Delighting in the Divine
Yes to freedom, yes to play and yes to celebrating the moment!
Delighting in the Divine
Yes to freedom, yes to play and yes to celebrating the moment!
All tagged rest
What would be your two top anti-stress tips? I bet they are not the same as Jesus’ observations on what will bring true rest in Him!
My top two ideas would probably be stopping and breathing deeply and counting to three, and thankfulness...
...but Jesus’ top two are:
I love words. I love how they wrap up a feeling and spring-board an idea. I love how words can paint the tumultuous storms of life in lightning-strike clarity. I love how emotions can be soothed by words, like the calm of an unhurried afternoon tea in the garden where the gentle breeze blows through the bushes; or emotions can be hair-raised and roller-coastered with violent passion that makes us bold and pushy...
How is your new year going? Does it feel like a new season? It is Summer right now in Peru and we are abiding as a community - spending lots of time resting, spending time together socially, sorting through things and preparing for the new school year which starts in March here. Having spent time resting over Christmas I feel excited and expectant about what God is going to do this year. Right now I am in a season of preparation and deepening roots...
Sometimes Ice cream is the most important thing... A few final reflections on our family holiday to Cusco - things we learned and things we were thankful for. Oh, and a condor...
Exploring the Inca Ceremonial site of Sacsayhuman in Cusco we went on search of rocks bigger than us and found some incredibly long natural slides and tunnels...
Join in a photo journey around the World Wonder of Machu Picchu through the eyes of the boys. In this post I share how we got there and some tips for sightseeing with kids and find out who didn't like the ruins so much...
Crop circles? And is that snow or salt? In this post we visit the Inca Crop circles of Moray and the Salt plains of Maras on our way to Machu Picchu.
There is something restorative about getting out into nature. Join me as we go on a photo journey of some time we spent in Cusco visiting mountains, lakes, caves and ruins as a family. And find out why nature is so important for our mental health.
Finally we are practicing rest as a family by taking a two week holiday to Cusco. In this first post about out time there I share some photos from the countryside near Cusco and we finally find the twelve-sided Inca stone in the city's centre.
What if rest isn't just about ceasing from activity? How can we look at rest in a way that means we can experience it whether we are busy or on holiday?
Recently I have had the privilege to accompany two of my friends as they gave birth. I know the doctor-midwife well and had introduced them both to her and I was able to support the families and the doctor throughout the labour and delivery. Although I knew the doctor well, I had never seen her attend a birth at home before and I was very impressed and thankful for the incredible peace and patience that she brought with her.
The other thing that impressed me was her ability to know when to rest...
It is one of the most peaceful, satisfying and happy feelings to watch your child sleep. After all the noise and activity of the day, to see them (finally!) at rest and knowing they will be restored and renovated in their rest.
So why is it that we love seeing our children sleeping (not only so we can get a break!) but we think for some reason sleep is just a necessary evil for us as adults? ...
These last few months have been a rollercoaster of storm-calm-storm-calm etc. For some reason, I find the 'storms' emotionally easier to respond to than the calms. The calms are what often send me over the edge, but what often feel like an inappropriate time to suddenly be overwhelmed with anxiety and panic! Over the next few weeks I plan to share some thoughts with you on engaging with rest in the midst of 'normal', 'calm' but busy life, but today I wanted to share a post I wrote back in March on leading others in the midst of crisis...
They say that it takes a while to discover your writing voice. A while to recognize your particular style.
Since December I have not written on the blog. I have too much and nothing to say at the same time. I hate the matter-of-fact, trying-to-put-everything-into-neat-little-boxes-to-explain-God-and-the-world style of my writing. God Himself and my life are so many layers of unknown to me right now that the very idea of trying to simplify and reduce Him or my life into pithy little summaries seems horrifying to me. Life is just too raw for sewn-up corners and neatly organized bookcases of thought.
But perhaps, in the hating of my style and voice, I have finally been able to see it...
I am a better person when I slow down.
For some reason, (probably because I am a wannabe-don’t wannabe perfectionist), I constantly try and improve my life and create perfect scenarios. Some of this is positive. It is good to take time out to evaluate different areas of my life, relationships, my home, our ministry, our marriage, our parenting and see where things are not working out so well and make a plan for change. But why do I suddenly think that with that plan in place, suddenly everything will be perfect? ...
Journaling has become one of the main parts of my quiet times over the last month. I had so many things I was seeking God about that I wanted to allow the time for Him to speak to me. However, one of the main things He has said to me is to just lie on his chest and listen to his heartbea.
I am a doer. I am a disciplined doer and I don’t just do things for the sake of it (having children and limited time has ensured that!) but even in my quiet times, I find myself trying to achieve something...
The most helpful and inspiring workshop I ever went to at University was a voluntary one.
Only 6 or so students turned up, all seeking the answer to the same question: How can we get top marks in our essays with this teacher? (From what I remember the class was on French existentialism!)
I think we all expected to be pointed to key academic texts we could discover the answers to the varied essay questions in, or to be given a secret or two by the teacher. But as far as I recall, there was none of that...
