Thank you for this beautiful reminder! It’s so easy to get caught up in all the doing that we forget to just BE in His presence. My husband and I will celebrate 40 years of marriage this weekend. Our anniversary falls on the first Sunday of Advent this year—my favorite season! I too love the cold, wind and rain! (Although we don’t get very cold here in the South.) I’m so grateful for the seasons and rhythms of life. God is so good to make us in His divine image! How can your heart not be filled with joy when you look at the face of your loved one, knowing you’re looking at the face of God!
Omg! Congratulations on 40 years of marriage!!!! We are approaching our 20th, so I’ve been thinking a lot about what it takes to make a marriage last. Thank you for your gift to the world by being a picture of God’s committed love. ❤️ And it’s on the first day of Advent? *sigh* That’s soooo sweet!!! I pray it is every bit as magical as it sounds.
Leslie, thank you for sharing this! And congratulations on 40 years! We're at 24 right now (October 6). And yes, though we live in the Carolinas now, my heart is always pining for Pennsylvania and New England. I grew up in Lititz, so I'm always excited to get back up to the real cold :) The seasons, for me, bring me so close to God's heart. It's awesome to hear you resonate! 💙
Have to share this! Thank you so much - this post was a great grace to read this Thanksgiving. Sensing the invitation from the Holy Spirit to be intentional to Savour, breathe and rest this coming Advent.
Tim, you are most certainly my favorite “slightly eccentric big brother.” I told my husband the other day that I felt like in some ways you are my long lost twin, because you *get it.* What others miss or (even affectionately) rolls their eyes at, makes you stoked and me “get the eeeeeeeeee’s” as I call it. (Squeal in delight.) I guess the eccentric in you lights up the eccentric in me. 😅
Thank you for this post. And all the recent posts. I looove your thoughts on nostalgia. One of my favorite things about getting older is the way memories get stacked. Like your rainy walk taking you back to Oxford. This morning something about bare branches in front of the autumn-deep colors of sunrise took me back to something about snow, sunrise, and geese from my childhood. I’m not even sure exactly what, but it was beautifully haunting.
And reading about you spending Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania took me back to one of my favorite thanksgivings of all time. In 2017 our family was living in an RV traveling the US and Canada. We were between visiting NYC and Philadelphia when Thanksgiving hit. So we parked in this empty Church/school parking lot. There wasn’t room in our little fridge for a ham, but we kept it under the RV overnight where it stayed plenty cool. The kids played in the school playground, we made and enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner, and just reveled in the wintery sun and this wild journey we were on. I have this picture of our 2 year old daughter sitting on my lap that day just laughing her guts out. The whole thing pierces me to the core in the sweetest way.
Because, don’t you think God hijacks nostalgia? While we’re remembering a past good, he laces memories of Eden into it, making it even sweeter in memory than it was in the moment? I feel like he also does this with the “looking through windows effect”… you know, when you see people gathered around a table or Christmas tree in their home, laughing. Or even watching another couple hold hands at the mall, or kids playing at the park. It’s easy to think they have what our hearts are still missing. But I’ve come to believe it’s eternity calling to us through their windows. [OMG! I’ve felt the window effect ever since I was a little girl, but I just realized this is what Jane Eyre feels when she arrives at Moore House! *Eeeeeeeeee!!!*]
Aaaanyway, Happiest of Thanksgivings to you and your family. I am very grateful to be part of your community and to get to enjoy your writings and thoughts.
[See? Also like you in being a classic over sharer. lol!]
Sarah, I smiled all the way through this. Yes, classic overshare. Ha! I feel like everything I write or record is an overshare. But it is what it is. Everything in your comment here resonates deeply. Especially the Jane Eyre reference! I loved reading about your RV experience. I can only imagine how impactful that experience was for your family and how it continues to shape them to this day. That's what Oxford did for our family. Chris and I talk about that experience, remembering ... and it always re-centers us. We discuss the decisions we made, the journey of actually selling everything we had, and moving to a new place with nothing in place. Didn't know where we would live, didn't know if I would even be able to finish a PhD ... the fear of that decision, the step of faith going towards that ... and then recalling how God guided and provided all along the way.
This is how faith and hope connect to movement and risk-taking. These memories bring us back when we experience wilderness times. We recall, as David and Israel did, the hesed of God.
A verh Happy Thanksgiving to you, my eccentric sister. May God's face and countenance be upon your family. Enjoy making memories today! 🦃 💙
Yes!!! I have thought several times when you talked about Oxford how that sounds like a similar experience to our trip. Because, yes. That’s exactly what it did for us too.
I loved your book Beauty Chasers and it met me in one of the hardest seasons earlier this year in S Asia where we are “m” workers. My heart leapt when I saw Oh Night Divine! Would you be willing to gift a copy to me?
What a great question. I do. When I coach my volleyball team, the first thing I have them do before we get going is "Declare." They write down what they want to work on in the practice on a big whiteboard where everyone can see it. So, it brings a focused intentionality to their time. Saying it, writing it, is an act of purpose. Having that focus helps them remember why they're there. So, right now, I'm with a bunch of family members. And we spend a lot of time "remembering" and also declaring (without really doing what I have the girls do, ha) our lives to each other. I find that being intentional with the time we have with our loved ones, and bringing up memories, good and bad, helps deepen the moment.
On our drive from Johnstown to Lancaster, we took a more scenic route up near State College. It follows the Susquehanna River for much of the end of the trip, which is framed by mountains. As we drove, I kept pointing out the view, and Bri, our middle daughter (15), said, "I see it, Dad, I'm trying to be in the moment." She was being intentional.
I share that to show how intentionally remembering deepens the moments with those we love. Last night we stayed up till 1:30 a.m. sketching our Dad's family tree. It was so fun, like a mystery game. This morning over our coffee, we're still talking about it. :)
Thank you for this beautiful reminder! It’s so easy to get caught up in all the doing that we forget to just BE in His presence. My husband and I will celebrate 40 years of marriage this weekend. Our anniversary falls on the first Sunday of Advent this year—my favorite season! I too love the cold, wind and rain! (Although we don’t get very cold here in the South.) I’m so grateful for the seasons and rhythms of life. God is so good to make us in His divine image! How can your heart not be filled with joy when you look at the face of your loved one, knowing you’re looking at the face of God!
Omg! Congratulations on 40 years of marriage!!!! We are approaching our 20th, so I’ve been thinking a lot about what it takes to make a marriage last. Thank you for your gift to the world by being a picture of God’s committed love. ❤️ And it’s on the first day of Advent? *sigh* That’s soooo sweet!!! I pray it is every bit as magical as it sounds.
Leslie, thank you for sharing this! And congratulations on 40 years! We're at 24 right now (October 6). And yes, though we live in the Carolinas now, my heart is always pining for Pennsylvania and New England. I grew up in Lititz, so I'm always excited to get back up to the real cold :) The seasons, for me, bring me so close to God's heart. It's awesome to hear you resonate! 💙
Have to share this! Thank you so much - this post was a great grace to read this Thanksgiving. Sensing the invitation from the Holy Spirit to be intentional to Savour, breathe and rest this coming Advent.
Thanks, Ann. I'm so glad it was an encouragement to you!
Love this reminder!
Thanks, Jillian! And, Happy Thanksgiving!
You as well, Timothy!
Tim, you are most certainly my favorite “slightly eccentric big brother.” I told my husband the other day that I felt like in some ways you are my long lost twin, because you *get it.* What others miss or (even affectionately) rolls their eyes at, makes you stoked and me “get the eeeeeeeeee’s” as I call it. (Squeal in delight.) I guess the eccentric in you lights up the eccentric in me. 😅
Thank you for this post. And all the recent posts. I looove your thoughts on nostalgia. One of my favorite things about getting older is the way memories get stacked. Like your rainy walk taking you back to Oxford. This morning something about bare branches in front of the autumn-deep colors of sunrise took me back to something about snow, sunrise, and geese from my childhood. I’m not even sure exactly what, but it was beautifully haunting.
And reading about you spending Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania took me back to one of my favorite thanksgivings of all time. In 2017 our family was living in an RV traveling the US and Canada. We were between visiting NYC and Philadelphia when Thanksgiving hit. So we parked in this empty Church/school parking lot. There wasn’t room in our little fridge for a ham, but we kept it under the RV overnight where it stayed plenty cool. The kids played in the school playground, we made and enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner, and just reveled in the wintery sun and this wild journey we were on. I have this picture of our 2 year old daughter sitting on my lap that day just laughing her guts out. The whole thing pierces me to the core in the sweetest way.
Because, don’t you think God hijacks nostalgia? While we’re remembering a past good, he laces memories of Eden into it, making it even sweeter in memory than it was in the moment? I feel like he also does this with the “looking through windows effect”… you know, when you see people gathered around a table or Christmas tree in their home, laughing. Or even watching another couple hold hands at the mall, or kids playing at the park. It’s easy to think they have what our hearts are still missing. But I’ve come to believe it’s eternity calling to us through their windows. [OMG! I’ve felt the window effect ever since I was a little girl, but I just realized this is what Jane Eyre feels when she arrives at Moore House! *Eeeeeeeeee!!!*]
Aaaanyway, Happiest of Thanksgivings to you and your family. I am very grateful to be part of your community and to get to enjoy your writings and thoughts.
[See? Also like you in being a classic over sharer. lol!]
Sarah, I smiled all the way through this. Yes, classic overshare. Ha! I feel like everything I write or record is an overshare. But it is what it is. Everything in your comment here resonates deeply. Especially the Jane Eyre reference! I loved reading about your RV experience. I can only imagine how impactful that experience was for your family and how it continues to shape them to this day. That's what Oxford did for our family. Chris and I talk about that experience, remembering ... and it always re-centers us. We discuss the decisions we made, the journey of actually selling everything we had, and moving to a new place with nothing in place. Didn't know where we would live, didn't know if I would even be able to finish a PhD ... the fear of that decision, the step of faith going towards that ... and then recalling how God guided and provided all along the way.
This is how faith and hope connect to movement and risk-taking. These memories bring us back when we experience wilderness times. We recall, as David and Israel did, the hesed of God.
A verh Happy Thanksgiving to you, my eccentric sister. May God's face and countenance be upon your family. Enjoy making memories today! 🦃 💙
Yes!!! I have thought several times when you talked about Oxford how that sounds like a similar experience to our trip. Because, yes. That’s exactly what it did for us too.
I loved your book Beauty Chasers and it met me in one of the hardest seasons earlier this year in S Asia where we are “m” workers. My heart leapt when I saw Oh Night Divine! Would you be willing to gift a copy to me?
What a great question. I do. When I coach my volleyball team, the first thing I have them do before we get going is "Declare." They write down what they want to work on in the practice on a big whiteboard where everyone can see it. So, it brings a focused intentionality to their time. Saying it, writing it, is an act of purpose. Having that focus helps them remember why they're there. So, right now, I'm with a bunch of family members. And we spend a lot of time "remembering" and also declaring (without really doing what I have the girls do, ha) our lives to each other. I find that being intentional with the time we have with our loved ones, and bringing up memories, good and bad, helps deepen the moment.
On our drive from Johnstown to Lancaster, we took a more scenic route up near State College. It follows the Susquehanna River for much of the end of the trip, which is framed by mountains. As we drove, I kept pointing out the view, and Bri, our middle daughter (15), said, "I see it, Dad, I'm trying to be in the moment." She was being intentional.
I share that to show how intentionally remembering deepens the moments with those we love. Last night we stayed up till 1:30 a.m. sketching our Dad's family tree. It was so fun, like a mystery game. This morning over our coffee, we're still talking about it. :)