A Different Perspective on Hydro Bills

   In the province where I live, the public is complaining about ever increasing hydro rates.  The government has promised to reduce rates by 25% to help consumers deal with this rising cost.
   Not many decades ago, electricity companies were encouraging people to buy appliances and maximize their use of electricity.  Note the ad to the right dated circa 1932.

  Yesterday I received my hydro bill and took a closer look at it. Even though the so-called price relief has not yet taken effect, our monthly bill was just $60.94.  To put this cost in perspective, I divided it by the 30 days of an average month and discovered it costs just about $2 a day to have the privilege of lights, furnace fan, and powered appliances and gadgets. When I consider that five people benefit from these things, the cost per person per day is only 40 cents!  Part of my reason for being pleased with my hydro bill is that I'm grateful for electricity.  I don't simply take it for granted or call access to electricity my right.  I've visited a country where the power supply routinely fails and where schools and households need to have their own diesel generators to function at an optimal level.
   Maybe you're wondering how we spend so little on electricity each month.  Here are some of our tips:

• After we received a SMART meter outside our home, we did a family experiment.  Using the digital reading of how much electricity is being used in real time, we tested the amount of kilowatts used by various appliances, one by one.  It was enlightening.  A floor fan used far less electricity than the air conditioner; the water heater when powered up used the most.
• We have a natural gas furnace, so the only electrical cost associated with heating is the furnace fan.  My husband has programmed our thermostat according to the time of use rates for the winter season.  Between 7 am and 11 am and again between 5 pm and 7 pm, the time of use rates are at their peak, so those are also the times when our thermostat is set the lowest.  It's almost unavoidable for us to not be cooking between 5 pm and 7 pm, so the heat from the oven and stove help warm our living space and we are seldom aware that the temperature is lower.
• Our water heater runs only at night between 7 pm and 7 am on weekdays; we turn off the breaker switch each morning and reset it each evening, but we do not run out of hot water during the day.  On the weekends when time of use rates are at their lowest level, we keep the water heater on all day.
• We live in a semi-detached house, so there is less square footage to be heated and/or cooled.
• In summer we use fans instead of an air conditioner unless there have been 3 days of high humidity in a row.
• If we are baking or cooking smaller items, we use a toaster oven rather than our large oven.
• We wash dishes by hand.
• Our flooring is mostly hard wood, so a vacuum cleaner is used less often than a broom or dry mop.
• Our family hobbies include occasional movie watching and wood working, but not gaming or sitting in a hot tub.
• We expect everyone in the house to wear an outfit more than once before it is put in the laundry, unless it was somehow soiled.  Towels are used for a whole week, and bed sheets are changed twice a month.
• Laundry is done after 7 pm, but we have no clothes dryer.  We hang clothing from lines in the basement every other day so that humidity levels do not get too high.  In spring, summer and fall, we hang clothes outside to dry.
• Our light fixtures contain fluorescent bulbs, but when multiple bulbs are expected in a lamp, we unscrew at least one of them.  How bright does it really have to be in the bathroom?
• We have one refrigerator, deliberately the smallest that would meet our needs, and one chest freezer.
• We power down our computer at night and hibernate it when it is not being actively used.
• We use a power bar to turn off our television and DVD player.

I'd be interested in any ways you have reduced your electricity consumption.

Twenty year old things

   Last fall my husband and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary.  One of the slightly odd things we did when we got together with our children for the occasion was to go around the table one by one and try to name wedding gifts we had received.  When we couldn't think of any more, we checked the back of our wedding guest book, which listed them all.
   It got me thinking about the things we received as wedding gifts that we still use almost daily. They have stood the test of time, though you may notice some items have required minor repairs by my handyman husband.  If you are married, I wonder which of your wedding gifts you still have and use. How often do you think of the people who gave them to you?  Through these pictures, I reflect on the kindness of others to us twenty years ago and treasure the reason we all came together to celebrate: our marriage.

 


  A number of our wedding guests blessed us with cash.  We pooled this together to purchase 8 oak dining chairs, which remain sturdy and useful. They were crafted by Mennonites.

    Daily cooking with pots and pans is mostly done with the 7 piece set of Lagostina cookware given at a wedding shower by the neighbors in the rural area where I grew up.  The smallest saucepan and the Dutch oven have both needed handles to be reattached, but they continue to serve us well.

  The kitchen knife to the right was given to us by cousin Frank, who passed away last December.  We remember his kindness and struggles whenever we chop celery, peppers or onions.

  Two uncles from the Netherlands brought a group gift from nine aunts and uncles plus some cousins.  It was a full set of Sola flatware.  We were told upon receiving it: "Don't save it for special occasions; make this your 'everyday' silverware."

  This is just one sample of framed needlework we received.  The roses signify the business my husband used to be part of with his family.  The neighbor of my husband's parents made this carefully stitched picture, which now outlives her.

A plate decorated with stamps was one of the other hand-made gifts we received from my husband's nieces and nephews at a wedding shower.  My mother-in-law had previously invited these children to her home to make gifts for us.  This one-of-a-kind serving plate is a nice conversation piece when serving squares or cookies to guests.





   At first we were afraid to use this pottery milk pitcher, which holds milk that comes in bags.*  What if it breaks, we thought.  Even though it has been used while three young children could have been careless with it, it doesn't have one chip in it.



*In Ontario, Canada milk can be bought in cartons, jugs or bags.  Bags come in sets of 3, totaling 4 litres, and is usually the best buy.

Faith and Insurance

   To be honest, I have a love-hate relationship with insurance.  On the one hand, I purchased a life insurance policy when I was 21 years old, long before I had any dependents.  My cousin was the sales rep, who pointed out the benefits of purchasing early in life, and he convinced me.  On the other hand, I question some forms of insurance because they seem improper for me as a Christian believer, who claims to trust in God to protect and provide.
   The Psalmist in Psalm 20 (NIV) shares a counter-cultural adage:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Time after time, the Old Testament people of God were rescued by divine intervention that defied the wisdom of military generals.  Consider the taking of Jericho by marching around it, blowing trumpets and shouting or the defeat of the Midianites in Judges 7 by an army reduced to 300 men carrying trumpets and water pitchers.
   Insurance can be one manifestation of a lack of trust, but the phenomena of trusting in "back-up plans" is really nothing new. King David faced the intense wrath of God for counting his fighting men because it demonstrated publicly that he did not trust in God for victory over enemies (2 Samuel 24). Certain forms of insurance, such as automobile insurance and employment insurance, are required by law.  At which point is purchasing insurance an act of prudence?  When does it become an idol that soothes our fear of the unknown?  I don't claim to know the answer, but it's something I wrestle with from time to time.  
   Most recently, I purchased airline tickets and somehow missed the prompt to buy cancellation insurance.  By the time I realized my mistake, the 72 hour window had closed.  If the passengers, due to health or some other crisis, would not be able to take their trip, there would be no refund.  At this point I had no choice but to rely on God concerning this situation.  My prayers leading up to the trip were regular and asking for the plans to be allowed to come to fruition--that nothing would stand in the way of my mother and son going overseas to spend time with relatives, one of whom has terminal cancer.

Free range stock photo

   Five days before the airplane trip, family devotions came to a parallel event in the book of Ezra 8:21-23. Here the leader of a convoy of Jews returning to Jerusalem from exile called for a fast to pray to God for a safe journey.  Ezra had made a conscious decision not to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen because he would be ashamed after testifying to the king that "The gracious hand of God is on everyone who looks to him."  I wonder if we are ever ashamed of creating elaborate back-up plans to give us security that ought to reside in God alone.
   The day before the airplane trip, I had a personal bread-and-water fast during which I asked the LORD to allow this voyage to come to pass.  And God answered this prayer.

Inspired Word for 2017: KIN

   Over the past couple of weeks I was pondering which word I thought would give some shape to my experience of 2017, I kept coming back to this three-letter word.
   First of all, I was drawn to its meaning.  Kin is a word that means close relatives, people we are bound to by our family heritage.  The four-letter word "kind" is connected because we naturally tend to deal "kindly" with our "kin."  One of my daughters asked me during our rather quiet Christmas break why we don't have many gatherings with extended family anymore.  She wondered if by not connecting with these kin we were missing out on something good that we were meant to have: closer ties, family stories, a better sense of connectedness.
   Something else that drew me to the word "kin" is that it is a beautiful English word.  What I mean by English is that it comes from the Germanic branch of languages. These words are quite plain and ordinary; they may be short and sound a bit harsh with their combination of letters.  Besides "kin", some other original English words are "cow-like," "bed," "knife," "hat," and "good."
   Why would I call it beautiful?  Perhaps most people would not.  In fact, there is a Facebook picture I saw in the past month which named "100 Beautiful English words," but every one of them was a more recent addition to English as a loanword from French or Latin.  For the words I listed above, the so-called beautiful versions would be "bovine," "chamber," "stiletto," "fedora," and "excellent."  A beautiful word for me is not so much how poetic it sounds but what it communicates.  For me "kin" makes me think of the beautiful reality that we are born into close relationships in which we are to show kindness.
   How I hope this word will give shape to my experience of 2017 is that I will be more intentional about forging ties with and appreciating my kin, also for the sake of my children.  I want to plan more visits with them and enjoy their company.  Next month, Lord willing,  my son and my mother will travel to Europe to be with kin. Through their visit, I hope to also feel renewed in my connection to aunts, uncles and cousins living so far away.  Other kin live nearby, but the busyness of life often conspires against getting together with them.  I want to make greater effort to resist those excuses.
   Over this calendar year I hope to share some stories about my kinfolk and what makes cultivating these ties so valuable for my family and me.

Guest Post by Carolyn: A Pregnant Opportunity

With a vision to having our students intentionally engage God’s world, locally and globally, every class at LHCS participates in a service project during the school year.  This opportunity is meaningful to the students and encourages them to selflessly think of the needs of others.

In November our Grade 6B class learned about an organization called Salama SHIELD Foundation.  Begun by Mrs. Fehderau’s brother, they operate in Uganda and Malawi, building relationships and learning the stories of those in deep need, in order to search for appropriate solutions.  The foundation has been able to improve the lives of tens of thousands through its programs in food security, micro-credit revolving loans, water, education, and health.  And goats!

The students were challenged to change a behaviour or attempt a new one that would educate them about living with less.  Some examples given were sleeping on the floor, wearing clothes that didn’t fit properly, or only using a bar of soap to wash everything with.  The students could choose the length of time during the month that they would perform their act.

In addition, Mrs. Mostert and Mrs. Fehderau encouraged the class to think of unique ways that they could fundraise for SALAMA Shield, in order to buy pregnant goats to be given to families in need of the milk and the potential income generated by selling the kids.  Each goat costs $75, and that amount became a goal for many of the children.

The grade sixes took to the challenges with enthusiasm!  “We are privileged to have so much”, one of the students said, so they sold some of their toys to raise money.  “We have it a lot easier”, noted another student, who chose to wash everything, even their hair, with a bar of soap for a few days.

“It was hard to wear clothes that didn’t fit properly, and I felt bad for people who have to all the time”, said one girl who wore her Dad’s shirt for a week.  Another student commented: “It hurt my back to sleep on the floor, and I learned that we are really blessed”.  “It was kind of annoying to drink only water for a week”, was an understandable observation made.  One of the teachers and one of the students wore the same clothes for a month!

Through selling chips, the sale of their own baked goods, extra jobs for parents, selling jewelry they made, and more, the class raised enough money to buy 28 goats!  It was a herculean effort that will richly reward those that Salama SHIELD will be able to help.  The month ended with a class party that included goat cheese and a thought provoking story called A Country Far Away, a book that ingeniously examines the differences between life in North America and life in Africa for a child.

One student’s comment sums up the experience well: “I didn’t realize how much a goat could help”.  These grade six students didn’t realize how much they could help either, but the Lord has blessed their efforts through this learning opportunity.

Looking Back upon "Jubilee"

 






One year ago I chose the word "Jubilee" to give shape to my experiences for 2016.  I wanted to be more conscious of issues related to justice and to celebrate things worthy of jubilation.  Looking back on 2016, the following items connect to the theme of Jubilee:

• In 2016 I celebrated with three loved ones as they graduated from one level of schooling to another.  Two earned their high school diplomas, and one her Grade 8 diploma.
• Jubilee was experienced through music.  In 2016 I had the opportunity to experience the 40th anniversary concert for the Ontario Christian Highschool Choir Festival in the spring and a rousing orchestral and choral rendition of Handel's Messiah just before Christmas.
• Musical theatre was also a cause for jubilation.  Each of the five live plays I was privileged to experience combined story telling with song: The Pirates of Penzance; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Our Town; Charles Dickens Writes A Christmas Carol; and Christmas in Reverse.
• I learned more about global justice initiatives through reading The Locust Effect by Gary Hausen and Clay Water Brick by Jessica Jackley.  My husband and I were able to support new charities that are focused on bringing justice to the marginalized.
• The schools I am affiliated with began celebrating milestones in 2016: the high school marked 40 years of God's faithfulness and the elementary school is commemorating 50 years, a true jubilee.
• My father had successful surgery to improve his mobility and reduce back and neck pain.  My mother had a cataract removed and can see more clearly. The support both my parents received from the medical community and their church family has also been cause for jubilee.

Surprising Contrasts in the Nativity Story

   The well-known details of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem are repeated in the carols that are played through sound systems in shopping malls and sung in churches during Advent.  We know of mangers, and shepherds and wise men and a star they followed.  It's familiar and comfortable to many of us. I'd like to point out some surprising contrasts in the nativity story that might help make it fresh and new for you this Christmas.
1)  The first contrast is the sign the shepherds were given.
   When the shepherds were told to look for a child, they were given two things to look for: the babe would be wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.  We imagine Jesus' birth taking place at a cold time of year if we live in the West, so it would be obvious to us that a newborn be clothed.  However, what we know of Mary and Joseph is that they were poor.  Not all Hebrew parents could afford clothing for their babies. Yet somehow, clothing was provided for their son so that he could "wrapped snugly in strips of cloth," as the New Living Translation puts it.  The shepherds would have heard these two descriptions of the baby and wondered at the contrast.  If the child was clothed (indicating a level of wealth), why would he also be in the feeding trough for animals?  When the shepherds found baby Jesus, the story they spread about a newborn well dressed but kept in an animal's feeding box would have caused their listeners to marvel as well.  What would become of a child like this? One who had attributes of wealth and humility at once?
2) The second contrast is in the reactions of King Herod and the Magi
   King Herod's palace was not far from Bethlehem, about 3 miles away.  In fact, Bible teacher Ray VanderLaan points out that Bethlehem was literally in the shadow of the sizable building called the Herodian, one of Herod's palaces [1].  The child Jesus was born close to the man who ruled as king, but went unnoticed by him until "Magi from the East" came to Jerusalem asking for one born "King of the Jews." Some Christmas songs have led us to think that these men were "kings," but they were educated people (sages, familiar with the stars).  The Chinese word used for the Magi is the same word that is used for "professors."  These learned men from the East probably came from Persia or modern-day Iran.  The sheer distance they were willing to travel in order to honour a royal child contrasts sharply with the short distance Herod sent his soldiers to try to destroy a royal child.
3)  The third contrast lies in the three gifts the Magi brought
   The gospel writer Matthew tells that the gifts the Magi brought were gold, frankincense and myrrh. In our modern day, the value of just one of these gifts is readily apparent.  We know that gold is a commodity of great worth and that it does not deteriorate the way some other metals do.  But what of frankincense and myrrh? Incense was used in the Jewish temple as a form of worship; its aroma represented the prayers of the people rising up to God; however, the Magi may not have known of this specific aspect of Judaism.  Myrrh was an oil used in embalming the bodies of those who died. Could it be that this gift of myrrh hints at the final purpose of Jesus' birth: that he would die for the sins of the world?  These distinct gifts were all high in value, yet the gift of myrrh seems to highlight something of Jesus' mission in a way that the other gifts do not.

I encourage you to look deeper into the Nativity story yourself and look for other surprising elements and contrasts.  Imagine you are reading it for the very first time, and it will never get old.


[1] Article by Ray Vanderlaan https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/in-the-shadow-of-herod-article