|
Christmas 2001
Dear friends, Our family is testing the strength of invisible threads, threads we hope are strong enough to bear the strains of new initiatives and directions. We hope that these threads of love will preserve our family togetherness even while making room for the individual diversity that continues to emerge in pronounced ways. Not that we are dispersing geographically, but work- and interest-wise we each seem to head in different directions. To begin with, we continue - for the third year in a row - to occupy two homes. Jim spends most of his time on the farm where his work is, and where I try to join him at least one or two days per week. In the summertime I was happy to be out on the farm most of the time, as my activities at work and in the community were on holidays. The three children live mostly in North Battleford, only coming to the farm for brief visits. When you're their age, the farm is not exactly the most attractive place in life! David (almost 20) and Rachelle (15) still live with us at our N.B. home. Daniel (18) is adamant about trying to live on his own (with friends, that is) in the same city while working full-time at Wal-mart (he graduated from high school last June). He keeps in touch and is doing quite well, learning all about paying bills and having to buy his own clothes! Rachelle is in Grade 10 and doing well. She has mastered the skills of chatting on MSN (computer), talking on the phone, playing cribbage and doing her homework - all at the same time! She has more friends than she has time for, and one of these girls came to live with us for a few weeks while relationships in her family got sorted out. Rachelle is quite anxious to turn 16 next summer so she can apply for a job (not many places hire 15-year olds). Even though she enjoys babysitting, that kind of income is scarce and unpredictable. She is extremely independent and - so far - exercises that independence with a good dose of responsibility, for which we are very grateful. After one year at Wal-mart David was ready for a change. We wonder whether he has inherited his Dad's critical thinking skills (he was fed up with the corporate games at Wal-mart) and drive for self-employment (he always talks about how he could do things better himself). David was offered a job with the local movie theaters, and to his great pleasure is rapidly moving up to a manager's position in this field. He also continues working at a local video store and does his DJ-ing on the side. His favourite DJ-work is at school dances. The kids really respond well to him and he always gets a crowd on the dance floor at these events. Last summer he provided entertainment for seven weddings which pleased him greatly. And he is DJ-ing another wedding dance this year yet ... on New Year's Eve! Jim's garden season looked quite depressing at first as we had one of the driest summers in decades. We basically had one good rain all summer! Yet the first frost held off until early October and this gave Jim a nice long harvesting season. The quantity of seed may be smaller this year but it is quite good quality and that is equally important. I remember too well the years that bean seed froze in September before it was mature enough - the hand-sorting that resulted from that was quite time-consuming! Jim is most encouraged in his garden seed work by the fact that each year he is finding more small scale gardeners who are more than happy to start growing seed for his catalogue. He realizes that this is a mutually beneficial arrangement, for often these growers do not have a (or are not interested in creating their own) commercial outlet for their seed. Others do have a market but are willing to swap seed varieties with Jim so that everyone gets to expand their seed selections. Jim's catalogue can be found on the internet at: www.prseeds.ca Talk of websites, this fall I launched one of own: www.malotg.com Invitations to speak - sermons, public talks, facilitate retreats or workshops - are increasing for me. I started the website in order to accommodate the flow of information and communication with those who are considering me as a resource person or speaker. Some of these invitations are quite straightforward, while others clearly pose new challenges for me. Many times I learn as much in preparing such talks as my listeners do when they hear them. Besides this "freelance ministry" my job situation is in flux. After 53 years of publication the Oblates (religious order of priests and brothers) have decided to close the doors of their beloved Our Family Magazine. I have been the editor for the past 3 ½ years and have appreciated the position immensely (the writing, the learning, the networking, the managing). I am deeply grateful for the opportunities this job has offered me. One of the fruits is already apparent: if I had not had the editor's job, and therefore gained more writing experience, I may not have developed the confidence to write the book which is now being prepared for publication by Novalis (Ottawa) in the fall of 2002. I remain the editor until the last issue is published (February 2002), but I have already started a new job as of December. I am hired part-time as pastoral associate in a large North Battleford parish, working in a team with Fr. John (parish priest originally from Ghana) and another woman who is parish worker. My mandate involves adult faith formation (RCIA + workshops), supporting and training those who exercise leadership in the various parish ministries, and to help the parish deal with conflict situations in constructive and faith-filled ways. A tall order, I know, but then I do not easily shy away from a challenge. In light of the unsettling events in 2001 worldwide, the importance of weaving threads of love increases. Therefore, we wish that the threads of love, woven by God's Son Jesus, whose birth we celebrate, will hold you close to each other's heart and to the heart of God in this virgin year 2002. e-mail: prairie.seeds@sk.sympatico.ca
|