A Week of Marking Milestones

Milestone One - 35 Years

Niagara Falls.  Perhaps a bit cliche but it's where Ken and I both wanted to go for a quick getaway to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.   August 19, 1978.  Wow.

We couldn't have asked for better weather.  Perfect re-summer weekend (Sunday-Monday) with lots of walking along the Falls and through spectacular Queen Victoria park.  Dinner at Rainforest Cafe (just for the fun of it) on Sunday night.  Tiny bit of shopping for the grandkids, just because.  Bought myself a pair of just-a-bit-of-bling sunglasses for $5.00, and a stylin' straw sunhat because I hadn't thought to bring one with me.

But the best moments didn't have so much to do with where we were or what we were doing as much as it was about what we were saying to each other.  All throughout the weekend our conversation kept coming back to our deep awe and astonished gratitude for God's fierce faithfulness to hold us together and keep us together for three and a half decades.  We recounted the many and varied challenges our marriage has had to contend with.  We remembered out loud several points of parenting, both the happy and not so.   We marveled at outcomes we would never have dreamed possible in the midst of the darkest chapters.  As we walked and sat on benches under trees and beside fountains, we remembered together.  All day.

And we prayed.  That's how we started the day actually, on Monday, the 19th.  We just sat together by the window in our hotel room and spoke out loud with each other our thankfulness and our need for Him to keep on being very God in the midst of us.  Because we can't do these next 35 years without Him.

And we ate chocolate and ice cream, Ken and I respectively :).

Milestone Two - Long Awaited Closure

Tomorrow is the closing date on a piece of family property I have co-owned with another family member for about 25 years.  Before that it belonged to my mother, and before that it belonged to my mother's uncle.  It was lakefront, in the Kawarthas, and adjacent to the cottage property where I spent my childhood summers. Should have been a wonderful thing.  It wasn't. 

There are lots of reasons why a particular place becomes negatively associated in one's mind, and it has very little to do with the physicality of it.  Just....over time and for various reasons my desire to be released from this place has grown in intensity.  For some time it seemed I would never be free.  Complicating circumstances, overriding responsibilities, property lines and easements and disputes.  Sad.  Just a beautiful place, but it just wouldn't go gracefully.  I prayed so hard it could be called begging.  Three years, this last slog of it.

Then suddenly this summer, an offer, an agreement, signatures, and it's done.  Yesterday I signed it officially away.  It feels like something dead and heavy that I'd been dragging around by a filthy cord tied to my ankle has been cut off.  I am running!

We intend to use our portion of the money from the sale for redemptive, compassionate purposes.  Seems like the poetry of justice to do so. 

Milestone Three - Mom's Birthday

I'm surprising her.  With me, when I head to Lakefield this coming Sunday afternoon, will be two of Mom's now five great-grandchildren, plus their mother.  She hasn't seen any of them in three years.  Abby remembers Great Gramma, but Zachary, not so much.  He's such a big boy now.  Mom will be amazed, delighted.  At least I really hope so.

It's a long drive but we intend to shamelessly utilize the DVD player in the van and numb out the kids for the duration.  We'll stay overnight, have a birthday picnic in the park the next day, and then head home again. 

Pictures to follow.

All of these markings are making for something of a whirlwind week, with lots of time driving.  Even so, my spirit remains in a state of restedness and calm, something I've been happy and grateful to realize has lingered this past month home from the cottage. 

Treasures

In the sanctuary of my little garden space outside the somewhat traumatic events of the past few days seem somewhat less troubling.

Thursday. Started off well, with a great swim and sunshine enough to sit out by the pond. Finally! After several days of cloud or rain, I was anxious to get out there again. Maybe too anxious. Maybe I was in too much of a hurry. Tripped on a broken and protruding root, puncturing the skin between my second and third toes, left foot.

At first there was enough pain and blood to make me consider a trip to emerg. But some pressure, ice and elevation, along with a solid dose of Motrin got me through the day.

And it was great day, really. Loving how these first weeks back are affording me some long range planning luxuries. And this week other Staff members began to return from vacations. So the happy quiet of the past few weeks gave way this week to the happy hellos and back at it attitude of the Team. I even got a surprise gift from a friend at the end of the day.

But by supper, all I really wanted to do was soak my more-swollen-now foot and maybe watch another episode of Downton Abbey.

Ken was already home and on the phone with the police when I walked in the door. We'd had a "home invasion". Ken's lap top, cash, DVDs, my rolling napsac to carry it all away in.....and the family heirloom diamond ring.

This was Ken's grandmother's engagement ring. Four generations. Entrusted to me. Most expensive piece of jewelry I owned. Other than my own engagement and wedding rings, most important. Gone. Likely to pay for the destruction of a soul through drugs, according to the police officer.

Gone.

I'd worn it all last year during my personal "jubilee", marking 50 years of following Jesus. To remind me. I did not earn this ring. I did not deserve it. I only wore it with respect and joy. And now it's gone.

It's been a few days. Our spirits are more settled. We're letting things go, but still noticing. Last night we thought we'd watch that episode of Downton Abbey we'd not got to the night before, but.... It was one of the DVDs that was taken. Okay...let it go. It was just a thing.

So was the ring. Sort of.

We've been praying for our intruder. We've been asking that, since he or she was in our house, that some of the redemptive blessings we have known in this house would follow them. Yes, we are praying that they would be caught, but only because we believe that a life is spiraling downward and is in need of God's great rescue. We'd like our stuff back, I'm not going to lie. But the better story would end with a reclaimed destiny. I'd love to work with God on that story, if that's what He chooses to do with our prayers.

And this morning the swelling is down on my foot. I am quiet and deeply comfortable on the patio. Looking forward to spending time with friends by a lake later today.

Treasures are relative things. I have so many unstealable ones.
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Outside

I am hoping to spend most of the weekend outside.

They're calling for rain on Friday night. But otherwise it's looking good for some time to be still out on the patio, now that I have it mostly the way I like it.

Or busy finally clearing off the large branch that fell during the storm on July 19, now that Ken bought another chain saw for the house (having left one at the cottage).

Or mowing the lawn now that time and weather might overlap.

Ate outside today. A delightful luncheon on the back deck of my so-gifted friend, Juanita. Sunshine and stuffed mushroom caps and meaningful conversation all at once, and all of it delicious!

Came outside just before supper. Here now. Outside.

I think I am a summer girl.

Lots of life happens outside at Hot Springs too. All year long. The main dining room for the kids is actually a shelter, so everyone eats outside for three meals a day all year long. And then, just life. The walking to and from each building of the 'complex'. Playing football or waterballoon toss in the front yard. Collecting red ant larvae for snacks. Laundry and gardening and sweeping and watering. All outside. All the time.

Probably I need to be outside more in the winter. But as a summer girl, it seems I just connect better with my own soul and with God's heart without the constriction of four walls. Especially when it's warm enough to be out here blogging, for example.

Father, Prabadah, thank You for Your garden presence.


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The Simplicity of a Perfect Day

Early swim.
Backyard swing.
Deuteronomic blessings, verse by verse.

Kitchen shines.
Laundry's done.
Bathroom cupboard purged, open spaces sigh.

Groceries and ironing and tidied drawers.
A nap and a chipmunk and a

chapter read.
Hugs from the littles.  Fresh jam to take home.

And all the way through I am untroubled.
And joyful.

Just simply having a perfect day.

And in that I see the Divine of it.
The Delight of it.
The Presence of the Perfect One.
Simply.

"You will be blessed when you come in, and when you go out."  Deuteronomy 28:2

Just that.
The comings and goings of a day unhurried and domestic.
The blessings of a Father who graces me with this untroubled, joyful, simple day.

Taking Shape

It's all just in the early stages but I'm liking how things are coming together so far.

For one, my quiet outside space welcomed some more greenery and colour today. That along with what I pulled together on Monday has begun a transformation that just has consecrated written all over it.

Well, to be honest, at the moment the summer students next door are playing their music way too loud, so the holy hush has skittered away to hide until it's safe to come out. Even so, I can't help being happy at how things are coming. It's a bit eclectic, but I have begun to feel the draw of it.

When my mind is brought back to this space with a sense of anticipation, then I know it's starting to be a place where my soul can rest.

But the backyard space isn't the only thing that's taking shape right here at the beginning of my season. Today I spent about five hours with my theological mentor and sermon prep consult Bill Webb. My head is full!

I first knew Bill as my seminary professor, granting me that odd and wonderful experience of being sad that class was over. He's come to speak at Highview a number of times over the years, providing us with depth and expertise on some of the Bible's thornier issues. Not that long ago he served as my advocate, successfully negotiating my transfer to Tyndale, for which I am so grateful. And now I have the enormous privilege of conferring with Bill as I map out each season's teaching scope and sequence.

Today's session was long and thorough but thoroughly invigorating. There's a lot of reading and digesting and sermonizing to do, but I think Highview is in for some good learnings together this season.

I am honoured to be invested in by someone so scary smart and yet so totally accessible and genuinely helpful as Bill. He is a good gift to me personally, and to Highview.

So, only day two. Still early into things, I know. Still, I'm thinking good thoughts about the season ahead, sitting out here in my space.

And the students just turned oof the radio :).
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Back Beside The Pond

First official day of the new ministry season for me. Here the cycle begins again, setting the tone and pace for the months of God's goodness to unfold in the life of this astonishing congregation I am honoured to serve.

The church building overlooks the pond. From my spot here on the other side, I catch the warmth of the rising sun on my face, and have a praying view of our property.

You can't see it from here but our new parking lot is complete. I never saw asphalt that was so beautiful. Of course the landscaping contributes (with thanks to John and Nick and all the people who have lent us their garden hose for watering).

Last year I sat in this very spot and heard God say, as clearly as we hear these things, The timing on this lot is exactly as I have wanted it. To spend yourselves in Haiti and Thailand instead of focusing on this project was the right thing to do."

Then last April when Suradet and Yupa were here, I told them our story. And he prayed for God's blessing. And by May 1 we were being told that our price had come down 50 grand, meaning we could go ahead.

Now it's done. A new season is here, in more than one way.

Last season was hard, no question. But it also brought much in terms of moving forward and digging deeper and expanding further into the call God has placed on us. I am humbled.

And so I step out into today confident that God goes with me, no matter what's waiting.
Grateful.


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Covenant of Place

Is green as good as blue?

I'm pondering that deep thought here on my back patio, missing the water very much but amazed at how lush our yard is this year.

In keeping with good rhythms and in the spirit of preserving as much of this restedness as I can, I am observing my Monday Sabbath and won't be back into the office until Tuesday. (Yes, even though I've just finished five weeks away. ;)

Part of that holy observation for me on this particular Monday is the reclaiming of some outdoor space. A big part of what connects me with myself and with my God at the cottage is being outdoors so much of the time. Only the rain or a persistently prevailing wind will keep me in.

When I get home, it's the being indoors all day that I feel the most. That and missing the water. So I have spent some of yesterday and part of today sweeping and setting and staging in an attempt to make a "Covenant of Place", as St. Benedict described. A place of focus where meditation and solitude can anchor me. A place of stability and constancy. A place for me to be me....outside.

Certainly the cottage is my place of dwelling IN God. A place that doesn't change and as such is deeply centering. There is stability and constancy for me there, year after year.

During the winter, I'm fond of the fireplace. My office corner with the little chair and a cup of tea beside me...that's a place of focus.

But right now, while the weather is still so good, I need to be outside. So that's what I've been working on.

It's not done yet. I need more inspiration, and I'm thinking this might be a slow and meditative process of itself. But it's a start.

Blue is better than green, but green is also full of life and growth and lavish goodness from the Creator.

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