reading excerpts

Excerpts from The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller...

speaking of beauty and longing:
    Our life-long nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation. (C.S. Lewis)
    ...We are told there that we were created to live in the garden of God.  That was the world we were built for, a place in which there was no parting from love, no decay or disease.  It was all these things because it was life before the face of God, in his presence.  There we were to adore and serve his infinite majesty, and to know, enjoy and reflect his infinite beauty.  That was our orignial home, the true country we were made for.
  

regarding the truth that both the self-discovery/self-actualization/humanistic way (the younger brother) and the moralistic/works-based/pharasaical way (the older brother) are dead ends -and that the Way is through Jesus, these verses:

On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
     a feast of righ food for all peoples,
     a banquet of aged wine -
     the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
     the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
     the sheet that covers all nations;
     he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces;
     he will remove the disgrace of his people
     from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken.  (Isaiah 25:6-8)

Kingdom come!

I don't often read the news headlines.
But when I do, my heart breaks.
I am stirred to RISE UP against oppression,
to take action, do something.
And more than that,
I long for Jesus to come and set all things right.
Because we can (and should) act and help, but in truth it is never enough.
Only Jesus can set all things right.
Until then, we keep pressing into His Kingdom! 

Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
Psalm  45:6

do, do, do...DONE

Since I've been reading something other than gothic mysteries and British historical fiction...I have some tidbits to share. 

From King's Cross by Tim Keller:
The gospel of Jesus Christ is an offense to both religion and irreligion.  It can't be co-opted by either moralism or relativism.  The "traditional values" approach to life is moral conformity - the approach taken by the Pharisees.  It is that you must lead a very, very good life.  The progressive approach, embodied in the Herodians, is self-discovery - you have to decide what is right or wrong for you.  And according to the Bible, both of these are ways of being your own savior and lord.  Both are hostile to the message of Jesus.  And not only that, both lead to self-righteousness...The gospel does not say, "the good are in and the bad are out," nor "the open-minded are in and the judmental are out."  The gospel says the humble are in and the proud are out.  The gospel says the people who know they're not better, not more open-minded, not more moral than anyone else, are in, and the people who think they're on the right side of the divide are most in danger.


Elsewhere, Keller refers to all religions of the world as "advice"...each one has it's list of do, do, do, and don't, don't, don't...but Christianity, in its true form, is not advice.  It is news.  And the news is DONE!  The law has been fulfilled by Jesus and we are fully accepted.  It is DONE! 

September birthday

 our beautiful September weather has been paying off in the garden...

still blooming fabulously!

 table set for a birthday dinner

 special things...

 Happy Birthday sweet girl! 

 party at the apple farm!

Chain Lakes hike

I've been gazing longingly out my dashboard as I taxi to and fro...waiting for the day when I would scale the heights and be surrounded by your loftiness...Mt. Baker, truly, you are spectacular.  

View from Trailhead at Artist's Point, Ptarmigan Ridge is blocking the view of Baker slightly. 
We met an elderly man who had just spent 3 days camping up there on our way down the trail.  Inspiring!

We grew up doing the Chain Lakes hike as an end-of-summer tradition, and I have no way to describe the joy it is to see my kids now plodding, skipping and exploring along those same trails.  

What a fantastic day we had: traipsing across snow fields, swooning with each view of Baker and Shuksan, looming so close, lunching on a big sun-drenched rock surrounded by absolute glory.  Meandering amongst the wildflowers - saxifrages, lupines, asters - admiring clear glacial lakes complete with icebergs, reflecting on the indescribable greatness of our amazing God.  Words do not do justice.  

Three mountain goats and wildflowers at the first lake.

Up there I feel surrounded by Him.  Completely enveloped by peace and awe and the knowledge that I rest in the hands of an incredibly powerful, majestic and beautiful Creator.  

I need to find this saxifrage for my rock garden.

The hike makes a circuit around Table Mountain.

Another of my hiking companions.

Iceberg Lake with Mt. Baker in the background.

Summit of Herman Pass.

Still at the summit with Mt. Shuksan in the background.

The long trail back down into the valley...usually loaded with blueberries, but it was too late in the season this time.

The scenery is absolutely breathtaking.  It is accessible to kids, well-travelled enough to dispel my worries about bears, but not crowded at all.  This is such a great hike.  Highly recommended.  It is about 7 miles from Artist's Point, past the 3 lakes, over the pass and back down through the valley.  You will probably want to get a ride back up to the top parking lot when you finish - so heads up on that. Driving directions are simple:  Turn left on the Mt. Baker highway after passing through the town of Sumas.  Continue on that road for approximately 1 1/4 hours and you will be at the parking lot!  Don't forget to stop in the town of Glacier and pick up a 5$ daypass for your vehicle at the Ranger Station though.  

What about you?  Are there any scenes or experiences that bring you close to the Creator in awe and worship?

Back-to-School 2012-2013

I'm late, I know.  
The school year has begun, with or without my back-to-school post, and we are now in the swing of things with choir, ballet, hip hop, and soon, basketball.  
I'm working two days a week and looking forward to being home with Mr. T a lot this year.  Oh, the opportunities that await us!  Before having kids I never would have thought that the prospect of having only one (very busy, very curious, very loud, and very adorable) 2 year old at home would be so freeing.  But it is!  
For example, we will drop the older three kids off at school on Thursday and take off on a bikeride down some country roads...do some blackberry picking perhaps...enjoy the beauty of these golden Autumn days before the rains and the cold sets in.  
I hope the school year has started off well for you as well!

refreshing happened in the desert..

yes, the desert!

we came to our long-awaited week of holidays with much anticipation.

drove long up and down winding highway, past forests and rushing rivers, down canyons and up steep inclines, through our beautiful, beautiful B.C.  Then down, down into the dry, dotted landscape, the brown hills and the fertile valleys: vineyard rows, fruit trees gathering sun all surrounding the lake like a jewel.  

contemplated possibilities of small town life - slowing down, no Walmart or mall nearby.  

arrived at an oasis of relaxation - the sandy willow-shaded beach just a minute's walk from our cabana, warm water for swimming, friends to enjoy for us and the kids, and the incredible opportunity to not run after our almost 2 year old for a whole week!  bliss (don't get me wrong, of course we missed him terribly - but it was wonderful).

biking the canal with its system of weirs was a favorite activity - we did it five times throughout the week. meg and I also cycled all the way to Osoyoos one morning, 19 km.  the trail itself goes for hundreds of km, the parts we did were just a part of the bigger Kettle Valley Rail trail. 

ben brought his windsurf board and the kids enjoyed trying to balance on it

finding fish with mekaia's little buddy, J

synchronized swimming with lesina

i sat back last week.  read my book, talked with friends, played with the kids.  slept a bit more than usual, cooked a little less.  kayaked alone around the lake in peace and quiet.  swam and biked and drank a slurpee for the first time in years.  laughed a lot around the campfire after the kids were in bed.  sat by the lake at night and looked at the stars.  i feel very grateful for the refreshing that happened in the desert.  

see you next year, oliver.

sandcastle competition

We won!  Merlissa, winner of the Lakeside Resort sandcastle competition, 2012...
and tied for 1st place - the pirate who drowned attempting to salvage his treasure:

family stories

Dartmoor

I've been reading lately.  Finally come back to my most enjoyable pastime of childhood.  

I've been making up for lost time.  

I think I've read eight books in the space of about 6 weeks. 

With all of this reading, I've been feeling the itch to write again.  

But writing takes time and space and solitude for me and I don't feel I have an adequate amount of any of those right now.  But I have been thinking on the importance of writing.  Writing down our stories, for one.

I've inherited a good number of things from my wonderful parents - love of books and education, weak eyes, perfectionism, to name a few...and a great interest in family history.  
Ever since I was little I remember the old photographs my Mom used to love to look through, of her parents as children, and any older photos she could get her hands on.  
And my Dad's interest in looking up our surname and finding out facts and family trees and occupations and births and obituaries.  
I remember being intrigued (and possibly using it as my claim to fame for a time) to find out that we could trace my paternal grandfather's family back to the royal Stuarts and Bloody Mary in particular.  How morbidly fascinating!

I've always been something of a reluctant Canadian.  I do love Canada, but I've always felt that it's too new, it doesn't tell the story of our family origins well.  I've felt the ties to the countries of origin still strong.  
Lately I've been reading Kate Morton (The Forgotten Garden, and now The Distant Hours).  These are, in essence, family stories.  Mysteries, and appropriately suspenseful and tragic for a novel - but they are family stories, traced down through generations.  
As I read, I remembered that we, too, have a family story... 

One day, a tiny baby boy was found abandoned on the bleak Staldon Barrow. Time has erased the name of the person who found him but he was taken back to safety and frantic efforts were made to find his parents. Sadly, nobody was forthcoming to claim the boy and the moorfolk became concerned that he would be taken into care. Luckily there was an old childless couple who took pity on the child and adopted him as there own. They gave him the name of 'Hillson', presumably from 'son of the hill', eluding to where he was found.

Time flew by and soon Hillson was a grown man, throughout his life he was a shy, solitary boy who preferred his own company. So it was no surprise that one day he took himself off the the hill where he was found and built himself a small house on its summit. The stone he used to build his abode was taken from the old ancient cairn which stood on the hill, the house of the dead became the house of the living.

Hillson had taught himself the intricacies of clock making and it was from this that he made his living by building eight-day clocks. Rumour has it that he was the first clock maker to introduce that type of clock into the Dartmoor area (possibly in the late 1600s).

The passages of time have abandoned Hillson for nobody can remember how he finished his years, he was left in legend to build his clock on that ancient and remote hilltop.

(taken from legendarydartmoor.co.uk)

Ruins of Hillson House on the moors, just outside Cornwood, England, from http://www.richkni.co.uk/dartmoor/hillsons.htm

   
I feel glad to know this small piece of my history - even if it is so far past that it is legendary.  The thought of all of our lives being made possible by the merciful strangers who rescued that little boy, then raised him and possibly taught him his craft, is quite remarkable to me.  
I would love to know more - and I think there would be much to learn if we had some recorded stories of what life was really like for these people.  More than just the births, marriages, children and obits.  What if we had their actual thoughts and experiences recorded?  I hope that one day my children, and maybe even further generations will be able to read some of the stories of our family - not just the highlights, but the troubles and trials too, and see testimony of God's faithfulness, and roots which they can plant themselves down into.

beauty is in the garden

Thing 1 and Thing 2 sketching in the backyard.  Beauty!

More pictures of the garden can be perused at my garden blog.

Stanley Park Day

 The Sports Complex where we had to make an emergency bathroom stop had a fantastic bird made completely of plants.  Bonus.

Matalena and I made an elaborate castle for 2 crab cousins.  She had a specific design in mind and gave me detailed instructions to follow.  I especially was impressed by her courage in picking up dead crabs without fear.

We didn't really plan to go swimming, but everyone got very sandy and very wet, even though there was a cool breeze coming off the ocean.  We had to watch Tomasi carefully because he was always looking for an opportunity to run off into the waves! 

Much time was spent in the dug out swimming pool, and digging out the river system around it. 

This is the closest we've ever seen a blue heron.  Gorgeous.  The walk from second beach, around Lost Lagoon, to the gardens, is a favorite for me. 

Tidal Pools

  Ok, I was wrong, this blogging thing is too hard to do more than once a month it would appear!  Hopefully during the summer-time I can be a bit more regular here.  We've just had a great seaside adventure - at 1001 Steps in White Rock.  We left Mr. T. with a babysitter and romped the beach, finding treasures and picking up slimey, salty things.  Wonderful!