Glory's Adventures: July, August and September 2008

JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 2008

Miracle 1:

I was having lots of anxiety with the hassles of selling my condo and buying another one in Victoria for my brother to take care of it. I decided to call a realtor friend of mine for advice. He told me that if I didn’t need to sell that I shouldn’t. The problem was that I already told the renters to leave by August and that the strata council only gave me permission to rent my condo for a year. His advice was to go back to the renters and the strata council to see if I can change their minds. Right away I got a message from the management company stating the fact that the renters couldn’t find another place to stay and if they could stay a bit longer. I responded back by saying that they can stay as long as they wanted. Then the strata company said that it was not a problem renting out my condo again. Within less than an hour after talking to my realtor friend God confirmed to me that I was not to sell my condo. A huge burden of relief fell off my shoulders right away and was assured that God is always there to provide for my every need.

Miracle 2:

I was now homeless if I was to move back to the mainland for 4 months. I phoned up my good friends the Seilers and asked if I could stay with them and they said yes. Again God provided because without a job I couldn’t have possibly survived living in condo for 4 months while trying to sell it. (I would have had to have at least $1000 each month to just live in my condo.)

Miracle 3:

I was still having the same tooth ache problem that I had when I was in South Africa and I had to see a dentist before I went back to the field. I told Tobi, the African Leadership coordinator in Canada about my situation and she referred me to her cousin who was a Dentist in Coquitlam. He ended up giving me a root canal and a couple of fillings. The costs of these visits were going to cost me $1169, but I only ended up paying $590. I still have to get two gold crowns which are going to cost me $2000, but I know that God will provide a way to pay for all these items.

Miracle 4:

I just want to thank all my family and friends who has prayed for me, supported me, encouraged me, and financially helped me while I am back on furlough. I am such and independent person and it’s hard for me to ask for help. I am so encouraged to see that there are still people out there who care!

Miracle 5:

I thought I would honor my oldest brother memories by sharing a story my sister Priscilla wrote about him. Enjoy!

I would like to thank all of you for coming here today to commemorate my big brother Sam.

During my stay in Calgary I have had the opportunity to speak with many of Sam’s friends and hear the many roles that Sam has played in your lives; whether he was a good friend, coworker, spiritual brother, groomsmen in your wedding, someone who would drop in unexpectedly for dinner or someone who you would sit and watch the Ultimate Fighting Championship with. I have learned many things about my brother while being here, things I didn’t know about and things that I’m not surprised about. The Sam I have heard you all talk about is the Sam that you have come to know and have all grown to love but it is not the same Sam that I know. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about the Sam that I know.

Being 17 years apart my brother and I had an interesting relationship but none the less it was as typical as any other big brother & little sister relationship. For the first few years of my life I thought Sam was sent to earth to make me miserable, and he did this in many ways as any big brother does, but no matter how many times he made me cry, I ‘m pretty sure he made it up for the many times he made me laugh.

The earliest memory I have of Sam was when we use to play the “boogie man”. His scare tactics were so creative that he left me having childhood nightmares for years. But no matter how many nightmares I had, no matter how many times I cried and no matter how many times my mother told me to stop playing with Sam, I would always run into the basement to go find him. He was the sibling that was the farthest away from me in age but was always the most fun to play with. I will always remember Sam for being young at heart.

My big brother Sam was also my first Swim Coach, and I will never forget the day that I went home crying because my own brother had failed me in swimming lessons. I can still remember my mother saying, “How could you fail your own sister??” And all Sam would do is crack his goofy smile and laugh hysterically. Although my mother tried not to laugh at his reaction she couldn’t help but smile because she knew that I probably deserved the failing mark. This has always been a family joke and with this memory I will always remember Sam for his honesty even if it meant failing his own little sister.

My big brother Sam always took the time to include me in his life even after he moved away from Campbell River. I’ll never forget the time he convinced my parents to let me come visit him in Victoria for the weekend so we could go to family camp together and have quality brother & sister time. What my parents didn’t know was that Sam’s plan was to drop me off at a Family Bible Camp by myself and to only show up for meals. I will always remember Sam as one not to miss a good meal.

If my mother could be with us here today she would tell you her oldest son was the Robin Hood of the family. She’d tell you the story of when Sam told my sister’s Grace and Glory that he was taking them to a party when actually he was bringing them to an elderly woman’s home to do cooking and cleaning. She would tell you that my brother Sam stole my sister’s brand new bike so he could give it to a needy kid at school. And she would tell you that he would bring home, in her opinion less desirable people for dinner because he accepted any soul. I will always remember my brother Sam as someone who would give the shirt off his own back to help someone in need.

I will always remember Sam as a Story Teller. When I would ask him, as many of you often did why he didn’t have a girlfriend and settle down I can still hear his voice say, “Priscilla, I just can’t choose. There are so many girls that chase me around, I’m constantly running from them” Then I would come home the next day to hear Sam’s voice yelling on my answering machine, “Help me Priscilla, their after me all the ladies are after me” I’d then call him back and tell him he was an idiot and then he’d just tell me that I was jealous because I wasn’t as beautiful as him. I will always remember Sam for his wacky sense of humor.

I will remember Sam in many different ways but right now I think the hardest part will be the ways and reasons I will miss my big brother.

I will miss my brother who would wake me up late at night to share Chinese food or the brother who would drop off pizza to me and my friends when we were in Victoria for an overnight school trip.

I will miss my brother’s uncontrollable “claw”, the claw that even seemed to exist during my adult life, the claw that would clamp down on my knee and send me into tears and laughter at the same time.

I will miss Sam for his signature sloppy, wet “doggie kiss” that as a child left me scrubbing my face raw in the bathroom for hours.

I will miss Sam who was the only person who could convinced my mom it was okay for me to own my car at 16 and even give me his own car for free.

I will miss Sam who was the only person I knew that would go to the movie theatre with me and share a plate full of fries drenched in vinegar.

I will miss the brother whose best joke would be to randomly call me no matter where I was to tell me to brush my teeth because he could smell my bad breath all the way in Calgary.

I will miss the brother who would tell me to stop complaining about being a starving student, because if I was really starving I’d be skinny and I’d could call him back and complain if I looked like someone off of World Vision.

I will miss the brother who would sing with me.

I will miss the brother who loved music.

I will miss the brother who my mother said would smile for no reason

I will miss the brother, who would fight with me

But most especially I will miss the big brother who did everything to make me miserable, but at the same time did everything to make me laugh.

I’m sure we all have our own reasons why we will miss Sam, but he is in a better place now and I am grateful that we can all be here together to celebrate his life.

Thank you.