April Fun

Spring has been forever in coming and the sunny warm days are few and far between. There are still some nasty winter gusts blowing off the hills which stubbornly hold onto remnants of snow but I checked the weather forecast and it looks like we're in for some lovely days. I usually love April, but it didn't feel very Springy this year. Nonetheless, there have been opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors and I have loved being outside, especially on the Saturday night gatherings.

And surprise, surprise - I found some free dogs which are now happily roaming our backyard! I probably would have preferred just one dog, but these ones came as a package deal and they were Doodles!!! Patrice and I had been hoping to have one of those since we met one downtown several years ago. So I kept my eyes open and checked the classifieds every so often and lo and behold there they were!! I find that "used" dogs are preferable because they come pre-trained and broken in. Ever so handy. And they've brought so much laughter to our little family already. On Saturday I was nervous that they might run off so I had Daniel and Nicole attach each of them to one end of a heavy chain with their leashes. I thought this would keep them close at hand. Suddenly when the large Moose saw a ball flying by he took off like a Stallion and the poor little black dog came hurtling behind him completely out of control and helpless. We laughed so hard, but quickly released the dogs from the useless chain. We had to do some loving on the little lady to calm her down after her frightening ordeal.

We picked the Doodles up and tried them out for a weekend and then I phoned the family to let them know we were keeping them on my birthday. So it's kind of like the Lord gave me these big loving beasties as a 47th birthday gift!! The boy we are calling Moose because he's so gangly with a large head and the little Lady has been dubbed Gracie by Patrice. We'll see how many times the names change, but somehow the names Jazz and Maxi didn't quite suit our tastes

I also had a fun birthday morning in Peachland with Barb, Sue and Anne-Marie Helms to celebrate the occasion of aging. Anne-Marie showed up with a gigantic walking, smiling flower balloon which brought us all a great deal of delight. Until Sue decided to let the walking balloon walk outside and he suddenly took flight. Higher and higher he flew and I despaired of ever bringing my new friend home. Both Sue and I were praying as she ran across the street where he was floating happily towards the lake on a breeze. Truly it was a miracle to watch Sue open her arms and to see the giant smiling flower descend from great heights down into her arms. Unbelievable!!



In the evening I thought I'd treat us to dinner out at Milestones because I had been given a gift card and it seemed fun to go out. We all had delicious meals (mine was steak and shrimp - YUM!!) and then when I went to pay we found that we were at the wrong restaurant!!! haha!!! The gift card was for Moxie's and we had eaten an extravagant meal at Milestones!! Praise God for the provision to pay despite my lapse. I'm so grateful for the wonderful people God has placed in my life for me to celebrate with! Elsie popped by in the evening to wish me a happy birthday and I was happy to show her the beasties and to see her looking so well. We are having a family celebration tomorrow with Mom since the month ends with her birthday.

So very much to be thankful for. An extravagant God has lavished so many good gifts on me again.

Contemplative Retreat

My friend laughed about me attending a "Silent" Retreat. I am one who loves to communicate and verbal is my preference. I didn't know I was signing up for a silent retreat - I just knew it had the word "contemplative" attached to it and I knew that I needed to do some of that kind of praying again!!

All in all it was a good thing that I went. I still feel a little distant and numb and not nearly as "in touch" with God as I'd like to "feel". But I know it's not about feelings. Feelings and spiritual experiences just really help the whole relationship thing but it is perhaps too easy to begin to rely on them. I realized that if I take the time to listen for His voice and ask Him direct questions, He's pretty good about saying the kindest things in response. Quite surprising really, considering my fallen condition. But He is my righteousness and therein lies the hope of it all.

After we got talking again, Him and I, it crossed my mind that I had never asked Him about the accident. As in "where were my angels"? People have often mentioned that it is a miracle that Daniel was spared and that his angels were looking out for him, but they stop short of asking what my angels were doing. So, somehow I braved the question and quite quickly a picture popped into my mind of angelic beings bowing low to the ground in submission to God's will around me rather than rising up to protect me from the impending disaster. It made so much sense to me and reaffirms in my mind that God had a greater purpose in allowing this life changing event to transpire in my 24th year.

Another helpful exercise this weekend was taking our burdens to the Lord in a really tangible way. Tangible as in being able to picture the burden we carry as an object and then asking God what He would like to do with it. The enemy torments us with our burdens and shortcomings, but the Lord is eager to help us with them.

So in picturing some of the more pressing burdens that I carry about with me on a regular basis I was able to see where I carried them on my body and then ask the Lord to remove them. One was a large chain I carried around my neck and He simply bent down, lifted it off me and placed it around His own neck. Another burden feels like I am sliding around on slippery ground and He lifts me up and places my feet back onto the Rock which is solid and secure. So I need to practice this exercise when I feel overwhelmed and am carrying about things that would be much better off carried by Him.

I also loved the community aspect of the retreat.

Eating together (even if it was in forced silence!!) and sharing stories of our journeys or the words that the Lord had spoken to us from the particular passage we were reading. I was reminded of the importance of the method of contemplative prayer/ bible study called Lectio Divina. Slow reading with time to ponder and let God speak. I have done it since coming home with this passage:

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go,
I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8

Oh what sweet words to meditate on.
"HE WILL". I don't have to figure out how "I will"...