february 28th

another month flips over

as the melted snow refreezes

and is crushed underfoot

as we tentatively walk by....

artistry in nature

sculptures

nature's form and design unparalleled

traits

My dear Mom is someone who likes presentation, she cares about gezelligheid and how things look, she is an observer of beauty and likes to create it. In this way she blesses those around her.

It warms my heart when I see the same traits in a little girl as she proudly presents a plate of snacks that she herself prepared.

february 19th

Windy and snowy and entirely unlike yesterday. February is fickle.

How much of our lives aren't lived the same. Mom's illness has our emotions being tossed about: one day anxious the next day elated. Our own spiritual state blows hot and cold. Somedays we are likeable some days not. It seems that all of life is ebb and flow. Sometimes mild, sometimes wild.

roadside

11 Degrees felt like a mini vacation...what a delightful springlike day.

But now February is howling in protest with a strong cold wind.

sunrise

How slow we are to align the stacks of worries bouncing around in our heads

and to pile them at the feet or the Saviour. Comfort for the taking.

Relief from anxieties: those that over whelm and those that seem insignificant.

"If I say, my foot slips,

Your mercy, O lord, will hold me up.

In the multitude of my anxieties within me,

Your comforts delight my soul."

february 12

Fields lay barren and stalks stand short,

skies hang gray and skeletal trees reach tall.

Souls feel bereft and spirits seem to search,

Hope suspended and arms reach heavenward.

Even hearts feel winter

when faith feels disconnected.

Through the curtain, by a strangers hospital bed, a young pastor reads.

Psalm 102. We listen, quietly, moved.

"My days are like a shadow that lengthens,

and I wither away like grass....

Yes, they will grow old like a garment;

like a cloak you will change them,

and they will be changed.

But You are the same,

And Your years will have no end".

And at the end of our days God is there.

And when hearts feel disconnected He is there.

Always and forever.

And spring lies quietly beneath winter's cloak.

russet

Last years garden topped off with fresh snow creates an illusion of a bird's eye view of a different world. Diagonal shadows stretch across barren plains and russet trees stand tall.

I was telling a friend about my family, my siblings, and about how very much they all mean to me. There we are, linked by genes, by a love of nature, by memories and by a Faith in a heavenly Father. Thankfulness wells up in me, for them, and for the mother and father that we were blessed with and because of whom we are what we are.

Imperfect, one and all, but loved mightily.

white and black

In winter the foreground and the background

are variations of the same white

and images become wonderfully simplistic.

birds

green

The ice is wonderfully sculpted, free form,

a foreground for the coniferous green.

Eyes to see

What a large volume of adventures may be grasped within this little span of life by him who interests his heart in everything, and who, having eyes to see what time and chance are perpetually holding out to him as he journeyeth on his way, misses nothing he can fairly lay his hands on.

Laurence Stern

gold

I watched it while I was driving this morning,

the sun breaking over the horizon in a glorious line.

My friend saw it streaking red across her street

before it dulled to grey.

My mom watched it splash the cityscape with gold

from her hospital bed.

The dawning of a new day of new opportunity. Mercy abundant!

Each new day appears as clean as the driven snow and as beautiful as the golden sun.

How quickly we trample the pristine white and how often we exchange colour for gray.

The new opportunities are neglected and blessings ignored.

And yet, at the end of the day we reflect the Light of the Risen Sun.

Thank you Father for the blessings of this day!

I spent a few lovely hours chatting with mom today,

quietly and truthfully in her hospital room.

And hope springs eternal...

perhaps we can beat this ?

blues

Wind sculpts and breezes shape,

Shadows contrast and light defines.

Life hones and experiences build,

Trouble teaches and Light leads.

It is easy to question. Why difficulties? Why discouragement? Why illness? Why monotony?

Quoting from Chris Tiegreen in this mornings devotional:

God has not placed us where we are simply for the output we can produce, .... He has put us there because that is a context in wich He wants to display Himself. Our work is about Him, ....and we are there because God wants to put godliness on display for others to see.... Whatever you do, have this in mind: You are doing it not just because God wants you to be there, but because He wants to be there too.

So here I stand, often discouraged by the monotony of repeated tasks and lack of visible productivity. I sit, with a knot of fear inside me worried about my mom. And there she lies fighting the cancer invading her. Here we stand, and sit, and there we lie.

Is godliness on display? Surely God is there too.

How often I fail....

reds

Snow fell, although not nearly as much as was expected.

The world is fresh again, cloaked in white,

but occasionally a vivid red catches the eye

and shows the world is not plain white after all.