cheering stones.

lent 43

luke 19:28-40 & phil 2:5-11

preparing to enter easter is such a dichotomy of emotions. easter is at once the darkest day of our year and the moment of brightest hope.

i've been listening to the communion hymn by stuart townend. it is simply one of the most powerful renderings of the hope of the cross and the remembrance we create when we take part in the eucharist.

as we share in his suffering, we proclaim christ will come again, and we'll join in the feast of heaven, around the table of the king

in luke 19 we read of jesus' entrance into jerusalem, of the shouts for joy and the excitement of his followers. we read of the religious leaders rebuking jesus for the crowd's reaction. and jesus says  - 'if they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!' we are a faith built on a dichotomy - i am broken and stumbling and sinful, but i can never atone for my sins, jesus, the sinless man, is the only one who can make me whole. and when this is clear to us - we cannot help but celebrate the darkest day in history.

it is my prayer that as we enter the darkness of good friday, we not lose sight of the joy that awaits us as we await the resurrection.

homelanding.

i arrived in the true north strong and free last night after a long day of work and then travel...i'm not really a fan of days with 24 waking hours.

it's great to be here and so relaxing! i'm pleased to say a wedding dress was found today!!! woohoo! i've renewed my driver's license, we've taste-tested cupcakes for the wedding and we've done a little joe fresh shopping!!!

i brought a couple of projects with me...but i'm currently most excited about my 'plane project.' prior to the new zealand trip i taught myself to crochet. i'm honestly not a huge fan of crochet, it's very 'wristy' but i'd be so annoyed if i had to give up my knitting needles while travelling and every airline AND airport has very different ideas of what makes a 'dangerous object.' but all agree that a crochet hook, is pretty harmless...all i know is granny square, and the only time this ever really gets worked on is while travelling, but it's definitely coming along with each long-haul flight!

looking forward to a week of shopping, a little mother-daughter trip, cooking, baking and SLEEPING!

rest.

lent 36

psalm 130 & exodus 34:28

i've previously written that my theology of rest could use some brushing up. i like doing. i love being productive - to the point that i carry a knitting bag & a book around with me pretty much all the time - just in case i get a chance for either...

but i am learning how intentional i need to be with building rest into my daily life.

in exodus 34 we read that moses left the people and waited on the mountain for 40 days - while god wrote the terms of the covenant. i imagine there was great rest for moses during this time. this period of being apart. and then indeed the lord commands us to rest -

21 "Work six days and rest the seventh. Stop working even during plowing and harvesting.  (exodus 34:21, MSG)

i am going home for easter. it will be two weeks of busyness and much wedding prep. but hopefully, it will also be a time of rest. of sleeping that deep, hard sleep, only possible in your parents' house. of the contentedness that can come when you know you are home. yes, i am going home for a rest. i'm just praying that i get through the time leading up!

prayer: 

father - you have commanded us to rest, to rest in you. help us to remove the busy from our lives, to slow down and be with you. as we prepare for easter, prepare our hearts for the rest that can only come from you and is only possible because of jesus. amen.

review.

i turned 27 today. sometime around 4:30 am EST. so i guess it was right in the middle of nail appointment that i had made to pamper myself on 'my' day - that was going horribly, badly wrong. and despite my best efforts at not getting annoyed with the therapist who was botching the whole thing, or at the completely offensive and inappropriate music playing or the fact that i was going to LATE for work...i got annoyed. but this is not a post about how i got annoyed.

this is a post about how i got un-annoyed. it started with the never-ending roll of text messages, facebook posts, emails and cards that i've received today. i got un-annoyed when i walked into my office (late!) to find a co-worker had left me a card. when i opened my email and had been remembered by many friends near and far. when i briefly chatted online with marvellous. when i got a slew of texts from my dearest saying how much they loved me. i got unannoyed when i took my coffee break to spend a little time with god - thanking him for my life and the multitude of blessings he has so graciously bestowed upon me. my perspective changed with a little reminder from the word that i am to be known as 'a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes' (isaiah 58:12). and that can't be done with a bad attitude.

so today i'm grateful for the sunshine and the enormous number of friends who have loved on me already! and for the great distance i've come in the last twelve months - i thought i'd review the highlights...

• le boy - we started dating in june, we were engaged in january, we'll be married in august! i hadn't even fathomed that we'd be here - together. but in a way, it all started exactly a year ago, at my birthday drinks when a friend said to us 'i've got a great idea: you two should date!' and i said 'can you imagine? we'd be a nightmare!' - thanks my darling, for taking a chance on that one! 
• travel: canada : chamonix, france : paris, france : florence, italy : new zealand : hong kong : chamonix, france : canada (this weekend!)
• living with a.b.barton for the first time as adults - it was one of the best things we've ever done, and goodness i miss her! 
• getting to spend some serious quality time with my parents - we are so fortunate that despite distance we are able to see each other regularly - they are getting cooler as i get older! 
• moving (again) but loving my flatmate and so grateful to be nearer to le boy and our friends! 
• knitting (a lot) 
• sewing - 26 was the year i really learned to sew...and i'm 'sew' glad i did! 
• cooking - never enough of this, but i've tried to make at least one new recipe a week and that' been fantastic for my repetoire!
• PHOTOS - the DSLR is my very favourite toy and i've been so glad to be able to document my life in photographs 
• blogging - it all started this year, it's been a great way to 'remember' what we've been doing and to record both the special and mundane moments of life
• reading - i've completed more than a book a month - which i'd really like to up to more than two a month for 27...
• consistently meeting with god for a little quiet time. i know everyone says that this is essential to spiritual growth - i was really bad at it until more recently, but i have witnessed its fruit in my life...and i'm so grateful for the daily opportunity to meet with my lord!

so what's next?

who knows - but it will probably have something to do with marriage and home-making and knitting and sewing and cooking and photos and growing with god...the best part of this reflection? realising that my 'life list' has had a number completed this year - and it feels good!

i'll recap the birthday extravaganza weekend tomorrow...seeing as there's still the actual day to play out...

will i love him enough?

Will I love him enough, I wonder?  Will I sing to his soul? Will I simply be enough?

I am preparing for marriage. To my best friend.  To my favourite person. To the one I am certain the Lord has purposed me for. And I wonder if I will love him enough? Which becomes – will he love me enough? The way we feel now, will it always be this way?

No.

And yes....

click here to continue.

i am thrilled to be featured as a daily guest on (in)courage today!

apps i love.

i'm totally in love with my iphone. i like that it's the epicentre of all my technology - my handbag has lightened considerably! recently, i've been using my iphone to 'track' things...

two new favourite apps are

mynetdiary 

food diary, calorie counter, exercise tracker and water tally - in one handy app. you set your daily activity (because i have a desk job, i am sedentary) and then add in additional excercise - ie: i walk 45 min/ 5 times a week from home to the station and the station to work. exercise that varies (gym work, runs, sunday hike) gets added as and when. you programme in your current weight and your goal weight, and the plan comes up with a reasonable timeframe for the weight loss - i get about 1600 calories a day plus any extra i earn with exercise, if i want to lose a pound a week...inputting food tracks my calories and lets me know how many i've got left for the day. i'll be very upfront and say, i'm not looking to lose a lot of weight, but i am getting married this summer and with my recent knee injury i have been way more sedentary this winter than would be normal. now that i'm allowed back in the gym to rehab, it's time to get serious! and this is really helping me! i'm not going crazy and actually, because it does all the calculating for you, and has such an extensive list of ingredients/products, it's a snatch to do this quickly. there's also a feature where you input all the ingredients you used for a recipe and it calculates the total for meal and per serving!

iXpenseit Lite 

i've decided to get REAL about my finances. i want to know on a daily basis where my money's been going, and how much of my budget is left for the month. the great thing about this app is i can get up categories (think dave ramsey envelopes) and input my expenses as i go. a sandwich bought at lunch, automatically gets taken from the 'food' budget, which is separate from my 'groceries' budget. i'm able to see where my money is going, download reports and really tackle my budget!








both of these apps are available as paid or free. i'm trying each out in the free section to see how it goes - if they prove worthy, i'll pay for the upgrade to the full app with all the bells and whistles. my only caveat is that each take a bit of playing to understand fully and set up - but once you're done, it's super simple to keep it going!

a masterpiece.

lent 29

ephesians 2:1-10 & numbers 21:4-9

10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. eph.2:10

i forget i'm a masterpiece.

the NIV reads 'we are god's handiwork.' 

perhaps because i spend so much of my time doing handiwork. this concept of being god's handiwork, being his masterpiece speaks deeply to my soul. i think of how much of my time and attention my handiwork commands - that's it's not a burden to work on it, to craft it, to put my stamp on it. and i know the pride i feel when it's completed or when a difficult part is figured out. and i can't help but think that's maybe a taste of how god feels - that because we are his masterpiece, that as we are refined in him, as we go through difficult patches or complete a stage of our learning, that it's prepared us for the 'good things planned for us long ago.'

but this is lent and we are focussing on our journey to easter, so it is essential that we see there's a few words in between being his masterpiece and doing the good...he has created us anew in jesus!

i am masterpiece, despite all i do wreak it. and jesus in his work on the cross, redeems what i do to destroy the lord's handiwork. in that redemption i am re-made again, and again, his masterpiece, and i am then able through him alone, to do what he has planned for me.

i am a masterpiece.

and so are you.

prayer: 

lord, it is so easy to forget that we are your handiwork, that we need the work of jesus on the cross, to be able to do what you have purposed us for. remind us lord, that we are your masterpiece, renew us lord, in your son jesus, and use us lord, for your purposes. amen.

check back.

on friday i have the immense privilege of being featured on (in)courage - a blog that collects the thoughts and hearts of women. i am so excited for this opportunity and cannot wait to share my heart with you...



please check back on friday for the full sha-bang!

flirting.

people often ask me where i get the time to knit or sew. or why i go to the trouble? i don't magically have more time - i find it. in snatches: on the train, in the car, on the bus, during lunch. while watching a tv programme, early in the morning. with knitting particularly i find i'm calmer, more settled and i like being a little bit productive and creative in those in-between moments that can otherwise seem like time wasters...

sewing's a little more difficult - it depends more on being in my house and setting up the kitchen table to be my work station, while not making life difficult for my housemate. thus, sewing has been less this year, but hopefully a guest bedroom/study/craft room will solve that problem once le boy and i have our own spot. a couple weeks ago i was left to my own devices when both my roommate and my fiance were away for the weekend - and the sewing machine made it's spring debut! 

when anna maria horner posted this skirt tutorial/pattern some weeks ago, i knew i had to make it!

i used an anna maria voile - it feels buttery smooth and SOOOOOOOO lovely. if i wasn't in the throes of wedding planning and the like i'd probably be making many more...

'flirting the issue' is a full skirt with a wide waist band actually made from a series of thin elastic strips - and the best part is that this skirt is completely customizable - shorter, longer, fuller, sleeker - the options are many!

this might be the only one that is crafted for the 2011 season, but i see more in my future, even if it's next year...

windsor.

sunday was a gorgeous day! the sun shining, brunch at our favourite spot calling our names, we were out and about early on...

a walk in the country was on the docket for the afternoon. we drove out to windsor to enjoy some fresh air and spring which is all around us right now.

as hipsta saw it:

we ended the evening trying out a new church in the area we hope to call home come the summer...and finished it up with a skype to california (how i love technology!)