Beautiful Day

Oh, it is lovely out! There's a light dusting of snow. The sun is shinning, and it is a balmy -4 out. No wind, and the birds are twirping. Breath deeply --- the very air is alive!

What a glorious morning.  This week I made plans to go running first thing this morning.  I woke up at 4am, 5am, and at 6am in eager anticipation of this new adventure.  When I woke at 7am my anticipation was gone - oh did bed ever feel good.  I momentarily contemplated pulling the blankets back over my head and conking out for the rest of the day.  It Saturday I reasoned, its my day, and I can do whatever I want! Mastering myself, I rolled over, flipped on the light and reached for my Morning Papers (nearly each morning for the past month I have been writing 3 pages of longhand stream of conscience writing - really cool, but I'll have to tell you about that later).  After so doing, I bundled up - why was I doing this again? - and jumped in the car to go kidnap a friend to come with me (if I must suffer, I was sure going to share :) )


What a beautiful day!  I stepped out my door into the SUNSHINE (haven't seen that in, like, a week), and felt WARMTH on my face rather than the frozen cold I had been bracing myself for. Joy! Bliss! What a gift a little sunshine is.  It didn't stay out long (it ran away to hide behind a cloud), but, oh, it was sweet.

We drove down to the river bottom, and ran .8 km, walked .2 km, and then ran another 1.1 km.  Pretty good for only my second run of the year.  Walking back to the car I listened to the birds, enjoyed the beauty of the nearly-spring coolie, admired some bird tracks, spotted two HUGE birds (Canadian geese? - couldn't be ... they were huge!), and enjoyed delightful conversation.

And life is brighter because of this adventure.  I need to get out and run more.  It makes me feel better, have more energy, gain motivation (made gluten free bread!), and makes the world look more appealing.  I see more good - I am sure it was there all along, but it is like there are spotlights on it now bringing it into focus and to my attention.

I love running! And I love that Spring is coming back to me.  Maybe this is why we have winter - so we can know how sweet Spring is.

A Very Rude Lady

December 22, 2010 – I was sitting in the McDonalds at Wal-Mart typing away on my computer at 8 in the morning when I overhear a young child ask “Why is that girl in her pajama’s?” – her grandfathers response … “Because she is a very rude lady”.  WHAT??!! 

Was I in my pajama’s? Yes.  Does that make me rude? No. 

He had his descriptors wrong … too casual?, perhaps … lazy?, well no, but I could have understood why he’d think so.  I immediately set about thinking of legitimate reasons why I might be in such a setting in such attire.   Came up with some good ones too.

Why was I sitting there in my pajamas?  Well … I was happily sleeping in when Jessica, my sister, woke me up and reminded me I was going to take her to Wal-Mart before she left to travel home for Christmas (She was leaving in 1 ½ hrs).  Thinking thoughts of being a good and loving sister I rolled out of bed, grabbed my laptop and keys and a jacket and poured myself into the car. 

At Wal-mart’s McDonalds I ordered a muffin to nibble on as I used my computer to select photos to send to my mom and wrote Christmas letters to my brothers.  I was using the time I had to extend myself in love to all those I could (including the McDonalds cashier – managed to get a genuine smile out of her), and not only do I get judged, I get misjudged. 

Made me think, I do exactly the same thing.  That person over there is an abusive parent, an unfit driver, ignorant, careless, inconsiderate, or unobservant, or withdrawn.  This insta-labeling happens in the other direction as well – creating paragons of patience, intelligence, whit, mercy, and perfection.  Really, any impressions we gain of a person seeing them across the aisle in the Super Store is, as a rule, going to be inaccurate.  Even after spending some time with a person it is impossible to be at all accurate in judging their motivations, so why do we try and do it when we are oblivious to all but the obvious and are missing most of the important bits.

Well, maybe we do it to try to fit what we see (reality), with how we think (our reality).  Right and wrong are based on our perceptions, and our perceptions are based on the society in which we have been raised and our experiences. 

Why ever we do it, I want to stop – wish me luck, I don’t think it is possible.

Third day of Advent: Christmas Letters

Twas the third day of advent and my advent calender said to me ... write Christmas letters!

This year, for Christmas I am writing letters as gifts.  I would encourage all of you to do the same :)  . Write a letter to someone you care about and tell them:
- why you love them
- your memory of meeting them
- what you love about them (yes, this is different from why you love them)
- your wishes for them
- your thoughts on something you are passionate about

Really anything would do. Share your thoughts and your love through a letter this Christmas. 

Here is a song for you to listen to as you write:

Mary Did You Know

Love you, and happy letter writing :D

.

What’s in a Name?

Hello dear ones.

Jess and I have decided to divide the newsletter and write up our portions separately.  I have also decided to turn my newletter into a blog.  This way we can both send out instalments when we have the time and when we are ready, rather than having to wait for the other or hurry to get something written.  Also I can send out a story here and there rather than waiting to have an entire newletters worth.  

The only problem was, what do we call our separate Publications???  Common Mercies was a name Jess thought of through mutual discussion.  We both love the name and what it represents dearly.  God is so good. Evidence of his love for each of us individually – common mercies – are everywhere if we will only look for them.  This is what I love to look for and find and share.  Life is sweet when can see God’s love for us, and it is bleak and dark when we can’t.  By sharing these experiences with you I see more of them and my life is brighter.  We tend to find what we look for .

So, what am I to call my newsletter now?

Jess has been tossing around all sorts of ideas, but none that express the same purpose or idea.  In exasperation she even suggested we chop the old name in half!  Mine could be called Common, and hers would be Mercies.  Hmmmp.  Asking around, one of my friends suggested (among others) the name Blessed Stumble.  I rather like this one!  It is an apt description of how I travel through life.  Lacking grace and foresight, I look around fling myself at the best point in view.  Then I raise my head and do it again.  (kinda like the donkey and the carrot)  Like a little child who is learning to walk, I set my sights on the goal and go for it.  I crash into, trip over, and fall onto things.  Sometimes it hurts, but much of the time the stumble adds to the joy – like the feeling of flying and the discovery of new things within my reach!  Either way, the struggle makes me stronger so I can run farther, climb higher, and experience more next time. 

Seeing life as a blessed stumble is an acceptance that a life full of the pursuit of learning and of seeking new experiences and of self improvement is one filled with hazards and joys.  Finding joy in the journey, let us all stumble along together.