|
leanneneufeldt
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Leanne
Country: United Kingdom
Birthday: 5/1/1981
Gender: Female
Interests: Truth--Love--Laughter
Conquering fear by embracing the journey: seeking life where there is overwhelming sorrow.
And the West Wing. It's an addiction.
Expertise: 101 uses for soy milk, online relationship counselling,
and the plight of the Liberal Democracy
Occupation: Student
Industry: Government
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
8/24/2005
|
|
| I know I've been bad at keeping in touch with everyone...I'm sorry.
However, here's a bit of news to brighten your day. I'm getting MARRIED!!!!
Yes, that's right. To a wonderful man that I met in Canterbury--Daniel Smythe. The date is approximately set for next June (immigration is quite a process) and then we will live happily ever after : )
Sorry I can't post photos of my handsome Zimbabwean--some day, once we get something faster than dial-up internet, I will post some good ones!!!
PS: we're having a low-key engagement party Friday Nov 3 at 7pm, my house in Mission. If you need directions, give me a shout! | | |
| I've been 25 now for 2.5 days. A quarter-of-a-century years old. When I was a child (physically if not mentally), I believed 25 to be THE age. Old enough to do adult things like stay up late, earn money to buy fun things, and leave behind the pettiness of early girlhood friendships. Young enough to live without the pressure of family responsibilities, mortagages and retirement plans, and to explore the world independently and enthusiastically with the idealism well suited to the age. Perhaps I never put it into those words (when you're 7 your worldview is somewhat narrow), but that is the essence of what I thought.
I wonder about the year ahead: what will it bring? Will it be all that I imagined, or will it leave me with the dull aching feeling that accompanies the queation "was that it?"
Life itself hasn't disappointed, although there have been disappointments. Perhaps that's the key: year 25 will hold adventures and challenges and disappointments, but with any luck, year 25 won't define my life either as disappointing or fulfilling. God-willing there will be many more years of experience both good and bad. 25 may be a highlight--or it may not be, although I hate to disappoint the little girl locked inside of me. Regardless, I pray that this be a year where God can work his triumphant victory daily in my life and that to whatever end I may always be able to say "thy will be done." | | |
| Hmmmmm.
2 months since my last post. Time to reflect on the state of my affairs:
Love may be a beautiful song but separation in love is an aching tragedy.
Ottawa has denied me, much to the dismay of my ego and the shaking of my formerly oh-so-sure focus and leaving me to wonder how "not yet" qualifies as an answer.
I'm finding that it's difficult to stir up the passion to save the world (or even talk about saving the world) when the world does not want to be saved.
I'm rediscovering the best use for my knees although my faithless and cynical soul tends to wallow in it's reckless humanity.
My tendency to isolate myself from human contact has not given me the quiet I was craving but granted me guilt instead.
Choose-your-own adventure stories were much more pleasant when they were fictional accounts of another person's life.
I'm beginning to reject the lesser publicized Canadian values of busyness, approval addiction, and the habit of sleeping in one community and living in another while greatly desiring the European focus on Life.
The life of a drama queen would be oh so much more bearable if it had an off switch. Or at least a mute. (If only I could silence my inner monologue--that truly would be peace).
Life is what you make of it and it could always be a LOT worse. Sometimes I hate to be reminded of that though because I'd rather think "oh woe is me" (refer to drama queen comment above). I have a man who loves me, a family that supports me, an MA degree, travel experience, an eclectic range of talents and skills, and a God who is supreme.
And last, an advertisment:
As the latest step in a long line of firsts, I have gotten my first hourly job (besides working for relatives). I have worked 6 glorious hours at Domaine de Chaberton winery in south Langley and (so far) it's been very enjoyable. Not quite the political career I had in mind--nor the paycheck (I only work 8 hours a week), but hey--it's a pretty sweet gig such as it is! I'll be working Sat/Sun 1-5 so feel free to stop by and taste some wine : )
This has been a reflection of my life--some good, some bad, some just plain life. The End.
| | |
| Oh politics--oh love of my life. I have a million blog entries swirling around my head right now. Some are rants, others are inspirations, some are on the verge of a "Great Canadian Big Idea". But none have been set out...till now.
I suppose the first thing in order is a congratulations to Stephen Harper and the Conservative party. Have been voted in with a fragile minority, it seems their task is not one to be envied: unite the country, protect our families, promote Canadian pride, fund the military, bring the West "in".... So I say good luck. We shall see what you can do.
I am a Liberal. 'Tis true, your eyes do not deceive you. I won't apologize for it either. No, I cannot defend the "sponsorship scandal". I can easily admit that the party is weak, the policies are weak, and that the best thing for the Liberals--right now--is to be Her Majesty's Royal Opposition rather than the governing party. But I am a Liberal--and here is why (in no particular order).
I am morally conservative, fiscally moderate, and politically socialist.
I like balanced budgets--we can't spend more than we make and still expect a stable economy. I believe that the government's responsibility is to take care of the country--and of Canadians when appropriate. In order to do that, the people must be taxed. One problem with Canadians is that we've forgotten our responsibility to our "neighbour". We blame the government for not dealing with (for example) the homeless situation in our cities, and then criticize the taxes they impose on us to do so. The point is not so much that we should shut up and let the government do it's job; rather, the point is that if we were to take care of our neighbour--alongside government involvement--taxes could be cut and the issue could be taken care of in a much more satisfactory manner. Simplistic? I don't think so.
Too much emphasis on individual rights leads to dog-eat-dog capitalism and a "fend for yourself" attitude. Everyone is responsible for themselves to a very large extent--but everyone has a responsibility to society as well. If we encourage people to be solely responsible for themselves--to "make their way" in the world on their "own two feet"--what happens to those who are simply unable? We will ghetto-ize Canada, with the gap between the poor and rich becoming wider over the generations to the point where it is insurmountable. The rich will point the finger at the poor and tell them to stop being so lazy while the poor lose heart because we have given them no hope for a better future.
Jesus said to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, the widows, to visit the lonely and forgotten. What church is doing this? What Christian is doing this? Is it really the government's responsibility? Don't blame the government for taxing you for social programs and then for implementing social programs that you don't like. Example: Who is going to teach the teenage mom how to care for her precious baby? The church ignores her, maybe her family situation isn't ideal, perhaps she doesn't know a thing about managing a home. So her child grows up to be a brat, a burden on society, a delinquent causing all sorts of problems. The government tries giving her tax breaks, paying for daycare, special ed teachers in school, welfare for the family. Nothing works. Because a bureaucrat with a cabinet full of similar case files can never substitute for the loving arms, the wisdom and knowledge, the TIME another person could give to this woman. Time, which could make all the difference. The government will always fail us in this because its job is to take care of the country on a massive, collective scale--it deals with "problems". The church MUST act on this because its job is to LOVE each and every individual person on a very unique scale--it deals with "persons".
Why do we expect our government to legislate morality? How can we expect a secular government with no acknowledged moral authority to write and pass legislation that would match up with the moral standards of any religion--particularly Christianity? The point is not that it shouldn't concern us when laws are passed that go against our beliefs--we should be lobbying Ottawa and making our voices heard. But we have forgotten a crucial first step--where has the church gone in society? Where is the church in our communities, teaching morality to its people and leading the way in caring for the community? The separation of church and state meant no national religion--it didn't tell churches to fade into the background and wait for the people to ask what they are doing wrong. Government reflects society and churches will only impact that society when its people are willing, in love, to take the church TO the community.
I get very frustrated with people from the Fraser Valley who look at me as though I've grown horns when I tell them I am a Liberal. "How could you possibly justify working for those pagans?" That's not a joke. There are GOOD people in all parties--the Conservatives just happen to have a wide evangelical base. I'd like to propose something to you Christians out there: perhaps there are TOO MANY Christians in the Conservative party. Perhaps in our quest to be Salt and Light, we've begun to equate our calling to participating with a particular party. I feel firmly that I've been called to be Salt and Light within the Liberal party--to help them refocus, to develop strong policies, to support leaders with integrity and wisdom, to listen to the voices of Canadians (all of them). It's not that I CAN be a Christian and Liberal--it's that I MUST be. Criticism and defeatism comes from the outside--you will never change, you will always be corrupt. Change, the best kinds of change, happen from the inside out, where one can uplift the positives and encourage greater and, dare I say, more noble, behaviour.
My job is not to convert you to be a Liberal. In this case, it's not even to tell you to vote Liberal. If you are a Christian in politics, what I ask is that you drop the partisan gloves for just a moment and remember your true calling: to be Salt and Light. To encourage and support your leaders. To be excellent in everything that you do, and respectful in your behaviour. I want a Canada built by leaders with vision, integrity, wisdom. I want a country where everyone has a chance for personal greatness, to find fulfillment in family, vocation, community-living. I want to live in a country where Canadians aren't afraid to stand up for what they believe--and aren't afraid to respect the beliefs of others. I want to live in a country where my neighbours truly care about my good--and I about their's. Where we watch over each other's homes as if they were are own, love their children as if they were our own, help in their time of need in the knowledge that tomorrow we may need THEIR help. They say it takes a community to raise a child--in the same way, it takes the action of community to build a nation. This is my dream and my inspiration--it is my calling.
I am a Liberal. But I am first and foremost a Christian. We Christians have a lot of God-given responsibility, especially when it comes to leading a nation. Are you up to the challenge?
| | |
| There is a line in the film "Hitch" where Albert (?) says that he is so in love with Allegra that if being miserable without her is the only way to keep her memory close, then he wants to be miserable the rest of his life. I find myself desperately wanting to NOT be miserable without the man I love and failing utterly and completely. This misery, at least in our situation, seems to be the flip side of love--if I didn't care so much for him I wouldn't be nearly so gutted that he's a 10 hour flight away. But care I do and there is no getting away from it. The thing is, he arrives in Vancouver on the 29th and we'll have 4 whole weeks of togetherness before he leaves again. That should make me happy...and it does, briefly. But then the reality of his absence--his longterm absence--bursts into my happy daydream and the blessing of a visit does nothing to diminish the pain of years of distance. Why can't I ever do things the easy way??? But then, if this is to be the nature of the next 2 years (at least), then shouldn't I just snap out of it and get on with life?? I wish it were that simple. Someone give me a job. One that keeps me mentally occupied for 18 hours of the day. That might solve things nicely. Or...nope. Logically there is just no solution to this one. | | |
|
