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.

The Strong-Willed Child

The Strong-Willed Child: Birth Through Adolescence by James C. Dobson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars






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It's becoming clear that little E has a very independent spirit. Which is good, really, it'll make her a critical thinker and strong individual. We think already that her physical looks are from her Daddy, but her personality, for better or worse, is definitely more like her Mama's.

But, her strong spirit is going to take some serious molding to really make it shine. Mama and Daddy know best, regardless of what the little one thinks. So, I read this book in order to get a sense of Dr. Dobson's perspective on the matter. I have to say, I went in with a really bad attitude towards Dobson (the reasons for which is a long, long story worthy only of being told in person). In The Strong-Willed Child, Dobson has the same paternalistic, agenda-pushing tone that I remember from previous encounters.

BUT. I did get several good ideas out of the book, including the necessity for consistency, regardless of the kind of punishment, and the importance of avoiding empty threats. There were several chapters on later childhood which I may have to revisit at a later date, but for now, I think I have some solid concepts to work towards.

And, finally, one can't discuss The Strong-Willed Child without mentioning spanking, which Dr. Dobson wholeheartedly endorses (with certain limits). I'm very on the fence regarding the use of spanking (my fence-sitting is the subject for another in-person discussion), and Dobson's said endorsement changes none of my hesitance.

Tile and Grout

I've not been very good about posting pictures of house renovation stuff. I think once it's all done and I can look back on the whole project, I will do a whole series. 

But I got a couple pictures of B and his dad putting grout on the tub surround, so I thought I would post them. We've come a long, long way from the day B and my brother installed the tub:

 Most of the house is painted yellow, including the bathroom, and the tile around the tub is white, with two blue mosaic-y strips around. The vanity is a black-ish stain.
So yellow and white, with blue accents and black furnishings. We'll see how it turns out.

Walking is Good for the Soul

Life is ramping up with activity and thoughts of the coming events of summer. 

Many seeds to plant and plants to grow; 

new babies (not ours, before any rumours start!);

friends moving nearer. 

Now is the time for planning and anticipating and preparing.

And enjoying the lengthening days and bright bright sunshine of late. Thank God for sunshine!

Folk Bloodbath

Josh Ritter is definitely one of our top folk artists right now (Dan if you're reading this, you should really check him out...though he doesn't play the banjo).

We recently discovered that he has a degree in American folk music history. Of course he has a degree in American folk music history...it only makes sense.

And so, without further ado:

Folk Bloodbath:

The Sun Returns

With many consecutive days of snow and cold and wind and cloud, my brain is foggy and it's hard to keep up the motivation to think and interact--either with people or with words. But I continue to have a responsibility to myself, to E, to the blog and to God to keep thinking, even when it's fuzzy thinking.

So, trying to get back on track with Epiphany. I've been listening to sermons online from our old church in the city and enjoying the insight received there. I'm having a very hard time being motivated to read my Bible...it just feels like "same old"...the same words I've read a hundred times. I'm a PRO at skim-reading (one has to be to survive grad school) and I feel like I'm just skimming. I need to shake things up. I've been meaning to get a different translation for a long time, like the New Living Translation...I really need to get on that. I did, however, order a meditation guide recommended by a friend and spiritual advisor, so hopefully that will help me find my epiphany.

Winter always makes me hermitatious--wanting to hole up--but it's a vicious cycle, because when I do that, I get depressed, which makes me want to be a hermit even more. What I really need is to stay active--physically, spiritually and relationally--even in these dark and cold winter days. I know many people suffer from this problem in the winter.

Consequently, this quiet exploring time in the church calendar, when we're to examine Christ's life, presents a bit of conundrum for me in conjunction with winter. It's a meditative time in the calendar, but it would be much easier for me if there were something I could do instead of just be thinking. But thinking is important too...it just takes more concentration and effort, and my fuzzy brain is lacking in concentration skills right now.

So, the plan is to fight the hermit temptation, and to look for ways to reach out and to motivate and stimulate my intellect and spiritual journey.

Who's with me?

Meanwhile, Indoors

 

 

 

It's cold and very snowy outside, making outdoor time less than pleasant
(ask E about her faceplant in a snowdrift...)
so we're trying to stay occupied indoors
...but also quickly going stircrazy.

Things are coming together quickly on the house.
Linoleum went in Tuesday,
kitchen drawers and cupboards went in Wednesday,
the island went in Thursday.

Tonight is a night off working on the house and a date night instead,
to which we are all (especially yours truly) very much looking forward.

Epiphanic Thoughts

"We who have seen the light of Christ are obliged,

by the greatness of the grace that has been given us,

to make known the presence of the Savior to the ends of the earth...

not only by preaching the glad tidings of His coming;

but above all by revealing Him in our lives...

Every day of our mortal lives must be His manifestation,

His divine Epiphany, in the world which He has created and redeemed."

--Thomas Merton

In my experience, preaching rarely works. Preach; preachy; preaching. No matter what the version of the word, it has negative connotations for me...ones of "holier than thou" attitudes, of  hypocrisy, of empty words, of force. Now, not all preaching is like this--I appreciate a good meaty sermon very much--but I don't think it makes a very good life attitude.

Which is why I strive to reveal Christ, rather than preach Him. I learn best by watching the good example of others...and I'm sure others do too. And now, with a pair of small bright and aware blue eyes following me and taking in all my words and actions, I need to be even more aware of how I model Christ in my life.

Farewell and beyond

Image borrowed with permission from B's photographic project.

Today is officially Epiphany: the sixth of January, the Twelfth Day of Christmas..
With it comes the end of the Christmas season in our books. We packed up our decorations and took the tree outside.

But, in my reading about Epiphany, I am discovering that it marks not the conclusion of Christmas so much as the beginning of a season of thinking about Christ's life. Churches begin a new season with Epiphany...decorating with white for the first week to recognize Christ's baptism by John, and then switching to green until Transfiguration.

So, from Advent to Christmas to Epiphany we travel. And in this time of Epiphany, I shall re-examine the life of Christ as presented through the gospels, and ask:

What kind of man was He, in whom we place our faith of salvation? And, what makes Him so worthy of this faith and trust?

Magic of a Morning

 It's a beautiful day.

 After a chaotic and unusual day yesterday, I'm thankful for the gentle mystical beauty of this morning.

We got up and went outside first thing;

to shovel snow, to go for a short walk and stretch our muscles, and to enjoy the sunrise through the fog.

What a lovely start to the day.

Waiting for Epiphany

A friend dropped by with a book.
A gift for Epiphany.
And a much needed reminder to return to my  project of the church year, and a inspiration for said project.
(Thanks friend!)

What is Epiphany?
It is the day we celebrate the coming of the three kings to see the infant Jesus. Which represents the spreading of the Gospel to all nations. The multicultural threads of the story of Immanuel, God with Us.

Another question:
What is an epiphany?
According to the dictionary, 
"a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience." (bolding for emphasis mine).


In the previous mentioned epiphanal gifted text (yes, I just made up the word epiphanal) the reading for January 5th is from John Donne, one of my favourite spiritual writers. In regards to Epiphany, he writes:


"...Every action that manifests Christ to us is his birth, for Epiphany is manifestation. Every manifestation of Christ to the world, to the Church, to a particular soul is an Epiphany, a Christmas Day."


I like this, this idea of a manifestation of Christ to an individual being an Epiphany. One example of this--the first example--was Simeon's experience when Jesus was first presented at the temple. Simeon literally and physically experienced The Epiphany...the presence of the Christ. Really, that's what The Shack is...a story of a man experiencing an Epiphany...God manifested in his life in an earth-shattering manner. 

In this season of Epiphany that begins on the 6th and ends with the beginning of Lent, may we find said Epiphany...these "simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience[s]" that manifest Christ to us. And, greater yet, may we be a manifestation of Christ in the lives of others.

Mundanity

I'm welcoming the return to normal around here.

Not entirely normal, though.
Our wall is covered in cheery Christmas cards and photographs.
The Christmas tree and decorations will remain until Epiphany.
We have two New Years' celebrations with friends coming up.
And as the house slowly is completed, every new step is a celebration.
(We ordered our flooring on Tuesday!)

But the laundry and dishes continue,
E takes her daily naps,
We go for daily walks.
And weekly trips to the library.
And all this is good. Routine and rhythm is a beautiful thing.

And as the Twelve Days of Christmas continue on (it's the Sixth Day today),
we consider further how our own personal beliefs and values (specifically those regarding Christmas)
will be exemplified and/or taught to our children.

[Don't] Eat Pray Love

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I was expecting way better. I will give Gilbert points for writing style. She's easily readable, and I thought the way the book was set up (with the number of chapters corresponding with some kind of rosary-esque number of beads...can't remember exactly) was neat. Some of the chapters were very short and others were longer, and they were often more of a non-fiction essay than a chapter in a novel. Which could have been really cool.

But. While I enjoyed the flavour of the Italy section, and especially her description of her sister, I did not enjoy the rest. I was especially disappointed by the "happily ever after" kind of ending. So predicable...why did she have to go there? This self-prescribed search for meaning in life ends with finding a man? No thanks.



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Quick like a Fox

E is getting very dexterous. And very sneaky.

This morning she was sitting on the floor with some toys, close but out of reach (I thought) of the Christmas tree. But then I looked over and she had reached a paper bag (that had been under the tree) in her lap, dumped out, and the tinfoiled Christmas cake from inside it out on the floor, and she was calmly shredding the tinfoil.

Then, later, she'd pulled over an empty tea mug and was ripping the teabag apart, chewing the bits of chamomile that were in it.

A pictorial example:  

"E snags Mom's cell phone."

 If I just reach a bit further...

 Aha, got it! And now, for the mandatory taste test...

It's here

One way or another, Christmas is here. 

It's a beautiful sunny morning and we're all together.

All is well.

Tilting toward God

From a wise friend: "Today the earth begins its tilt toward inevitable spring & summer. 
This season, we celebrate that history began its tilt toward inevitable perfection & joy.  
Thanks, God. Nice job on both fronts."

I find it incredibly apt that these two events, Christmas and the Winter Solstice, virtually coincide. However, this year the solstice weighs much more heavily on my mind than does the birth of Christ. This year, more than ever before, I'm feeling the short days of early winter. Feeling them more than Advent or Christmas. 

Some have argued that we celebrate Christmas when we do to coincide with and offer and alternative celebration to the winter solstice celebration of pagan religions of the past. I will not weigh in on this discussion with my uneducated opinion, but I will say that if that is in fact the case, then it was aptly done. We, or rather, I, NEED something to celebrate to combat the cold and dark. At this time of year, we light candles, sip hot drinks and get together with family and friends. All excellent remedies for long dark nights, and for that I am thankful.

With the passing of the solstice, we will slowly but inevitably and surely slip towards spring. This event I feel in my body. However, as the days slip closer to Christmas, I find my grumpy spirit wondering how it is any different than any other day. I NEED to feel this event in my soul as much as I feel the lengthening of days in my body.

Closer Again

Another tumultuous week brings us closer to Christmas. B and E are sick with some yucky combination of a cold and flu, which I have as yet avoided (but not likely for long). We're all home for the day today, spending some quiet time trying to recuperate in time for Christmas.

What interesting Christmasy things have we done this week?

Gifting: Did a lovely afternoon of Christmas shopping, during which I remembered just how much fun it is to find cool things you just know the recipient will love. And also realized that Chapters sells a whole lot of very neat stuff. I could spend SO MUCH on books...kids' books, cookbooks, art coffee table books, biographies, travel guide books, and of course FICTION.

Celebrating: Had a wonderful quiet Christmas party with J&M during which food and wine were consumed, games were played, E experienced her first gift-opening, and we rediscovered what a talented artist my sister-in-law is.

Church:  Attended an old-school Lutheran Church that follows the traditional Lutheran liturgy including the Apostle's Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. It felt so comfortable to fall back on that traditional order of service.

Thinking: Spent a long time contemplating faith and Christmas with some insightful discussions with friends...and have come a bit closer to understanding why we choose to believe what we do. Does that sound complicated? It IS complicated.

Family: Had several family gatherings, both planned and spontaneous, both working and lazing about, which made us once again appreciate our family. Christmas really is an important time to be around family.

Christmas Traditions

We've spent quite a lot of time lately thinking about and discussing Christmas traditions over the past couple of days and I think it's been quite productive. We've been thinking very carefully about what it is we're trying to celebrate and hold important and how we want to build that into our family. It has all become much more imminent to discuss, now that we have a Little One for whom we want to create a family routine. So far, we've come up with a couple of traditions to set in place:

Tradition #1: head west to pick out and cut down our own Christmas tree. 

We did this first last year in the -40 degree "crispness." This year was much, much warmer and equally as fun. I can't wait til next year when E can participate in the jollity to a greater extent.

Tradition #2: attend Christmas Eve service. 

I often attended a candle light service growing up, where each person got their own candle to light and hold, and the flickering mix of darkness and light always filled me with awe. Last year we went to a Midnight service downtown Calgary and that was also very precious and meditative time, our last Christmas as "two."

Tradition #3 (not quite clearly thought out yet): extend the holiday.

Last year we considered drawing Christmas out to the "twelve days"--that is, the days between Christmas Eve and Epiphany in January. This year we're celebrating Advent, the four weeks prior to Christmas. We want to draw focus away from simply celebrating Christmas Eve/Day somehow.

And more: we're always interested in hearing about other people's traditions. What do you do as a family to celebrate St. Nicholas/Christmas Eve/Christmas Day/Epiphany/12 Days of Christmas or any combination of the above?

Third Week

Borrowed from Cyberbrethren

For the Third Sunday in Advent, we traveled back to our home church in the city, to see old friends and revel in being a part of that community again. The sermon (though I missed part of it) was based on Luke's account of Zachariah and Elizabeth...it was about Christmas, which I was really blessed by. The story is pretty amazing, when you think about it--an angel appearing to a man in the temple, a baby born to parents too old to bear children, a baby who was prophesied to have a hugely important task in life preparing the way for Christ.

I think it might be important that we find a church that will acknowledge the events of the church calendar...or at least not be opposed to acknowledging them. It's not a matter of placing too much emphasis on tradition and not enough on relationship. It's a matter of appreciating the richness and depth of the history of the established church and the concern ancient Christian founders had for understanding the doctrines of Christianity. More on this to come.

Advent is relatively easy to celebrate. As our pastor friend explained it, it's a holiday where "the world celebrates with us." It's easy to prepare and anticipate and await because everyone is (though perhaps anticipating different things) whereas I think it's going to be more difficult with other things, like Pentecost. At any rate, right now I'm actually really glad that everyone is celebrating with us, because I don't have a lot of energy to be the carrying force for the celebration. So the fact that celebrating is built into these four weeks of December is a blessing. Eggnog, decorations, candles, the happy celebratory feeling...these are all readily available to us and we partake with glad hearts!

And, as a side note, how thankful we are for the people who have offered us their kitchens to bake cookies. We had an opportunity to do some baking Saturday night thanks to B's parents and these delicious recipe suggestions (note: sea salt is a tasty addition to chocolate cookies).

Nothing Profound

Still searching for Advent answers, but mostly just living out the mundane of life.
Baby things like vaccinations and teething and washing diapers.
Winter things like finding lost mittens and remembering to wear thick enough socks.
Renovation things like re-tinting paint and making to-do lists.

But there are moments where we remember why we're here.
Purple candles on our Advent wreath signify the royalty of Jesus Christ, King of Kings.
The coming of the CPR Christmas train demonstrates that, overtly Christian or not, Christmas is a time when everyone remembers to give and share and be kind to one another.
And Bela Fleck playing Joni Mitchell's "River," while unusual, is still a contemplative beautiful piece of music to listen to while observing it all.