Tuesday, August 28, 2007

On Sponges...

I read a quote that has me turned on my head. Saint Teresa of Avili said:

"It seemed to me there came the thought of how a sponge absorbs and is saturated with water; so, I thought, was my soul, which was overflowing with that divinity and in a certain way rejoicing within itself and possessing the three Persons. I also heard the words: “Don’t try to hold ME within yourself, but try to hold yourself within Me.”

This has me thinking...am I a sponge? Do I want to be a sponge...sometimes dry and empty, sometimes damp, sometimes overflowing and saturated? Or...do I want to be the water, soaking into the sponge that is God, soaked up and absorbed into Him?

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Best Memories...




When my birthday came that year, Daniel had only five dollars. He was upset, knowing there was no real way to buy a gift...at least the kind he wanted for me. He bought a card, and then he wandered into a bookstore...hoping. All that he could afford was a magazine...the cover of this particular one reminded him of me, of things that I loved. When he paid for it, he was left with thirteen cents. He brought it home, with a sweet note written in the card.
I was touched, both by the beautiful magazine and the humble man who trusted me enough to know I would see the love behind the gesture.

That was 1990, and month after month for the next thirteen years, Daniel brought home the Victoria magazine for me. He watched for it on the news stands every month, and delivered it to me with a smile and real joy, because he knew I treasured it. It was a symbol of faith between us; a touchstone and a reminder of simple pleasures and better, beautiful things to come.

When publication ceased in 2003 I was stricken. I've never found another magazine like it. I treasure my back copies, keeping them close at hand, reading them in season, never tiring of the ethereal photographic charm of Toshi Otsuki.

Today, on a day when I was blue and achey, I read this page! on a (beautiful) random blog while following a rabbit trail. I can't really believe how happy it made me. Laugh out loud happy! Immediate celebration happy! Plan a spectacular dinner and dessert and put a great bottle of wine on to chill happy! But the look of shared joy on Daniels face when I told him was priceless. He knew it meant more than just another magazine on the market.

Tonight, after dinner, I pulled out the 13 August issues I have piled carefully in the dining room shelves, and began to reminisce, this time with excitement over things to come.

A letter to the editor in the August 2001 issue made me do a double take. It features artful, handmade travel journals by none other than Lynne Perrella! I have one of her art books, "Alphabetica", sitting on my coffee table, and she is an editor in at least one of the art magazines I now subscribe to. I wonder if she knows Victoria will soon be back in print.

Life is good...and beautiful. I will once again have the pleasure of a monthly reminder that life is hopeful; that women can achieve their dreams without sacrificing their families; and that a charmed life is in the eye of the beholder.

Monday, August 20, 2007

One year!!






How did this happen? Last August we were eagerly awaiting this little man, and here he is walking, eating cake, playing with Big Trucks, and generally charming his assorted aunts, uncles, and grandparents...(not to mention Mom and Dad!)

On Sunday the extended family celebrated by eating, (of course), opening gifts, laughing and planting a tiny oak tree in the Birthday Boy's honour.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Deeper...

Romans is full of big, meaty ideas. It needs to be slowly savored (you're so right about that Karyn). There's no room in it for making my own salvation. It's ALL Him!


Romans 1:16"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous shall live by faith".

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Yesterdays tragedy burried in todays garden.

I saw a quote today in an old copy of The Oprah Magazine..."Today's newspaper wraps tomorrows fish".
I immediately had a flash back to the day I was mulching my garden, laying down thick layers of wet newspaper on the soil (and weeds), then piling the wood chips atop all.

I had gone to the recycling center and brought home a big box of newspaper and put them to soak in a tub of water.
As I pulled out one section at a time, I would run my eyes over yesterdays news. I would read the headlines, or if I were lucky, the comics. I marveled at the Suduko puzzles and crosswords...done in PEN no less!


But one front page still haunts me...pictures of four of the Canadian soldiers killed this summer in Afghanistan.

There were their childish faces, staring out at me, like boys playing dress-up in their uniforms and colored barrettes. It was devastating. They were young, some probably younger than Nialle, and they were dead.

I imagined their parents. What would they feel if they could see me...pulling a paper from the vat... letting the water drip...drip...drip, through my fingers as I looked at their sons smiling, hopeful eyes...opening the pages and smoothing them out onto the ground...covering them up with a shovel full of aromatic woodchips?

Would they wail and scream their indignation? Would they turn away in despair, anger, hate? Would they silently bow their heads as I did several times, tears in my eyes, disbelief at the waste of such potential?


As I worked, I showed my boys these faces as I lifted the headlines from the cold water..."They are so young!" I said. "Look at their faces! This is horrible beyond belief!" Then I would lay them down, smooth them out, cover them up.
It seems a fitting analogy for their silent dismissal from the brief fame that their early deaths earned them. What is their remembrance to those of us who first saw their faces posthumously plastered around the world? Hero? Or just another brief bit of angst brought to millions of commuters who briefly beheld their faces while sipping their four dollar lattes on their way to work that morning in July, before dropping them into the recycling bin at the end of the day...or burying them under the compost in their gardens...or were they perhaps used by fishermen, wrapping them around wet, shining dead fish?

Their names were Cole, Matthew, Lane and Colin. Though I can't tell this to their parents, I will remember them as I sit in my garden, thankful for the sun on my face and the sound of my boys playing nearby.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Personality DNA

This test was fun. I think it is a pretty accurate assessment of me at this point. Try it out yourself.


You are an Advocating Inventor.

You are an Inventor


  • Your imagination, self-reliance, openness to new things, and appreciation for utility combine to make you an INVENTOR.

  • You have the confidence to make your visions into reality, and you are willing to consider many alternatives to get that done.

  • The full spectrum of possibilities in the world intrigues you—you're not limited by pre-conceived notions of how things should be.

  • Problem-solving is a specialty of yours, owing to your persistence, curiosity, and understanding of how things work.

  • Your vision allows you to identify what's missing from a given situation, and your creativity allows you to fill in the gaps.

  • Your awareness of how things function gives you the ability to come up with new uses for common objects.

  • It is more interesting for you to pursue excitement than it is to get caught up in a routine.

  • Although understanding details is not difficult for you, you specialize in seeing the bigger picture and don't get caught up in specifics.

  • You tend to more proactive than reactive—you don't just wait for things to come to you.

  • You tend to do things on the spur of the moment, not sticking to a set schedule.

  • You do your own thing when it comes to clothing, guided more by practical concerns than by other people's notions of style.

  • Generally, you believe that you control your life, and that external forces only play a limited role in determining what happens to you.


  • You are Advocating


  • Being social, empathic, and understanding makes you ADVOCATING.

  • Some people find being around others exhausting—but not you! You are energized by spending time with friends, and you are good at meeting new people.

  • One of the reasons you enjoy conversation as much as you do is that you often learn about yourself while talking things out with a friend; you realize things about your own beliefs while discussing them with others.

  • You have insight into what others are thinking and feeling. This ability allows you to be happy for others, and to commiserate when something has gone wrong for them.

  • You are highly compassionate, and being conscious of how things affect those close to you leaves you cautious about trusting others too hastily.

  • Despite these reservations, you are open-minded when it comes to your worldview; you don't look to impose your ways on others.

  • Your sensitivity towards others' plights contributes to an understanding—both intellectual and emotional—of many different perspectives.

  • As someone who understands the complexities of the world around you, you are reluctant to pass judgments.


  • personalDNA