HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-08-22, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2013.
Beginning in late August through
to mid-November, the Huron Arts &
Heritage Network (HAHN) has
partnered with the Huron County
Library to present workshops on
Genealogy, Writing your Memoir
and Digitizing your Photos at
selected branch libraries across
Huron. “Sessions developed and led
by local seniors will create a peer-
to-peer learning environment”, says
Project Co-ordinator Joan van der
Meer. “Programming is aimed at
providing multiple opportunities for
people to tell their personal histories
and experiences so these stories can
be shared with families, friends and
community.”
Writing your Memoir workshops
led by local historian and writer,
Rhea Hamilton Seeger, will teach
participants how to effectively write
their own histories and recollections
using either formal or informal
styles or techniques.
Participants in session one:
Researching Family Trees
genealogy workshops will be guided
through the process of researching
and putting together a family tree
using local Huron County resources,
including the library’s public
computer subscription to the
website Ancestry Library Edition by
Reg Thompson, librarian and
research service provider.
Sessions two and three
Researching Family Trees
genealogy workshops, led by
Colleen Maguire, will introduce
participants with little or no
previous genealogy research
background through the process of
beginning their family tree.
Those taking part in the Digitizing
your Photos sessions will learn how
to properly organize, store and label
their photograph collections. In
addition, seniors can register for
one-on-one sessions with the
Digitizing your Photos workshop
leader Alison Lobb to scan some of
By Pastor Perry Chuipka
St. John’s and Trinity Anglican
Churches
Two babies were sitting in their
cribs, when one baby shouted to the
other, “Are you a little girl or a little
boy?”
“I don’t know,” replied the other
baby giggling.
“What do you mean, you don’t
know?” said the first baby.
“I mean I don’t know how to tell
the difference,” was the reply.
“Well, I do,” said the first baby
chuckling, “I’ll climb into your crib
and find out.”
He carefully manoeuvred himself
into the other baby’s crib, and then
quickly disappeared beneath the
blankets. After a couple of minutes,
he resurfaced with a big grin on his
face. “You’re a little girl, and I’m a
little boy,” he said proudly.
“You’re ever so clever,” cooed the
baby girl, “but how can you tell?”
“It’s quite easy really,” replied the
baby boy, “you’ve got pink socks
and I’ve got blue ones. “
Now I’ll bet when you heard the
first part of that joke, you focussed
on something else.
I certainly did. Sometimes, we can
be too focussed on one thing or
many things in our lives. When we
pay attention to the distractions that
come our way from time to time,
they can save our lives from a lot of
stress and strain. Let me explain.
Every year we go camping with
our pop-up tent trailer. This year we
went to Pine Echo camp in Belmore.
We also brought with us three, 12-
week-old Australian spotted bantam
ducks that my wife purchased and
raised from ducklings. They have
become our pets. But they have also
become our therapists…our
distractions from our busy life.
One of the things my wife often
says to people when they find out
that we have ducks is that they are
great therapy for us. They slow down
our lives, put things into perspective
and we learn from them how we
should be living.
Let me give you an example.
We had just finished an early
supper at our campground when a
huge 30-foot trailer pulled into the
lot next to ours. As the family of
parents and two small boys started to
set up their campsite by getting the
trailer ready for camping, we noticed
their anxiety going up as they were
trying to do everything so fast.
Twenty minutes went by and
tempers were getting strained with
the stress of setting up camp near
supper time.
One of the boys noticed our ducks
and came over to see them in their
little water area (it was a little plastic
blow-up pool bought at the dollar
store). He was entranced by the
ducks. Then his brother came over.
Soon the mother was also watching
these ducks and came over to see
them. My wife offered them a cold
drink and some cookies. When the
father, who was still unpacking, saw
them all over at the ducks he came
forward and instead of getting mad,
he smiled. Before he knew it, he too
was eating cookies and having a cold
drink. We introduced ourselves and
they told us that they had a late start
to the day and how frustrating
everything had been. But now the
ducks and our hospitality had
calmed them down.
Sometimes, life has a way of
speeding up on us. We focus too
much on something and our stress
level goes sky high and we lose
perspective on life. Sometimes, like
the ducks did for this family and
have done for my family, we need a
distraction from our focus or
focusses.
One day last week, I was getting
stressed by thinking of all the things
I had to accomplish by the end of the
day. I told my wife that I was
thinking of missing the regular
coffee time that I spent with the
farmers that began at 8:30 a.m.
Seeing my anxiety, her reply was,
“maybe spending time with the
farmers is just what you need.” Then
she went to do something else.
Before I left the house, I told her I
was going to go spend time with the
farmers. It turned out to be the best
decision I made that day. On that
particular day, the ladies at a nearby
table started to tell us about some of
the funny things that happened in
their lives. The farmers and I had a
great laugh as more people added
their own life stories.
It was one of the best coffee times
I had been at. It relieved my stress
and put things back into perspective
for me.
Sometimes what happens in the
break room at a nearby office, or in
the cafeteria or while having a coffee
in someone’s kitchen is what we
really need when our world becomes
too anxious and stressful for us.
This week I read an article that
summed up how important
distractions or breaks from those
things we are too focussed on can be
for our thinking process. I read that
too much attention on things can
even be counterproductive to the
success of a creative process.
Mathematicians, scientists, artists,
composers, authors say that
breakthroughs of insight often come
(and some would say only happen)
when they have “taken a break” from
extended periods of concentration
on the challenge they are seeking to
address.
So let me go back to those ducks
who take me out of all my focusses
and enable me to simply experience
the playfulness of life in those
ordinary times. God sometimes
surprises us by coming to us through
distractions. Often, it is a distraction
or what looks like something
unproductive at the time that is just
what we need. Maybe we should not
see breaks from what we are
concentrating or focussed on as
unproductive but pay more attention
to them because they can save our
lives from a lot of stress and strain.
Genealogy workshops announced
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m.
CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS
MINISTER
Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div.
All Welcome
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224
NEW START TIME FOR WORSHIP IS 10 AM
ALL WELCOME
Worship Service & Sunday School at 10 a.m.
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, August 25
Brussels Business & Cultural Centre
at 10:30 a.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 11 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
6:30 p.m. service at various locations
for July and August.
Childcare provided for infants and
preschoolers during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743
www.blythcrc.ca
Minister: Pastor Gary Van Leeuwen
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
During the month of August we will be worshipping
with Brussels United Church
at 11 a.m.
10:30am
This Sunday at
Huron
Chapel
How to Ease The
Pressure in your
life.
HURONCHAPEL.COM
BRUSSELS
Sandra Cable, Pastor
Church Office 519-887-6259
E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com
SUNDAY SERVICE 11:00 am
Sunday School
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship
United Church
250 Princess St., Brussels
519-887-6388
www.bmfchurch.com
Pastor Jim Whitehead
Guests Welcome
Jesus Is Lord!
Brussels
Mennonite
Fellowship
Worship Service 10:00 am
Coffee & Fellowship
getlivingwater.org
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God)
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Visitation Sundays ~ Aug. 4-25
Evangelical Missionary Church
Join in worship at
another local church
From the Minister’s StudyGod can help focus through distractions
Continued on page 18