Sharlene Rederburg

What an energetic, savvy, witty and fun woman! Sharlene was born in 1955 in the small town of Tisdale, Saskatchewan, Canada.  She says "I was fortunate to live an absolutely charmed life, on a farm with one sister and four brothers." Her father gave her a colt to care for when she was only 9 years old. Her beloved dad taught her many things but the one Sharlene values the most is "If you want something, you must work for it!" This incredible Woman of Value plays hard and works hard. When she was 13, she begged her dad to get her out of the kitchen. She ran the tractor across the field and into her grandma's granary, her punishment? Back to the kitchen! "I am not domestic, and I still will not cook a dish for a potluck!" While in high school Sharlene admits she was highly competitive because she always hoped to make her parents proud. She rode horses and did barrel racing in the 4H club. She competed in figure skating, Curling, softball, swam, played ice hockey and broom ball. Sharlene appreciates the value of TEAM and all the life lessons that being on teams taught her. She sang in every variety nite at school and in her community. Around the kitchen table her parents shared stories from the bible and Sharlene attended Vacation Bible School and was baptized. As a public speaker she riveted the audience with dramatic readings of stories. As a quick learner, Sharlene skipped a grade and graduated early at the

age of 17. As a graduation gift, her brother took her to Calgary to get a job. "It was like a country bumpkin falling off a turnip truck!" While she was working as a telephone operator, she met her first husband. His constant verbal and physical abuse caused this vivacious woman to loose any positive sense of who she was. "You are fat, ugly, stupid and have no friends!" These lies destroyed her confidence. Sharlene recounts "I was not accustomed to failure! Giving up on my marriage was a huge challenge for me and I needed some wise counsel." The green light she got was contained in this truth "It takes greater courage to leave a bad situation than to stay. By staying, you know what you can expect." Sharlene heard that she would be BRAVE to LEAVE. For the next 15 years Sharlene dated a lot while working as a Financial Analyst for the Canada Post. She established and implemented systems to collect data, and did the budgeting. Sharlene loved her job, a place where she knew she was valued and respected. In 1993 a three year relationship ended and

even though she felt "he was not the one", she was devastated by the breakup. "I was dressed in my business suit and heels, walking down the street, at noon... sobbing. Not knowing exactly how, I ended up at the doors of a local church.  I had only been to this church once before to attend a Medieval Feast.  I was desperate for help and the door was locked. That is when I really began hysterically crying. There was a man kneeling in the garden looking at me. I had not passed him, seen him or stepped over him on my walk.  He just seemed to appear and asked "Do you need to get inside?" Yes I sobbed!"  Sharlene entered the church and prayed to God. After a year of church shopping she landed at Meewasian Valley United Church in Saskatoon. Sharlene got involved in women's ministries which included several canoe trips. Sharlene began specifically praying for certain character traits for a life mate. A friend gave her a CREDO for Relationships with Others. "You and I are in a relationship which is important to me, and I want it to be important to you, too. Each of us is a unique person with seperate needs. You have a right to meet your needs, and I have a right to meet mine.

Also, we have the right to our own beliefs and values. I'll respect your rights, and I want you to respect mine. When your actions interfere with my needs, I'll let you know so that you can listen and possibly change. When my actions interfere with your needs, I want you to tell me. Then I'll listen and change if I can. When either of us can't change to meet the other's needs, let's face our conflict and solve it together. I don't want to lose by letting you win, and I don't want to win by making you lose. I want us to find solutions that are acceptable to both of us, so that we both win. By following this Credo, we will like ourselves and each other better, and our relationship will grow stronger."  After reciting specific affirmations for a life mate, in 1995 she met Rob Rederburg. Sharlene shared that she had prayed that God would give her a sign if Rob was the "one" he chose for her.  Well, during a 4 hour telephone conversation Sharlene read her important CREDO to Rob and he shocked her when he told her that he had that same credo framed at home! They got married at their church in Saskatoon on Feb11, 2000.

Sharlene was single from age 25-40 and she had never had children. She put herself on an adoption list to give herself options, knowing it would take years. In the meantime she joined Big Sisters to see if she would like hanging out with kids.  On her own, she decided having kids alone was not for her. Her affirmation/prayer included that the man for her would be a man if he had kids, they would be welcome by me, but that he would not desire anymore kids. Well God answered my prayer and as a result of my marriage to Rob I have been blessed with three stepchildren and a granddaughter. Between them, Rob and Sharlene held 5 jobs which provided little more than an hour a day for one another.  In addition to their crazy busy work schedules they purchased fixer uppers to flip and bank the profits.  Feeling blessed Sharlene boldly questioned God. "Lord can You show me how I can serve You using whatever talents you gave me?" She tells "God responded with a question 'What do you have?" Sharlene thought about her talents and thought 'humor and singing' what can I do with that?"  On the same day she was reading the paper and saw an ad for a Clown School.  Sharlene attended 9 weeks of Clown College and served as a Raggedy Ann Clown at the local hospital for six years.  After 30 years working at the Canada Post, Sharlene retired in February 2011. In May 2012 this hard working couple moved into their custom- built-dream-lakefront-home in Meota. In 2018 God helped them sell all properties and in August 2018 they moved to "Paradise" in Ajijic.  Sharlene loves to sing karaoke, dance and have a good time!  Rob chose to take dance lessons to keep his wife happy and together they won a dance contest in Cuba!    They enjoy meeting new people and contributing in their community at Lakeside. They attend "The Lord's Church" in San Antonio. Sharlene brings lots of love, hope and FUN to Lakeside!