~ A Thousand Shall Fall ~

First of all, everyone please pick up a copy of this book!  It is so worth the read!  I read it in just a few days - it's not a terribly long book, but there's a lot packed into those pages, that's for sure!

Now for a little description....I read a review on Amazon that sums up everything I want to say perfectly:  

"Okay, lets imagine you have problems. No, I mean REAL problems. You're Christian, good.. But let's say you're a Christian in Germany at the beginning of WWII. HITLER's Germany! Not too bad?? Well, how about if you are one of the first to get drafted into HITLER'S ARMY?? Not bad enough?? How about if your request to be a conciencious objector is DENIED. Bad enough yet? How about facing persecution for your beliefs? Most of us in Modern America can't understand what that is. But Franz Hasel knew well. Forced to be a soldier in the front lines of Hitler's army, he vowed to stay true to his beliefs and his God. What would you do if Hitler told you that you had to fight for him and his ambitions that you believe are evil, but your God says "Thou shalt not kill" What WOULD you do? How much would you risk to avoid going against your conscience? Would you risk your life?  The more faithful he was to his God, the more faithful God was to him, protecting him, unarmed in the front lines of battle, and his family back at home as they face starvation and social persecution. This book will uplift your spirits and give you a greater faith in God. A book that you won't be able to put down once you pick it up, it is as exciting as any action flick while being 100% true. After reading this book, you'll understand what it really means to be a Christian. To risk it all and trust completely in God. Not to be missed!!"

~A Customer (Amazon)

This book is a keeper, for sure.  For me I found it to be faith strengthening.  It made me ask myself some questions - how would I react in situations like these?  Would I really have the faith to do what they did?  Would I risk my whole life in this way when faced with these types of problems?  Am I really as set and firm in my faith as I should be, when push comes to shove, when it starts to get hard?

A whole other aspect that really hit me hard... if I was to look face to face at the main character in this book, Franz Hasel, I would think he was a typical "Nazi" of the time - serving a man who thinks he's God.  But who am I to judge this man based on what he was forced to do?!  I would be misjudging him completely, when really he believes in many of the same things I do.  It gets me thinking.... Who are we to possibly look at someone and assume we know what they think and what they believe based on what they look like.  How utterly UN-Godly...I'm ashamed that I've ever let that happen.

So again, what a great book!!  It is high on my list of favourites, and I can see myself reading it again soon.  Buy it here!

I love it when the power goes out!

I remember enjoying the power going out so much when I was younger....we would cuddle under blankets and read a good book for hours and hours :)  We would light a ton of candles and set them out throughout the whole house, and the house would have the certain waxy, warm smell.  We would boil water on the wood stove downstairs and make hot chocolate, mmmm!  The fire place would be crackling, and we would all enjoy the silence and the relaxation.

We had very high winds on Monday, and the power went out at about 7:00 in the evening.  Thankfully we had all eaten dinner and the house was warm, so we were all set to hunker down and enjoy listening to the rain and the howling winds.  I had even just boiled the kettle, so I quickly made some tea for everyone while it was still hot! :)  We eventually all went to bed in the pitch blackness and silence that you just don't get when there's electricity running through a house.  Mom woke up at 4:30 the next morning to the entire upstairs of the house lit up like crazy!

Alina and Jordan trying to get the phones to work....after they finally found a corded phone! :)

Jordan and I enjoyed playing around with long exposures and one of the flashlights :)

Alina reading by candlelight

Jordan working on a crossword by candlelight :)

Remembrance Day 11/11/10 ~ Lest we forget...

I'm taking a moment today to think of, and especially thank, all the men and women who have served our countries so selflessly, giving the ultimate in service and sacrifice and going above and beyond their call of duty.  I'm thinking of both of my Grandfathers who served in 2 different branches of the Canadian military.

My Grandpa Humphreys fudged his age and enlisted when he was at the ripe old age of 16 where he was promptly sent overseas.  He was stationed in Italy, France, Germany and Africa (there may be more area, but I can't remember...), and saw action in every one of them.  There are many interesting stories that I've heard throughout the years, like when he was in the outhouse and heard machine gun fire close by, so he peeked out and saw clouds of dust spattering across the ground!  He jumped out of the outhouse just in time before the enemy splattered it full of bullet holes.  And then there was the time that he was mistaken for a German soldier and was held at knife point across his throat as he madly tried to pull out his Canadian ID :)

My Grandpa Severny was a career Submariner, making many, many trips on many, many submarines :)  He took his family overseas to England and Scotland for 4 years, and then Nova Scotia for 4 years, before they drove across Canada and settled once again in Victoria.  He retired from the Navy as Chief Petty Officer 1at Class.  He died in 2001 just a few days short of Remembrance Day, and at his funeral all of his grandchildren pinned a poppy on a heart shaped pillow with his medals attached to it.

I unfortunately don't have any photos of my Grandpa Severny in uniform, but I have plenty of my Dad's Father, my Grandpa Humphreys.  Here are some of my favourites:

And some of his medals...

I'm so proud of everything he did for our country - he didn't have to enlist, but he wanted to serve.  I'm extremely proud and thankful for both of my Grandpas.  I'll have to see if I can get some photos of my Grandpa Severny in his uniform from my Grandma.  

Alina is a Brownie leader (she's Snowy Owl...I'm sure she'd appreciate it if all of you called her that as much as possible), so she got to be a part of the candlelight ceremony at the Legion last night, as well as the Remembrance Day parade this morning.  So of course, I had to go along and be her official papparazzo ;)  These are from last night at the candlelight ceremony, where they honoured the 25 men who fought in WWI and WWII from Sooke.

Jordan joined me for the parade this morning, which I was very thankful for, as he provided me with someone to people watch with and of course laugh with ;)

On Remembrance/Veteran's Day in 2008, I was able to visit the Fort Logan National Cemetary in Colorado. It was an incredibly humbling, overwhelming experience.  If you're ever in an area that has a military cemetery, I recommend paying it a visit - it puts things into quite the perspective.  I tried to maneuver the narrow, little twisting roads with tears in my eyes, thinking with every turn I would see the end of these tiny, white, identical gravestones....but with every turn I came upon acres more.  It was heart wrenching.  To think that all these gravestones memorialize someone's father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, best friend.....I couldn't help but sit in my car and cry.  I knew none of them, but felt the weight of all of them as I sat gazing at these white plaques literally as far as my eye could see.  It was an incredible experience.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

~ John McCrae (1915)