I was there!

Wednesday February 13th: This was the day that I had been looking forward to for nine months; I was going to Winnipeg in hopes of witnessing my sister giving birth to her first child! I don't remember ever anticipating something with such urgency. The excitement was almost suffocating. There had been so much rigamaroll surrounding this flight, and now that it was actually here, I was beside myself!.....well actually, I was beside my sister, who some would argue is quite similar to me. Whatever the case, both Rose and I were beside each other in excitement!

Saturday February 16th: A gorgeous sunny Winnipeg day and we were bound and determined that little Maple needed to become more active! So we went for an all day walk down to the Forks. It was so great to be out in the fresh air, have Nathan fill the air with laughter, and have a new puppet to play in the breeze! Chatter, laughter, silence and anticipation continued to fill our day.


Wednesday February 20th: The due date had passed and still no baby!!!! Nath (ie. Sherwood) predicted that this would be the day of the great arrival and we were more than willing to jump on that bandwagon. Everyone was getting anxious and wondering if Rose and I were actually going to be here for the birth. Will our hopes and dreams come true? We were bound and determined to have it happen! So as they say, if you want a women to go into labour, make her wash the floors and that is exactly what we did. We cleaned all day and got the house all spic-and span for the baby to arrive! The contractions were going nice and strong and Rose and I left and let the two of the lovers have a nice and "relaxing" night ;)

Thursday February 21st: 9:00- Rose and I are woken by a shrilling phone ring! "Come on over. It's starting!" AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is it! This is it!!!!! Soo incredibly excited! Our legs couldn't move fast enough and the grocer couldn't have taken longer! We finally arrived to the birth home and before we opened the door, we both stopped. "Just breathe." We calmed our selves down and lowered our voices to enter the sacred house. However, I think it was our "peaceful" spirit that calmed the baby right down too. We spent the day relaxing, as did the contractions.

Friday February 22nd: 8:30- "This is truly it! Come over. Deanna has been here since 12 last night. This is it!" ECSTATIC doesn't even come close to what I was feeling. Pour adrenaline pumped through my veins and we zipped over to Elice and Maryland and arrived once again at the anticipated location. We entered in, again trying to compose ourselves and the contractions just kept on coming! Deanna (the dula) was there and she was working; Maria was there and working; Nathan was there and working, at getting this baby out! Rose and I felt helpless. We tried to occupy ourselves for most of the day trying to find things to do while we waited on baited breathe. We ended up cooking and baking, "doing homework" and waiting patiently. It was during these long hours that it hit me: my sister is having a baby! My sister is in labour! My sister, is a SUPER HERO!!!

As the hours were gaining, my admiration for Maria and her Creator grew exponentially. For Rose and I, we didn't really have much that we could do for Maria directly and so I just prayed and watched through the crack in the door. We listened to the sounds, listened to the voices and listened to the most painful moments of Maria's life. It was incredibly hard to just listen and not be able to do anything to ease the pain. I found comforted in the fact that Maria's body was created for this moment, and I had to trust that her Creator knew what He was doing. As Becky, (the midwife) said in response to Maria's exclamations of exhaustion, "You're not dead. You're having a baby. You're fully alive. This is the most alive thing you're ever gonna do."

6 o'clock and the hard pushing began. Maria again was incredibly strong in body, mind and spirit. Amongst the pain and agony, she would sneak in some jokes and makes some corkey remarks, subconsciously comforting us all and releasing some of the tension in the air. I have never felt so much intensity in my entire life. The anticipation, the agony, the excitement, the praying, the sounds, the silence, the movements, the pacing; pure intensity. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting.


7:42- "Come over here girls! Here it is!" Rose and I leapt to our feet and ran to the door, just in time to see one of the most memorable, and incredible moments of my life. The baby shot out of the water, into Nathan's arm and onto Maria's chest! Tears steamed down my face and the greatest sense of relief filled the room. It was the most incredible moment. In one instant there was seven of us in the room and a second later, there was eight breathing beings in the room! Unbelievable miracle! A little girl entered in! As Maria so accurately put it, "you're in the world!"

I was there for that incredible moment. I was there for her first breath. I was there for her first cry. I was there to hold her new hands. I was there to see the miracle of life and was overwhelmed with love. My heart was bursting at the seams as I held her for the first time. It struck me how incredibly precious and fragile that moment was. This little face had never been seen before. This little creation, had never been held before. This little human was part of my family. No words can even begin to express the emotions that coerced through my veins at that moment. I was there, and this is my darling niece Mikayla River!

Shane Claiborne Talking about Life

This video is abit about what I've been thinking about. Thanks Mre, for posting your video on your blog. Maybe this will answer some of my questions.

Questions

My life has been full of adventure since September and my last post. So much so that my posts on my blog have been more than lacking, they have been non-existent. I wont bore you with a detailed update of my life: going to school, having a boyfriend, teaching art classes, cleaning houses, and yes, joining Facebook (I hang my head in shame), but instead I am going to solicit your opinion and your input into the questions within my head.
Community: I don't know about you, but this word has been bombarding me since September. I can not get away from it and wherever I go, I hear about it. It's not as though I want it to stop following me. It has just brought me a place of contemplation of what really does it mean. When I hear the word community, what do I think of? What do you think of? One step further: how do I live in community? Is it necessary for life? Am I suppose to live in community? What does that look like?
The discussions surrounding the word community are nothing out of the ordinary in my family, but actually quite the opposite. They happen frequently. Being apart of Christian circles for all of my life, the word community is not shied away from either. On top of that as a Mennonite, community is one of the first words in the dictionary. But, what does that all mean for me, Suzanne Klassen. How do I live in community?
In the summer I was talking to a friend about religion and what "my religion's" beliefs were. I found myself using the word community and family and unity quite often. For him and his adventures in religion he wanted the complete opposite; individualism, me- myself and I, no accountability to anyone else and I get myself where I want to go. I have found that this way of thinking is not unfamiliar to the university crowd and yet for me, I am constantly striving to build community. What is it about community that I find so attractive and yet Ian finds so appalling? In what ways do I live my life so that community is something that is longed for instead of shunned? What does community have to offer that individualism does not? Is there an ideal way to live out community? Who is to know and who is to tell?

The Unusual Applaud

The lights are dim, and the film begins to roll. The sound starts to play and I sit there in anticipation of what is about to be displayed before my eyes. A documentary: Man with the Movie Camera, 1929. I wait and low and behold, an orchestra soon begins to take position on stage. I love music. The film reels through from slide to slide, and I take in the action, but more importantly, my ears are saturated in the sweet sounds and melodies that ring in the air. I am elated at the quality and a smile is pasted on my face. The film continues from scene to scene and with each passing moment the same thought keeps flickering through my head. "Where in the world can I get my hands on this sound track?! This is amazing!!" Ninety minutes later
the finale comes to a close and there I am left in awe and wonder with my heart feeling warm, my eyes closed focusing on the auditory intake, and my hands naturally begin to clap and applaud the greatness of the performance that I have just witnessed. Startled back to reality, I find that I am not the only one clapping my hands together, but the class which I had lost consciousness of, has joined me in my appreciation. How marvelous! They appreciate this film (or this sound track) as much as I do! I exit the room in satisfaction and much to my chagrin the ears which were so beautifully treated by harmonies are rudely harassed with words of discontent. "What a waste of time. That sucked!?" In confusion and disbelief I become aware that what I perceived as greatness, another perceived as garbage; what I thought was appreciation, was merely mockery.
A week passes and I am reminded of the whole experience again. "Can you explain to me the unusual applaud at the end of "Man with the Movie Camera?" Yes I can sir. But my explanation only captures the one set of hands that started it all.

Gross'me'Green

If This Tree Could Speak

The other weekend, Brent and I went for a walk and heard this loud, furious, angry sounding screaming. It was quite the noise and it sounded very destructive, violent and disturbing. As we kept walking, the screaming came closer and we ended up walking right passed the bushes where the racket was coming from. This sick and distressing feeling came over me and all I wanted to do was go and talk to the guy and see what was wrong and why he was so upset. Brent had a head on his shoulders and stopped me from entering into the bush without thinking, and as we walked on by I prayed as release of what I was feeling. It was really sad to think about how this guy had so much anger and furry in him and yet had to go into the bush, all by himself to get it off his chest.
We went back later to where he had been, to find a tree fort of sorts, right on the edge of the water. It was cradled by this huge tree that had these big sprawling branches that hugged the lonely soul that sat in it's arms. The main platform of the fort had a ton of carvings and markings on it that could write novels of what had happened in that place.
Oh the stories this tree could tell if it only could speak. The secrets that were told and the memories that are erased. The words that were uttered and the curses that were thrown. The blessings that were embraced and the toxins that were inhaled. This tree holds it all. It is a place of security and a listening ear that will not object. It is a place of safety and a strong arm that will not beat back. It is a place of comfort and a warm heart that will not be hurt. If this tree could speak, oh the stories it would tell.

Missing Out or Saving Myself

Within the society that I live, there are many different forms of communication and ways of interaction. The handwritten letter is one that everyone really loves and when you open the mail to find a personally addressed envelope, you are thrilled. But it pretty much stays at a novelty and many people don't take the time to actually use this method. The telephone has been around for quite some time, but as the years progress, I find that it is used less frequently. Email, can be argued as being the most common and the standard form of communication across generations. Online chatting has become quite popular as well but is not used by all. It kinda stays between the younger folks, and as you get older, using Messenger, Google Talk and the like is not as common. Skype is another more recent form of communication where you are able to talk, as though on the telephone, but through your computer. This is a nifty way of communication that is cheap and relatively painless. Text messaging is predominant and though everyone and their dog has a cell phone, they are not used for actual talking as much as "texting" your "fav. five". And then there is this: "a social utility that connects you with the people around you." Any guesses for what this can be? Facebook!
Facebook is a way of networking and communicating with people from your past, your present and I wouldn't doubt, your future. This phenomenon started in 2004 and was originally only available to college/university students with a campus email address. Since September 2006, this utility was opened up to be used by anyone with an email address and by July 2007, it had 34 million active members and was the seventh most visited site in the United States.* Though it started with the university crowd, this network has spread throughout high schools, families, parents and work places.
Many friends of mine are proud members of this network and beckon me to join in with this social gathering. They tell me all the great advantages of "having Facebook" and are constantly making me feel as though I'm missing out because I'm not connected. For some, Facebook has become their principal way of communication and they rely on it fully to get messages to each other, plan events, to stay up to date on the latest greatest, know the person's dating status, to find new friends, to stay connected with childhood playmates and to watch and observe the lives of others through videos, pictures and stories. Discussions are had, comments are made, and the world is aware of every move that you make. You are comfortably distant, yet jarringly vulnerable.
My opinions for Facebook are strictly observational considering I have not become a member, and the debate of whether or not I should, is continually being presented to me. I question what this social utility says about the society that I live in. How has our culture come to a place where virtual connectivity is the norm and if you don't take part, you are on the outside, the outskirts, an outliers? How as it happen that suddenly we are willing to expose our every move to the world, let them know who our top friends are, and rekindle friendships that never existed? As one that hasn't taken the plunge and entered this virtual world, am I truly missing out like my friends say, or am I saving myself from a reliance on a computer to connect me to the "people around me"? Has our society come to a place where physical interaction is no longer needed, and we are able to be sustained and fulfilled within our cyber-world? How long can I stay on the outside and still remain on the inside of society? Will I have to cave to fully know how my society works, or can I just observe and look objectively from the outskirts? Am I missing out, or am I saving myself?
*figures taken from Wikipedia

One of the Best!

So this may be one of the best summers ever. When I tell people this, they always seem puzzled and ask why, and a valid question indeed. They continue their inquiry asking what I have done and what makes it so great and if you were to look at my summer, from the outside it doesn't look like much. I've been to Toronto a few times to hear some sweet music, but that isn't anything that out of the ordinary. I've been camping with my family, which was super awesome, but again, I do that every year (though, this year, we had an extra great time because we found out that MARIA IS PREGNANT!!!!). Then if you were to look at my job, you would be totally thrown off. My job for those who forget, is working for a agency called Agricorp which under the government, trying to control a virus (Plum Pox) which is spreading through the orchards in Niagara. I am sampler which means that all I do is pick leaves and tag/label trees. That is literally all I do. I pick between 4000 to 5000 leaves a day and put them in little ziplock bags and that's all I do for 7.5 hours a day. Literally that's all I do. So again, this shouldn't really add to the amazingness of my summer. But for some reason, all of these things have added up and contributed to the best summer ever! My job is fantastic and I love it! My family is unreal, and I love them! My music is rockin' and I love it!
But, when I actually take time and think about it, there is one more thing. There is something sweet about having purpose, and I think for me this has made my summer. As you will recall from my previous post, God really made it clear to me that there was reason for me to get this job. There was huge ordeal around getting it, and when I eventually did, I felt strongly that God had put me there for a reason. Well, since then, I have been on a search to find out what my purpose in this work place is and have tried to figure out why I am there. It has been a challenge because I don't really connect with the people at work, I work alone for the majority of the day, and there aren't many great "opportunities" in the normal sense. So why am I there? Without going into huge detail, God has shown me the value of the new culture that I am apart of; the value in the differences between us; and the value in unfamiliarity in new situations. This has given me purpose and has motivated me in life. It has given me a freshness and a joy to do what I do, and an expectancy that God is going to do something. My dearest brother-in-law Nathan posted on his blog about the boredom of work and whether or not work is just work, of if it can be something more (sorry Nato, paraphrasing a bit) and I think that it can be something more. If there was a job that could be boring and unmotivating, I have one, but when you introduce purpose, it is a whole new story. Now, don't get me wrong. Just because I have purpose doesn't mean that I am thrilled with every leaf that I pick and that I am overjoyed with every sex talk I get, but at the end of the day I know that there is a reason why I am going back the next day. It adds something to life and for me that is greatness!
So, yes, my summer has been amazing, and maybe not for then normal reasons a summer is awesome, but to put it bluntly, it's because of God