Left Behind

Yesterday left me with the strangest feeling of being abandoned.  My son left for Paris, my husband left for Saskatoon and for awhile it appeared my mom was going to leave this earth permanently.  I found myself wanting to shout out, "Wait for me, everybody, wait for me!"  

It was the most odd feeling I have ever experienced.  It was one of those days where if we had a pet, it probably would have picked yesterday to run away.  I am not sure why everyone heading off here and there bothered me so much, but it certainly did.

The feeling grew bit by bit throughout the day.  Not being able to stay for coffee after church didn't help.  Usually that provides a friendly completion to my Sunday morning, but I had to get home immediately after service to get some things ready for my husband to head off to clergy conference.

Then in the evening I received a phone call from my husband's sister.  She was still in her own home in her own city, not going anywhere. hahaha  We had such a good talk and afterward I felt less alone, less abandoned.  She is a very nurturing person to my husband and I and I felt far more secure after our conversation.  Her husband has similar reflux issues to my mom's and it was nice to be able to explain what happened to mom yesterday to someone who has seen those sorts of extreme symptoms and understands the fright dad and I got.

Shortly afterward my husband started texting me and we spent a delightful hour exchanging messages. Recently my husband finally discovered texting for personal and not just work reasons and he has become and texting maniac. hahaha

I could hardly believe what happened to him in Saskatoon at dinner.  He and his colleagues went out for Chinese food and had a similar experience to the one he and I had the other night here.  He was shocked.  So God, what is going on?  What are we to learn and utilize from these two experiences of racial profiling? Or prejudice?  What the heck?  On the one hand it is good to experience that so we better understand what some other people experience every day of their lives, on the other it is somewhat daunting to be treated that way in our own country and if this sort of thing is becoming common, I have a tad more empathy for people who want to restrict immigration.  Perhaps they have been treated by some immigrants the way my husband and I have been treated over the past couple of days. After the way Canadians have treated our aboriginal and immigrant populations in generations past, perhaps our country is finally going to pay for our sins. Scary thought!

Last evening I watched a tv show about how Canada's indigenous community has struggled with racial profiling.  It was interesting watching the reactions of my fellow white people to questions being asked of them about the aboriginal community.  Then I heard the answers to the same questions from members of the native community.  The difference in outlook was apparent. The struggles on both sides to understand each other weighed me down as I realized just how far we all have to go when it comes to developing an acceptance and understanding of each others' people groups.

So suddenly my husband and I are being bombarded by racial and intercultural issues.  What does it mean Lord?  Is it just coincidence or is there something you are trying to show us?  Is there something in our future ministry that is going to need us to be more aware of racial and cultural differences?  Are we just in need of checking our own attitudes and making sure we are not guilty of treating others in some kind of nasty or condescending way?  Food for thought and prayer I think. 

Yesterday afternoon I ironed my winter pants and jeans.  The day before I ironed blouses and shirts and sweaters. Today I will touch up some suit jackets and then that will bring me to the end of the giant pile of clothes in need of sprucing up for winter wear.  Then I can get a few groceries and do some banking.  Tomorrow will be a  house cleaning extravaganza in case the Old Testament discussion group is able to come over for our weekly session.  There is illness and some overtime work issues happening this week for many of our members. 

I slept well last night after tracking my son's flight overseas.  Once it landed safely I was able to relax and sleep deeply, waking up early, but feeling quite refreshed.  How I love being able to track the safety of my family travellers.

After all the rain the previous night and into the morning, our leaky basement showed only one teeny circle of dampness on the wall and floor in the corner that has leaked the most right from the start.  There has been more rain overnight so I will check again, but o my...it appears all my husband's hard work to patch the walls has paid off.  The wind was blowing the heaviest rainfall into the leakiest wall, but no water appeared on the wall or on the floor beneath. I am so grateful for that.

I will be glad when this week is over.  I don't have a lot of plans made and feel too mentally scattered to think more than a couple of hours ahead.  Hopefully things will come together as the week goes on.  Oh..hey, I just remembered that the church ladies' book club starts up this week. Oh, that will be a lot of fun!  That makes three evenings of activity in a row this week.  Okay then...it will be a grand week after all! hahaha