It's been a busy weekend

I got to take my first trip to Halifax on Friday, but only for a half hour. Steve and I left before 7am and went to work together. This allowed us to get the car insurance sorted out in person with the broker so now all I have to do to have wheels is get new tires and a battery plus plates for the other van. Maybe tomorrow. It was nice to share the long drive together and since Steve's sick with the flu and a wickedly sore throat he appreciated the company. He took it easy on Saturday and spent half of today in bed missing the latter half of church which is unusual for him so you know he's not feeling well.

We got new tyres on the old van so now we have good snow traction hopefully with our mountain and snowflake rated tyres. Yay! We also had the activity and craft day which 18 women attended and we got a bunch of crafts done plus 2 lap quilts tied for different sisters at church who could use the love and cheer from a little huggable quilt. All in all we had a nice relaxing time and a nice luncheon and we ate loads of good cookies! And I'm glad all that planning and cooking is done!

Oh and I have to add that Chris and Jordan did a wonderful job of looking after a dozen little ones and kids for nearly 3 hours. They were both heroes! I promise to not ask you to babysit again this year!

Today we got to see more of Nova Scotia. We went out to Caledonia to pick up a bike for Kate for Christmas and met a lovely lady who's invited us to come back with the kids for a visit in the summer. She has a big lake on her property and it's beautiful out that way past kejimkujik national park. I bet it's lovely in the summer. The bike is for Kate for Christmas and it's raspberry coloured with 5 gears and hand brakes for her to learn on. Now she needs some crash pads and a helmet.

The big news of the weekend is that I've been called as the Relief Society President. So now I oversee all the programs for the women in our little branch of the church. Sort of like the 'mother' of the branch. I'm overwhelmed about being responsible for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the families in our area but at the same time I know the Lord will help me and guide me and I'm excited to be able to be of service. We might just be a little branch now but we're mighty and getting stronger every day.

Here's my thought for today, Sunday. In a world where greed, envy, starvation, abuse and selfishness are rampant we can sometimes just want to sit and weep thinking that there's nothing we can do about it. The problems can seem overwhelming. So many faces needing our help and us without the means to do all we'd like to do. But don't be discouraged. By helping just one person you make a real difference in their world. There is a wonderful story that's told...

“Once there was a great storm that washed thousands of starfish up onshore. As an old man walked the beach he saw a young boy picking up stranded starfish and quickly returning them to the sea.
The man approached the boy and said, “What are you doing? The sun is rising. What difference does it make? They're all going to die anyway.” As the boy rose from gently tossing back yet another starfish he said, “I made a difference to THAT one…”

And that's the lesson to all of us. We can all make a difference to that one person who needs us.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll write again tomorrow.

Elizabeth