A Sad Day

Went to St.Catharines today to attend my great aunt's funeral. She has always been one of those really cool aunts, despite her 91 years. She was about 4'8'' with a personality larger than life. She never married and so we kind of adopted her as a grandmother in a way. I'm sad that she is gone.

All day I have missed my grandfather more than ever before. He passed away 3 years ago while I was in Asia and I missed his funeral. It upsets me still that I feel like I missed out on saying goodbye - like I was robbed of something that I'll never get back. I don't think I've yet grieved him properly. But I miss him a lot. My aunts gravesite is close to my grandfather's and the funeral services were at the same church. It seemed too similar.

Today I am grieving my aunt and my grandfather.

Another time a more uplifting post.

Ode to a task oriented girl

I've been thinking lately at my own tendancies to focus on the task. I love people but often (here's a look into my callous heart) they slow me down! I know, I'm harsh. I'm not very Christ-like in this way. God has a relational heart and He often sacrifices efficiency for intimacy. Examples are all over the Bible of Him choosing to go the slow route - like through Moses or the disciples.
Imagine the scenario played out between a parent and a child. You need to bake cookies and you have 2 choices. Either kick the kids out of the kitchen because they'll make a mess and come out an hour later with the most delictable cookies baked to perfection. OR invite the kids into the process. This involves flour all over the kitchen, too much brown sugar and too little vanilla, and it takes a half hour longer. But in the process you have built relationship and a memory. The value of the cookies doesn't lie in their perfection because that will quickly disappear but their value is in the shared experience.
Shared experiences build intimacy and relationships are not just built with face-to-face time (eg.going out for coffee so we can talk) but through side-by-side time through significant moments and experiences.
I am challenged as I think of God's relational heart to invite friends, families, those I disciple into experiences with me and instead of valuing efficiency, placing a higher value on intimacy. I need to slow down anyways....

Growing up

My mom gave me some of her recipes last weekend when I was in St.Catharines. So it's time to grow up and start cooking for myself. There is a beef stroganoff sitting in my slow cooker as we speak. Good for left overs all week!
It's a leaf, I've turned it over....

So I finally relented and after being an anonomous blog-stalker for too long, I have my own. We'll see how this goes... not sure I'll have too much to say. Stay tuned...