Rebekah's Insights

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In light of the fact that we are having, what we are told is an uncommonly cold Spring and Summer, I must admit that I have trouble believing it is indeed Summer! Our temperatures refuse to go above the 50's and today, the winds are so intense that it feels like February all over again!

We are enjoying the daylight from 3:30 AM until 11:00 PM--well, we are now that room-darkening curtains are installed on the windows! ;) However, our attempts at cook-outs/picnics have been a bit too chilly to be highly enjoyable. (However, the sheep have not returned for any impromptu picnics at the expense of our flowers, so a lack of picnics is not necessarily bad!) The thick stone walls of our barn dwelling keep enough heat in for us to dispense with heating the house the past many weeks, but there are others here who are too cold without the heat running inside. Just another interesting chapter in a life in a new-to-us land.

Happy Summer, anyway!

Every evening sky, an invitation
To trace the patterned stars
And early in July, a celebration
For freedom that is ours
And I notice You
In children’s games
In those who watch them from the shade
Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder
You are summer

---from Every Season by Nichole Nordeman

How mysterious are Your ways O LORD...

You use sorrow to wring me out,
To squeeze from me each drop of myself...
Creating room to fill me with Yourself,
As a sponge wrung dry is thirsty for water.
You are Living Water.

Blessed be the name of the LORD!

My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to Thy Word! Psalm 119:28

"He who made the Plei'ades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name"

Amos 5:8

Last evening a friend and I attended Evensong at nearby Ripon Cathedral, wherein worship services have been held for over 1,350 years! For those who aren't familiar, Evensong is the Evening Prayer liturgy used in the late afternoon or evening in churches of Anglican tradition, i.e., Anglican, Episcopal. Usually, and certainly in the case of last evening, Evensong features the components of worship following the Book of Common Prayer offered chorally, that is, nearly entirely sung by the choir and clergy.

The choir was incredibly beautiful and I have never herd a sound system come even near to rivaling the volume or sound quality of the cathedral's acoustics! Upon my word--the glorious music which soared high to the gorgeous vaulted ceiling--it was an astounding experience! Better yet was hearing God's Holy Word sung, read, and eloquently expounded upon in the lyrics of the hymns! It was awesome! While I definitely do not believe worship must be done exclusively in a cathedral-type setting nor with traditional formality, it was simply breathtaking to see and feel the awesome greatness of architecture and magnificence of music being employed to give reverence to the Almighty God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. It is, indeed, still so insignificant compared to His Greatness, His Magnificence, His Holiness--but it was quite an experience. I am humbled to reflect on how I am able to come to Him only through the Savior's Blood shed for me.

Laudamus te (We praise Thee)

Benedicimus te (We Bless Thee)

Adoramus te (We adore Thee)

Glorificamus te (We glorify Thee)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God alone be all glory!)

While we do endeavor to maintain an attitude of hospitality around our home and we are always happy to welcome a friend or neighbor in for refreshments, I got a little more than I bargained for today!

Six or seven "neighbors" from a nearby pasture ambled by this afternoon for an impromptu picnic on our terrace! The menu? Why my aquilegia, geraniuims, and pansies, of course. Thankfully, I noticed them while only two sheep had begun to partake of the lovely foliage and blooms. The others were hurriedly making their way to the "buffet," lambs in tow. I thought our little garden terrace looked beautiful, but never guessed it would prove to be such a tempting treat to a band of ever-hungry sheep and lambs.

I promptly shooed them away from my plants and set them back on their straight and narrow, to a cacophony of displeased "Baaaaaaaaaaaaas!" This unique photo opportunity, while hard to pass up, was sacrificed for the welfare of my humble little garden--it was a hard call to make, but in the end, the gardener in me won out over the fledgling photographer. Never fear, though. I'm sure they'll be back.

Naturally, all the hullabaloo that the shooing away of the sheep created was not lost on my two little ones. Liam wanted to know, "What was going on?" After I explained what the sheep had been up to, he knitted his brows thoughtfully. "Don't worry, Mommy," he announced, "I will put them in jail."

Bleak darkness
Shivery cold
Violent wind
Surrounding signs of death in nature...
became oppressive in Winter.
Only occasionally adorned with icy frost-gilded branches
or lovely white blankets of snow...
Despaired it would never draw to a close.

Then the slow, subtle transformation unfolds
Buds burst, leaves unfurl...
Cascades of colors replace the gray
while the moments of sunlight lengthen with each passing day.
True, we appreciate it after Winter,
the comparison rendering it all the more lovely.
But beyond that...
Unless the old leaves die and fall away in their autumn-hued finery...
there could be no new growth.
Spring can only be all that it is because of Winter.

I must be reminded of this truth in Winter...
and embrace it, as I welcome Spring.
Spring is pleasant and attractive...
and an annual reminder of the hidden beauty of Winter,
the season whose bleak, harsh repose ushers in Spring on its heels.

RJS, 2008