlie Kirk

  On September 10th my husband called me and told me that Charlie Kirk had been shot. I vaguely knew who he was as I had come across some of his debates online. My husband knew more about him and was deeply disturbed.  I went on instagram and unfortunately a clip of him getting shot in the neck came up immediately. At that moment it was not confirmed if he had passed away but when I saw the clip I knew he could not have survived. I felt sick and devastated for all the young people and others there that had to go through this. I then felt even more sick for his wife and sweet children and family. As time went on I learned so many things about Charlie Kirk, and watched this phenomenon that happened after his death, unfold. People all over America either deeply mourned or celebrated his death. Imagine celebrating someone's death when it was someone like Charlie Kirk? He was shot while speaking to a crowd about his beliefs! He was someone of strong convictions that were very much conservative. He had morals and values that many in this day and age scorned. He was known for his organization, Turning Point, and also for going all over  the United States but also the world debating at Universities with respect and brilliance. He gave voice to anyone who wanted to debate. Many screamed and frothed at the mouth and many had respectful and honouring conversations with him. He was a brilliant man and he was only thirty- one. His children were one and three years old. 

  This shockwave that resulted from his death and rippled across the United States and then the world affected me deeply. I am a sensitive person. I spent a lot of time in tears listening to his messages. Right now my son is struggling. He is so vulnerable and is being confronted with his humanity, his weaknesses, his lack. It is hard to watch and to walk through with him. Charlie Kirk's message to him would have been to have courage and to say yes to following Jesus whole heartedly. He would have also said to him to walk forward and to stay away from pornography, addiction to video games and alcohol, and to work hard, to get married and have children, to honour his parents and his wife. He would have encouraged him to be upright and a model of Christ's love, and to also love and honour all, and to help people in their journey towards healing. He would have challenged him to fill his mind with good literature and music that honoured his soul.

  Charlie is being called a martyr for his faith, as he so boldly shared about his faith in Christ, his wish that no unborn babies could be killed, and that people would find healing and be comfortable in the skin they were born in. In a split second his voice was silenced and he was face to face with his Creator, but in the next second his voice was the loudest it had ever been.

  His funeral was attended by almost one hundred thousand people and his funeral was seen by millions across the world. His testimony and his heart was shared aloud by many people and the truth of how much Jesus loves us all was clearly shared. 

  It can take just one moment to silence a voice or set a heart on fire. I am praying with all my being that my son will be met by Jesus and will feel the deep love his Heavenly Father holds for him. My prayer is also that you as you read this will also realize your value and your worth. Maybe you will pick up a Bible and read how precious you are to Jesus and maybe you will encounter Him by the Ocean, or in a meadow, or in your garden, or in the kind smile of someone's eyes.

  You are adored, precious, valuable, so beautifully treasured. You were born because you were supposed to and you were born a male or female for a reason. Your preciousness is not lost. Your tender heart was not made to harden. May you walk in freedom and victory. May you spread love and peace as you go forth and do the every day mundane things that we all do.

Bless you

Tansy

Grandma

   My grandma has been gone a while now and I can still hear her voice and see her smile clear as day. She was my mom's mom and she lived in a small village by a lake. She had grown up on a farm in the prairies with no running water or electricity and went to barn dances in a sleigh drawn by a horse. She didn't talk about this much but late in life when she lost a lot of her eye sight she wrote books of poetry and talked about this. I read these poems to my children often. At her funeral my uncle set out flowers and my aunties set out her quilts, and these are just a few of them that were hung all over the walls of the large hall that we gathered at. She was such an artist and she used her winters to make quilts. They  are so beautiful to me and I treasure the ones I have. She loved her flower gardens and canning and she grew food as well. She sewed her grandaughters dresses and she sewed some of her own clothes. She was an amazing cook and her food tasted like home. She made Christmas decorations and pillows and delighted in hiking and reading and music. She supported my grandpa in his unique and obessive interests and worked hard all her life. She loved me a lot and some of my most comforting and happy memories are with her. I am so grateful for my grandma and there are so many days still where I long to be able to go over to her house, knock on her door, wait for a long while for someone to answer, and then be welcomed in. I am a grandmother myself now and I hope and pray I can offer the same care, creativity, and support that my grandmother offered to me.