Happy Canada Day

The Queen will be here in Ottawa tomorrow.

Though I like the Queen,

I really don't like crowds.

So I will be happy that she is here,

but I will stay home with Cleo and study.

*

A dear friend learned of an illness of a family member.

This is always hard.

*

I am studying French but have to keep working at it.

Need much mercy from God.

*

I may have the test in just over two weeks.

*

Wishing everyone in North America either a

happy and safe Canada day

or a happy and safe 4th.

*

Christ is in our midst!

Sunday Evening

One never knows where Cleo will be found.

Today it was inside the pillow on my chair.

Quite amusing.

One of the buildings near by City Hall...

My Mother, on Mother's Day,

gave me a good bit of encouragement.

Sometimes I suddenly look at the waves in my life,

I forget, like St. Peter, to look at Christ.

I must keep trying to learn French and see how far I can get by the

end of the summer.

***

I must develop a new routine,

cut out all and any self-pity

and try to work hard at French.

If you could pray for strength for this resolve,

I would appreciate it.

***

I am

Lord Willing

going to Brampton Ontario this week to visit my Oma

who is 101 years old

and my Mother who will be visiting her Mother.

I am grateful for God for giving me such a great

Mom and two wonderful Grandmothers!

*

Christ is Risen!!

Settling in for Spring

Had my first French class today.

Taking two part time classes;

ended up doing Mon-Wed nights

and Tues-Thurs mornings!

But one thing at a time.

I must try really hard

but

have some relaxation time as well.

A tough balance.

We had Cemetery Day at my Church's Cemetery

yesterday.

One of our beloved parishioners

who died in 2006 in her very early 40's

is buried there.

So every year for Cemetery Day

I bring my Mexican blanket and spread it by her grave

and myself and others sit on the blanket

and eat by her grave

and sing Christ is Risen to her.

I will always miss her and I know I am not alone

in asking now for her prayers.

For a beautiful example of asking the prayers of those

who have gone to the Lord before us,

I encourage you to listen to this podcast about Fr. George Calciu

by Fredrica Matthewes-Green.

I am reading some great books -

The Jesus Prayer by Fredrica Matthewes-Green is one of these.

***

The trip to the monastery was really wonderful.

So much so that I don't have a single picture!

I got a lot of wise counsel from one of the Sisters there

that I will be pondering over the next days and weeks.

I find it so important to go to monasteries

for counsel

for refreshment

and to be surrounded by the monastics' prayers.

***

Christ is Risen!

Thoughts and Prayers

I feel incredibly blessed by God

and my blog community.

We must never take anything we have been given lightly.

This is something I am seeing more and more of,

the need for vigilance in all things -

may we all be vigilant in all things,

including our wonderful community.

I have been thinking about a friend I love deeply

who is really struggling right now...

How to be a friend long distance

(I have friends coast-to-coast)

and still be a support.

Of course the biggest support is prayer

and this I must do.

If you could say a prayer today for my friend,

I would treasure this for her.

***

When you have friends far away

what do you do to show your love and support?

***

Thank God we have friends in the Saints,

as Frederica Mathewes-Green writes

about in her book on the Canon to Saint Andrew ...

we are not alone,

God, the Mother of God (our Lord Jesus Christ) and the Saints are with us.

***

I am gearing up for my second final exam

(each of my classes are 6 weeks)

which will be this coming Monday.

I have a lot of work to do yet,

but am feeling hopeful about it.

***

May God give us more deeply in our hearts

the Hope from and in Christ's Resurrection!

Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen!

Hello on the night of Bright Monday.

Pascha was very bright and glorious at my church here in Ottawa.

***

On Saturday I had, hours before Pascha, the added joy of

becoming (first time for me) a godmother of a very lovely young adult*

who officially entered the catechumenate.

I take this responsibility very seriously and know that God have given it to me

not because I am worthy as much

as because I know that God works in our weaknesses

for His kingdom!

***

Today I went back to school,

yes, on Bright Monday.

But I rested the rest of the day...

I must say I was quite tired out from Holy Week, Pascha

and the feast we had after Agape Vespers.

So today was quiet.

I cleaned

and rested.

Tomorrow I must resume my French studies in earnest.

***

Blessed Bright Week to you all!!

***

(*Sorry no names or pictures, it is a policy on my blog to have neither).

Holy Week - 2010

The second evening of Bridegroom Matins.

So many of us are posting these words:

***

Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight,

and blessed is that servant whom He shall find watching,

and again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless.

Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep,

lest you be given up to death, and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom.

But rouse yourself crying:

Holy, Holy, Holy, art Thou, O our God,

Through the Theotokos have mercy on us.

***

Bridegroom Matins is one of my all time favourite services.

***

We have to stay, as the Bridegroom Matins service says,

ever watchful,

ever vigilant

and continue to cry out for God's mercy.

The Devil wants to destroy;

we must hold the Cross of Christ high and say the Name of Jesus

and be saved.

***

This Holy Week will be complicated for me by the fact that I

will have classes until Holy Friday

(thank God Pascha is the same as the Western Christian calendar this year,

as it often is not on the same liturgical calendar)

so that I do not have to skip class to for our Holy Friday...

It is hard to study however,

but by God's mercy I did pass my midterm.

***

Blessed Holy Week to everyone!

May we repent, may our lamps be always with oil,

may we be ever watching for the Bridegroom

who comes at Midnight.

Feels like forever...

...since I posted!

Some weeks seem long... and this one was

esp. full and different since...

1. Lent began this week

2. In Ontario (the province I live in) it was Family Day on Monday

so I had the day off (studied over 5 hours that day

so I did not use it as a full holiday day).

I decided this was the Cleo picture for today! Love the colours

and it makes me laugh; Cleo was not impressed with

all of my picture taking that time around...

Good News!

I did well on my French Quiz!

But WOW does it seem to not even matter,

as there is so much more to learn!

I need to totally redo my 5oo plus flashcards,

that I am not really using that much

right now.

SIGH.

I am enjoying it for the most part...

Though I confess to worries then and again (read every day this week)

about finding a job once I know French.

This lent I am focusing on learning to NOT worry

and obey Christ's command not to worry...

I am not reading many books right now,

but am slowly working through

Frederica Matthewes-Green's

First Fruits of Prayer

for this Lent.

I tried it last year

but it was not the right year for it

(I did read another book that year that was good for last year's lent)

but this year seems to be the year for

this particular book.

I know I can't do much,

as French is a huge priority for me right now.

But I will do what I can

and seek to do this faithfully.

And little things matter too -

like keeping my small apartment clean-

am trying to do dishes once a day

and have been making my bed daily

and keeping my clothes put away.

Things like this can make a real difference...

May God bless the little we do

and may it be used for our healing!

The lastest in the life of Cleo and myself

Cleo and I enjoyed having our small house blessed.

It was beautiful, life-giving and full of hope.

To have a good church and priest

must be one of life's greatest blessings.

The cake turned out well.

I make my cakes to be very fine and moist,

so that the cake so soft that it falls in a bit

when cut,

as the picture shows.

The time making it and sharing it was

a great joy.

***

So about that midterm,

which people have been asking about.

Well.

I really tried!

But I did not do well at all.

Failed actually by 2 points.

BUT I am trying not to lose any hope

or even be anxious about it.

I asked my teacher if I can do extra things to

learn what I forgot (various grammar rules

including when "des" becomes "de"

both in a negative construction

(i.e. when one is saying not to do something)

and that if the adjective is before the noun

i.e. grands livres (big books) that "des"

which indicates plural becomes "de").

I think my teacher will allow me to be retested on this

so I will not fail the course.

***

As you can see, I am learning from my mistakes

and have reviewed this part and did extra homework on it today

to ensure that I really learn it.

So it is not bad,

it is just that I am slow at languages.

But I knew this about myself.

It will be God's mercy, the Saints prayers, your prayers

and my perseverance (by all these prayers)

that can get me there.

My teacher really sees that I am working hard

and is determined that I will make it.

And I am trying to be so too.

I need prayers through, it is tough slogging sometimes!

***

I have been having some problems with a tenant in my building.

NOTHING that is violent or anything

I am safe and secure, no worries there.

Common sense says I must not say more

but can you pray for me about this?

I know that God can teach me to be a Christian in all things!

***

I am seeking to remember

the many prayers

in the House blessing

and that Angels are with me

and that I am NEVER EVER alone.

***

Thanks everyone for your friendship prayers and support!

Cleo the Cat and a beautiful view

Another shot of Cleo.

She looks most sleek and adult in this one;

fascinating to me how she can look so different,

depending on the picture...

We have been blessed with more sun

it was so beautiful this weekend.

The view I have can be so beautiful...

***

Tomorrow the midterm!

Prayers welcome!

***

Tomorrow afternoon Lord Willing

I will have my little snug apartment

blessed by my priest.

To say I am excited would be an understatement.

I have prepared food and cake and will have tea ready.

Of course I will have all the candles ready,

candles by icons lit,

lampada's newly wicked...

Cleo still needs more grooming...

I will use my best dishes, pretty table cloth and candles.

I must say I love marble cake batter...

***

It sure makes the first French midterm feel

more doable

to know the joy that Lord willing will await later...

Small steps in the right direction

Found out today that my

French class will not be effected by

a potential strike!

Thank God for this.

Today I learned more prepositions,

am making questions and answers to various things

and it is making sense.

I can tell I am being prayed for!

However, I have yet to get all the rules strait for

the articles used for countries, cities and provinces.

And I have to get a lot of the vocab strait.

The hardest thing though

is that I am having a hard time hearing and saying

the words.

Especially words like

"un, une"

and "en, à"

I hope this will come and I will be working on it.

***

However, I welcome all suggestions!

***

We all have our own challenges and I pray that each of you will be

encouraged, strengthened and comforted in yours!

The Lord is good all the time, all the time the Lord is good

Am studying French, really.

Not blogging at all, noooo.

A priest told me once that God will keep giving

me situations that are to teach me something

specific, until I learn that particular lesson.

I am learning more about clear communication,

not worrying about what I cannot control

and living in the present.

My school may have a faculty strike as of

next week.

I have yet to find out if my class would be effected by this.

***

I am in God's hands

need prayer always

and am seeking to rest in God's care.

***

Okay.

Back to French...

Catch Up Time

Getting used to full time French classes

takes time.

I studied this weekend;

i.e. Saturday

but then found that some tasks

(laundry, dishes)

did not get done.

***

Today was a rainy day here;

should not be;

it is still winter;

some of the sidewalks were

pure ice with a little water on top.

I was sure I would be late for class;

the feeling of almost falling many times

is NOT fun.

A good cause for prayer though!

It looks like we are getting our normal cold back

and sunshine too

by the later part of the week;

I hope so.

I feel so energized by winter sunshine and blue skies.

***

My laundry is done and drying now.

My dishes still unwashed.

Sigh.

But I threw away stuff, organized more...

some more breathing room in my small snug apartment.

I am slowly figuring out where to put things...

It takes time!

***

Since today was a more tired Monday,

I am hoping that tomorrow will be better

and that I can get back into a rhythm for studying French.

I did do some studying today,

but there is so much more I wish to do!

***

However,

God is good

and is our hope, salvation and support.

suivant - following

Suivant means following or the following.
I am following a partly unknown dream to what I hope is a better future.

The other half of this story is that it is a bit scary to commit
about half of one's life savings to learn a language
to try to stay in a city
that has become a home to me.

On one hand it so great to know what I am going to try to do.

Learn French.

However.

Today I am going to a Greek Monastery with my church.
And I am so relieved.
I cannot say enough about going to a good Orthodox monastery.

This past year has been very hard for me.

I was in a job that proved very difficult;

breaking my foot before that

was really hard;

not only did not I not get good care in the hospital

(not being told that you have two foot fractures
or how to care for an open wound

to name just two incidents)

but the internal wounds that come from a physical wound

take time to heal from.

Often what got me through was remembering the monastery I go to

and seeing pictures of other good Orthodox monasteries

that blog friends went to.

So today I am going to pray for a miracle:

that I can find a good apartment that I can afford

and find a way to better structure my life to learn French

(I am struggling with it already).