Two Mothers, Twin Daughters

Contest going on: The 25th person AND THE NEXT THREE AFTER to buy one of my books before Christmas gets to stay in Hollyhock Haven FREE for one night. Hollyhock Haven Bed and Breakfast can be found on Air BnB.

It was terrifying being in England during the war

Marita fled to Canada as a pregnant teenage war bride but found a sympathetic friend on the ship. Arriving in a strange city in a foreign country.and rushed to the hospital

Who Will Help Us With Our Problems?

It was a super-nice day and a Sunday afternoon, besides, which meant time to do something fun and relaxing. What should it be? Both hubby and I agreed that it would be great to take a walk in the park, so what if the city was 45 km. away.

 Now I have this real special dog. Some of you will remember Kasa as a cute small white puppy however she did some growing since then, but of course I wanted her along. With the help of a nice blue tarp for the back of the vehicle, she happily came for the ride.

 Right from the beginning things didn’t go quite as expected. First of all Kasa, who is an overgrown puppy is used to our boring country roads and would walk sedately enough, but these new trails with wonderful strangers to greet and especially all those dogs to make friends with, oh boy oh boy, was she ever excited! I quickly handed the leash over to Stephen, this super enthused ‘pal’ was a lot more than I could handle.

Diversion number two: A friend we hadn’t visited with much for several years because he lived elsewhere, stepped up to us. “Can I walk with you?” Sure, of course.

 Problem number two. The first one was a too rambunctious dog, you got that, right? Well now it was two men that had strong long strides that I could hardly keep up with. I was panting slightly on the inclines, but didn’t say much because my inherited blood pressure problem could use a workout, right. Right? Just as a side note, my B.P. had dropped to the normal range by the next morning. Yippee! Even my pills hadn’t coaxed it to do that.

 Hmm, problems weren’t over, though. On the way home, the car sputtered and died. My better half filled the rad with water but that didn’t help for long. So there we sat with the hood up, wondering what to do. Pretty soon a friend came cruising along with his family on the way to evening church. Sure, he would give us a ride home. There was even a place for the mutt behind the back seat of that roomy SUV. We joked about her sitting on the laps of the teenage girls on the back seat who were all dressed up in their Sunday best.

We got home in time to listen to the inspiring service over the phone and just as the last song was being sung a neighbour called.

  “Was that your car I saw beside the road?” Well, to make a long story short that friendly neighbour helped to haul it home.

  So did you read between the lines? Who will help us with our problems? God will. He doesn’t always give us such immediate or fun solutions, but often enough that we know He is in control so I’m gonna just keep trusting Him.  

Don't Forget the Bread

The Light Around Us

I’m going to tell you about this man; I'll call him Cham and the touch he felt from God. It's pretty remarkable, AND it's true. O.K, it started out this way; his wife needed to get to work and she asked him to pick up a loaf of bread and some other

things. Pretty basic, eh?

 

Only problem is he got distracted, and ended up in the beer parlor and the money ended up in the wrong cash register. Needless to say, the wife was pretty disappointed, but a week later the same thing happened again, or rather was about to happen. He was pretty busy having a good time with his friends, same time, same location, sort of thing, when he needed to visit the restroom. Now things got pretty interesting: when he walked out he looked out and lo and behold a light was shining all around him. I don't think he paid too much attention to it at first but went to join his companions, and they were gone! He asked the waitress about them, and all she could say was that they had upped and left. Well, he decided to go searching, but couldn't find them, but he did notice that the light was still surrounding him so decided to let it lead him. Cham followed the light in that otherwise dark night, and it lead him up to a narrow river which he decided to cross although it came up to his waist, then later across another river until it eventually lead him back home.

I believe this experience left a deep impression on Cham. He didn't always follow the Light, (God's light) as closely as He should, but he tried and God was able to bring him out of his ignorance and darkness to a closer walk with Him. He can do the same for you. Just follow the little light you have, pray and He will lead you, us one step at a time. When we look back, we will often recognise how He lead us better than we can at the moment.

Who Was the Victim

I’m finding it very hard to write this exact post, maybe it’s because I haven’t been completely reconciled with my past or something.

Okay, I know I am going to confuse some of you because earlier I leaped back into my eleventh year to bring out some Memory Files and this was after sharing what happened when I was a young teenager. Now I’m back into my teen years, got it?

Do you remember me telling you about being ‘kidnapped’ by a couple of uncles?

Well, here we are, a new life is before us. Now we are living in a proper home once again, one with running water, lights, and all that good stuff we were used to in this modern day and age. I assume Mom’s brothers and church family were instrumental in having that happen though it is a piece of the puzzle I never actually searched for.

We were given a warm welcome: I remember the girls my age, a couple of them which were my cousins, putting on a party which included presenting me with a homemade scrapbook where they had each added a page or two.  It was a very nice gesture.

But somehow, what lingers most warmly in my mind is going to school on that first day of grade ten. Just inside the glass doors of the big school were two girls waiting for me. They became my best friends.

  Okay, I guess I need to venture into what’s really hurting, can’t skirt it any longer.  Mom had gone home to her people but she wasn’t ‘one of them’ in spirit, if you catch the drift.

I’ve always shielded myself from this fact because it hurt too much. It was easier to say that Mom was depressed because of all the pain she had gone through, but the truth was I, we, were hurting and she wasn’t there for us. 

The silent disapproval I had already felt as a child remained, and I found her quite unapproachable.  Once, maybe a year or so after we got there, she shared her heart with me. It was a heady experience for a fifteen or sixteen year old, but I was too young to really help her. 

So what did I do? I turned to writing and finished my first novel while in my teens but later threw it out. I also wrote poetry that expressed my anguish and other moods. 

I still quote these lines from one of the poems from time to time: ‘Chains of darkness flung around me binding me with fear’, hmm, the rest of the words are escaping me. What were they? I wrote about the ‘echoes from the past’ meaning the sexual abuse that had such a damaging effect on my ego.

Teenage years can be tumultuous even for those from a stable home, and mine wasn’t easy. I had such extreme mood swings that on one occasion I took way too many aspirin in a desperate attempt to end it all. Did I have side effects? Not really. Did Mom know? Shrug.

But was God there? Yes, He most definitely was, and although at times I couldn’t feel Him, looking back I realized that what I thought were stumbling blocks were really stepping tones that shone like jewels on my way towards Heaven.

The Mysterious Disease

He held his head high, he was one of the elite, no one would ever find out his secret. His robe was as luxurious, gleaming white as the best. His locks shining like a dark resplendent crown upon his intelligent brow.  As he laughed, joked or discoursed learnedly according to the occasion, his eyes twinkled with life; even they did not give away his deep dark secret.

More of the pre-Christmas Story. From MARY'S Viewpoint!

Today was cloudy and dark; a gloomy sort of day. Not even my

companions whom I regularly meet at the well were not in the mood

to linger and chat for long. I guess it is because there is a chill in the air.

The clouds are dark, and lowering. Quite likely by nightfall the early rains will have begun in earnest. It sure feels like a day for huddling in our mud brick homes as close as possible to the little fire in the brazier!

I wonder how my long-time friends will treat me once they can tell

that I am carrying a tinoki, little child. Will they give me the look that

so many reserve for aant’at, women, of ill repute? I shiver to think of it!

Prettying Up Hollyhock Haven

Hollyhock Haven Bed and Breakfast

Gotta rush but I'm getting more and more enthused about this Bed and Breakfast idea. If you have been reading my posts lately, you'll see I have had a more or less one track mind. And that's to perk up and pretty up our B&B. I even came up with a new tag line. “A stranger is the friend we haven't met.”Still working on painting the utility and entrance but other things kept crowding in. One friend I have never met saw the pictures on the website and had a lovely comment. She said “When you're done, you'll have a very, very pretty Bed and Breakfast, Marilyn.” Well,I got to going. See you soon? I hope so!

I have a 'wonderful gutt” as the Amish would say, recipe for Granola which would be super popular with our guests. Should I pick up more ingredients today? P.S. Just wait til you taste Country Scrambled Eggs and our Smoothies...
Well, I really must run. I want to pick up some turquoise paint for the utility among other things........That's my feet running out the door! (I know, I know, it should be two tracks!)

Oh I forgot to mention something that's really gonna put our little back-country town on the map. A few years ago I pestered a friend of mine to sell her donuts, and the last couple years she has been doing so. If they become world famous I wouldn't be surprized. I was told they did ten batches a day with nine and a half dozen donuts in each batch and they ALWAYS run out. 

Just Pretend to Change

This is part of a true story from the Martyr's Mirror. Scroll down until you get to the first one about the Couple (or Neighbour Next Door and read upwards. It will make a lot more sense that way.

“Claudine, don't be so hard on yourself,” a childhood friend pleaded as she handed her a basket after the guard had left. “Just give lip service to their demands.”

Claudine's eyes widened. “You mean tell them I won't serve Jesus anymore?” That was unthinkable.

“Shh! Not so loud! The guard might hear you!” Grieken laid her hand on her friend's arm. “You have been in this dirty dungeon for over a year, now. Just tell them you will obey their rules, and--”

“But I can't!”

“Don't you want your baby back? I'm sure he is crying for you every night.”

Claudine's pale face crumpled.

“You can just pretend not to follow Jesus,” Grieken continued. “God will forgive you.”

“Maybe. But I could never forgive myself! Grieken why are you talking this way? He--our Heavenly father-- is so good to us!”

Grieken shrugged. “Others are recanting.”

“Others? Really?”

“Yes. They are terrified of being buried alive. That is the latest punishment.”

Claudine's white face grew even whiter and she leaned against the stone wall to keep from collapsing. She lifted her chin slightly. “I can never recant. Never! The thought makes me ill, dear sister. Jesus died for me. He's been with me every step of the way. Oh please don't suggest such awful things to me!'

Grieken lifted one corner of the cloth covering the basket. “I just wanted to help.”

She leaned closer and whispered into Claudine's ear. “There is a letter from your husband in there, so bite carefully.”

Claudine smiled weakly. That meant it was probably baked into the loaf of bread.

“Are they praying for me?”

Grieken looked solemn. “Yes, sister. Everyday. Many times a day I am sure your name is breathed in prayer.”

Claudine nodded but didn't look up when Grieken left. Her heart was broken, but Jesus was there. It was enough.

Books by this author may be found at Tate Publishing, Amazon and elsewhere. Just type in Marilyn Friesen in the search box.