"I can't forget that feeling"

I've been meaning to share this quote with you, from the inimitable Maya Angelou:

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

This may be true for most of us. Feelings create powerful memories, and shape the course of events if we let them. A feeling of rejection can harm many future relationships in a person's life; a feeling of being accepted and loved can give a sense of security that carries you through countless difficulties. We can react on the spur of the moment to a feeling, and the result can be thrilling or tortuous or just disappointing.

If you had your last half-hour on earth, what would you re-live? If it were your last second, what would you rather NOT relive? When a group of us answered these questions, most of them had to do with FEELINGS: the powerful freedom of flying; the quiet satisfaction of family-time; the intense pain of identifying a loved one, dead...

Let's try to give others feelings that build and encourage and warm and nurture them, as we go through each day. Let's forgive ourselves, and others, when the negative feelings take hold. Choose life!

Gathering threads

I see there are a few things I have promised to update you on...
The bathroom remains unpainted. We tried out a turquoise kind of colour, and decided it is too bold, possibly even institutional. So it's back to neutrals - well, in theory. That might have changed by the time the painting actually gets DONE!

Sad news of the Blue Car: due to inferior parts corroding, those parts and one other part all need replacing. Thankfully (mercifully) the metal has not spread round the whole engine. We are hoping the part-suppliers will meet the whole bill, including labour...

Some new ideas inlcude thoughts on electricity: we have met a family who is off the grid, using solar and gas power only. Do give me your comments on this issue: whether you have solar power in any form, would like to, prefer using gas, or any other relevant ideas.

February Firsts

On Saturday I started a new job (or in a sense took up an old one), and caught my first cold of the year...

Let's focus on the job! I'm teaching for a local study-franchise called Kip McGrath, after a break of a year from them. The Saturday session is a gentle way to begin again, especially as I already know one of the students.

The cold meant having to pull out of the worship team for Sunday morning – SOOOOO disappointing!!!!! No more of that depressing subject.

We have had a few "I don't want to go to school" mornings with Alexander. He is making friends at a new school, but also telling me he misses me. He and his class have a rather difficult boy to cope with, who doesn't wait in line, jumps around, and generally lacks classroom-discipline. After we had talked about this last night, Alexander decided to pray for the boy, for him to settle in and make friends. What a gift: a soft and caring heart.

William is rising to the challenges of Grade 4, with longer sport practices and more homework. After a few humphs and derailments, he has seen the wisdom of doing homework FIRST, and then playing. Victory for Mom - long may it last!

Notebooks and routine

Today I'm trying to master using a notebook-type computer. I'm sitting in my car outside the Post Office waiting for someone; so the plan is to use that time to blog. It's taken me ages just to find the programme, for starters! Now I'm getting used to the keyboard: how it feels to the touch, where the keys are... I'm reminding myself about the tortoise right now: slowly, with perseverance. Using this new machine is very frustrating; but I know it will be worthwhile.

My friend Barbara and I were agreeing yesterday that both of us like routine - but that God stretches and teaches us by putting us OUT of routine sometimes...

Getting it right

"Paint the bathroom": this was on our to-do list for the December holidays.Well, you know what comes next: it is STILL on our to-do list! Everyone has a different view of how to prepare the surfaces, what colour paint we should choose, and whether the walls need damp-seal or not. I've surprised myself at the range of colours I've looked at, from a very pale green to a deep moss to the current "Grecian" turquoise/green. I hope to paint on a sample of the colour tomorrow, and live with it for a few days before taking the final decision. (If I get really technologically organized, and post a picture here, you can even help me choose.) I am keeping the tortoise in mind: no rushing on this job. Anyway, we CAN"T rush: the walls must be sanded and then sugar-soaped before any paint can be applied. There are also cracks to fill and one wall of very stubborn paint to strip off. This might be a rather drawn-out project.

By complete contrast, I was faced this week with a very quick change in the life of one of my one-time mentors. On the 15th, I bumped into her at the shops, said hello, admired her beautiful green-co-ordinated clothes, and moved on. Ten days later, I encountered her again (at the library this time), to the news that she had had a double mastectomy. I still can't grasp the suddenness and depth of this. Would I have faced such an intimate change with such equanimity? I know she is rooted in Christ, and sees God's grace and timing in the whole event.

Security

This one is about knowing that you are loved, and I've passed it on as-is from Gary Chapman:

Living Love by Gary Chapman [Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com]

Bedtime Stories 

I am convinced that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons, neither the present
nor the future, nor any powers, neither
height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the
love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
—ROMANS 8:38-39 

When my grandchildren were toddlers, I read many books to them about farms, the alphabet, and how to have good manners. A more subtle theme among children's picture books is unconditional love.
"Mama, do you love me?" a child asks her mother. "How much do you love me?" a bunny asks his father. With a variety of settings and characters, countless books represent children asking, "What if I ran away? What if I hurt you? What if I traveled to the moon or broke a vase or hit my sister? Would you still love me?"
"Yes," the parent says. "I will love you no matter what. I will always love you."
These cozy bedtime stories reflect a universal need that we never outgrow: the need to know that someone, somewhere, loves us without restraint or condition.
What a gift we give each other when we communicate that kind of love every day. We might not say it with words. In fact, we might choose to love by not speaking but by being patient in the face of frustration, kind when someone is rude to us, or humble when it would be easier to talk about our  accomplishments. But every time we are purposeful about making love a way of life, we are affirming what we each need to hear—and what God speaks to us every day: You are loved. No matter what. Forever and always.
Thought
How would truly believing God loves you—no matter what—change your thoughts and actions in the next twenty-four hours?

The Year of the Tortoise

My dream and plan is to make these blogs a record of the year's journey: the Year of the Tortoise. The focus will be on following the example of that tortoise Alexander and I met (see The Scent of Water): taking a purposeful detour towards the scent of water, soaking in it; being patient, intent, purposeful; being rested and refreshed. My prayer is that this journey of mine will bring me closer to God, becoming more like Jesus. As you read that journey, take some time to rest and be restored too.

Please join me on my journey - a journey that, along with tortoises, will include boys, cars, re-painting the bathrooms, and whatever else the year holds!