Living with Hope

Shellie Power is the Executive Director of Hope Centre Ministries (HCM) in Winnipeg. HCM is the most wonderful organization, and a lot of that has to do with its big enchilada, Shellie. Shellie has the biggest heart, and it's fitting that the annual fundraiser is called Hearts for Hope with their adorable mascot Oliver Hart, who encourages everyone to give with all of your heart Oliver Hart. A great introduction to what HCM is all about can be found on the front page of the HCM website : Spiritual care and belonging for people with disabilities. We all have gifts; they differ. I love that. Under Shellie's leading, the staff and volunteers find creative ways to foster the development of the unique gifts of the beautiful people they serve and equip them to participate in community in meaningful and legitimate ways. And they came up with a fun way for me to serve with my own gifts. I make birthday cards for HCM to give to their members, and I usually include a cartoon a...

This past weekend, I won a prize at the wrap-up event for the annual fundraiser of Hope Centre Ministries . I helped raised funds through my campaign with Hearts for Hope . Hope Centre is a beautiful organization that provides spiritual care and belonging for people who live with disabilities. But back to my prize. First, I won a draw! I'm notorious for feeling overly competitive about winning draws and then becoming the worst version of my immature and bitter self when other names are drawn. The prize included a lot of chocolate (that I can't eat but is being joyfully regifted), art gallery passes, passes to a game café (that Claire is excited about), a scented candle (that will be appreciated by someone else who doesn't have my "scents-itivities"), and best of all, a signed copy of a powerful book, Dancing with Max written by Emily Colson, daughter of Chuck Colson. I could not put the book down! It's the very definition of a page-turner. Emily ...

Julia Stoesz entered my life approximately three decades ago. She was part of a group of friends in the young adults circle at my church. She moved away years ago, and we lost contact. However, through the wonder of Facebook, we connected in more recent years. For the most part, this just meant hitting the like button once in a while on each other's posts. I talk about Julia in the March 2024 section of the Two years of writing post . She provided feedback on a very old version of my manuscript ahead of submitting it to the Braun Book Awards. I valued her input as a therapist, MRI Technologist, and friend. She kindly extended her love in the form of an endorsement. She lives and works as a counsellor in Southern Manitoba. Julia is an adventurous woman who has gone to Spain twice to walk the famous Camino de Santiago trail. She loves to travel and enjoys creative expression through watercolour and mixed media. The Endorsement Robyn's book is an eloquent...

Three days ago, I sent my comments back to dear Kerry, my editor. The ball is in her court now, and she says that she'll get back to me next week. It's good timing because my body needs a break from sitting in a chair and staring at a computer screen. Ironically, writing about health isn't always the healthiest activity. My head needs a break from staring at a monitor, and my body needs to do more walking than it has lately and less sitting. So what am I doing now? Sitting at a computer to update this blog. However, I've been at the computer less all week and just came back from a walk. I'm looking forward to hearing back from Kerry and seeing things continue to move along, though. I spent a bit of time yesterday working on some bookmarks. I love the cover design that the graphic artist at Word Alive Press created for me and used it in the bookmarks. I welcome feedback on the bookmarks. I'm thinking they can be available at a book launch and also include...