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...