sarah's blog

Of all the posts I could be, should be writing right now I have sat down to write about the strangest of all of them.

You see today while the twins were taking their one nap (two of which they actually need and were therefore a hot. mess. tonight,) I caught up on a episode of Sister Wives that I had recorded a few days ago.

Yes, I know. Before you think I’ve become a polygamist or something, hear me out.

In this episode the newest wife Robin (#4) has her baby boy, Solomon, and we observe how different parts of the family react through the process. Some of the older kids seemed to feel pretty disconnected from this newest wife and this half brother of theirs, while some were moved to tears when they held him. One wife admitted she doesn’t get too emotional about babies and didn’t really want to be woken up to meet him (though she did come anyways) while another made a gift to let everyone know she was accepting him into her family with open arms despite earlier reservations.

But then there was Meri, the first wife, married to her/their husband for over 20 years. She has only one daughter, a teenager now, and despite years of hoping and several disappointments, she was never able to have more. Meri was the catalyst for Robin joining the family and the two really clicked, forming a bond closer than she felt with the other wives, though she encouraged them joining the family too.

Seeing Meri’s love for Robin and watching her practically jumping out of her skin with joy as she and her only daughter rushed to see Solomon with gifts in hand, set the stage for a moving moment I never expected. Just hours after Robin had her baby, as Meri held him, Robin asked to speak to Meri alone.

In that moment she told Meri that she wanted to offer her the gift of being her surrogate if she wanted to accept it.

She said she had prayed about it since she first met Meri and that she was absolutely sure. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I saw, despite what we would expect to exist between these two women, the depth of love and grace being offered. She had JUST had a baby, naturally, at home and she was already prepared to do it again to give someone else, a person she shares her husband with, that same moment.

I say all this not to convince you to watch the show or support the Brown family or approve of polygamy. Because of my personal faith I would not practice polygamy nor encourage others to do so. For me this wasn’t about their lifestyle choice. What I came away with was an overwhelming sense of sacrificial love.

I face far less and yet they often humble me with their willingness to lay themselves down for someone else, constantly compromising and committed for a lifetime to their families.

Would I be able to offer that? Would I be able to accept that offer? Would I pursue a relationship of love and grace despite difficult circumstances they way these women do?

Seeing the look on Meri’s face as the weight of what she was being offered washed over her I knew I would want to do the same for someone I loved if I had that opportunity.

There is just so much I would love to post about when it comes to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, if I hadn’t been so busy soaking up every minute of it I might have been smart about it and posted throughout the two weeks.

But I didn’t.

I let it all collect in my brain and now I have to sort it out and decide what’s worth telling, how to even describe it and make sure it’s not just a rehash of what you already read on ctvolympics.ca. Or nbc.com if you’re in the States. (more…)

It’s time to admit publicly the secret hobby I’ve revived from my childhood: Road to Avonlea. I’ve been watching for a few weeks now and I’ve made it to the middle of Season 3.

It’s as good as I remember but it makes me a little nostalgic for those days when it used to come on after Disney and I would lay on the tv room floor with my feet up on the shelves. I had such a crush on that Gus Pike… I wonder what ever happened to that guy? Sara was definitely my hero, I used to wish I lived at that time with the beautiful clothes and the simple life of P.E. Island.

It’s amazing how much of the show I remember, but then again I bet I saw each episode more than once. John thinks I’m crazy, but I just think I was born in the wrong time in history.

Now back to watching my shows.

Yesterday was a big day for sports fans: 8 televised (at least partially) football games, the Giants beat the Dolphins in the first-ever NFL game in London, England, and the Boston Red Sox won the 103rd World Series in a sweep. I watched several of the football games – as John and I do every Sunday – although I felt the London game could have been better. I hope the low score and the lack of highlight-reel plays didn’t get in the way of the attempt to spread the popularity of American football across the pond.

The best parts of that game were probably seeing every NFL team represented by the crowd decked out in jerseys, hats and gear. The funniest part was when they booed at the end because taking a knee to run out the clock is not their idea of a great finish. Maybe this will teach the NFL we don’t like it much either!

I’m not a baseball fan at all but when it comes down to 3 outs in the bottom of the 9th to decide the champs it is pretty exciting to watch. I’m glad Boston didn’t have to wait another 86 years to win the big game.

Oilers finally won on Sunday night, against the Ducks which is a double win for me because I can’t stand that team. The Oil is making us depressed this year because they are just so bad, even though I wear my Roloson jersey every time for luck. We just keep saying “it’s a rebuilding year” to make ourselves feel better, and I have my all-time favorite Detroit to cheer me up.

So that truly is what makes up our weekends: cleaning, hockey, church, football, food. Our week is so hectic by the time Saturday comes we just want to get the house in order and settled in by the fireplace for some good old fashion athletic competition. Blame our parents for this habit: John’s never had tv so he is starved for televised sports, and mine created family time around them so I get warm fuzzy feelings when I hear the Hockey Night in Canada theme song. I have such vivid memories of laying on the floor in front of the tv watching hockey with my dad on the couch behind me yelling at the players to do whatever they weren’t doing. Thanks to my dad I can yell educated instructions at the tv to this day.

A more recent memory is watching football in Texas (yes, that does make a difference) with my whole family and a variety of family friends. We would make queso and bbq and everyone would eat and drink and relax and enjoy the games. No matter whose house it was, everyone felt at home.

That’s the psychology behind why I want to watch sports all weekend with my husband. So whose up for a Superbowl party at our place this year?