Supplication

My Lord, I know not what I ought to ask of Thee.
Thou and Thou alone knowest my needs.
Thou lovest me more than I am able to love Thee.
O Father, grant unto me, Thy servant, all which I cannot ask.
For a cross I dare not ask, nor for consolation;
I dare only to stand in Thy presence.
My heart is open to Thee.
Thou seest my needs of which I myself am unaware.
Behold and lift me up!
In Thy presence I stand,
awed and silenced by Thy will and Thy judgments,
into which my mind cannot penetrate.
To Thee I offer myself as a sacrifice.
No other desire is mine but to fulfill Thy will.
Teach me how to pray.
Do Thyself pray within me.
Amen.
Philaret - Metropolitan of Moscow - 1782-1867

What I never knew!

Ok, so my grandpa: Famous! You heard me.
The other day I was having lunch with my aunt and uncle, and we were talking about this fabulous but unseasonably warm weather when my aunt said,
"It's going to snow, it always snows around daddy's birthday"
Not having known this little tidbit, I asked why, and she answered that he had been born in a blizzard.
So here is the story. My great grandmother is having a rough go of it. Her husband died when she was 6 months pregnant, so her sister comes to move in with her during her confinement, which is lucky, since near the end of her pregnancy great-grandma gets the measles.
She's got a high fever, the doctor is out of town, and this massive blizzard starts raging... that's when she goes into labour! So she pushes through and grandpa is born with a mild case of the measles, PLUS due to the blizzard, the pipes have frozen, ergo no water!
My grandpas' first bath was in beer! I love it!
So great-grandma and grandpa had a bit of a tricky start, but they make it through, life goes on.
Fast forward a two decades and the war becomes pretty central. Grandpa goes off and mans a radar station in New Brunswick I think, and while he's out there he meets all kinds of people from all over. One day, he introduces himself, John James Irvine, and a young soldier looks at him and asks:
"What did you say your name was?"
Grandpa repeats himself, and the soldier with a bit of excitement says:
"There was a John James Irvine who was famous in our town for being born in a blizzard with the measles and washed in beer"
And grandpa says:
"That was me, nice to meet you"

mitts or flip flops?

Gradually and yet all at once spring is upon us. Today I saw bare toes! Out and about bare toes! The feeling of spring is nigh, it's in the air, and it's intoxicating!

Here, on the cusp of spring, hearts are melting, giving no thought to the possibility of frost or snow breaking in on it's thaw. There is wild abandon in the throwing off of the layers that protect us from the icy chill of winter. A lightening of our loads, if you will, as we press forward into newness.

There is steady progress always, even when I cannot see it unfolding. These small but significant changes, one unsteady little step at a time. A little rain that melts the snow, a little extra warmth from the longer hours of daylight, a little bolder morning bird song...

March is not over yet, but still our anticipation of spring and summer outweighs our timidity and as we throw caution to the wind and leave the winter accessories behind.

"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven -"
Ecclesiastes 3:1

holding loosely

This I have borrowed. These are not my words, but I want to own them, and share them with you:

The growth of all living green things
               wonderfully represents
      the process of receiving and relinquishing,
gaining and losing,
               living and dying.
                                       
                                                The seed falls into the ground,
                        dies
              as the new
        shoot springs up.

There must be a splitting
                                        and
                                                 a breaking
               in order for a bud to form.

The bud "lets go" when the flower forms.
                             The calyx lets go of the flower.
                                                      The petals must curl up
                                                                                   and
                                                                                                  die
                             in order for the fruit to form.

The fruit falls,
                       splits,
                                  relinquishes
      the seed.

The seed falls into the ground...

there is no ongoing spiritual life
                                                 without
                                                              this process of letting go.

                                                                                                -Elisabeth Elliot.

Collected in prayer

Father God, Sovereign King,
You are so patient with me, and gracious to meet me where I am at.
I ask that You give me the courage to live boldly for You, and strength to stand for the one true God, that the loved ones in my life, and those that I rub shoulders with on a daily basis would come to see Your faithfulness and grace and surrender their hearts to You.
Your love O Lord, is better than life.