Believe In Yourself!

Many of you know that I am now into a career that is new for me and that is mentoring/counselling young women who either have a child (or children) or are pregnant. Specifically, I am working with women ages 18 to 21, encouraging them to go back to school.

Many people get side-tracked in life because of so many reasons. A pregnancy often puts other life goals on hold. In our community, we have many services to help young women back to get their high school diploma and go on to college. We have money available, parenting education and child care available. There are people like me to encourage and be cheerleaders.

The statistics reinforce that young people today must have higher education to get along in this very competitive world. We must encourage them to get back to school and be independent, self-respecting citizens.

Although I am just beginning this mission, I can tell you that I am going to really enjoy my "work".

Some of us have had circumstances in our families over which we had no control. Abusive parents, alcoholic parents, poverty, and general lack of encouragement; the physical and spiritual things we need to grow into prosperous adults happen to more people than you may have thought.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ~ Colossians 3:12

When I first visited Houston in 1990, an old school friend took me to a Tex-Mex restaurant where she had to summon the server for more water for me. Oh, yes, it was a little hotter than I had anticipated and I really was not sufficiently warned! 

When I was first in East Texas twelve years ago, Hubby and I were at a pancake house. When my eggs were served, I noticed there was no ketchup on the table. I asked for some. 

Well, we are on a highway that will ultimately link Port Huron, Michigan and Laredo, Texas, so one assumes that people of all tastes will be coming through. 

The server asks what I want ketchup for. We tell her for eggs and she is really upset! So, Hubby gives her a little lecture about Canadians coming through here and Canadians like ketchup on their eggs so she might need to get used to it! 

When I would see a small size bottle of hot sauce on a restaurant table, I would think about that being a life time supply for a girl like me from 50s Toronto. 

Then, we started visiting Louisiana, home of Tabasco and imagine my amazement to see an aluminum holder containing five (5) bottles of differently spiced Tabasco Hot Sauces. Further, imagine my wonder at the Tabasco souvenirs in the gift shop, the most interesting being a man’s tie. Whoa! These people take their hot sauce pretty seriously! 

I must mention here that there are many other brands of hot sauce, some in very attractive bottles with cute little wooden lids. I know not to open these bottles! 

I also know to ask the server to ask the chef to “kick it DOWN a notch on the dressing” for my King Louis Salad at Ralph & Kacoo’s. (For you Canucks, this is a Louisiana Cajun Restaurant which became my fave after I got the ordering right.) 

So, I was having a telephone conversation with my friend Judy who lives just east of Toronto and on the staff at a retirement community. She told me about a Southerner, visiting his mother and staying there in the guest suite. He asked why there was no hot sauce at breakfast. Judy asked him what that was for. He told her the eggs, of course. 

I suggested that Judy go out and purchase a little bottle of Tabasco Sauce and presumably the Southern Gentleman now feels at home on his visits. 

Adjustment to the South has been comprised of a lot of little things you would never think about when moving here. But I cope! Pass the Heinz Ketchup, please! Hold the Tabasco, though!

This is Martha . . . please leave a message!

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Let's Start at the Beginning!

In my beginning, there was Yonge Street. Yonge Street starts at the north shore of Lake Ontario and goes pretty straight north through "Toronto the Good". Keep driving and Yonge Street becomes Hwy. 11. Keep going and you will be in cottage country. Ontario folks tend to live near or on the water, so many had a house in town and a cottage up at Lake Simcoe or Lake Muskoka.

When I was young, I lived one block west of Avenue Road and two blocks north of Eglinton Avenue. Right on the corner. That's in North Toronto. Lower school was Havergal and High School was St.Clement's! TTC or bicycle was my transportation.

The last house I had in Toronto was actually in Thornhill, by the pond, on old Hwy. 7 West that takes you out to Woodbridge.

After I was widowed and met a Texan online at widownet.org, I married and moved to East Texas. That was almost 12 years ago! We are about 100 miles north of Houston and about another hundred to Louisianna.

Only one lake in Texas - Lake Caddo (near Marshall) - is a natural lake. All others are man-made.

I had to learn to pronounce Zee for Zed (the letter "Z"); say "Kakkis" not "Karkees" for beige trousers and Hubby used to accompany me to the supermarket to help me understand that all they were asking at the check-out was "Paper or Plastic?"

Was it a culture shock? You betcha! A dozen years later, I am one of them, but they never let me forget my roots, eh?

The biggest change in my life was church! Every Sunday! Lots of activities, some responsibilities, and bible study. I cherish my friends from church. We have an amazing Pastor and we are growing our numbers.

Oh, I went to church in Ontario, but not with the timetable I do now! And there was an amazing Minister there also! Could it be I wasn't really paying attention, or could it be that now I really do live in the "Bible Belt"?

If I leave you with one thought from this first entry, it would be that when you need a kind word, a smile, someone who's genuinely interested in how you are doing, my church is where you go! I wish for all people - all Christians - a close-knit church like ours!

There's a good start for my blog.