well that was fun!

There is a photographer in my world who is doing a project where she takes a unique picture of a person in a different kind of element every single day of the year.

I've loved looking at her work and most of the people she photographs are ones I know through school or church so it's felt like a very "personal" project to be following.

Well, it just got a whole lot more personal!

She asked me if I would be willing to pose for her wearing a "period costume" with a hat and feathers while drinking tea.  At first I got very nervous thinking it would be so "out there" and what if I looked weird and so on, but I finally threw caution to the wind and just decided to have fun with the process.  I've always loved those period films and we just went with the whole "Sense and Sensibility" theme!

So this morning we sat out on the patio with lots of lace and tea cups and I had my hair up with the feathery hat perched on top and we had our little photo shoot.
It was great fun and I'm glad I said yes.

Here's Becca's hand joining in the tea party and in the photo shoot.  And now we're kinda famous.  For a few days anyways.

Mid Summer Highlight

Lille Gard was AMAZING again this year.
I have attended the event for the past 5 years and it never fails to be a highlight of my summer.  In fact, I wish it would go on for another few days.  It's kind of like family camp without the uncomfortable camping part.

Oh, the lovely people, the amazing music and the live artists creating works of beauty right before our eyes, right under the tall pine trees and blue skies.  Sheesh, it's almost too good to be true.  And it's just a few minutes away from home for me.  And there are alpacas grazing and rolling in the dust on the property too.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to connect with all of these friends from all sorts of times and places in my Kelowna life.
The setting is the best - lawn chairs set up in front of the stage on the grass with musicians playing sweet tunes while we listen and visit and snack and just get all connected and reacquainted again!  There are all sorts of dogs running around exploring and having great fun and even a pig named Hamish is snorkling around in the grass on his delicate little hoofs.

So I try to sneak around and settle in beside as many people as I can for snatches of conversation and love.

This is kind of what it looked like...

Even the puppies joined us for an evening.  They were exceedingly stimulated by the environment! 

July Musings

Some good news - no fracture in my left hand!
So it's probably a sprain or tendonitis and I can just keep resting it.  HA!
Impossible really, but I can practice not doing too many silly things with it.
Like moving heavy flower pots and so on.
And the Osteo?  Well, I found a new supplement at the health food store and I have high hopes.
I'll just not focus on the pain and learn to do less.
Kinda bugs me as I am already limited, but my mantra comes in handy at times like this...

"This is ONLY TEMPORARY!"

These days are pretty lovely, even with some hard stuff going on in the background.
I am choosing to call it the "background" so that it doesn't have power over me.
Giving God the power and continuing to wait on Him and put my Hope in Him.

As one ages and goes through hard stuff, really hard stuff, there is the possibility of letting go of hoping in circumstances and all of the "temporary" stuff we find so thrilling.  And then the "hope in God" verses in the Bible start to make sense.

If I hope in HIM instead of in circumstances I won't be as easily disappointed.

So I've been doing German Lessons for free on the internet.  The program punishes me if I skip too many days and I have to go back and work my way up the levels again.  Which isn't a bad thing because my German is really quite atrocious.

I've been having visits with all kinds of friends - often just sitting in my car and sipping on something yummy and cool while parked in a scenic spot.

I spend far too much time on the internet, playing scrabble and reading and so forth.  It hurts my hands to hold books, so it's much easier to read on my laptop.
Plus my back doesn't feel great a lot of the time so I lay down a lot.  Creating the need for entertainment....thus the laptop is put to a great deal of use!

I do a little bit of Luke now and then when I'm driving around the city and later I
have to find my manual to remind myself of the actual words if they get too fuzzy.  I feel badly for not pursuing more opportunities to "present" but I do have a seminar to teach in August which will force me to get back into it.

We went to the beach a couple of times with Oma when Vic and Marcia were here which was good.  Not easy, but good.

And, it seems that a season of prayer is upon us where it feels more urgent to pray often and together.  So I'm doing that as well.  Not nearly enough, but it's happening.

Communion too - three times in one week which was really great.

Kind of funny - as I was typing this I was panicking, thinking I hadn't done anything this summer.  It was so hard to remember until I looked at the pictures.  Thank goodness I document so much of my little existence through pictures so that I can go back and see that I really did live a full and wonderful adventure.  With super amazing people.  In many incredibly beautiful places.  So, here's some more memories to look back on...

Patrice and Anna looking super cute. 

Tante HIlda - recuperating from her broken heal and being the Cottonwoods popular celebrity. 

Anita celebrated her birthday and we cheered her on with pasta and stuff.

My Hands

I'm so glad I'm still able to get around as much as I do.
It's all rather miraculous,
That I'm alive and that I have so much freedom.

Because the temptation, especially in the summer, is to feel sad that I can't go for a bike ride, or out on a boat, or go for a swim, or simply lay out on the grass without pain looking up at the clouds...

I just have to concentrate on what I can do.
And then it's simply amazing and wonderful.
Like the ability to push my wheelchair around, to wash dishes and to do my laundry.
The ability to plant flowers and water them.
To pull weeds and to wheel myself around to admire the yard.
The ability to get myself in and out of my bed, and on and off the toilet, (I know, I'm just being real here) and in and out of the car.
The ability to cook meals and clean up.  (even if cooking isn't my favourite - I am immensely grateful that I can purchase and then prepare food for myself, and sometimes even others!)
The wondrous ability to take Mom and Tante Hilda out for drives to admire the scenery.

In other words, the ability to be independent and to be able to bless others, physically, in tangible ways.

So, it's been challenging in these past months to have my hands and my left wrist causing me increasing pain.
To have a "diagnosis" like osteo arthritis thrown into the mix.
My thumbs still work, but certain movements cause me to cry out.  Sharp and sudden pain that keeps me from holding books properly and sometimes interferes with my ability to wheel myself around or do simple tasks around the house.
And my chiro/massage lady said I should look into getting an electric wheelchair.
Feels like some kind of a "sentence".

So then I am tempted to fear - to look ahead and wonder "HOW ON EARTH AM I GOING TO DO LIFE?!"
And then I remember God's great and certain goodness to me.
All the time.
And I focus back in on the moment and the day.

Today, all is well.
That's all that I have to focus on.

And I can simply pray about the rest and trust my Jesus.
Lift my arms in worship and thanksgiving and let Him carry my burdens and give me His joy.

Because today?
I drove myself into town and had an x ray on my wrist.
I went shopping and then met Leanne for lunch at Red Robin.
I stopped in at the mall and bought a birthday gift and card for Anita.
I came home and lay down.
I went out for the birthday supper and then to Celia's for dessert on the lake.
I bagged loads of fresh blueberries and popped them in the freezer and finally popped myself into bed at midnight.

Wow.  I surprise even myself on days like this.
Seriously.
Thanks be to God who causes us to triumph and overcome and enjoy.

A Wedding & Summer Fun

My favourite time of the year!
Hot, lazy, hazy summer days... stretching ahead and falling behind.
The long light lasting far into the evening.
Waking to sunshine and blue.

Family gatherings these last couple of weeks with Vic and Marcia made things busy in a good way.  Just kinda sad that dear Tante Hilda broke her heal and was only able to join in on a couple of gatherings.  Now we all get to visit her in Cottonwoods and apparently she is already a bit of a celebrity.
With her cheerful little laugh and bright smile, I am not surprised.

There's also a fire burning furiously on the other side of the lake as we have been having extraordinarily hot and dry days.

And our former neighbour "boy" realized a childhood wish and he got married on the orchard!  Right under the apple trees!

So here are a few pictures from the wedding day of Dylan and Liz.  I had an amazing young man practicing harp music in my living room beforehand.  I lay in my bed listening, feeling kind of like I had died and gone to heaven or something.

It was THAT beautiful...

And here are Dylan and Liz just looking incredibly sweet.  

The wedding was lovely and fun but HOT!!!  (as in Sue got heat stroke and couldn't come to the reception)

So that was loads of fun and it ended with live music and dancing under the stars!

Maranatha

Sometimes I am overwhelmed with longing.
For things that just can't seem to be here on earth for me.
Longing to connect with people - to be free to move and to engage with ease
To clean and serve and help and play
To move and to twirl and to run and swim.

It's like suddenly this suit that I'm wearing is too tight
And I hurt with longing.
The grace lifts and I'm overcome with the loss of the years.
I'm pushed down
Held back.

Compounded losses.
The sadness is so close.
And I can't bring back what was taken and continues to be taken.

And yet He has seen fit that there has been these limits
More than the average, I wonder?
So many limits set upon my ability to do what I feel like I was created to do.

So the groanings reverberate and the loss is felt
and acknowledged.
Tears sting and the moan diminishes.

Prayers for help will once again be answered and the grace will fall again.

Revelation 22