About a month ago, I was still finding myself very tired and my "up" and "down" moods seemed to continue to be pretty intense. I was finding it very hard to get out of bed each day. We have a serious shortage of doctors here in Nova Scotia. Our family physician left months ago and, while there is no replacement yet, if we want to see a doctor then we need to go to an after hours clinic where typically we need to wait 2-3 hours to talk to a stranger. After weeks of thinking about doing so, I decided I would do this, as then I could get routine blood tests done and then take that info to a local Naturopathic Doctor.
On the evening of Friday, April 27th, when suddenly I found myself with some "free" time because my son no longer needed me to take him to school like I anticipated, I decided to go to that walk-in clinic. Not sure about you, but I'm not good with new people, and so I found it hard to explain my situation to the stranger in front of me, but I managed to walk away with a form to get blood tests done on Monday morning.
The next Friday, I went back to that clinic to hear the results and was relieved to have the same doctor there. You cannot always count on that at the walk-in clinic - usually it's someone different every time. The doctor told me... "You have elevated liver enzymes. Do you drink?" Of course, I don't drink at all, so that explanation was ludicrous. He wrote up another lab request form, and told me I need to go again for a repeat test of my GGT levels in a month to see if this changes. I asked him what causes that and he seemed to brush me off. I asked him if it could simply be temporary from stress and he said, yeah, that could be it. He said my cortisol results were not in yet, so I should check back in a week about the result of that test. He didn't take the time to explain further. Instead, I felt very rushed out the door. Sure felt the doctor shortage on that evening!
Well, what does a computer geek do when she goes to a doctor and is left with questions about a blood test? She goes to our friend "Google", right? You're all cringing now, aren't you?
I looked up "elevated liver enzymes" and here's what I got:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/elevated-liver-enzymes/basics/causes/sym-20050830
I didn't sleep very well in the past few weeks. I was a bit unnecessarily freaked out ;-)
Now, after a few weeks of waiting, that last test result finally came in, and so this Saturday I found myself in that clinic again, with another 2 hour wait to see another doctor I had never met before. This turned out to be a blessing. This doctor took his time. He explained that my cortisol levels are in the normal range, which honestly surprised me because I feel extremely stressed out most of the time now it seems. I pressed him further on all this...
Turns out my liver enzyme levels are only "mildly" elevated. I was a bit surprised to learn that some employers could actually look at a test like mine and reject me as an employee for fear that I'm an alcoholic. That seems rather harsh and unfair, especially to a non-drinker! Will have to keep that in mind if I choose to apply somewhere else someday...
He went on to explain further though, thank goodness! It's likely I'm in menopause. The "on edge" moods could all be explained by that simple "change" that we women must deal with. I should get used to this, as it is not likely to get better for a while. Far better than what "Google" was telling me - LOL! I'll still go see the ND because I have observed her helping others in this time.
Now, Sunday was interesting. As I said, I've been REALLY tired lately. Still, I find that going to church is good for me, and so I ensured I made it there. During children's time, our minister talked about "ruach"... Did you know that in Hebrew there is a single word that means "breath", "wind" and "spirit"? Google corroborates this, too ;-) https://www.gotquestions.org/meaning-ruach.html He had us do some deep breathing, and there was extra singing, and I walked away from the service reminded of the days when I used to meditate and that did a world of good for me. I was totally energized!
Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny Sunday. After a few years of living with a kitchen ceiling with a hole that I tried to patch, sand and prime a few times and gave up on, I finally found the energy to try again. Last night, I was SO happy crawling into bed realizing that FINALLY I had patched and primed that ceiling. Today, it was beautiful again. I hauled our deck furniture out and then spent a good part of the holiday sitting on our deck reading a book. Thinking about that word "ruach", I can't help but reflect now.. maybe "That's the Spirit!"
I will have to ensure I do that deep breathing and meditate more often!
Hope you enjoyed your weekend, too. If you are in Canada, Happy Victoria Day!
Monday, May 21, 2018
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
How do you Define Office?
Imagine you have noticed... Many of our non-profit organizations are struggling now, a lot. Every day, there seems to be another story of a group fighting to keep its members, pay its bills, and just plain keep it together. This is a huge challenge for our communities, as we have become very dependent on such non-profit organizations in our lives. So much of our world is dependent on volunteers, and yet it seems that more and more people are "too busy" or there is "not enough money" to keep the organizations afloat.
Facing declining membership and significant elimination of funding from government, one Nova Scotia group currently based with an office in Truro has even given me a direct question to answer. "We are interested in redefining office," their leaders have stated. "How would you redefine our office?"
As someone who works full-time, yet doesn't have an office, and hasn't had one now for over a decade, I find this question quite interesting! My first reaction is, "Why do you think you need an office?" You see, I don't have an "office" in the traditional sense, but I do work full-time for a corporation out of my home.
Perhaps we could start with a list of tasks that typically happen inside the office, all of which I assert can be done from home instead?
Facing declining membership and significant elimination of funding from government, one Nova Scotia group currently based with an office in Truro has even given me a direct question to answer. "We are interested in redefining office," their leaders have stated. "How would you redefine our office?"
As someone who works full-time, yet doesn't have an office, and hasn't had one now for over a decade, I find this question quite interesting! My first reaction is, "Why do you think you need an office?" You see, I don't have an "office" in the traditional sense, but I do work full-time for a corporation out of my home.
Perhaps we could start with a list of tasks that typically happen inside the office, all of which I assert can be done from home instead?
- Respond to questions from members, using phone or email
- Pay bills, write receipts, accounting records
- Ordering stuff, receiving stuff, arranging accommodations
- Advertising or otherwise telling people about our organization
- Running computer hardware and software to do business over the internet
- Making sure people are there and have what they need to do the organization's work (mostly volunteers)
- Administrative stuff like photocopying, printing
Maybe ask yourself, is there anything you do in your current office that you could not do from a home instead?
In my own work, the only time this seems to happen is when a face-to-face conference is deemed necessary. For me, this has happened less than once a year, in the last decade! Normally, I do my work using a computer with internet service and Skype. I don't even use a traditional phone for my work anymore, though I know there are "virtual office" services available so you can still have a physical address and phone number if you need it separate from your home.
As for conference space, I think that even if you need to do face-to-face meetings more often, there are alternatives to have a full-time space. As an example, maybe you could arrange to host meetings in a community room in a library or community hall, or perhaps your community has a hub space where different businesses will split costs to have access to a meeting room for occasional use?
Personally, I like the small tax break that I get by working from home. Say you have 10 rooms in your home, and you use a room for business purposes... In Canada, you can claim 10% of your power bill to reduce the income tax you pay. You can also claim what you pay for your home-based in internet service, because you're using that for business purposes. There are other claims that can be made as well, depending on your circumstances. Also, I love that I don't pay for gas in my car every day, here is less wear and tear on my vehicle, and I don't waste an hour or more driving to/from work every day either - more "me" time when work hours are done!
There are a few challenges to working from home as well, of course. It was a bit tough at first, not seeing people all the time "in an office". What I learned to do though was to use tools like Facebook (sparingly) to replace the social trips to the "water cooler". Also, I found I needed to have someone else watching my kids, so I could close myself in a room to work quietly. Those are really small challenges though, when I consider the benefit I've had where I've been there for the brief moments when my kids really seemed to need their Mom.
Does anyone else out there have ideas about how to "redefine office"? I bet I'm forgetting some good points... Please "comment" to add to this, as I'm sure the group asking me for input would like to know!
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Agile - To be or not to be?
Want to work with our team? Check out http://jobs.dxc.technology!
This has been my focus for a weeks now, so thought I'd share a bit about what our team is doing, because it's exciting! In India, I'm looking for three automation engineers, a data scientist, and a machine learning specialist, and there are many other leaders looking to fill other roles as well, with focus on artificial intelligence, catalog services, and more!
In about 2015 though, we started to explore a new way of working... "Agile" methodologies. Some of us (including myself) studied Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) 4.0 in 2016, and became certified as Scaled Agilists. Our team evolved our approach. Our team is now a Scrum team, within a few Scrum of Scrums teams, where I am "Product Owner" (a.k.a. internally as "Engineering Dev Lead") for some "element" solutions intended to support delivery of DXC offerings of services, including but not limited to:
Our team includes experts who focus on "capabilities", such as ensuring a COTS product can be installed and configured with best practices in mind or ensuring a new service can be delivered through integration of various components together, and we also have experts who focus on developing components to differentiate DXC from our competitors.
Once every two weeks, we choose a set of stories from our backlog, plan the changes needed in our components by documenting "sub-tasks" in each story and estimating time we'll require to get each task done, aiming to provide each engineer with a set of sub-tasks that can be completed in the next two week period, and then we set to work and review at end of the two weeks. We repeat this procedure 8-10 times, and that ultimately leads us to deliver a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) release of documents and other artifacts to produce an element release.
Now, instead of taking many, many months, we typically take about about a quarter to produce an updated release of our solution related to our key vendor products of focus.
In some cases, our documents and components are clearly valued for delivery of offerings, while in other cases we have started to identify we should retire them (some have been around for 15 years). We want to focus on developing content with highest value. We want to bring in the future, as we are learning about data science, machine learning, and more! Sometimes, it can even be a bit scary to think about - watch "Black Mirror" on Netflix to get some ideas about why I say that ;-)
Our key challenge now is that this is a LOT of artifacts for such a small team to manage, so right now we are working on DOUBLING our team size! Exciting!
http://assets1.dxc.technology/innovation/downloads/DXC_Creating_the_Agile_Organization.pdf
The paper highlights that Agile is typically great for managing development of custom components, but weaker as a methodology for managing collateral related to COTS components. This describes well what I feel is the latest "aha" moment for our team... the next phase in our history of loyalty?!
We are now working on a shift, where we will focus more on the DXC-developed components in our solution that are intended to differentiate DXC from our competitors. We are considering breaking up our solution to manage a bit differently. We need to continue to use Agile to manage changes in the DXC-developed components that are considered of high value - we want to shift to release changes to those components separately much faster - maybe even every two weeks! We are exploring changing our way of working.. maybe we could use Kanban to manage evergreen of our support for the COTS components? We have lots of options - the challenge is finding time to figure it out while we keep it all going and interview people, too!
Time will tell where we go next.
Are you the right person to help us? If you want to be a part of this and have the right skills, please consider applying! Check out http://jobs.dxc.technology!
This has been my focus for a weeks now, so thought I'd share a bit about what our team is doing, because it's exciting! In India, I'm looking for three automation engineers, a data scientist, and a machine learning specialist, and there are many other leaders looking to fill other roles as well, with focus on artificial intelligence, catalog services, and more!
Who are we?
Prior to 2016, "Waterfall" was the method for managing projects. We would develop and release many artifacts by going through a series of phases that typically took months to go through. We would identify requirements for all the components, then prepare a component design document for each component we wanted to develop, then develop each component, then conduct designer testing for each component, then conduct integration and acceptance testing for all components as a single set, then finally release. A release took us many months!In about 2015 though, we started to explore a new way of working... "Agile" methodologies. Some of us (including myself) studied Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) 4.0 in 2016, and became certified as Scaled Agilists. Our team evolved our approach. Our team is now a Scrum team, within a few Scrum of Scrums teams, where I am "Product Owner" (a.k.a. internally as "Engineering Dev Lead") for some "element" solutions intended to support delivery of DXC offerings of services, including but not limited to:
- Workplace Devices Services (WDS)
- Virtual Desktop and Applications (VDA)
- Mobile Enterprise Services (MES)
Our Current Approach
Now, about once per quarter, the team I lead decides the key scope of focus for our element, typically based on need to support a new version of key vendor products, and then we log a backlog of stories to take care of the various phases necessary to evergreen and add components in our solution, with concentration on supporting installation, configuration and operation of these products integrated with other products. We also continuously add stories in our backlog to describe changes we feel we should make to improve our existing collateral.Our team includes experts who focus on "capabilities", such as ensuring a COTS product can be installed and configured with best practices in mind or ensuring a new service can be delivered through integration of various components together, and we also have experts who focus on developing components to differentiate DXC from our competitors.
Once every two weeks, we choose a set of stories from our backlog, plan the changes needed in our components by documenting "sub-tasks" in each story and estimating time we'll require to get each task done, aiming to provide each engineer with a set of sub-tasks that can be completed in the next two week period, and then we set to work and review at end of the two weeks. We repeat this procedure 8-10 times, and that ultimately leads us to deliver a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) release of documents and other artifacts to produce an element release.
Now, instead of taking many, many months, we typically take about about a quarter to produce an updated release of our solution related to our key vendor products of focus.
Our Challenge
With each commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product from a vendor, our small team of engineers now needs to maintain about 60 DXC-developed automation components (about 50,000 lines of code) to install, configure and integrate about 40 components from our vendor partners. We also maintain over 100 documents capturing details of design, test records, and best practice recommendations.In some cases, our documents and components are clearly valued for delivery of offerings, while in other cases we have started to identify we should retire them (some have been around for 15 years). We want to focus on developing content with highest value. We want to bring in the future, as we are learning about data science, machine learning, and more! Sometimes, it can even be a bit scary to think about - watch "Black Mirror" on Netflix to get some ideas about why I say that ;-)
Our key challenge now is that this is a LOT of artifacts for such a small team to manage, so right now we are working on DOUBLING our team size! Exciting!
What's Next?
Recently, our company (DXC Technology) released a white paper called "Creating the Agile Organization":http://assets1.dxc.technology/innovation/downloads/DXC_Creating_the_Agile_Organization.pdf
The paper highlights that Agile is typically great for managing development of custom components, but weaker as a methodology for managing collateral related to COTS components. This describes well what I feel is the latest "aha" moment for our team... the next phase in our history of loyalty?!
We are now working on a shift, where we will focus more on the DXC-developed components in our solution that are intended to differentiate DXC from our competitors. We are considering breaking up our solution to manage a bit differently. We need to continue to use Agile to manage changes in the DXC-developed components that are considered of high value - we want to shift to release changes to those components separately much faster - maybe even every two weeks! We are exploring changing our way of working.. maybe we could use Kanban to manage evergreen of our support for the COTS components? We have lots of options - the challenge is finding time to figure it out while we keep it all going and interview people, too!
Time will tell where we go next.
Are you the right person to help us? If you want to be a part of this and have the right skills, please consider applying! Check out http://jobs.dxc.technology!
Friday, April 20, 2018
My Coming Out Story
Did you ever notice how sometimes, when you learn something new, suddenly you observe that something more often?
Since a few weeks ago, when I wrote about a butterfly I received in church (you can click here and see bottom of this older post if you don't know what I mean), I've been thinking a lot about butterflies and the amazing process of metamorphosis. Really, it's quite miraculous and yet still mysterious, I think! Maybe Jesus went through a process like that? I wasn't there, so who am I to say if he did or didn't?!
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/caterpillar-butterfly-metamorphosis-explainer/
I have my butterflies posted on my fridge now as a daily reminder to myself and perhaps my children - to be grateful and remember there are many mysterious and wonderful things in this crazy world.
I've also been thinking a fair bit about how there are many things in this world that I don't understand.. many wonderful things still to learn!
As I've continued to reflect on faith, I think it's an interesting coincidence that, all week long, I've had the song "From a Distance" by Bette Midler stuck in my head:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN4AcFzxtdE
I really love this song. It seems to speak to how I feel deep inside... Today, I decided that since I seem to love this song so much I should check out more of her music, so I went to iTunes and purchased her "greatest hits" album. What showed up? To my surprise and joy, there is a butterfly on the cover of her album!
Since a few weeks ago, when I wrote about a butterfly I received in church (you can click here and see bottom of this older post if you don't know what I mean), I've been thinking a lot about butterflies and the amazing process of metamorphosis. Really, it's quite miraculous and yet still mysterious, I think! Maybe Jesus went through a process like that? I wasn't there, so who am I to say if he did or didn't?!
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/caterpillar-butterfly-metamorphosis-explainer/
I have my butterflies posted on my fridge now as a daily reminder to myself and perhaps my children - to be grateful and remember there are many mysterious and wonderful things in this crazy world.
I've also been thinking a fair bit about how there are many things in this world that I don't understand.. many wonderful things still to learn!
As I've continued to reflect on faith, I think it's an interesting coincidence that, all week long, I've had the song "From a Distance" by Bette Midler stuck in my head:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN4AcFzxtdE
I really love this song. It seems to speak to how I feel deep inside... Today, I decided that since I seem to love this song so much I should check out more of her music, so I went to iTunes and purchased her "greatest hits" album. What showed up? To my surprise and joy, there is a butterfly on the cover of her album!
Earlier this week, I was feeling quite exhausted during an evening. I was stressed about work, and decided I needed a distraction. Lately, when I get this way, I find myself letting Netflix suggest movies to me, based on some I've watched and enjoyed in past. No, I haven't been watching movies about butterflies.. just a lot of Christian movies! This time, the movie that showed up was called "Miracles from Heaven"... If you're looking for a "feel good" movie that will likely cause you to break out a box of tissues, this is a must see... This movie is such a wonderful true story about faith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracles_from_Heaven_(film). I think equally interesting to me though was, guess what?... Butterflies appear in this movie as well!
Now, this got me thinking about other symbols related to faith... I have this beautiful picture that a minister friend gave to our family when our daughter Morgan was born, depicting Noah's ark (previously included in post, but tried to remove with thoughts I might be violating some copyright law). In last weekend's reflection in church, we were reminded about the story of Noah from the Bible, and this led me to remember this picture that still hangs on our daughter's wall. As I said, I still have much to learn, or probably more accurately re-learn - my memory seems to be terrible these days!... I was reminded about Genesis 9, where God speaks after presenting a rainbow to Noah. The story says that God presented Noah with a covenant agreement - that He would never again flood the Earth to destroy all living things, and as a symbol of this agreement He presented a rainbow in the sky. Many have reflected that the bow is a symbol of old-time warfare, and so when you see a rainbow in the sky you should think of it as a symbol of people hanging up their bows on a wall. I think it's a beautiful thought, much like butterflies!
I also love frogs! They also go through some pretty cool changes, eh? Recall this post from last year? https://www.facebook.com/christine.mackenzie.902/videos/pcb.10154339978040763/10154339976900763/?type=3&theater Soon, this sound of peepers will be here again, too, and I love that!
Now, I mentioned in my last post that recently my daughter sang "Ring of Keys" in the local music festival. What I didn't share was her reason for doing this, as I wasn't sure how she'd feel about that. She has told me she's okay with me talking about it though, so here it is...
Recently, I find my daughter seeing rainbows often, and exclaiming... "Look, Mom! My people are here!" I have learned so much from my daughter! You see, my daughter has decided that she doesn't care what a person's sexual orientation is. In fact, she embraces the idea that we're all different, all "original", all unique in our own way. She now uses a label to describe herself and others that I think is really quite beautiful... and I didn't even know it existed until she informed me. She describes herself as "pansexual". I confess I had no clue what this word meant when she told me, but now I reflect that I think it's a beautiful way for a person to describe herself! In case you're like I was, and have no idea what it means... try a simple Google search, and perhaps you will also have your eyes opened to a new way of thinking... a new "rainbow" symbol, too :-)
I titled this "My Coming Out Story" though... not my daughter's. I'm saying she chooses not to identify herself as sexually oriented one way or the other, as "people are people".. period. I've learned that "Ring of Keys" is often a song used by people to "come out", as you can see in this video that I've found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_UORDF_gQk. I really enjoyed watching this, and so I'm sharing.
So what am I "coming out" about here?
If you made it this far, you likely know that I love to read, and also I am a bit obsessed about learning about why people have faith, seeking to strengthen my own feelings of faith, which generally I think is a transformation I've been going through... I do think there is a "higher power" at work in this world.. There is something quite mysterious and wonderful still about this world that I cannot explain, and so I choose to have faith... it's "possible" that a man could have resurrected... I think it could have happened once, as a "miracle" if you wish to think of it that way, much like sometimes people "miraculously" are cured of a terrible disease and people around them simply cannot explain it. I prefer to believe that! I'm not feeling ready to say with 100% faith that it happened, but I am at least willing to say there is possibility there.
With this in mind, I recently read a book called... "One World, Many Religions", by Mary Pope Osborne. I have often wondered to myself, what do people who practice other than Christian faith think? So, I read this book, cover to cover within about an hour! I thoroughly enjoyed this read, as it drove home some thoughts I've had for quite a while now... I truly don't understand why it is that people feel that other people must subscribe to one and only one religion. In reading this book, I learned of the natural progression that many religions of this world seem to have gone through and common roots many seem to have been born from. There are so many different faiths, but at the heart of many is a common beginning. Interesting to me was to read that Muslims trace their ancestry back to Abraham, just as Jews and Christians do. About 600 years after Jesus, a man named Muhammad came along and spoke of one God who spoke to him as well, and his followers wrote down his messages in the Koran, which includes many stories that appear in Christian and Jewish scriptures as well. So, I still don't understand really, why must some feel the need to fight over it all? Can't we be followers of multiple positive leaders from our past? Choose to follow BOTH Jesus and Muhammad, as examples?
This Sunday, I will be "coming out" as a Christian.. re-affirming my faith in a more public way in our church by becoming an official member. By doing this, I'm saying that I'm proud to be a follower of Jesus - a great man who taught people we should ALL love EVERYONE. Maybe, in his own way, he was saying we should all be "pansexual"... There is no need for us to subscribe to just one sexual orientation, or even just one faith! This Sunday, I feel I could just as easily "come out" as a Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or perhaps label myself in many other ways I've not even learned about yet!
I think it might be simpler though... We could all quite simply just label each other as "people" and choose to love each other and learn from the good, kind people in our common history. Isn't that the simple answer to world peace?
The more important reason that I want to become a member of our church is that I am proud to be associated with this group of loving people in my community. It brings me great joy to see them each Sunday, and share the experience of hearing stories of good things from history and do good with them now, so I want to officially say so to them - and a way to do that is to become an official member of the church family.
As you know I love lyrics, I'll close with this... I am reminded of a song I've heard quite a number of times in our church: http://www.circle-m.ca/crcn/newsletter_pdfs/family_hymn.pdf. The father of a member of our church wrote this song. Isn't that wonderful?
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Walk the Walk for Autism
Woke up pretty early this morning, with a message from a well-wishing friend in my inbox that said, "Hope you can get the "butterflies in your stomach" flying in formation!!"
In response, I'm thinking... I can handle this! After all, just last night, I'm proud to say my daughter Morgan sang a beautiful solo! If she can get up and sing solo, surely I can get up and talk!
Morgan prefers people know that she is wearing a wig in this video. She likes to keep her hair short and very much dislikes the pink pants she is "acting" in, which I still say look wonderful on her, but also recognize they are not her preference right now :-)
What I'm about to say is similar to what I shared a few months ago, but somehow it seems even more important to me now. A lot has changed since then, while a lot has stayed the same. Perhaps of most significant impact was the fact that a young boy, about the same age and in the same school as my son Connor, and at times with much in common with my son, is gone now. This story has sadly proven once again that our systems are very broken, making the message that we need change so much more strong!
Since I last spoke in the church I attend regularly, I've realized a few details of my previous talk were just wrong.. My daughter was 9 in the picture, not 7 (seems my Math skills may need some polish), and the show I have worked out my uncertain about the name of the show I'd seen on TV that had major impact - it was "The Boys of St. Vincent" and not "In the Name of the Father" - it turns out the latter was released a few years later, while the former was on CBC at the time I recall the story from in 1992.
Today, my talk is not about why I participate in the Coldest Night of the Year, but instead about why I "Walk the Walk for Autism", but overall the message is the same.
Below is what I prepared for today, as some of you have expressed interest and are unable to come see me speak today.
Anyway, I'm heading out the door now to Pictou United Church, hoping those butterflies get in formation!
---
Introduction
To start, I'd like to share a favourite picture of my daughter, Morgan, taken a few years ago when she was 9 years old. Note the picture was taken in October 2013, when our son Connor was 11 years old and our son Tom was 13 years old. I think it will make you smile and I feel it illustrates what I’m truly passionate about now.
As the event organizers would tell you:
Please know that all members of my family are very aware of the personal details that I'm going to share about them. They understand my reasons for sharing and have indicated they are comfortable with me doing so. Please also know that I’m excited about the possibilities of what we might also do together after you hear our story.
Reason #1 - Be a Good Christian
I was born to very young parents and I had a stay-at-home mother and hard-working father during my childhood. I was named with my parents' faith in mind - as a Christian - a follower of Christ. My name is Christine.
As my mother was raised Catholic, I was baptized, had my first communion, and confirmed myself as a Christian while member of the Stella Maris Parish Catholic Church. I also sometimes attended the Pictou United Church as a child, when my father's parents visited.
As a young girl, I enjoyed going to Girl Guides, Catechism and Church Choir. I spent a great deal of time outside, I loved to swim, and we did a lot of camping as a family as well. There are moments from those experiences that I suppose shaped who I am now.
In Girl Guides, we recited a promise... This included words like I promise to do my best and To help other people at all times.
In Catechism, I especially loved learning about the Beatitudes, which I confess I had to "Google" to remind myself about the details of when preparing this story now many years later. Referenced from biblestudy.org, some take "beatitude" to mean "beautiful attitudes", while others say "beatitude" comes from the Latin meaning "happy" or "blessed." It is said that Jesus pronounced, in his first sermon, many blessings to those who obey God and maintain a loving attitude pleasing to him. He stated, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Based on those teachings, I grew up dearly wanting to live a righteous life. I enjoyed volunteering even in those early years, as I still very actively do today.
Reason #1 to walk then... I want to live according to the moral code I was taught as a child, to be a good Christian, to help other people.
Reason #2 – Provide Mentors
As part of Church Choir, I was generally a very quiet kid, except when I became like a “little professor” at times, talking about song lyrics. I loved to sing, especially solo in church or to my family. Many, many hours were spent by choice alone in my room, writing out and memorizing lyrics to songs and then trying to teach them to other people… songs like:
I am grateful for the activities I was able to participate in as a child. Leaders of those were my early mentors. They allowed me to feel like I belonged in our community, despite my “original” behaviours.
As I went out into the world as a young adult, I myself experienced some of the terrible situations I had learned about in that Sociology class. I found myself sometimes crying for what seemed to me to be no apparent reason, which I have come to learn can be a symptom of mental disorder. One evening, I sat watching a docudrama on TV with my friend Cecil that was called "The Boys of St. Vincent", where I learned some of the terrible things that some of the priests in the Catholic Church did, and how the Catholic Church looked upon people who are homosexual. I also experienced a terrible situation related to addiction that I guess was quite traumatic for me, as I still struggle at times to process what happened. In May 1994, my world really crashed. Some of you may even remember this, as I found myself attending Lyon’s Brook United and I reflect now that possibly some of you were there. I really don't remember it well - it was so awful. Our friend Cecil was killed by a drunk driver. Following that, I am sad to reflect that I lost my faith for a while. What I experienced were my first strong feelings of mental disorder, which I continue to struggle with at times now.
I reflect that I have been very fortunate though. In April 1995, about a year after Cecil's accident, I was hired to work for Bell Northern Research. I made my way to Ottawa, a quiet, young girl, and walked into Carling - a HUGE building with many cubicles and many hallways, and a high glass ceiling at the center. It was beyond overwhelming. For the better part of a decade, I quite quietly went to work each day, did the work I was asked to do, and built my career with a group of people who were generally great to me while mystified by how quiet I was.
At this time early in my career and when I was feeling most vulnerable, I was assigned mentors who helped me through. In fact, these mentors helped me so much that I have ended up taking on many leadership roles in a variety of non-profit organizations, where I have had the pleasure of getting to know many of you in this room today and hope to get to know many more of you. Later this month, I will also become an official member of Lyon’s Brook United Church, reaffirming my faith as a Christian.
One such organization that I am now involved with is Autism Pictou County. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I choose to volunteer, I tend to choose to do so only if I can make a personal connection with the cause, as there are hundreds of thousands of charities out there and I recognize I cannot be part of all of them. Through this organization, I have received tremendous personal support.
Reason #2 to walk then... I like the idea that by walking I might help ensure mentors are available, to be a positive influence as my mentors were for me. I want all people to be as fortunate as I have been.
Reason #3 – Help Improve Education and Health Systems
Now a mother of three teenagers, I reflect on the challenges my early adult years brought. I have watched my children going through their own challenging experiences, causing me great moments of reflection and worry, but also moments when I am thankful to have gone through what I have, giving perspective I suppose. Through these experiences, I have identified another very big reason to walk. This reason is one I have grown to be particularly passionate about.
In 2000, after 13 years together, Kevin and I decided to have our first son, Tommy. We learned that it's very true what people say... There really is no manual provided to help you raise children. Tommy was a very restless baby. Nursing was very challenging, though something I did eventually manage to figure out how to do. We would put Tommy in a bouncy chair and take turns using our hands or feet to bounce him to sleep, at times it seemed 24x7, for about the entire first year. Eventually, Tommy settled down, at least enough to sleep properly at night. Gradually, Tommy, or Tom as he now prefers to be called, settled down a lot.
Two years after Tom was born, in 2002, Kevin and I decided to have another baby, and we were blessed with our second son, Connor. We were initially relieved that Connor was a very easy-going baby. As a toddler, we observed Connor turning in circles to music and doing knee bends, trying to imitate his big brother Tommy. This was a very sweet time for us.
However, when Connor turned about 1 year and 4 months old, things really changed with him. That was when we made the decision that we were too overwhelmed to raise our kids without family support, and so we decided to move from Ottawa back home to Pictou. Connor had a very tough time getting to sleep and was screaming a lot as well. Connor was nearly 4 years old before I think we felt much control again as parents. Luckily, we had lots of support from family.
That was when, in 2004, we decided to have our third child, our daughter Morgan. Morgan proved to be a pretty easy to handle baby in comparison to our boys. Morgan has her own challenges though, as we all seem to in this world. After eating practically everything we’d put in front of her, at about age 2 and much like Connor, Morgan suddenly changed. She became a child who does not eat any meat other than bacon, gets her protein generally from BBQ seasoned peanuts or peanut butter, and does not eat any vegetables other than French fries, despite fact that at one point she would eat things like chili or stew.
In 2006, Connor started preschool. I feel gratitude that my sister introduced us to a very wonderful person who ran what she called a Virtues Preschool at her home, where our children had the pleasure of attending. That is where we first learned about the Virtues Project, which is something I've really come to love. The project describes virtues as the many gifts of character that are inherent in all of us, such as grace, kindness, understanding, and of course patience, and teaches people strategies that, as The Virtues Project™ web site states:
When Connor was 5 years old, we started the process to try to get professional help. We were observing periods of "rage" that were very frightening. That was also when I grew to have very strong feelings that there is something very broken in our education and health systems.
In 2007, I learned that a child in school cannot get the extra support of an Educational Assistant, as it was very apparent Connor needed, unless the child's parent arranges for a professional diagnosis to label what the child is experiencing. If the child is not professionally labeled with a condition where it can be clearly documented that support is needed, the child can be placed in a classroom with just one adult teacher who has insufficient support and often no training to manage the child, while also teaching the other children in the room. Worse, the procedures to get a diagnosis are very long and painful. You are forced to go on long waiting lists, dig through all your past, answer many, many questionnaires, ask the child's teachers to also answer questionnaires, speak to many, many professionals, talk about all sorts of detail, to be scrutinized on a very personal level, leading at least for me to feelings of very low self-esteem. I learned it is very hard to hear that your child has a mental disorder, perhaps genetically caused, but even more difficult when you and even your child's teachers know your child is struggling and mental health professionals repeatedly tell you there is no disorder that they can observe and therefore no label they can provide to ensure your child gets support.
From 2007 to end of 2010, we consulted over 20 different professionals in the public health system to try to get a diagnosis for Connor, all to no avail and documented in great detail! I became more and more frustrated as I especially watched our son experience bouts of crying, rage and running away. We built a fence in our backyard to try to keep him safe from the highway and the water nearby.
In December 2010, when Connor was in Grade 3, we had a very serious meeting with our son's elementary school, which also operated as a Virtues School, which is something we are also very grateful for. School staff were incredibly supportive, despite the limited resources they had available. It was very clear they loved our son, as we do, but they were also very concerned.
Luckily, in about January 2011, I stumbled on a book called "The Explosive Child" that seemed to describe our son very well. Also, I was somehow directed to a CBC article called "The Boy Inside" - describing Asperger's Syndrome. I began to read lots of material about this condition - and this got me REALLY excited!
That is when I started a personal blog, which I call "Is It Asperger's?", and which I still spend time writing in now, 7 years later. In that month alone, I wrote 36 blog posts as I processed what we were going through in our family, and the community support I received in that time led me to have courage, I will forever remember with love.
In February 2011, I finally gave up on our public health system and hired a
private psychologist and also a psychiatrist. In April 2011, when he was 9
years of age, we finally had a diagnosis for Connor, which included
high-functioning autism referred to as Asperger's Syndrome. At last, we started
to get better support.
It was not too long after that when I learned about the Pictou County Children with Autism Support Group, which has since renamed itself to Autism Pictou County. As I said before, this group provided me with mentors – people who helped me understand that I was not alone and who continue to help me now to find ways to deal with the many challenges that families dealing with Autistic Spectrum Disorders like Asperger’s Syndrome face. It was here that I learned that, if one child in the family is diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder, often it is the case that others in the family experience mental disorders on the autism spectrum as well. Furthermore, people working in the field of I.T. are often diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders as well.
To this day, now at the age of 13, our daughter Morgan continues to struggle with eating. She really has not developed better eating habits since the age of 2. We believe now that she may be struggling with something referred to as Sensory Processing Disorder, and so are working on getting her better support with that in mind. Morgan is also a very happy teenager who currently loves drama and is taking singing lessons.
Last year, at age 16, our son Tom started to recognize that he was having major challenges with focus in school. He began to struggle academically compared to his earlier years, and he developed severe acid reflux. To try to manage this, Tom decided to seek professional support, and this resulted in him being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. Knowing this has helped Tom to learn ways to address his feelings of disorder. Now, at age 17, Tom is a healthy teenager who loves basketball, music and rugby.
Now in Grade 10 and 15 years old, which I mentioned earlier was a pivotal year for me, I am pleased to report that Connor is doing quite well, too! Connor wants you to know that he thinks having Asperger's Syndrome is great - it's the reason he is so great at Math!
Our family is in a much better place now than when we first became involved with Autism Pictou County back in 2013. The programs and social activities offered by this group, such as art, swimming and music therapy, the monthly parent meetings, and more, give us opportunities to socialize with people who relate to what we experience and often lead us to solutions, despite fact the education and mental health systems are so very difficult to navigate to get support. We are also working together to try to change those systems.
Reason #3 to walk then... The reason I am most passionate about... I invite you to please take a moment to reflect on my family's story. Consider how much love and support we have, but also all the intense work we've done to ensure we had "labels" for the disorders that we have experienced and to ensure support. Put yourself in place of a young family who perhaps is experiencing the same feelings of disorder that we face, but without that intense support system.
I reflect that there are so MANY stories of people experiencing mental disorders who do NOT receive the support they dearly need in life. Those people then "explode", sort of like the explosive child I had read about, and do terrible things. Every time I hear another story about someone going into a church or other place and opening fire, or taking his precious life, most often due to feelings of not belonging, I cringe and reflect. We need to support those people, BEFORE they do harm to themselves or other people in our community.
Conclusion
As seems appropriate when providing a sermon in a church, I'd like to close now by sharing one of my favourite passages from the Bible. This one is from 1 Corinthians 10:13:
As such, I invite you to join the “Virtues in Action” team that I am leading. Please consider joining us to “Walk the Walk for Autism” this year on the morning of Saturday, June 16th. Details are printed in your church bulletin. I will also stay a while after church today with a simple sign-up sheet, and also to answer any questions you may have about getting involved. I will also happily accept any donations you wish to make in lieu of attending the walk - whatever amount you are able to give.
This event is always a good time, with a silent auction, bouncy houses, and more! Last year, the event raised $75,000 for Autism Pictou County, and there is hope that at least the same can be achieved again this year, but to do that we need support from people like you. These funds are needed to continue the important programs and social activities that I can tell you make a very real and positive difference in the lives of people with autism.
Coming back to the picture I shared earlier… God works in mysterious ways, I think. Somehow, He knew I would want a picture like that. The picture was taken later in the same year our son Connor received his diagnosis of mental disorder. Now years later, I decided this year to use that image as the cover photo for a Facebook page I started to advocate for positive changes for people with mental disorders. I feel very strongly that we should all be respected and supported as the “original” people we are, here according to God’s design. We can lead change to help those of us who are “sad”, as I was. If you share my passionate interest in this, please check out what I’ve written online, and consider giving me a 'Like' so I know! Being social is important folks, especially to those of us with mental disorders!
Thank you very much for your time and attention here today as I shared what I am passionate about!
About the Speaker – as published in the Church Bulletin
On April 8th, Christine MacKenzie will participate in our church service to share reasons why she thinks we should all “Walk the Walk for Autism” on Saturday, June 16th. Born in Chatham, Ontario, her family moved to Pictou when she was in elementary school and she was raised as a Christian in Pictou. She earned a degree in Computer Science from Acadia University and then moved away to Ottawa to work as part of a globally distributed team of system engineers who have been through many corporate transitions together, starting in Bell Northern Research, then Nortel, then Computer Sciences Corporation. A few years after starting her own family, she moved back to Pictou County, where she continues to work as part of the same team, from her home as an I.T. Advisor for DXC Technology. Now also a wife and mother of three children and a very active community volunteer in Pictou County as well, she experiences challenges with mental disorders daily. After sharing her story, Christine will invite you to “Walk the Walk for Autism” by joining her “Virtues in Action” team or making a donation to Autism Pictou County. You may also wish to check out and “Comment” regarding posts in her page in Facebook and personal blog as she continues with her passionate interest in helping people experiencing mental disorders.
http://walkthewalkforautism.ca/team/378 – click “JOIN OUR TEAM” or “SPONSOR US
https://www.facebook.com/Christine.Marie.MacKenzie/
http://isitaspergerssyn.blogspot.ca
To start, I'd like to share a favourite picture of my daughter, Morgan, taken a few years ago when she was 9 years old. Note the picture was taken in October 2013, when our son Connor was 11 years old and our son Tom was 13 years old. I think it will make you smile and I feel it illustrates what I’m truly passionate about now.
As the event organizers would tell you:
“Walk the Walk for Autism is the largest autism awareness event in Nova Scotia. This event is held so that you can support your autism community and help enhance programs and services for families and people living with autism.”
Please know that all members of my family are very aware of the personal details that I'm going to share about them. They understand my reasons for sharing and have indicated they are comfortable with me doing so. Please also know that I’m excited about the possibilities of what we might also do together after you hear our story.
Reason #1 - Be a Good Christian
I was born to very young parents and I had a stay-at-home mother and hard-working father during my childhood. I was named with my parents' faith in mind - as a Christian - a follower of Christ. My name is Christine.
As my mother was raised Catholic, I was baptized, had my first communion, and confirmed myself as a Christian while member of the Stella Maris Parish Catholic Church. I also sometimes attended the Pictou United Church as a child, when my father's parents visited.
I am part of a very large and loving family. My parents have been happily
married now for nearly 46 years. I married my best friend, Kevin, who I have
been with since I was 15 and have been married to for over 20 years, and we
have 3 wonderful children. I am truly blessed with love in my life.
As a young girl, I enjoyed going to Girl Guides, Catechism and Church Choir. I spent a great deal of time outside, I loved to swim, and we did a lot of camping as a family as well. There are moments from those experiences that I suppose shaped who I am now.
In Girl Guides, we recited a promise... This included words like I promise to do my best and To help other people at all times.
In Catechism, I especially loved learning about the Beatitudes, which I confess I had to "Google" to remind myself about the details of when preparing this story now many years later. Referenced from biblestudy.org, some take "beatitude" to mean "beautiful attitudes", while others say "beatitude" comes from the Latin meaning "happy" or "blessed." It is said that Jesus pronounced, in his first sermon, many blessings to those who obey God and maintain a loving attitude pleasing to him. He stated, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Based on those teachings, I grew up dearly wanting to live a righteous life. I enjoyed volunteering even in those early years, as I still very actively do today.
Reason #1 to walk then... I want to live according to the moral code I was taught as a child, to be a good Christian, to help other people.
Reason #2 – Provide Mentors
As part of Church Choir, I was generally a very quiet kid, except when I became like a “little professor” at times, talking about song lyrics. I loved to sing, especially solo in church or to my family. Many, many hours were spent by choice alone in my room, writing out and memorizing lyrics to songs and then trying to teach them to other people… songs like:
- "The
Unicorn Song" by the Irish Rovers
- "I
Have a Dream" by Abba and
- "Out
on the Mira"
I am grateful for the activities I was able to participate in as a child. Leaders of those were my early mentors. They allowed me to feel like I belonged in our community, despite my “original” behaviours.
As it often is for teenagers, Grade 10 was a pivotal year for me. I learned
speed typing and became more interested in computers. I also found a Sociology
course especially interesting, as that was the year I learned that not everyone
is blessed with a positive childhood like I had. I found myself debating
between whether I wanted to be in I.T. or become a Child Psychologist. I chose
the I.T. path, mostly because I was afraid I would not be able to handle
listening to stories of people hurting all the time. That was also the year I
met my future husband Kevin, and we shared a dear friend named Cecil.
As I went out into the world as a young adult, I myself experienced some of the terrible situations I had learned about in that Sociology class. I found myself sometimes crying for what seemed to me to be no apparent reason, which I have come to learn can be a symptom of mental disorder. One evening, I sat watching a docudrama on TV with my friend Cecil that was called "The Boys of St. Vincent", where I learned some of the terrible things that some of the priests in the Catholic Church did, and how the Catholic Church looked upon people who are homosexual. I also experienced a terrible situation related to addiction that I guess was quite traumatic for me, as I still struggle at times to process what happened. In May 1994, my world really crashed. Some of you may even remember this, as I found myself attending Lyon’s Brook United and I reflect now that possibly some of you were there. I really don't remember it well - it was so awful. Our friend Cecil was killed by a drunk driver. Following that, I am sad to reflect that I lost my faith for a while. What I experienced were my first strong feelings of mental disorder, which I continue to struggle with at times now.
I reflect that I have been very fortunate though. In April 1995, about a year after Cecil's accident, I was hired to work for Bell Northern Research. I made my way to Ottawa, a quiet, young girl, and walked into Carling - a HUGE building with many cubicles and many hallways, and a high glass ceiling at the center. It was beyond overwhelming. For the better part of a decade, I quite quietly went to work each day, did the work I was asked to do, and built my career with a group of people who were generally great to me while mystified by how quiet I was.
At this time early in my career and when I was feeling most vulnerable, I was assigned mentors who helped me through. In fact, these mentors helped me so much that I have ended up taking on many leadership roles in a variety of non-profit organizations, where I have had the pleasure of getting to know many of you in this room today and hope to get to know many more of you. Later this month, I will also become an official member of Lyon’s Brook United Church, reaffirming my faith as a Christian.
One such organization that I am now involved with is Autism Pictou County. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I choose to volunteer, I tend to choose to do so only if I can make a personal connection with the cause, as there are hundreds of thousands of charities out there and I recognize I cannot be part of all of them. Through this organization, I have received tremendous personal support.
Reason #2 to walk then... I like the idea that by walking I might help ensure mentors are available, to be a positive influence as my mentors were for me. I want all people to be as fortunate as I have been.
Reason #3 – Help Improve Education and Health Systems
Now a mother of three teenagers, I reflect on the challenges my early adult years brought. I have watched my children going through their own challenging experiences, causing me great moments of reflection and worry, but also moments when I am thankful to have gone through what I have, giving perspective I suppose. Through these experiences, I have identified another very big reason to walk. This reason is one I have grown to be particularly passionate about.
In 2000, after 13 years together, Kevin and I decided to have our first son, Tommy. We learned that it's very true what people say... There really is no manual provided to help you raise children. Tommy was a very restless baby. Nursing was very challenging, though something I did eventually manage to figure out how to do. We would put Tommy in a bouncy chair and take turns using our hands or feet to bounce him to sleep, at times it seemed 24x7, for about the entire first year. Eventually, Tommy settled down, at least enough to sleep properly at night. Gradually, Tommy, or Tom as he now prefers to be called, settled down a lot.
Two years after Tom was born, in 2002, Kevin and I decided to have another baby, and we were blessed with our second son, Connor. We were initially relieved that Connor was a very easy-going baby. As a toddler, we observed Connor turning in circles to music and doing knee bends, trying to imitate his big brother Tommy. This was a very sweet time for us.
However, when Connor turned about 1 year and 4 months old, things really changed with him. That was when we made the decision that we were too overwhelmed to raise our kids without family support, and so we decided to move from Ottawa back home to Pictou. Connor had a very tough time getting to sleep and was screaming a lot as well. Connor was nearly 4 years old before I think we felt much control again as parents. Luckily, we had lots of support from family.
That was when, in 2004, we decided to have our third child, our daughter Morgan. Morgan proved to be a pretty easy to handle baby in comparison to our boys. Morgan has her own challenges though, as we all seem to in this world. After eating practically everything we’d put in front of her, at about age 2 and much like Connor, Morgan suddenly changed. She became a child who does not eat any meat other than bacon, gets her protein generally from BBQ seasoned peanuts or peanut butter, and does not eat any vegetables other than French fries, despite fact that at one point she would eat things like chili or stew.
In 2006, Connor started preschool. I feel gratitude that my sister introduced us to a very wonderful person who ran what she called a Virtues Preschool at her home, where our children had the pleasure of attending. That is where we first learned about the Virtues Project, which is something I've really come to love. The project describes virtues as the many gifts of character that are inherent in all of us, such as grace, kindness, understanding, and of course patience, and teaches people strategies that, as The Virtues Project™ web site states:
"bring virtues to life in every relationship. They help us to live authentic, purposeful lives, to raise children of compassion and idealism, and to create a culture of character in our schools and communities."
When Connor was 5 years old, we started the process to try to get professional help. We were observing periods of "rage" that were very frightening. That was also when I grew to have very strong feelings that there is something very broken in our education and health systems.
In 2007, I learned that a child in school cannot get the extra support of an Educational Assistant, as it was very apparent Connor needed, unless the child's parent arranges for a professional diagnosis to label what the child is experiencing. If the child is not professionally labeled with a condition where it can be clearly documented that support is needed, the child can be placed in a classroom with just one adult teacher who has insufficient support and often no training to manage the child, while also teaching the other children in the room. Worse, the procedures to get a diagnosis are very long and painful. You are forced to go on long waiting lists, dig through all your past, answer many, many questionnaires, ask the child's teachers to also answer questionnaires, speak to many, many professionals, talk about all sorts of detail, to be scrutinized on a very personal level, leading at least for me to feelings of very low self-esteem. I learned it is very hard to hear that your child has a mental disorder, perhaps genetically caused, but even more difficult when you and even your child's teachers know your child is struggling and mental health professionals repeatedly tell you there is no disorder that they can observe and therefore no label they can provide to ensure your child gets support.
From 2007 to end of 2010, we consulted over 20 different professionals in the public health system to try to get a diagnosis for Connor, all to no avail and documented in great detail! I became more and more frustrated as I especially watched our son experience bouts of crying, rage and running away. We built a fence in our backyard to try to keep him safe from the highway and the water nearby.
In December 2010, when Connor was in Grade 3, we had a very serious meeting with our son's elementary school, which also operated as a Virtues School, which is something we are also very grateful for. School staff were incredibly supportive, despite the limited resources they had available. It was very clear they loved our son, as we do, but they were also very concerned.
Luckily, in about January 2011, I stumbled on a book called "The Explosive Child" that seemed to describe our son very well. Also, I was somehow directed to a CBC article called "The Boy Inside" - describing Asperger's Syndrome. I began to read lots of material about this condition - and this got me REALLY excited!
That is when I started a personal blog, which I call "Is It Asperger's?", and which I still spend time writing in now, 7 years later. In that month alone, I wrote 36 blog posts as I processed what we were going through in our family, and the community support I received in that time led me to have courage, I will forever remember with love.
It was not too long after that when I learned about the Pictou County Children with Autism Support Group, which has since renamed itself to Autism Pictou County. As I said before, this group provided me with mentors – people who helped me understand that I was not alone and who continue to help me now to find ways to deal with the many challenges that families dealing with Autistic Spectrum Disorders like Asperger’s Syndrome face. It was here that I learned that, if one child in the family is diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder, often it is the case that others in the family experience mental disorders on the autism spectrum as well. Furthermore, people working in the field of I.T. are often diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders as well.
To this day, now at the age of 13, our daughter Morgan continues to struggle with eating. She really has not developed better eating habits since the age of 2. We believe now that she may be struggling with something referred to as Sensory Processing Disorder, and so are working on getting her better support with that in mind. Morgan is also a very happy teenager who currently loves drama and is taking singing lessons.
Last year, at age 16, our son Tom started to recognize that he was having major challenges with focus in school. He began to struggle academically compared to his earlier years, and he developed severe acid reflux. To try to manage this, Tom decided to seek professional support, and this resulted in him being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. Knowing this has helped Tom to learn ways to address his feelings of disorder. Now, at age 17, Tom is a healthy teenager who loves basketball, music and rugby.
Now in Grade 10 and 15 years old, which I mentioned earlier was a pivotal year for me, I am pleased to report that Connor is doing quite well, too! Connor wants you to know that he thinks having Asperger's Syndrome is great - it's the reason he is so great at Math!
Our family is in a much better place now than when we first became involved with Autism Pictou County back in 2013. The programs and social activities offered by this group, such as art, swimming and music therapy, the monthly parent meetings, and more, give us opportunities to socialize with people who relate to what we experience and often lead us to solutions, despite fact the education and mental health systems are so very difficult to navigate to get support. We are also working together to try to change those systems.
Reason #3 to walk then... The reason I am most passionate about... I invite you to please take a moment to reflect on my family's story. Consider how much love and support we have, but also all the intense work we've done to ensure we had "labels" for the disorders that we have experienced and to ensure support. Put yourself in place of a young family who perhaps is experiencing the same feelings of disorder that we face, but without that intense support system.
I reflect that there are so MANY stories of people experiencing mental disorders who do NOT receive the support they dearly need in life. Those people then "explode", sort of like the explosive child I had read about, and do terrible things. Every time I hear another story about someone going into a church or other place and opening fire, or taking his precious life, most often due to feelings of not belonging, I cringe and reflect. We need to support those people, BEFORE they do harm to themselves or other people in our community.
Conclusion
As seems appropriate when providing a sermon in a church, I'd like to close now by sharing one of my favourite passages from the Bible. This one is from 1 Corinthians 10:13:
"God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way through, so that you may be able to bear it."
As such, I invite you to join the “Virtues in Action” team that I am leading. Please consider joining us to “Walk the Walk for Autism” this year on the morning of Saturday, June 16th. Details are printed in your church bulletin. I will also stay a while after church today with a simple sign-up sheet, and also to answer any questions you may have about getting involved. I will also happily accept any donations you wish to make in lieu of attending the walk - whatever amount you are able to give.
This event is always a good time, with a silent auction, bouncy houses, and more! Last year, the event raised $75,000 for Autism Pictou County, and there is hope that at least the same can be achieved again this year, but to do that we need support from people like you. These funds are needed to continue the important programs and social activities that I can tell you make a very real and positive difference in the lives of people with autism.
Coming back to the picture I shared earlier… God works in mysterious ways, I think. Somehow, He knew I would want a picture like that. The picture was taken later in the same year our son Connor received his diagnosis of mental disorder. Now years later, I decided this year to use that image as the cover photo for a Facebook page I started to advocate for positive changes for people with mental disorders. I feel very strongly that we should all be respected and supported as the “original” people we are, here according to God’s design. We can lead change to help those of us who are “sad”, as I was. If you share my passionate interest in this, please check out what I’ve written online, and consider giving me a 'Like' so I know! Being social is important folks, especially to those of us with mental disorders!
Thank you very much for your time and attention here today as I shared what I am passionate about!
About the Speaker – as published in the Church Bulletin
On April 8th, Christine MacKenzie will participate in our church service to share reasons why she thinks we should all “Walk the Walk for Autism” on Saturday, June 16th. Born in Chatham, Ontario, her family moved to Pictou when she was in elementary school and she was raised as a Christian in Pictou. She earned a degree in Computer Science from Acadia University and then moved away to Ottawa to work as part of a globally distributed team of system engineers who have been through many corporate transitions together, starting in Bell Northern Research, then Nortel, then Computer Sciences Corporation. A few years after starting her own family, she moved back to Pictou County, where she continues to work as part of the same team, from her home as an I.T. Advisor for DXC Technology. Now also a wife and mother of three children and a very active community volunteer in Pictou County as well, she experiences challenges with mental disorders daily. After sharing her story, Christine will invite you to “Walk the Walk for Autism” by joining her “Virtues in Action” team or making a donation to Autism Pictou County. You may also wish to check out and “Comment” regarding posts in her page in Facebook and personal blog as she continues with her passionate interest in helping people experiencing mental disorders.
http://walkthewalkforautism.ca/team/378 – click “JOIN OUR TEAM” or “SPONSOR US
https://www.facebook.com/Christine.Marie.MacKenzie/
http://isitaspergerssyn.blogspot.ca
Sunday, April 1, 2018
The Most Marvelous Place
It was raining when I awoke yesterday, and I found myself thinking of "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal. As beautiful as the words of the song are (http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/18392/), different words were coming to mind. You'll have to get through reading this VERY long post if you really want to understand that ;-)
Not long after I last wrote, our family embarked on a "trip of a lifetime" experience. Since we returned, people have been asking me, "So, how was your trip?" Typically, as often happens after I have such an overwhelming experience, they have been getting mostly quiet responses. "It was good. Very busy, and rather exhausting, but good." Some have heard a bit more than that, but really the truth is that it's hard to put into a few words what that experience really was like, so if you really want to know then here's your chance... I'm writing down my reflections, so I and perhaps my family can remember in future, and I'm happy to share what has happened in the last several weeks, as experiences I feel are worth remembering have happened both during AND beyond our trip.
On Thursday, March 8th, we rented a black GMC Yukon XL, a vehicle much bigger than we normally drive, because we knew travelling with 3 teenagers couped up in a smaller vehicle would be miserable. I went to the bank, fairly last minute, to request some U.S. currency, and came away with a small bundle of 150 $1 bills because that was all the bank had left on hand. My husband commented that I looked like I was headed out to visit some strip clubs (haha), and we were on our way around 3 pm.
The only really heavy snowfall of the year started, and thus we made decision to start our road trip to "the happiest place on Earth" a bit earlier than we had planned. About 4 hours longer than it would have taken if the weather was clear, we found ourselves at the border between Canada and the U.S. at about 10:30 pm. By about 2 am, the roads were clear, and by about 6:30 am we had passed through several toll booths of $1, $2 or $3 each (God knew those $1 bills were useful!), and by about 2:30 pm we at last arrived at our first official destination, the Luray Caverns. I had been here once before, but this was a place I dearly wanted my family to get to enjoy, too. I was once again in awe of the beauty of this place, hidden away deep under the ground, and mostly my family was as well, with one exception... "Is this almost over?" Connor said after walking for about 20 minutes. "It's like watching paint dry." I thought, "Oh well. I tried to show him something more interesting than his computer games," and would think that many more times throughout our trip, it turns out.
At about 9 pm on Friday, March 9th, we found ourselves at a hotel in Statesville, NC, and we were all asleep by about 10:30 pm. By 7 am on Saturday, March 10th, we were back on the road again, and by about supper time we found ourselves very grateful to be at our new home for the week at Terra Verde in Kissimmee, Florida.
The next day, we felt need to recover from the over 50 hour drive we had completed, so we slept in, then we enjoyed a visit from my "snowbird" parents and headed to the Florida Mall. This place was huge, we soon realized. Morgan especially enjoyed it, because there were quite a large number of people doing cosplay and she finally got to see a real "HOT TOPIC" store (which she is VERY excited to know is coming to Halifax, NS near us soon). She especially liked this cute little "diner" type shop, where a small group of dressed up people were gathered together. Morgan is a HUGE anime fan! We returned back to the house later, where Tom enjoyed the basketball court and I brought Connor and Morgan for a quiet swim, and at last got a smile from Connor.
Monday was when the real fun began. We headed for "Universal Studios", and our first ride was "E.T. Adventure", which was a rather tame 3D ride that we enjoyed to get us started. We felt like we were riding the bicycle from the movie. Following that, we all went on the 3D indoor coaster "Simpsons Ride", which I'd venture to say was the ride we enjoyed most as a family. Of course, we had to eat at the "Krusty Burger" for lunch!
Given most of us in our family are Harry Potter fans (all except Connor), we had to visit Gringotts Bank and quite enjoyed the indoor thrill ride there. The wait was about 2 hours, but it was also rather entertaining for a good part of the time. Pictures here show the entryway, where the bankers were animated and spoke (and left you feeling a little bit watched and spooked), and also Morgan sporting her new anime shirt from HOT TOPIC the day before as she enjoyed some Butterbeer later as well.
From here, we decided to check out some of the lighter entertainment, including the "Despicable Me Mayhem Minion" ride, as we headed toward what we thought would be our last adventure on our way out.
By this point, the men were worn out, but Morgan and I were still interested in having some fun, so we headed for "Seuss Landing", where we enjoyed "Caro-Seuss-el" and then I met the Lorax! No trip to Disney is complete without hugging one of our favourite characters, right?!
Now, the real reason for this trip was that my bucket list has always had "trip to Disney"...
At last, my day came on Wednesday! We headed for the "Magic Kingdom", and a magical day it was.
The crowds were HUGE, to Connor's great dismay, but... One thing I can say about Disney is this... They know how to make sure people have a better time in their parks. Some kind friends advised us the night before, when you go into the park you need to go to Town Hall and mention Connor is diagnosed with autism. They were so right! With all those LONG line-ups in the days before, Connor skipped most of the rides. Kevin didn't mind too much, because he had terrible blisters already, so he and Connor mostly sat around the park waiting for me, Tom and Morgan as we went on rides. Connor was not having a super fantastic time so far, but in Disney it got a bit better. You see, Disney will allow a person with disability to have someone in the family go to the front of the line and request a return time equivalent to if you were going to stand in the line-up. The whole family then gets to go to other places in the park, and then return at or after the return time provided, and then goes through the "Fast Pass" line to very quickly get to the front and enjoy each ride. If we didn't have this, I suspect we wouldn't have done nearly as much, so I feel immense gratitude for this service. I'm sure it's what allowed Connor to actually enjoy some of the day.
We made a bee line for "Space Mountain"! ... We had about a 2 hour wait to actually enjoy it... spent that time riding a carousel. "Space Mountain" seemed like a favourite for Connor - he wanted to go back to it later, but we unfortunately didn't have time to do it. It was a coaster inside, in the dark, with lights and sound, and was quite fast. It was so fast, in fact, that I started to panic part through as I realized my glasses were not as securely tucked away as I meant for them to be. I had stuffed them down my shirt as the ride started, as I had missed tucking them in the pouch they should have been in, so I spent the ride rather tensely trying to keep them from flying out! Kevin didn't like it much either - he was in the very front seat, which I imagine was the scariest place to be, and he hurt a fair bit when it was over.
After this, we needed something a little more tame, and I had set us up for Fast Pass entry to "Jungle Cruise", so we ended up there... where Morgan was especially delighted by all the puns our tour guide shared. Morgan LOVES to tell you jokes with puns in them, you will know if you spend any time with her these days.
Next, we headed toward the next ride we had on Fast Pass - "Thunder Mountain". Tom was experiencing some nasty reflux by this point, really not at all happy we were making him stay at the park longer... but I wasn't leaving yet! We came all this way and didn't see the fireworks yet! We observed a family of ducks and took it easy at the "Frontier Trading Post" for a while, then Connor, Morgan and I went on the ride. It was a fun ride, but pretty tame compared to some of the others, so Tom didn't miss too much at least.
Now, this brought us to our final day for the parks. We had made it to 3 so far, but I wasn't done yet! By this point, it seemed the only person not too tired to keep going was me.
Not long after I last wrote, our family embarked on a "trip of a lifetime" experience. Since we returned, people have been asking me, "So, how was your trip?" Typically, as often happens after I have such an overwhelming experience, they have been getting mostly quiet responses. "It was good. Very busy, and rather exhausting, but good." Some have heard a bit more than that, but really the truth is that it's hard to put into a few words what that experience really was like, so if you really want to know then here's your chance... I'm writing down my reflections, so I and perhaps my family can remember in future, and I'm happy to share what has happened in the last several weeks, as experiences I feel are worth remembering have happened both during AND beyond our trip.
On Thursday, March 8th, we rented a black GMC Yukon XL, a vehicle much bigger than we normally drive, because we knew travelling with 3 teenagers couped up in a smaller vehicle would be miserable. I went to the bank, fairly last minute, to request some U.S. currency, and came away with a small bundle of 150 $1 bills because that was all the bank had left on hand. My husband commented that I looked like I was headed out to visit some strip clubs (haha), and we were on our way around 3 pm.
The only really heavy snowfall of the year started, and thus we made decision to start our road trip to "the happiest place on Earth" a bit earlier than we had planned. About 4 hours longer than it would have taken if the weather was clear, we found ourselves at the border between Canada and the U.S. at about 10:30 pm. By about 2 am, the roads were clear, and by about 6:30 am we had passed through several toll booths of $1, $2 or $3 each (God knew those $1 bills were useful!), and by about 2:30 pm we at last arrived at our first official destination, the Luray Caverns. I had been here once before, but this was a place I dearly wanted my family to get to enjoy, too. I was once again in awe of the beauty of this place, hidden away deep under the ground, and mostly my family was as well, with one exception... "Is this almost over?" Connor said after walking for about 20 minutes. "It's like watching paint dry." I thought, "Oh well. I tried to show him something more interesting than his computer games," and would think that many more times throughout our trip, it turns out.
At about 9 pm on Friday, March 9th, we found ourselves at a hotel in Statesville, NC, and we were all asleep by about 10:30 pm. By 7 am on Saturday, March 10th, we were back on the road again, and by about supper time we found ourselves very grateful to be at our new home for the week at Terra Verde in Kissimmee, Florida.
Monday was when the real fun began. We headed for "Universal Studios", and our first ride was "E.T. Adventure", which was a rather tame 3D ride that we enjoyed to get us started. We felt like we were riding the bicycle from the movie. Following that, we all went on the 3D indoor coaster "Simpsons Ride", which I'd venture to say was the ride we enjoyed most as a family. Of course, we had to eat at the "Krusty Burger" for lunch!
Given most of us in our family are Harry Potter fans (all except Connor), we had to visit Gringotts Bank and quite enjoyed the indoor thrill ride there. The wait was about 2 hours, but it was also rather entertaining for a good part of the time. Pictures here show the entryway, where the bankers were animated and spoke (and left you feeling a little bit watched and spooked), and also Morgan sporting her new anime shirt from HOT TOPIC the day before as she enjoyed some Butterbeer later as well.
From here, we decided to check out some of the lighter entertainment, including the "Despicable Me Mayhem Minion" ride, as we headed toward what we thought would be our last adventure on our way out.
Tom was greatly disappointed when the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit" was closed due to high winds. This was our last adventure of the day.
On Tuesday, we headed for "Universal Islands of Adventure" (a park to the left instead of right of the same entry you go through for "Universal Studios". What better way to wake up than a roller coaster, right? Tom and I braved riding "The Incredible Hulk Coaster" to get started, which I was relieved was not nearly as scary as it looked after we waited somewhat anxiously in line for about 2 hours!
"Flight of the Hippogriff" was pretty awesome as well - where we felt like we were riding through a Quidditch match on a broom. Of course, Morgan couldn't miss her chance to pose with the Slytherin banner either!
Tom was busy expressing by this point that he was quite bored with it all.. all he really liked so far was the Hulk coaster. The family was getting cranky, so it seemed time to call it a day, but to be honest I wasn't ready yet, so I pushed for "just one more ride"... As I said before, due to winds, we couldn't go on the "Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit" in the other park the day before, and I knew Tom was rather disappointed, so guess where we headed! Really folks, it's not as scary as it looks! It was fun!
Now, the real reason for this trip was that my bucket list has always had "trip to Disney"...
At last, my day came on Wednesday! We headed for the "Magic Kingdom", and a magical day it was.
The crowds were HUGE, to Connor's great dismay, but... One thing I can say about Disney is this... They know how to make sure people have a better time in their parks. Some kind friends advised us the night before, when you go into the park you need to go to Town Hall and mention Connor is diagnosed with autism. They were so right! With all those LONG line-ups in the days before, Connor skipped most of the rides. Kevin didn't mind too much, because he had terrible blisters already, so he and Connor mostly sat around the park waiting for me, Tom and Morgan as we went on rides. Connor was not having a super fantastic time so far, but in Disney it got a bit better. You see, Disney will allow a person with disability to have someone in the family go to the front of the line and request a return time equivalent to if you were going to stand in the line-up. The whole family then gets to go to other places in the park, and then return at or after the return time provided, and then goes through the "Fast Pass" line to very quickly get to the front and enjoy each ride. If we didn't have this, I suspect we wouldn't have done nearly as much, so I feel immense gratitude for this service. I'm sure it's what allowed Connor to actually enjoy some of the day.
We made a bee line for "Space Mountain"! ... We had about a 2 hour wait to actually enjoy it... spent that time riding a carousel. "Space Mountain" seemed like a favourite for Connor - he wanted to go back to it later, but we unfortunately didn't have time to do it. It was a coaster inside, in the dark, with lights and sound, and was quite fast. It was so fast, in fact, that I started to panic part through as I realized my glasses were not as securely tucked away as I meant for them to be. I had stuffed them down my shirt as the ride started, as I had missed tucking them in the pouch they should have been in, so I spent the ride rather tensely trying to keep them from flying out! Kevin didn't like it much either - he was in the very front seat, which I imagine was the scariest place to be, and he hurt a fair bit when it was over.
After this, we needed something a little more tame, and I had set us up for Fast Pass entry to "Jungle Cruise", so we ended up there... where Morgan was especially delighted by all the puns our tour guide shared. Morgan LOVES to tell you jokes with puns in them, you will know if you spend any time with her these days.
At this point, everyone seemed to be a bit cranky, but again I wasn't letting them all just leave. I pushed for more, and we ended up at the "Mad Tea Party", where I think Connor and Morgan had a little too much fun "spinning" me around in the tea cups. Blecch. I was REALLY dizzy after that for a short while, but LOVED the smiles on their faces.
We went to a "Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory" show as well. Early in the show, suddenly one audience member appeared on camera on the screen up front, and the person was put on the spot to dance for everyone. It was quite comical, but also a bit frightening as we all held our breath I suppose hoping we wouldn't be next. Then the moment came... To Tom's dismay, but our joy, Tom's face suddenly appeared on the left screen up front and they told a story about him as "Randall", along with some other audience members. It was a good time at Tom's experience :-)
Next, we headed toward the next ride we had on Fast Pass - "Thunder Mountain". Tom was experiencing some nasty reflux by this point, really not at all happy we were making him stay at the park longer... but I wasn't leaving yet! We came all this way and didn't see the fireworks yet! We observed a family of ducks and took it easy at the "Frontier Trading Post" for a while, then Connor, Morgan and I went on the ride. It was a fun ride, but pretty tame compared to some of the others, so Tom didn't miss too much at least.
We did a bit more walking, had some food and then, as Kevin put it, "fireworks elsewhere were forever ruined". It was really spectacular, a "dream come true" moment for me. I heard someone nearby say, "I think I'm going to cry", and I confess I did a bit as Tinkerbell went soaring overhead through the amazing lights and sounds.
As we were walking out, Connor advised us though - "That hurt my heart, a lot." Sadly, we realized too late that the sound of that was a bit too much for Connor, as he has very over-sensitive hearing. If you have a child with this condition that often comes with autism, my recommendation is that you bring some noise cancelling headphones. Wish we had :(
Connor is an early riser, so we went for a walk in the gated community we were staying in, letting others sleep in. Dad had mentioned that if you spray a gecko with cold water then it will freeze for a few moments, so of course we had to try that! It didn't really work for us, but we had fun trying, and I'm sure the strangers in the neighbourhood thought we were a bit nuts walking around with a spray bottle ... Glad we didn't see alligators! Connor seemed to enjoy this at least.
I also felt I had to the see the "Tree of Life". Wow!
After this ride, I went into a bit of a panic attack... (You know what they say about karma?) Suddenly, I couldn't find my credit card, which I was certain I had in my coat pocket. We wasted about 30 minutes as I tried to find it, while later I discovered it tucked away in our vehicle. Even so, the walk around the "World Showcase" did not disappoint... The "International Flower Garden Festival" meant there were some very amazing displays of characters made from flowers, and the Eiffel tower and various buildings were really something to behold as well.
I suppose our trip can be summed up quite simply... "Good things come to those who wait"...and wait, and wait, and wait. Mostly, the experience involved a LOT of waiting in lines. For each wait for about 30 minutes or up to 2 hours, we would go on a ride adventure that typically would last less than 5 minutes. Still, there was another upside! Before this trip, if I asked Connor about school, he'd tell me he hated it. This is a sort of funny-but-not-funny moment in my family life... On Monday, when Connor arrived home, as usual I asked about his day. "It was pretty good. I sort of liked it. It wasn't that trip! I get to go on my computer now."... This Mom tried, really hard, to show her boy there is more to life than computers. Perhaps someday he'll "get that", right? :)
Speaking of things many of us are waiting for... on this Easter holiday.
In the past few weeks, as I've been trying to recover from all that driving, I've found myself thinking a lot about people of faith, and watching a LOT of movies. If you've read some of my other posts, you perhaps realize by now that I'm an agnostic... I dearly want to believe what the Christian faith is based on, and some days I actually do, but I wouldn't say I'm a person with 100% faith in the full story of Jesus at this point... I've filled my time with quite a number of Christian-themed movies in the past few weeks though, leading to more moments of faithful feeling... all good movies, I will add. I've enjoyed "The Investigator", "God is Not Dead", and "God is Not Dead 2", to name a few. I re-watched "The Case for Christ" and recalled enjoying "Heaven is For Real" before. I'm watching the series called "The Bible" now as well. Seemed an appropriate thing to do at this time of year. I also find myself reading a fair bit.. and this article stood out for me:
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/all-things-subject-to-the-risen-christ.html. After all this, I reflect... Maybe our trip didn't lead me entirely to "the happiest place on Earth", but I should do live in a "marvelous" world and (as the article indicates), the stories of Jesus sure are "marvelous" as well!
Our minister spoke today of people who have inspired him - true believers, people of faith. He described them as people with "hallelujahs in their hearts", and got me thinking about people like that in my own world. I must say, those are the people I have typically enjoyed being with most. They are the people who exude positivity in this world.
While I wanted to get going EARLY that last day, I ended up letting everyone sleep until about 9:30 am. Morgan was quite ill, so Kevin ended up staying home with her, happy to rest his very sore feet, as I coerced the boys into going to Animal Kingdom with me.
I really wanted to see "Killimanjaro Safaris", as I had heard it was something you shouldn't miss. I booked a Fast Pass for "Dinosaur" as well. I was not disappointed. Note the marks in the clay that apparently the elephants like to eat! We ended up seeing, fairly close up, MANY animals, much like I imagine you would see if you went to Africa.
I also felt I had to the see the "Tree of Life". Wow!
When we were done here, we headed back to the house again. The boys were done! Morgan was feeling a bit better, and Kevin felt he didn't want to sit around more, so we left the boys home and headed for one last park - Epcot.
It was about 7:30 pm when we arrived, and the park closes at 9 pm! We didn't have a lot of time, but I am a bit stubborn. I figured if I was going to spend good money and drive so very far, I wasn't going to miss this! I had heard many times about "Soarin", and about how beautiful the "World Showcase" was at night, so this meant this nasty Mom dragged her husband and daughter through yet another park! We arrived in the line for "Soarin'" at about 8 pm, and by 8:15 pm (when we were about half through the queue), Morgan started to feel quite ill again. She has issues with low iron and her thyroid, so she needed a rest. She ended up sitting out the ride, while Kevin and I went on the ride :( Felt a bit guilty leaving her behind, but I also will admit I think this was my favourite ride by far... Imagine feeling like you are hang gliding over the Earth, around the world. Really, I cannot describe it well enough to do it justice. Be sure to do this someday if you can!
After this ride, I went into a bit of a panic attack... (You know what they say about karma?) Suddenly, I couldn't find my credit card, which I was certain I had in my coat pocket. We wasted about 30 minutes as I tried to find it, while later I discovered it tucked away in our vehicle. Even so, the walk around the "World Showcase" did not disappoint... The "International Flower Garden Festival" meant there were some very amazing displays of characters made from flowers, and the Eiffel tower and various buildings were really something to behold as well.
We concluded our adventure by witnessing a spectacular show of light and sound. Note the lit-up Earth in this picture (bit hard to see behind the trees) - it was really something as it moved across the view. Sorry my photography sort of sucks - you will have to trust me that it was beautiful - and try to see it someday if you haven't!
Friday, we headed for home. We did one last stop on the way out of the city, as Morgan needed to get a wig to wear for her musical theater competition coming up in April... We went to a wonderful little store downtown, called Embellish FX, where I laughed as Morgan told me, "Now, these are my people!" We had fun in that cosplay store. Recommend you visit there someday, too! I would have bought a really awesome Halloween costume there if our vehicle wasn't already packed. We did Morgan a wig though, so mission accomplished!
We stopped on Friday night at a hotel, and about 49 hours after leaving Florida, we arrived "home sweet home" on Sunday. We had driven over 7200 kilometers and well over 100 hours!
Perhaps now those who asked me "How was your trip?" can understand my quiet responses? By the time I arrived home on Sunday, I was WIPED OUT. I went back to work on Monday, did our biweekly sprint planning (barely). By Wednesday evening, when I'm normally excited to go to bridge, I stayed home and went to bed. By the weekend, I was still not very useful. Even the next week, I think I was still worn out, and even a bit depressed. I found myself feeling sort of bad about dragging my family through that adventure. By the end, they just wanted to be home and didn't even really seem to enjoy much of the last day of parks. Overall though, I think they are happy about at least parts of it. I know I'm grateful for the experience!
In the past few weeks, as I've been trying to recover from all that driving, I've found myself thinking a lot about people of faith, and watching a LOT of movies. If you've read some of my other posts, you perhaps realize by now that I'm an agnostic... I dearly want to believe what the Christian faith is based on, and some days I actually do, but I wouldn't say I'm a person with 100% faith in the full story of Jesus at this point... I've filled my time with quite a number of Christian-themed movies in the past few weeks though, leading to more moments of faithful feeling... all good movies, I will add. I've enjoyed "The Investigator", "God is Not Dead", and "God is Not Dead 2", to name a few. I re-watched "The Case for Christ" and recalled enjoying "Heaven is For Real" before. I'm watching the series called "The Bible" now as well. Seemed an appropriate thing to do at this time of year. I also find myself reading a fair bit.. and this article stood out for me:
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/all-things-subject-to-the-risen-christ.html. After all this, I reflect... Maybe our trip didn't lead me entirely to "the happiest place on Earth", but I should do live in a "marvelous" world and (as the article indicates), the stories of Jesus sure are "marvelous" as well!
Our minister spoke today of people who have inspired him - true believers, people of faith. He described them as people with "hallelujahs in their hearts", and got me thinking about people like that in my own world. I must say, those are the people I have typically enjoyed being with most. They are the people who exude positivity in this world.
So, what were the words I was singing to myself as I awoke yesterday? I was thinking...
Did you know, when it rains, my eyes become large, and the light that you shine can be seen?
I feel I don't "say" these words nearly enough to my family and friends, so I'll write them now. I am very grateful for the light that you shine, even when it's raining. I am grateful for those of you with "hallelujahs in your hearts". Today, I awoke at 5 am and attended a beautiful sunrise service at 6:30 am. It was raining then, but the rain has stopped now. Our minister spoke about how, like the resurrection, butterflies are a symbol of hope and new beginnings as they emerge from their cocoons, and he once again gave us each a butterfly to help us remember this, which I am grateful to add to my collection of symbols of hope that I started last year.
I wish to say Happy Easter to all of you, and wish for hallelujahs in all of your hearts! I feel they are in mine tonight! Ever grateful! God is Not Dead! God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good! Watch the movies, if you don't know get where I'm coming from ;-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)