Well, I asked my good friend Jaclyn to be a guest blogger, and she surprised me by writing something all about ME! I was hesitant to put it up for all to read, but in the 40 Days of Offerings exercises, yesterday was a day to "tell the truth about yourself," so this is what I will try to do. If a wonderful and honest human being like Jaclyn sees glimpses of these good things in my life, it is apparent that my desires to be such a person as she describes are not all in vain. Thank you, Jaclyn, for helping me tell the truth about myself. Here goes, and I did not edit it accept for a few spelling or grammatical tweaks...Well.. As guest blogger on Matte’s site, I feel greatly honoured. I have witnessed first hand how she diligently maintains it and considers thoughtfully each night what she will write. I willingly admit, I’m totally addicted to reading Matte’s blog. It's definitely on my Internet "favourites" list- for quick and easy access.I want to write a bit about my time spent at Dean and Matte's house. It is a little overdue, because it was about 3 weeks ago now that I left their home, but it cannot go unsaid! I won’t go into details, but basically Dean and Matte have been extremely kind to me. They invited me to stay with them while I was in between jobs (my new job is now in Toronto) for 2 weeks. I had even planned on asking them the favour , but I didn’t have to – they beat me to it. That in itself was a huge blessing to me. And then I got to know them…. …. … …. … And it was wonderful! Simply wonderful.
I know Matte is way too humble to tell everyone how wonderful she is, so I’m going to take the liberty of being a guest blogger and tell everyone out there for her. She deserves a little lashing on of the love. So I just want to write a little about what I experienced while living amongst these two wonderful human beings in their home.
Generosity: Firstly for inviting me to live with them, eat their food, use their stuff (i.e. the wonderful computer, electricity, the computer, water, the computer, and …. the computer… I seriously must owe them at least a million bucks for the electricity the computer used for the amount of time I was on it…..) Secondly for plain and simple outright generosity- Dean and Matte graciously blessed me in many ways, especially financially. I appreciate their thoughtfulness a lot! They went above and beyond nice. They went seriously generous.
Fun FUn FuN! These people are fun! Oh my goodness, I needed a good laugh, I hadn’t done so in many weeks since leaving my home in Australia. From experiencing Dean’s gourmet year-round BBQ-ing in the snow culinary skills with red meat, to Matte’s, "The food is not for eating!!" (It must be in the cupboard for at least 24 hours before anyone is allowed to consume it. It is there for visual purposes only- then after 24 hours, she gives the all clear.) And as you may have read about, the quirky word games we played. My one for today is : (random keyboard letter selection) LKNDF LET’S KINDLE NICE DOCILE FIRES. Well there you go. A nice docile fire coming right up. Anywho- Back to the fun things we did. Matte acted as my own personal tour guide, which meant I got to see some more of Beautiful Montreal before I left. It was great. She’s so much fun to explore with and she understands my wanting to stop and take photos all the time!! Yay for millions of photos.Quality time with a wonderful woman.
This is how I see Matte, this is what I have experienced to be true of her character: Matte is a beautiful lady. Inside and out. I’m going to talk about her insides though. She’s extremely humble. She never boasts or tries to talk herself up. She has an amazing ability to make you feel worth talking to, and worth listening to. She highlights your strengths, and helps you understand yourself more. She sees deeper than most people. She is fun and is not concerned about what she "should" be doing in the eyes of others. She is just her. She laughs, she values humour and an open mind. But she will not let anything take her captive. She guards her heart. She’s real, open, honest and GENUINE. I really value what she has to say a lot, because I know it is exactly as she sees it, not as she wants to see it.
She doesn’t hide (much- we all hide in a way I guess… since Adam and Eve hid, so have we all hid). She willingly admits her faults (which no one else can see anyway so why bother?!). No in all seriousness, she isn’t afraid of faults, she learns from them, and openly shares her experiences with them. But at the same time, she does not blurt out all her life story onto you or overwhelm or overload you in any way. She is tactful and pleasant to communicate with. She makes you feel completely equal, no less, no more than herself. She puts you on an even playing field. She is wise and thinks about things. She doesn’t take what the world tells her. She forms her own opinions, and tests them alongside God’s thoughts on the matter. She chats away to God, about anything she wishes. About small things, about big things. She knows He cares, and she knows He’ll tell her the things she needs to know. She is bold and confident in her faith. She represents Him the best way she knows how.
Matte never complains (unless someone eats the food too early), and never fights her way to the top. She graciously considers the opinions of others, however, she is not afraid to challenge them gently. She accepts the leadership of her husband with great dignity and respect, but is never weak or unsubstantial. She honours him and only ever speaks highly of him. She is diligent in the things she has to do, her areas of responsibility. She is thoughtful, and considerate of others, and practices generosity towards them. She looks out for them, she seeks to better other people’s lives, and bring joy to those around her, near and far. She values truth, and does her bit in the world to reveal it. She always looks at things from a different angle, challenges herself, and allows herself to be challenged by others and God. She has a teachable spirit. She is smart, logical and erratic all at the same time. She’s silly, serious and sane. She’s a witty and bizarre mixture of fun, wisdom, reality, dreams, truth and imagination. She’s a lively character, but is not hyperactive, she stays calm and holds things in perspective. She sees every challenge as an opportunity to grow. And she seeks to grow. She’s just overall down right lovely. Hospitable, Enjoyable. Inspiring, Loving, Joyful. And she does kick-boxing 3 times a week- that just says it all.
I have loved getting to know you, Matte, in the short time we had. I respect you a lot. Thanks for becoming a very dear friend, my memories of you will always be wonderful ones that I will cherish forever. You have truly been a blessing to me, and I thank you for everything you have given me. I value your wisdom and outlook on life, and I think both myself and many others can learn a lot from you. Every time I think of you, I cry! It’s true. I just, I guess I am totally amazed at how God placed you both in my life and how timely that was, and how much it helped me to get a grip on what I was doing and give me a leg up to the next part of my life. You guys were hugely instrumental in that happening smoothly for me, and I am endlessly grateful for that, so so grateful!! So to everyone out there that Knows Matte, or doesn’t, I want y'all to know that I think she is the bomb-diggity. (That’s a good positive happy thing in Australia…) Why not send her a little compliment today, in her "comments" section. She deserves a little loving from us all.
This photo of Dean, Jaclyn and Matte was taken at Popessa's on March 1, 2007 where we were celebrating Jaclyn's time with us.
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