A Day in the Life - inside edition

I wake up at 7 a.m. and feel refreshed. It helps to have good long night's sleep.  

I pad off to the office, roll out my yoga mat,  and turn on my YouTube Pilates session. Short but effective is the way I like my online exercise to be. Next I click on Caroline Williams Yoga to do some calm, gentle movements with a prayerful focus. This is really a great way to start the day. I am happy with myself if I get to it four times a week. Lately, I've been doing alright. If I fall off the wagon, it always takes me a while to get back into the groove. 

Speaking of groove, have you heard of Body Groove? My friend at church mentioned she does this exercise program regularly (I found the free version on YouTube) focused on fun dance movements.  

After breakfast and preparing for the day, I grab my coffee, and head to my office to review my notes and begin writing my end of term reflection paper for the Spiritual Formation course I'm enrolled in. The paper is somewhat challenging, but hopefully it'll all come together. It's been a VERY long time since I had serious homework and a deadline to meet! 

Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash

I hear a knock knock at our door. My two grandchildren, Clark (5) and Audrey (3) are spending a few hours with us while mom takes little Dean to a doctor's appointment. Snacks, games, and laughter fill the next three hours. 

Then it's back to my office. I settle into my swivel chair, notebook at my right side on the desk extension, and a few pages open on the desktop computer.... oh, and my jar filled with individually wrapped ginger chews. The evidence of how many I've eaten mindlessly is in the wastebasket ;) 

A break for supper. 

Hubby leaves for floor hockey. 

A bit of Body Groove (it's got a good vibe :)  

Back to the computer for an hour or so... 

Time to relax with some knitting and perhaps a podcast or movie. 

Tomorrow I'm spending some time outside! 

The next leap

We're never to old to learn new things, right? I think it's how we stay young! 

So... I decided to take the leap into enrolling in a Spiritual Formation program this year. It's something I've been very interested in for over 10 years, but the time was never right. Till now. This afternoon I attended my first class (on Zoom). I've met a group of people from across Canada, all who have similar interests and are excited about the spiritual adventure we are embarking on. I'm doing this, despite thoughts of fear, doubt, and inadequacy. What if I mess up???

And then this quote dropped out of my book today.  It gave me pause for thought. 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, or fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others. 

Nelson Mandela

1994 inaugural speech

 I'd love to be liberated from my fear. Wouldn't you? 

You may be wondering what spiritual formation even is. The definition that I think sums it up in a nutshell for me is "a process of being formed in the image of Christ for the sake of others". (Invitation to a Journey by Robert Mulholland Jr.)  This year I'm going to be learning more about how that comes about and how to live it out practically in my everyday life. I'm excited!  

Blessed

 About two months ago, I began a 31week (free!) online study offered by JesusCollege.com  based on Dallas Willard's book The Divine Conspiracy. This study is a deep dive into the Beatitudes found in the fifth chapter of the book of Matthew and explains what it means to be an apprentice of Jesus.  (It's not too late to join this study, if you are interested. Previous half hour lessons are recorded.) 

This is a book to read slowly and thoughtfully. At times, I reread passages to ensure I am getting what is being presented.  I'm learning that the Beatitudes are not rules or a qualification list. Phew! That takes a load off!  

The beatitudes are "explanations and illustrations, drawn from the immediate setting, of the present availability of the kingdom through personal relationship to Jesus. They single out cases that provide proof that, in him, the rule of God from the heavens truly is available in life circumstances that are beyond human hope." p. 121

(Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash)

At the end of last week's lesson, our teacher Doug Webster encouraged us to write down some personal beatitudes. In other words, fill in the blank: 

Blessed are the ________________ for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens. 

Here are a few that came to mind for me: 

Blessed are the frustrated....

Blessed are the disappointed...

Blessed are the fearful....

Blessed are the insecure.....

Blessed are the hopeful.....

Blessed are the impatient....

Blessed are the dreamers.....

Blessed are the persistent....

Blessed are the empty-handed....

Blessed are the guilty...

What would you add? 

Zoom Zoom Zoom

What would I do without Zoom meetings these days? Where would I be? Sometimes it feels as if I am leaving one meeting, only to prepare for the next one! 

When I was working as an online support teacher, I hated Zoom meetings. I would much rather visit a  student in person than over a Zoom call. I even disliked staff meetings. There was something so awkward about everyone's faces up close, staring at screens, while the presenter was talking. 

Fast forward about four years, and my opinion has changed. As frustrating and imperfect as it is at times,  I am honestly  thankful to meet with others online. With so many  hesitant about meeting in each others' homes or in offices, and with limited travel, Zoom has definitely filled a need. 

Thanks to Zoom, I can attend our homegroup where we laugh, discuss a video, and pray together. 

Thanks to Zoom, I can learn how to craft a rule of life, from a Renovare webinar, along with people from all over the world. 

Thanks to Zoom, I can listen to an encouraging discussion on keeping our country strong and free. 

Thanks to Zoom, I can join a small group of writers, reading and listening to each other. 

Thanks to Zoom, I can be a part of a Mighty Network of writers who meet weekly. 

Thanks to Zoom, I can participate in a prayer retreat. 

Thanks to Zoom, I and my siblings can celebrate my mom's 85th birthday 'together'. 

No, Zoom isn't ideal. I am missing my friends, my family, my freedoms (to be honest), and I probably am going to burn out on Zoom at some point. But at this point in time, this month, this week, today... I'm feeling grateful for Zoom! 

How about you? Are you a Zoomer?  

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

remembering moments

Although I haven't been blogging much lately, I usually have a million thoughts whizzing through my head, it seems. It's remembering them for later, deciding whether to share them, and then taking the time to actually share them that's the issue!

I came across an interesting quote recently as I was checking out the site www.matthewdicks.com, on how to remember the interesting stories we live, so that we can write about them later. The question to ask yourself everyday is:

If I had to tell a story from today, no matter how benign or ordinary it may seem, what would that most storyworthy moment be?

Matthew Dick suggests writing this memory down in two or three sentences at the most, with just enough details to remember it later. That's it. He dubs this "homework for life".

That seems to me a great way to generate content for a blog. I'm beginning to write these experiences in my bullet journal. We'll see where it takes me. At least I will have them down somewhere. Perhaps it'll inspire me to continue blogging more regularly.

Yes, there really ARE 12 Days of Christmas

Recently I heard someone mention that the song The 12 Days of Christmas was a crazy song because.. 12 days?? What's with that? Well, there really ARE 12 Days of Christmas in the church calendar year.

Let's back up a bit.

 I had never really thought much about the church calendar, besides Easter (sometime in April) and Christmas (December 25), which I've celebrated since I was a little girl, being brought up in the church. But what was the church calendar, anyway? I had never heard of that.

In the last 15 years or so, I had begun to incorporate Lent and Advent 'lite' into our family celebrations. At Christmas time we followed an advent calendar, but I never really connected it with the greater church year. Had I been missing something important all these years? The churches I have attended over the years didn't really follow the church year. One of our former pastors did offer Lent ideas and lit the Advent Candles in the month of December. I'm very grateful for that, and it did help to fan the flame of my interest in the liturgical year.

The book Circle of Seasons: Meeting God in the Church Year by Kimberlee Conway Ireton has been so helpful in explaining the structure and relevance of the liturgical year. I'd highly recommend this book, but I think you can only find it used or on Kindle.

The cyclical, circular nature of the church year provides us with repeated opportunities to live out various aspects of our faith, to see life through the lens of the Christ-story and to deepen our understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The church year has seasons of darkness, of light, of sorrow, of rejoicing, of just getting through. Our lives have such seasons too. By incorporating these experiences, the church year hallows them, reminding us that all time is sacred because God is present in it.
Ireton, Kimberlee Conway. The Circle of Seasons: Meeting God in the Church Year (Kindle Locations 89-92). Mason Lewis Press. Kindle Edition.

The church calendar begins with Advent (which leads up to Christmas), and now we are officially in Epiphany! Epiphany lasts 12 days, from Dec 26 to January 6th. 

And those days are the actual 12 Days of Christmas. 

And here is a link to a great rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas, the song we know and love. 

Do you follow the seasons of the church year?