Coming Back Home – with my family in Saskatchewan – Part One

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Coming Back Home – with my family in Saskatchewan – Part One

The “Lost Lincolns” – so it seems to some of my friends.  We dropped off the map and from view on April 11^th with my last post.  With my usual Blog Posts being almost every day, missing one can look suspicious.  And I have missed some for sure.

At the moment was situated in Naicam, Saskatchewan, which is a 2 hour’s drive north of Regina. Sask.  And Regina is about 1700 miles north and west of Peterborough, Ontario.  It is vacation time and a million miles from the normal grind of each week.

Naicam?  Why Naicam?  Well the answer to this series of questions that pop up for many is simple. We are visiting some very close friends by the name of Doug and Gwen.  They are the Pastors of a church in Naicam.

We met Doug and Gwen Hacking away back in 1991 when we were called to come to Yorkton, Sask. to serve as the minister in that city.  After the initial meeting and the decisions made to move to Yorkton we arrived late one evening after everyone was in bed.

The next morning three young girls came from their bedrooms giggling.  They had heard that the new minister in their church was going to arrive late last night… and there they were sleeping on the front room pullout couch.

That was the beginning of our new friendship with Dana, Candace and Amanda – our three new adopted granddaughters.  And as I said that was 1991.

It is now 2013. That was 22 years ago when we met the girls.

This weekend they all came home to Naicam from different parts of Saskatchewan – to mom and dad’s place to see Pastor Murray and Alida (now Grandpa Murray and Grandma Alida) again.  Along with these three beautiful young ladies have come their five kids, two husbands, and three dogs.

What a party it has been! 

Party?  Yep!  Last evening they surprised me with a huge, delicious Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake – for my 69^th Birthday.  The cake followed a huge meal of Moose Steak and Roast Chicken… and the wonderful fellowship of my Grandkids and Great Grandkids.

Alida my wife summed it up for both of us… “This has been so much fun seeing the girls and their families! To see Doug and Gwen in their new role at the church!  I am so glad we came!!”

Back in 1991 when we met Doug he was an RCMP Officer working out of the Yorkton Detachment.  Retirement came and Doug, together with his amazing wife made a decision to go back to school again. This time they enrolled in a Theological College and Seminary graduating a few years later.

What a transition it has been – and yet not that far from what they were doing before.  They had been caring for people in the community and working at unique jobs plus involved in the church.  Now they work at a very unique job in the community are fulfilling their dream to help people.

This weekend has been one of enjoying the “fruits of our labour”.

Dana, their oldest daughter, was 13 when we arrived in Yorkton. The church was small and she was the only teenager.  She told me last night what it meant to her to have us do things with her as the only youth in the youth group. “I remember when you picked me and took me to McDonalds, just me alone. That was special. Then I brought another friend and the group grew.”

I remember that time as well. We had left Scarborough, Ontario and our two daughters behind. We were homesick beyond imagination. And there in Yorkton we found three new granddaughters that we could help and love.  I had left a Youth Ministry of about 250 teenagers and young adults to come to a church with one teen.  And Dana Hacking was very special to us.

I don’t dare start the Memory Road trail… it is too dangerous... I could write for hours about what has happened.

This weekend I taught art classes to their kids.  What a treat for Grandpa Murray Lincoln!!!

I am living the life!  Thank you God for letting me be me!!!

~ Murray Lincoln ~

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I have seen the “Future” and I am excited about what is coming

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I have seen the “Future” and I am excited about what is coming

On Monday and Tuesday morning of this week I sat with the ‘future’.  And the ‘future’ is exciting.

At the moment I was sitting with the ‘future’ I was one of the examiners for students of one class of the Theological College in Peterborough – MCS – or Master’s College and Seminary.  And in front of me were an amazing group of College Students.  These young folks are the ‘future’ and leaders of tomorrow’s church.

Mind you they are very different from who I am.  They are young and excited. They are capable and ready. They are also scared skinny of someone like me that is old, able to read between their lines and also possibly fail them if they screw up their presentation.

However I didn’t do that last part. My wife had warned/instructed me to go easy on these kids.

But I was hard and they did an excellent job. The 9 young folk that I ‘examined’ did very well. They made learning a joy – and also demonstrated well that they had caught the vision of communication. And that is what the class was all about – they were teaching Sunday School – or Discipleship classes in a local church – supposedly.

In the terms of this style of teaching we use four words that sum up what they attempted to do for me – Hook, Book, Look and Took. A fish hook, a book, an eye and a hand are the symbols that help keep this thought in front of you while you are taking part in the adventure.

Each one did their Hook, Book, Look and Took in creative ways.  Pretty cool to say the least!

What was comical happened when I introduced myself. I told them how I was one of the people that had started teaching the methods of Hook, Book, Look and Took – when they were first introduced around the late 1960s and over to the late 1970s.  When I said that, one person in the one group groaned – uttering… “Oh no…! Now I know I am in trouble….”

That part was very funny.

Today I feel younger having taken this adventure together.

Way to go young people… you are the “Future” and I am loving what I see!

~ Murray Lincoln ~

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Clumsy and Awkward – Dealing with changes in a Parent’s life

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 Mom in her new room...

The view from my Mom's new suite... looking into the Atrium... where it is always summer

 

Clumsy and Awkward – Dealing with changes in a Parent’s life

Sheesh I don’t know how to react.  Sometimes I just feel clumsy… even at 69 years old!

I have felt this since I was a boy.  In fact as far back as I can remember. In the strange new situation I am simply “dumb” and maybe “numb” not knowing what to do or say.

It is a personal deficiency I am sure – maybe “being born this way” could explain it all.

I stood yesterday in the hallway outside my Mom’s new room almost unable to move, definitely with “clumsy” all over me. My wife however was functioning at her best as she helped my Mom settle into her new digs at senior’s residence.  I was not in my element and she was right into hers – totally.

I can stand in front of an audience of thousands and easily speak without even breaking a sweat. I can talk to total strangers with great ease.  But put me into this awkward ‘family issue thing’ and I do not do so well. I am clumsy – 100%.

Leaving Mom to sleep in her new room and new place is maybe the hardest thing I have done this year or maybe this decade.

One of my friends suggested, as they had also gone through this a few years back, that it is like the day your little kids went to school.  They have been at home with you for the early years and now they are about to climb on the school bus… and leave home for the day.  It is totally difficult to let them go!

I could not agree more.  That is exactly the feeling that I had last evening as we said Good Night to Mom.  There she was in her new room, a new bed, a new bathroom, with new lighting to get used to… new everything.  How will she do?

Well it is now almost morning and my mind is wondering if it all went well… oh boy!

We had dropped by to see how she was getting on last evening – just before her bedtime.

Mom was bubbling over with new stories of how a friend of hers had dropped by her room, helped her get into her wheel chair (rather than take the walker) and pushed her down the hallways to look around.  The friend is the same age as she is.

Mom loves people and has now found a place where she fits right in.

Good Lord I have a new problem. Mom loves it there… but it is “respite care” and she will be returning to our place in a little while. This is only a try-out stage of her life.  And living in our home with the care she gets is great – except that there are few friends that just drop by to push her down the hallway.  There are no movie nights to attend…. We have created a new problem for ourselves.

That “little one” that we were afraid to let “get on the bus” is enjoying school… and well… things will be different from now on.

That “little one”, called ‘Mom’, loves her new digs and may not be ready to come home again.

I feel clumsy again.  I don’t know what to do.  I am the very confused son that is… sheesh – rather “dumb” at this moment.

At 69 years old I should have it all together – but I don’t!

Later this afternoon I will be checking on her again. This time I may have to look for her… she will have found another new friend.  And my business with her will be more remote than ever.

And I saw the way ‘that old guy” looked at her.  His that widower that I met a few weeks back… lonely… and a great guy… BUT NO WAY!

Good LORD!  NO!  It could never happen.  That is all that I need now at this stage of my life!!! NO! NO!! NO!!!.

Good Lord in Heaven – why did you create me to be so “clumsy”??

~ Murray Lincoln ~

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Making and Keeping the Memories – my Time with Emma

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“Misty Hollow Carving” was launched in October 2008
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Making and Keeping the Memories – my Time with Emma
Have you ever had one of those “one of a kind” moments where you know it has never happened before – and may never happen again? It is the moment when you simply know that the very best is happening to you and you would like to stop time… keep the moment… and never let it go.

Has that ever happened to you?

Yesterday as I was intensely focused on getting the job done I had a lot of time to think.  I was actually at that special moment again.  I captured it with a few photos and with a million memories.  It may never happen again – but I caught the treasure and it is mine!  And no one in the world is now as rich as I am!!! NO ONE!

I have had these moments in my lifetime before. Each one is like a Gold Brick worth millions of dollars. And each is stored in the vault of my memories.  Truly they are treasures that will never fade.

I stored one of these treasures when I hiked with my family to the top of Lion Rock Mountain in Hong Kong.  The Lion Rock was not far from where we lived on the Kowloon Territory of Hong Kong.  The effort to get up that mountain was great but the view was worth every step.  As I stood on top of Lion Rock I could see most of Hong Kong below with its 6 million people buzzing around their daily routines.  What a spectacular memory!

I stored another as we walked into that huge temple in Bangkok. There is front of us was the reclining Buddha.  In the cool of that temple room and the quiet of the moment a small bell rang declaring someone’s prayer being offered.  I had been in that room before when looking at National Geographic Magazine when I was a little boy.  The immense sense of gratitude almost over whelmed me as I stood in front of this marvelous creation that had been made by artists hundreds of years before.  Then in a wisp of a breeze a small gold leaf blew from the surface of Buddha’s arm… a little prayer someone had applied to his already gold guilt arm.  Wow… what a memory!!!

As I rode that gigantic creature slowly through the forest that morning with my wife sitting beside me, I could feel the huge bones in its shoulders move below that tough hide. It was our first elephant excursion back into the forest of Northern Thailand. Yes it was a tourist thing.  But for someone from the prairies of Canada it was amazing. I never dreamed in all on the years before that I would smell the forest, hear the sounds of the unusual birds nearby and feel that giant beast’s body below me.  Delightful memory – wow!

As we stepped off the train for the first time to walk into China I was almost overwhelmed by what I saw and felt for that wonderful country.  There pushed up against the iron fence that held people away from our entry point were the faces of hundreds of people staring at us. It was overpowering at that moment. I came from a place in Western Canada that is vast and huge with wide open spaces and land that even has places no one has yet seen.  I was stepping into the greatest population in the world with over a billion people.  That memory will never leave me… the hundreds and hundreds of faces looking at me with no expression.

That is only a few of the memories that are locked inside of my vault of treasures.

But yesterday this new memory will be one of my best ever. It far outshines what has been before in my life experience. It is dazzling and amazing and over whelming to start with … then it is the very best… and then there are no words to describe what I feel.. none at all.

What could that possibly be – you ask…?

I was at the Sacred Heart Church painting the last and final coats of gold on the Statute of St Joseph.  It is the really intense part of the task that I took on to restore these precious 100 year old creations.

As we worked quietly on St Joseph a very important Mass was taking place just little ways from where we were working. The strains of music and the voices mixed in melodies of all sorts floated our way as the people attending the Sunday Afternoon Mass participated.

It was at that moment that my granddaughter Emma commented on what she was listening too.  She was enjoying the sounds of what we were doing.

A little later Mass was over and it became absolutely still in that Cathedral.  We were alone in the silence of that great building.

I looked up and saw the most beautiful young lady sitting flat on the floor and painting each small stroke with great care.  She was loving her art work as much as her grandpa was. She had caught the spirit of what we were doing and the importance of this precious work of art for these people. And most important I was loving what she did.

My granddaughter loves her art. She is very creative.  And she is very good at what she creates.

I snuck a peek at her looking closely at her work. The intensity of that beautiful face radiated a small something of her inner beauty.  I realized in that moment that all of the beautiful places on earth, all of the stunning things that I have seen and places that I have been are nothing besides my granddaughter… and this precious moment we were sharing together.

Yesterday another 1000 Gold Bricks were added to my memory treasure chest.  I have a lump in my throat at this minute as I savour what I saw and felt.

How can one grandpa be so blessed?  But I am only blessed because I stopped to see what has been given to me.  And yesterday was one of those extra, extra, extra special moments that is worth maybe a gazillion dollars – or more.

I am blessed way beyond measures of this world. Wow!

And here are the photos that captured it all… well at least some of it… Thank you Emma…

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Murray Lincoln ~

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The Role Reversal with Care Giving of an aging parent and I am going crazy!

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These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.
“Misty Hollow Carving” was launched in October 2008
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The Role Reversal with Care Giving of an aging parent and I am going crazy!

I hadn’t really noticed the stress level rising around our home until this AM. Then it hit me… what is taking place is very real and is about to happen!  Whoa!  I don’t think I am ready for this at all!

Stress level you say?  What do you mean?

Well my Mom is about to leave home.  And I am not sure that I am ready for that to happen.

Oh Boy!

Tomorrow morning my Mom is going to move over to Royal Gardens, a very nice senior’s residence in our city. It is just up the street from where we live and it is beautiful!

It is the start of a two week respite care for her. In her 92 year she needs more care and this is a great place to get just that.

My wife and I will be taking a short break – and we felt it was a good time for Mom to try this idea out… and there is no better place to have that happen than Royal Gardens!!!

But stress levels are great. And it comes with this nutty thing that happens when the big “Role Reversal” takes place… where the Child becomes the Care Giver and protector of the parent.  Mom and I are into that area of life big time.

A flash back came the other day when I remembered leaving home for the first time. I was traveling from Regina, Saskatchewan by car to Toronto, Ontario – 1700 miles away. My dad was driving along with me. He had never been to Toronto so this was a great time to get there and keep a check on his son.

I remember Mom crying and wiping her eyes with her apron as we pulled out. She had tried to raise her kids so they would be ready to leave home… now her first one was leaving and going far, far away.

I was filled with adventure and thoughts about the future with little or no thoughts about home and family. I was ready for the days to come. Mom was thinking about the days that we had together… and was now losing her son.

Now, April 8^th I am giving up my Mom to a total bunch of strangers that will take up the care and safety of her wellbeing… and I am not sure what will happen! Not sure at all!!!!

But that had to be what my Mom went through as I left home. In fact I did that a number of times over the years… come home and then leave… come and then go….

But respite care is what we all need now. This is especially true for my wife Alida who is the main caregiver in Mom’s life.  And I am not sure how my wife will do leaving my Mom at the Senior’s residence tomorrow… not sure at all.

I write this today because there are others that have either gone through this or will shortly. You, like me, are in the Role Reversal stage of life looking after an aging parent that is need of more and more help. And you, like me, wish you didn’t have this task to keep on keeping on… but are glad to do so… because after all she is “Mom”.

Oh Boy… gotta run and get the suitcase ready. Mom is ready for her Spa Experience – her Cruise Ship experience for the next few weeks… but I am not.

 ~ Murray Lincoln ~

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Celebrating with St Joseph – one more day

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Celebrating with St Joseph – one more day
Almost done… whew!

Yesterday I applied the almost last coat of paint to St. Joseph.  I am down to the smallest detail of applying the coats of paint to the gold trim on Joseph’s coat.

After 4 hours of painting and the intense concentration that I was doing I was wiped out – but at the same time totally satisfied.  A deep feeling of joy has swept over me as I come down to the last stages of restoring the colour to these beautiful statutes.

I began this work in September 2012, now 8 months later I almost done.  Jesus was first and he was ready for the Christmas celebrations at Sacred Heart Church, where he has stood faithfully for 109 years. Then came Mary, she was done in February.  Now Joseph is ready to join the others helping the faithful of the church to focus their prayers during their worship.

The intense concentration required allows a lot of time for thinking as well.  I have thought of the original artists and sculptures many times. These folk were simply amazing in my mind.  Their attention to detail and the very apparent love of what they did is so clear as I look closely at each statute.

I am going to miss this work stage. I have enjoyed the intensity of this project. I have savoured the involvement in this deeply spiritual activity. And the interaction with the folk that come and go through the church each day has been very good for my own life. I have many new friends that I have connected with in these 8 months.

Father Ervens shared something with me that has been a treasure for me. He told me that the church has been praying for me.  They have included me in their Mass at certain times. He also shared that each time someone prays because of the statute or at the statute, they will also be praying for me.

That is truly moving.  They have adopted me into their prayer.  They pray for me!

As a Protestant and an evangelical that is out on the limb of the theological tree, entitled “Pentecostal” I am deeply moved.   I have never thought that a Catholic would pray for me… or even consider it as a possibility.  That is truly mind blowing!

So much has changed in my life over these years. It is humbling to say the least.

I cannot say more at this stage. This morning I am ready to meet with Joseph again… more gold paint to be applied today.

I have a few more hours of thinking to do.

 ~ Murray Lincoln ~

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The celebration for Jonah Van Spronsen and my tears of joy!

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These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.
“Misty Hollow Carving” was launched in October 2008
Misty Hollow Digital Images were launched on September 26, 2012.
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Jonah and Samson wacthing the big screen announcing their special gift

 

The celebration for Jonah Van Spronsen and my tears of joy!
What I heard and what I saw yesterday made tears come to my eyes.  I took my glasses off and wiped my eyes… even though lots of people watched me.  I cry when something touches me deeply.

What caused this reaction from so deep within?

Yesterday we were invited to Jonah Van Spronsen’s school to attend a special school assembly.

It was a big secret that was kept from Jonah and his brother Sam.  There teachers at school and also all his friends kind of knew about what was happening – but it was kept as a surprise from the boys.

The “Sunshine Foundation” along with volunteers in the community together are making it possible for Jonah to be able to go to Disney Land. It was Jonah’s “wish” that he expressed months ago. The Sunshine Foundation is dedicated to helping make “wishes” of kids possible.

In the school assembly with all of the school listening and watching the announcement was made by projecting Jonah’s story on the big screen.

Jonah is deaf and he watched his sign language interpreter as his own photos came on the big screen… then the announcement of Jonah’s trip to meet Mickey Mouse and all his friends.

Jonah also cannot speak with is mouth and tongue – but he does very well with his hands and his whole body!!!

When the announcement was made the whole school clapped their hands expressing their joy!  Jonah clapped his hands as well… but then something neat happened. In sign language you raise your two hands and twist/rotate them rapidly in the air.  The entire school, students and teacher and guests all did the same. The room was silent and all hands waved in the air. Jonah turned around and grinned – everyone was talking his language.

 

That is when the tears came to my eyes!  What joy – what support – and Jonah loves it.

No, Jonah is not sick with cancer.  Jonah was born with some very difficult physical conditions.  It is called “CHARGE Syndrome”. In Jonah’s case it is hearing/communication impairment and severe heart conditions.

The medical experts told Jessika and George that Jonah would likely never walk.  Today he not only walks but he also runs.  He is very sharp and very active – he is all boy!

I was there the day Jessika and George were married. I performed their marriage ceremony.

I was also there the very difficult night that Jonah was born. I happened to be at the hospital for “On Call Chaplaincy” and met his grandmother in the hallway.  She was beside herself as she described what was taking place.  During the birth of Jonah they had lost his Mom. She had flat lined on the delivery table.  I rushed to the delivery suite to see what I could do.

Jessika was just coming around and the first person that she saw was me… with one of the ceiling pot lights around my head. When she tells the story today she states clearly that she thought that she was dead and in heaven.   It is a good story when she tells it.  It involves all that Alida and I have done with this small family and all the miracles that have happened.

Jonah has had 49 surgeries so far in his young life – and their will likely be more. Many times they could have lost him on the operating table – but each time he has recovered.

When we all raised our hands and waved them wildly – we all celebrated yesterday… and I cried!

 ~ Murray Lincoln ~

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