New Jeans

Highlight of last week: Mama and Baby both got new jeans.

Seasons

 If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
Go winter, and come not again.

In as much as I am following the Church seasons (nearing the end of Epiphany, starting towards Lent), I am again finding it easier to simply pay attention to the seasons of Nature. Several weeks ago was Candlemas. Candlemas coincides with Groundhog Day in secular culture and the Feast of the Presentation, recognizing the presentation of the infant Christ at the temple.

Groundhog Day has never signified anything to me (that is, until I met my husband and was introduced to the movie Groundhog Day). Regardless of what said groundhog "predicts," around here we're going to have many months of winter yet.

I'm learning to appreciate the church calendar and the importance of the presentation of Christ. I heard a really interesting sermon on the topic recently, talking about the earth-shattering significance of Christ's presentation at the temple to two righteous souls, Simeon and Anna, who had been told that they would meet the Savior before their deaths. But more importantly, I'm ongoingly appreciating the character of Christ as it is presented throughout the Gospels. More on this to come.

But in these cold, cold, COLD days of February (-38 with the windchill this morning), the Candlemas occurence at roughly halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox represents a hopeful turning. The days are longer now. The sun shines more, regardless of the cold. And this, we feel..the sun's strength on our cheeks; my plants flourishing in a south-facing window; the hope and delight in planning our garden for spring.

So, just as at Christmas I celebrated both the coming of Christ and the shift of the earth back towards the sun, so also now I celebrate Christ's life and the clearly lengthening days. Thanks be to God.

The Light Grows

I've discovered that it's hard to think critically, constructively, analytically when one is sleep deprived for consecutive nights for months on end. My quest for insight into the life of Christ and my larger project of being aware of the church year continues, but my soggy brain moves as slow as molasses in the weather we're having today (ie COLD, with a wind chill of REALLY COLD).

The Most Excellent news is that we're now officially living in our house. Stove, oven, kitchen sink, clean and dust-free floor space, we've got it all. And as of yesterday, we also have curtains on our front window (so we don't have to worry about walking around naked as all the neighbours drive by slowly to see how the renos progress) and a shower curtain (so baths can again be relegated to E's domain). Baths are great for relaxation, but they're time consuming and not efficient for washing long hair.

Consequently, we can finally develop some daily rhythm of functional living. We can very much feel the sun's earlier rising; it gets easier and easier to get up in the morning. It's a joy to make coffee in our kitchen, and to watch E play on the floor in the morning sunshine flooding into our living room. And now that we're done the biggest bulk of the reno project, and E has a quiet room in which to sleep, hopefully we can settle her into a more comfortable sleeping routine, leaving me more time and energy to study and think and blog.

Tulips in our Window

This weekend past, we finally, finally moved in. We've been camping in the basement since October, sans bathroom, kitchen or, generally, functional space of any kind. But last week, with much hard work and two afternoons off work, our main floor living space reached the point where we could actually use it, and Friday night we slept in our bedroom for the first time.

I can't explain how much joy and relief and gratitude this event brings me. We can BAKE. Elspeth now has room to learn to crawl. We can enjoy the view from our front window and all the lovely sunshine. The drywall dust and sawdust will end. So much to be thankful for.

I also felt so blessed that our family and friends shared in our excitement. Bouquets of tulips were just the thing to adorn our window sill.

More Every Day

Painting...

Baths...

Baby milestones...


 More reno projects...

Tears and smiles and everything in between.

February

It is February all ready...seems like January really flew by. It was a busy month, full of painting and other house projects, weekly library baby times, yoga and walking, visits with friends and plans for summer, in amongst all the normal daily activity.

It's also the Fifth Week of Epiphany and I continue to study the life of Christ. In one devotional I'm working through, the commentator writes "Jesus reveals his glory--his authority and power and love--in the place of worship, yes, but also inside a home, out in a front yard, down by the riverside and in the midst of a wedding. It's in these everday contexts that he invites belief, at least enough to begin following him" (103).

Everyday contexts are mostly all I have these days...the daily rhythm of laundry and diapers and playing blocks and naps, and it's in this everdayness that I seek to discover Jesus and his place in my life. It's this deity that I need, one who dwells in  and cares about the small moments and details of life.