Bronte Weather

I'm feeling a bit Bronte-ish today. With the wind howling up the valley at intervals, making eerie wuthering noises around the house and driving the cat crazy and the low grey skies I can easily imagine myself on the windswept moor surrounding Haworth listening to the stories of my siblings and seeing my own stories to tell in the flame of a candle. I've put a pot of tea on and am deciding which of my items on my to-do list should come next. It seems a bit prosaic to be worrying about laundry and kitchens when the weather is calling for a hot cuppa and a blanket on the couch with a suitably absorbing book - Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre are favorites for this weather, but the lesser known Bronte books work well, too. Or, for a bit of dark humor Elizabeth Gaskell's Cold Comfort Farm. Just as long as it is a rather familiar book - I don't want to be caught up in a brand new world if the power goes out!

I do enjoy this weather - stormy and so atmospheric for storytelling - but it can get me down sometimes. This week I am prepared. I have a delicious smelling candle burning (a bonus is that if the power goes out this evening I will be prepared and have a light already lit as I fumble around looking for where I stashed the lighter!), a series of sweet crochet projects already on the hook, and a recently finished lap blanket to cuddle up under. Now all that is left is finishing up the less exciting housework so that I can curl up near my favorite window and watch the weather.

A Good Afternoon

Don't you just love it when you are handed the gift of time for re-creation and your favorite way to enjoy it? I had a lovely day with no obligations, quite a blessing after a week of running hither, thither, and yon and staying out late, with another week of the same staring me in the face. The sun was shining beautifully on the cottage this morning, and after doing some much needed catching up on keeping things tidy I settled down in a sunbeam streaming across the couch with beautiful music playing, a lovely scented candle, and a book.

I have to admit, it probably wasn't the book I would have originally chosen. It had been passed to me by my parents, who have both read it. My dad can't stop talking about it. Pastors in the area have scheduled entire three-month sermon series around it. My boss raved about it. A local seminary even hosted a community discussion night around it. Everywhere I go, I run into it. And after reading the back and having so many people tell me how absolutely wonderful and potentially life-changing it is I decided that I didn't want to have anything to do with it and would wait for the hype to die down before I read it.

Perhaps this was a bit perverse of me. I'm not the kind to bow to pressure about what to read - usually. For heaven's sake, my other current book option is an obscure English book about the changes in a town as it moves from being a collection of homes to being a real town! Do I really want to read a supremely popular book in the height of it's popularity that includes a healthy dose of absolute, gut-wrenching tragedy and the potential to change my life? I'm reading to relax, here. I'd given a half-hearted reading to the first two chapters so that I wouldn't be lying when people asked if I was reading it yet. But today I took the plunge. I picked up that copy of The Shack that was sitting reproachfully on the table and I read it.

I will admit that it struck a nerve, and will probably change some of the way I see my life and my relationship with God as I move forward and continue to digest the things I read. I see the potential for this to touch so many more lives than most people imagine. It is the opposite of so many things I was expecting from the hype, and that is a very good thing. Will I push people to read it? Perhaps. I know that it has reached deep into my own places of hurt, places where my relationship with God as I thought I knew it had been destroyed a long time ago. It holds an affirmation for me of my own healing, and I am sure it will hold the same for others.

Either way, it was a wonderful afternoon, and I pray that you have one that feeds you the same way soon.

An Early Valentine

This lovely poem came across my desk today, and with Valentine's Day coming up I thought it would be appropriate to share.


The Art of Marriage
by Wilfred Arlan Peterson
Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.
A good marriage must be created.
In the Art of Marriage, the little things are the big things:
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say “I Love You” at least once every day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted;
the courtship should not end with this day,
it should continue through all the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other,
not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,
but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation,
and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding,
and a sense of humour.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal,
dependence is mutual,
and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner,
it is being the right partner.