I love word press but I had to move here cuz it was easier…. www.transformedbywords.com

please come and visit…

Some people may wonder how our family got a nice Irish name like Kelly. The story I heard was that when my grandfather opened a butcher shop in Toronto’s Cabbagetown they couldn’t pronounce his Macedonian name. To them it sounded like Kelly so that’s what they called him. And it stuck. So some have legally changed their names including Kelly as a middle name or surname. When we get together it is a Kelly reunion.

When I started this blog I knew it would be better not to have my real last name. It’s just safer that way. But Kelly is a real name in our family. Just not my legal name. And I like that with my first name beginning with a it reads ” a kelly” because that’s what I am. A Kelly.

I will sing to the LORD…Psalm 13:6

I am including a video for the first time in my blog. I wanted you to experience a little of what I saw at the Gospel Music Fest on Sunday. And what the neighbours of MPB Church experienced. This was one of the songs that got the neighbours rocking.

There is something very special about open air concerts. While Calvin Cooke and his steel guitar were singing so were the people who were not within the fenced off concert area. It was awesome to watch.

On the grassy field behind the audience kids were tossing a football. Those kids were moving, singing and shouting this song while they threw their football. There was a lady sitting on her porch holding a small dog and moving to the rhythm of that steel guitar. She was dancing with that dog. There were people walking dogs who stopped at the fence to watch. There were others sitting on porches, clapping, toe tapping (I could see their white sneakers moving in the distance) and singing. We were all singing together. Here’s Calvin, who is in his sixties, while performing this song at Purdue IN. I think you will be singing too:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEqMv8COta8

 

After Calvin, there was The Mighty Inspirations. They are a like a Gospel version of the Temptations. They sang Love Train and a Congo line formed. That doesn’t usually happen at church. Not my church anyway. They said it was a Holy Ghost Party.

Next year?…tailgate party at the school parking lot, I’ll bring the snacks!

 

I decided to go home a different way tonight. I didn’t have my cell phone so I thought it would be safer to go a well lit route even if it takes longer and there are too many stop lights.

I got to the first main cross street and a red van pulled up on my right in the turning lane honking and the woman driving was waving at me. I rolled down the window and she asked how to get to Windsor Regional Hospital. I quickly told her just keep on this road and I told her to pull out in front of me. It started to rain. As she went ahead I followed and realized I should have given better directions, should have said it’s on the left, should have said follow me I live near there. I could tell by the way she slowed down at intersections that she didn’t know where she was going so I passed her and signaled to follow me. Every stoplight was green. I drove her right to the emergency entrance and turned to circle out of the parking lot. She followed behind me so I slowed down as she pulled up beside me again, opened her window and said “God Bless you…my daughter is sick, it started to rain, I didn’t know the way. God Bless You”.

I mumbled something although I can’t remember what. I looked back to see her pulling her car into a spot near the ER door. The whole thing was over in under 10 minutes.

Every week since I started writing my blog, I wonder if I’ll have something to write about. Now I have stopped wondering.

your friend

alexsandra

“…love all the brethren throughout Macedonia…aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands…” Thessalonians 4:10-11

When I read the book of Thessalonians I wonder if my ancestors heard these words. My DNA was definitely in the neighborhood. My father was from just outside the city of Thessaloniki in the Northern Greek province of Macedonia.

This weekend some of my mother’s side of the family had a reunion at the Macedonian Convention in Dearborn Michigan. We attended the picnic on Sunday, experiencing some of the wonderful traditions: dancing in the open air, lamb roasting on the barbecue and most importantly being together. Aunt Olga traveled from British Columbia and cousins came from Toronto. We could not miss this visit with Olga, since she is celebrating her 85^th birthday. We hugged and kissed so much and so hard that tears came to my eyes. Now I mean that it was a kind of tender reunion hug that touched my heart. But I could feel the strength and health still in her body and when I reminded her of how she always beat me in tennis when I was in my twenties she said “I could still take you!”

She looked stylish as usual with blond highlights and pointy toed designer shoes. When I admired them she said they were old. She danced with the crowd of all ages. She danced beside the table holding my hands so that I could sit. She danced the fast songs, she danced the slow songs. There are challenges with her memory. But she remembered us and while we hugged she said how much she misses us. She said she thinks of us everyday. She says one day we will all be together again. Yes, I said, we will.

We laid out the long scroll containing the family tree, filling in names and dates that were missing. We talked about the wedding anniversaries, 25 years, 40 years and what all of the young cousins are doing. There were discussions about old neighborhoods and of course, the upcoming celebration of Olga’s birthday. We don’t get together often because everyone leads busy lives. Olga said that too. Everyone is busy. But we share a history and a heritage and we are forever connected.

The rest of the weekend I stayed at the Hampton Inn with one special cousin who has always reminded me of Ann Margaret. She’s fun, a little flirty and was always known for big hair. She is a very young at heart 65 year old grandmother.

I just love those Macedonians.

hoping you have many happy reunions

your thessalonian friend

alexsandra

I’ve been sending out emails to friends with the title “if i had a blog this would be today’s entry”. But now I have a blog. So all my words will be here now. Welcome!

I was going through a rough time. It was so rough, that I started to cry as soon as I woke up. I felt like giving up.  It was a warm March day, but it had been a long winter in many ways. I was looking for anything to make me feel better, so I went outside and sat on the porch to open the mail. My monthly inspirational mailing had arrived. I was hopeful for something that would lift me and the sadness in my heart. I opened it and at the exact moment I began to read: 

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free…” Galatians 5:1 

I felt the wings of a bird touch my knee as it flew past me. I could feel the flutter of wind on my face as the bird swooped and flew away in front of my eyes! I knew it was real because my cat noticed it also. Luckily the bird was faster than my cat or this story could have had a tragic outcome. 

In that moment God reminded me that He was still there. Tears started to slide down my cheeks and I understood that my life was more than the burdens I felt that day. I had woken up with overwhelming fear and frustration, but now I had only joy. God touched me, and finally reached me, with the wings of that sparrow. 

I remembered something my daughter had said once: “We really don’t have to worry about anything do we?” That’s right. I had forgotten.   

thinking of you today, with love and kindness.

your friend

alexsandra

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…  Romans 12:2  

I don’t remember when I thought of it. The thought was just there.

I was dealing with loss, working through it. I realized I could concentrate on death or life.  This phrase came to mind: “Transformed by Words”.Every day was a choice. Do I think about my husbands last tragic moments or the love he left with us?  Do I think about my mother dying with dreams unrealized or her last 5 words to me that healed all the hurt we ever had between us. I came across my gratitude journal where I had listed the 5 things I was grateful for each day in the 6 months prior. They were poignant reminders of joyful moments. Loved ones now gone, yet their lives were so much more than their deaths and all their goodness lived on in us. I found the words and they would forever change my life. The inspirational words I held on to, the words of family and friends who cared, the important words said and unsaid; and most of all, The Eternal Word.

I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I started to write about it. I couldn’t imagine sharing this writing, because it just seemed like a journal to me. Who would want to read my journal? 

I was afraid to share my words, but once I did, those who were touched by them gave me courage. I realized it wasn’t about me. These are the words that I keep in my heart to remind me everyday what is most important in my life. These are the words I am sharing with you. I am sending these words to find those who need them today. 

hoping your moments will be transformed,

your friend

Alexsandra

THIS IS ME. HAVEN’T CHANGED MUCH. HAVEN’T WORN A FRILLY DRESS FOR A LONG TIME. I DO HAVE A LITTLE MORE HAIR.