a faith observed: A little fall and summer in the midst of Spring

Monday, September 21, 2009

A little fall and summer in the midst of Spring

I always associate raking leaves and jumping into them with a beautiful fall day in America. I guess that's what we did when I was little, when the leaves turned colours in September and fell to the ground. But September in Australia isn't fall, it's Spring. And Spring in Noosa really is more like summer. Today was an incredibly beautiful, summer/spring day - perfect for hanging three loads of laundry on the line and a morning hanging out in our backyard. I decided I'd tackle the job of raking the leaves that have been scattered all over our yard for the past couple of months. An effort, considering that we don't own a rake and that it took twice as long since the real objective was for Simon to jump into them and delight in spreading them all back over the yard, loving the crunchy sounds they made. It took about two hours but was well worth it, as it turned out to be a very successful play/working morning.

After the leaves, I decided to wash our car. I felt a little guilty since Australia is always in a drought, with water restrictions, but, hey, if you only wash your car once a year, it's probably okay to run the water for an hour straight. Simon ended up with his clothes off and completely happy and the car looks excellent. How's that for a birthday present for Andrew? I told him, "I washed the car! Happy Birthday!" His birthday is on Wednesday but unfortunately he has to work a double that day (lunch and dinner shifts), so we'll have pancakes and maple syrup for breaky and he can have a surf in the morning.

Bob and Steph are coming up this weekend to celebrate Andy's birthday and we plan to go out for a nice breakfast together while they babysit Simon. I'm pretty terrible with coming up with exciting presents and creative surprises for Andrew's birthday. My fall back is: "Happy Birthday, Andrew, I gave you Simon!" (That was Andrew's birthday present three years ago and a pretty good one! You can't really beat that!)

2 comments:

Nadine said...: Such cute pictures Liz - thanks for sharing them!! Hope you guys are well. Lots of love from Germany.; September 25, 2009 at 4:09 AM
Marge said...: Hey Liz...sorry that I hadn't checked your blog for a few days. I would have loved for Al and Edna to have seen the pictures as well (they saw the last one and agreed that Simon is pretty handsome!!). So glad that you had a nice "spring-fall" day with the little guy! Hope you have a good weekend.
Love, Mom; September 26, 2009 at 6:57 PM

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This is me, a faith observed.

C.S. Lewis writes about the pain of losing his beloved wife, Joy, in his book, "A Grief Observed". In some ways this is my attempt to share my journey through grief and back into life, as the past nine months have been characterized by an immeasurable longing for my beloved father, who died suddenly this past January.

After months of hibernation from the internet, I unexpectedly find myself able to re-begin this blog and connect with my larger community of family and friends. This blog will likely reflect less of the intensity and depth of my pain and more of the simplicity and ordinary joy that keeps my life full - namely days running after our little boy, Simon Pierre. But it is because of the incredible love and presence that defined my relationship with my father, that I feel I can will myself to not just survive each day but to pour that same kind of love and attention onto Simon.

My father was an endless source of strength to me, a pillar of faith. His last words, spoken to my mother as he passed into that which is unseen, "God is good - good all the time", have remained with me through this dark cloud of grief. And when God seems hidden, when justice seems to be losing out, when life is unfair, and when death swallows up the one I most love, I remember my father's words and breathe in this promise, that the God of love is in the process of restoring that which has been destroyed.

And as my father told me in dream I've had since his death, "Look to Jesus. As a father, to point you towards Him is the best gift I can give to you." So here I am, this is me, a faith to be observed.

I hold onto that which is not always seen- the promise of God's goodness, the hope that one day in the promised new heavens and earth- on a grassy hill or a sand covered beach- the lion and the lamb will lie down side by side and I, too, will lie down side by side, next to my father, and we will laugh and laugh until there are no more tears left to cry.