Halloween

My weekend at the monastery was a time of quiet, meditation, prayer, and study. It was a beautiful place, up on a hill in the Fraser Valley, surrounded by golden woods and near a high bluff with a spectacular view. I loved awakening before dawn to boisterously ringing church bells. The first morning I stole away to a lookout room to pray before breakfast, watching the sun rise behind black mountains, gradually lightening the river down in the valley below. We were hearily served delicious meals of fruit and vegatables grown by the monks, and beef from their own cattle. Our professor, a benignant and gentle old man, had a manner very conducive to learning about spirituality. And in between the trenchant lectures on integrating spirituality with ministry, we had plenty of time for assimilating and prayerful introspection in the quiet of the woods or our own room. One afternoon, one of the brothers spoke to us about Benedictine spirituality. Afterward, we joined he and the other monks for their sung evening vespers, their deep and reverent voices filling the high vaulted ceilings of the cathedral with worship. Sunday morning, we went to mass, after which the 20 of us (Protestants) celebrated our own little private communion table, praying for each other before each one took the elements. That was a special time, as we had quickly grown to know and care for each other in the course of the two days.

I was happy to return to my family, although they had had a really bad night. A teething Cora had kept her daddy up most of it, and they were both exhausted and ill feeling, while I contrastly was physically relaxed and spiritually invigorated. Poor things.

Since then, the pace of life has been pretty furious, hence the reason I am only just now writing. But I have been diligent to not lose hold of some of the gleanings over the weekend. They are still fresh, and God just as present, even in the hectic busyness as they were in the still places.

Tuesday, we went to the doctor for both Cora and I to have our checkup (same doctor!). Cora got 4(!) vaccinations, a tramatic event which she took like the super tough girl she is. Only a couple minutes of frantic crying after the four consecutive and increasingly painful shots were given. She cuddled close to me and watched the doctor after that like a hawk. She is not quite even 21 pounds. Her little buddy who's a month younger than her is 26 pounds!

Halloween was a new experience. On Wednesday mornings I always go to a playgroup at our church, a leisurely time chatting with other moms while the kids run around. Cora usually falls asleep on the way home, and I gently transfer her to her crib. But this time she woke up from the catnap wired and their was no getting her back to sleep that afternoon. Early in the evening, we joined our pastor's family for a bit of trick-or-treating along their street before heading back to the church for a fall festival. We have quickly become good friends with Barton and Heather. They have a 3 yr old (Cora and I will be going to her birthday party tomorrow) and a 9 mo old, and we share a lot of things in common. For her costume, I had gotten Cora an adorable little monkey suit (what else could she be?) from Baby Gap, and boy, she was a hit! She was so cute following Emily (the 3 yr old) around. At the doorstep, people would hold out their basket of candy for her to choose a piece, but instead of taking one, she would put the piece she was holding (and had been gnawing on) into their basket. What a good sharer! Then we were off to the festival, where there were games and snacks. On our way back home, we discovered a huge crowd of people outside a church near our house, and we were drawn into it by the yummy smells and loud music. They were waiting for a fireworks display (fireworks are a big part of Halloween here), and so we stayed for the show, eating hot soup and a hotdog while we watched. Cora put her head on my shoulder and watched with eyes glazed over. By the time we got our monkey home to bed, she was exhausted, but so happy. She just loves being out and about so much. Hmm. Wonder where she gets that from.

Weekend Plans

Autumn continues in all its breathtaking, brilliant splendor. We have never lived in a place where the colors are so glorious everywhere. Makes me always want to be carrying my camera so I can capture some of it. But then I always forget.

Cora is walking around this frosty morning in new white furry slippers I found at the dollar store yesterday (although like pretty much everything else there, they did not cost a dollar). They are adorable on her, only I didn't think about one thing. They are furry all over--no grippy soles--so her feet keep sliding out from underneath her on our slippery hardwoods. She keeps plopping down, and as she tries to get them underneath her, they slide out again so she's almost doing the splits. Once she gets up she walks very slowly and deliberately, careful to have each foot secure before the next step.

She has started to become a true girl. She loves to put on necklaces, which was for a long time the dog's chain collar. Finally I got her some plastic beads which are much more appropriate. She likes to try to carry my or Melissa's or Alesha's purse if we leave it lying around, although we all have big purses, so she really struggles.

This weekend I am heading off to a monastary a couple hours away for a weekend course: "Ministry and Spirituality." I will be leaving this afternoon and returning on Sunday afternoon. So David has a very full weekend of daddy duty ahead of him. He has frozen chili (from a big chili party we threw last Saturday night) and fish chowder I made last night to at least help out in the food department. I am looking so forward to the time away, immersed in a quiet place of beauty and God. Of course I'll miss the loud, chaotic fun always going on here, but the change of pace will be refreshing.

Surprises

Last night we had the perfect date night. Seriously. Perfect. Let me describe...

With the absence of an afternoon nap, Cora went down easily by about 7:30. Leaving Jay and Melissa in charge (just one benefit of a community house--free babysitters), we jumped on a bus into the city. There we went to a trendy lounge/restaurant we'd been hearing about and wanting to try. After a short wait in the crowded bar, they sat us at a quiet table over by the large grated fireplace that radiated warmth on such a cold rainy night. Stylish decor, cool music, dim lighting, interesting drinks, and delicious food made us understand why it's so popular. As it was our first night out for quite a while, we were a bit more liberal with our ordering, getting an appetizer and a couple drinks in addition to our main meals. The conversation and laughter were nonstop, and somehow didn't even revolve around Cora like most conversations seem. Our waitress was sweet and witty, and we enjoyed chatting a little here and there about Vancouver and why we moved here and such. At the end of the night, Dave and I were oblivious in deep conversation when a young man walked up to our table, pulling us back into our surroundings. He introduced himself as the night manager, and said Tanya (our waitress) had told him about us being a really great couple. He asked about our evening and we raved about the food and drinks--they really were awesome. After a bit of chit chat he began to hand us our bill and said, "Well, you guys are the type of customers we love to have here, and so we just want to do something special for you. So tonight we've covered the bill." Stunned silence and gaping looks exchanged, followed by awed appreciation and profusive thanks to him and our waitress. I mean, what restaurant does that?!!!! We sort of were expecting him to perhaps offer us a couple "10% off your next meal" coupons or something. At the most a free drink. But the entire bill?!! It was just so God. I said I felt like I was just chosen for a huge prize. It was the most amazing feeling: a completely unexpected gift given with no expectation of anything in return. Sometimes God just blesses our socks off.

The whole thing gave me a sense of grace. That's what it felt like. A completely undeserved, unexpected gift that makes you giddy inside. There is no reason we should have been chosen for such a gift. They knew we are young grad students (at seminary no less) and parents to a toddler, and so we don't get out much. We're not the type that will be able to return often to spend the big bucks. But we were "chosen" despite our unworthiness. On the way home, the song "Freely, freely, you have received. Freely, freely give" was playing repeatedly through my mind.

Another really happy thing happened today. Our garbage got picked up for the first time in over 3 months. Yep. Those guys have been on strike, and we never imagined it could last this long before they came to an agreement. The garbage building up in our garage--just imagine: 5 people plus a baby!--has been absolutely disgusting. Oh happy day to have it finally gone!

Also, I wanted to explain the last two pictures on the previous post. Those are Cora with her "baby," the first thing to which she's become really attached. She was always holding the baby doll at the church nursery, so finally I got a clue and got her one of her own a few weeks ago. She loves it and is always saying "baby" to it. It's really adorable!

A Week in Pictures

Last night I turned in a 10-page paper to my professor that consumed me over the weekend, and so finally I can once again think about writing about something other than the psychological dysfunctions relating to burnout.

Last week was Reading Week at Regent, a break from classes to catch our breath. It started with the Thanksgiving weekend where we had no less than 4 full-out turkey dinners. No joke. Despite their Thanksgiving not having any interesting roots like America's (I asked about 10 Canadians and they could tell me nothing about its history), these Canadians certainly know how to celebrate. Friday was a potluck dinner with some Regent friends, Saturday was a more formal dinner of 10 at our pastor's house, Sunday our housemates Jay and Melissa threw a small dinner party (Melissa's first turkey--you should have seen her and David trying to frustratingly stuff the turkey at the wrong end), and finally, Monday, Thanksgiving itself, was spent at the aunt's house of another Regent friend with yet another gorgeous meal. It was incredible, but I probably gained 15 pounds. Here are some highlights:















The rest of the week included plenty of family time. The gorgeous autumn weather was perfect for leaf-crunching in the park, taking Cao to swim at the beach, fish and chips at the harbor, and a visit to the pumpkin patch and local produce market. Some more picture highlights:

Walking

I am proud to announce that Cora is a full-fledged walker. At the retreat over the weekend, with all the students and faculty paying her so much attention and coaxing her to toddle several steps back and forth between them, she gained her confidence (and her balance) and now walks everywhere instead of crawling. She's been doing a few steps here and there since her birthday of course, but always resorted to crawling when truly determined to get somewhere. She is still slow at it (fortunately), but it's so fun to see her, arms thrown out for balance, taking a tumble every now and then (on Sunday evening she took a bad one...after our long drive home, we took her and Cao for a walk down to the park to let them get some exercise. She took one long walk to Daddy and then fell against his shin and busted the inside of her lip. It bled and bled, and I had to hurry the several blocks home with blood pouring out of her mouth onto her and my clothes!)

I wanted to get a video of her walking around outside, but it's a rainy, rainy day today. So we are walking about indoors and thought we'd give you a little tour of our bedrooms while we're at it, since I described it a bit in a previous post.

Night and Day

Last night, Cora was tired. She didn’t want to eat dinner. At least not what I fixed her. So she fussed. And so I put her to bed. And of course, she woke up hungry. At 1:30. For almost an hour, we suffered her intermittent cries, getting up to comfort her for a moment, only to hear her start up again 5 minutes later just as we were beginning to drift off once more. Finally, Dave made her a bottle which she guzzled and by 3:00 she was fast asleep. At 4:30, we were still staring at the clock. Such frustration. Dave finally moved into the guest room because I was evidently moving too much. When I woke up several hours later, I assumed Dave must be skipping his first class for which he leaves at 8:30 since I hadn’t heard him yet. But getting up, I discovered he was long gone…I had slept right through his moving about our room while getting ready.

My plans for the day were pretty much nil. It’s so dark and rainy outside, and I decided it would be an inside, do-nothing day, as the last three days have been spent out and about running errands, and doing church and Regent things. So, mid-morning I lazily let Cao out to do his thing. When it was time to come back in, he looked at me pitifully. Cora did worse. She screamed. Rain or shine, she always wants to be outside. They were too much for me, ganging up like that. They always take each other's side. So I fixed a second cup of coffee, and the three of us strolled out into the dreary and deserted neighborhood streets. It was silent except for the stroller wheels rolling along on the wet and gritty sidewalk. The air was chilly and tingly, the smell of rain melding with that of a fire somewhere nearby. We all three were very quiet, using our noses and ears and not our too-often exercised mouths. Gradually, my heart that started out tired and dull became enlivened and invigorated. At one point, we passed a tree that was thick with a congregation of loudly chattering birds. Just one tree; they all evidently had gotten the memo of where to be today. Then silence again as we walked out of earshot. When we came back home, my coffee cup drained and my nose cold, those two were still loathe to go inside—Cora cried and kicked all the more instead of being grateful for the outing. They have no concept of rainy days being indoor days. Well, I’m appreciative that they pulled me out, out into what I thought might be uncomfortable, but in truth was moving and vitalizing. Like so much of what God does in our lives. We fear risk and discomfort. Usually, it turns out to be transforming.

Tomorrow we leave for the annual Regent retreat, a weekend of socializing amongst students and faculty. The theme is "Surprised by God: From Fear to Longing". It is at Warm Beach in Washington, which evidently does not have a beach, nor is it warm. Many of the students are camping. We’ll stay in a dry cabin where Cora will sleep much better (what a good excuse so we don't look like wimps not camping in the rain.) Childcare is offered during the sessions, so I look forward to the break. I’m doing several loads of laundry today in preparation. Thankfully, we now have a dryer. For a few weeks last month it was broken, so we were using the line. It’s one thing to have to hang the clothes to dry in August. It’s another thing entirely in September. Just the few weeks without made me extraordinarily grateful for the convenience of a dryer. At first, I was enthusiastic about the line: I had an idealized view of hanging the laundry out, saving energy, the clothes soaking up the wind-born scents of the outdoors. In reality, it is simply annoying. My clothes were stiff and wrinkled, sometimes they wouldn’t get dry before the sun set, then I would find them lying in the dirt where they had fallen off. And hanging up 25 cloth diapers, only to take them down twice when it started to rain, and then when they finally did get dry, were so stiff there was no way I could put them on a bare bottom, was not fun. But for all the hassle, I must say...is there much sweeter than a line of baby girl clothes blowing in the wind? Simply adorable. So, big tangent, but I’m happy to say, the laundry is almost all dried and folded and put away.

Tonight, a neighbor couple that we met while out for a walk one evening a couple weeks ago is stopping by for a glass of wine. They have a blonde dog almost exactly like Cao. So while the dogs run and play in the backyard, we plan to get to know each other a bit more. So much of our community is either Regent or church, so we are excited about extending it to include some neighbors.

Autumn Musings

The Autumn chill is in the air. Somehow, in what only seems a few days, we have lost an hour of daylight, and they continue to shorten by several minutes each day. On this bleak and windy day, Dave and I, taking a Sabbath break from our studies, curled up in bed as Cora napped to read aloud the Wind in the Willows. We're at the chapter where Mole rediscovers his forgotten home, a story that infuses warmth for one's own home. We talked at length afterwards about old homes and this our new home. We contentedly looked about us at the glow of lamplight on the rich wooden walls and floors of our bedroom, the deep reds and browns of the oriental rug and throw pillows and furniture, our books spilling off of bookshelves and nightstands and tables, the fireplace ready for the coming freeze and the mantle covered with pictures and candles, our two cozy reading chairs on either side of a little tea table. It is by far the most cozy bedroom we've ever had. Perhaps we should christen it Mole End. With Cora's awakening, we took a long walk in the drizzle for some fresh sourdough bread to go with my homemade chicken noodle soup. It just simply had to be a soup day. There was no question.

My sweet mom was here for the past week, a blur of coffee chats, sunsets on the beach while watching Cao swim lap after lap after his ball, walking and bike riding around town, and laughing over Cora's antics. The weather was just gorgeous every day: bright blue skies, crisp air. Each day was a special treat totally devoted to enjoying each other. The house feels empty without her now. (Although we do have 3 missionaries in need of housing for a few days filling up the space). This morning when I awoke to the dreariness, I thought, "How appropriate." Then I pulled on the velvety-soft grey cashmere sweater she had bought for me on a Costco run, and pretended it was a hug.

This past week has seen us throwing ouselves heart and soul into a new semester of books and courses. David, to the disbelief of all of our friends who we struggled side by side with last semester, is revving up the course load to 13 hours from the 11 before (which was still 2 more than most others who take only 9). He is taking Old Testament, Church History, Intermediate Greek, Christian Thought and Culture, and Soul of Ministry. They each involve not only lecture time, but mandatory tutorials, in addition obviously to the multitude of papers and reading work. The most crazy of his days, Tuesdays, after 9 hours at Regent (6.5 of class time, 1 of chapel, 1.5 of lunch and recoup time), we meet up to trade off Cora so that I can attend an evening course: Intro to Counseling. After much prayer and deliberation this summer, we have decided that I will pursue a degree here as well...slowly, but surely. Some of the requirement can be fulfilled by audio courses, even after we leave Regent. For a Masters in Christian Studies, I will have to fulfill 60 hours of coursework; quite a load for only part time. But since I can benefit from a spousal 50% credit, we decided we should take full advantage of our being here so we are ready for whatever God might bring our way. So, I'm taking this counseling course which is going to be demanding, thought-provoking, and even a bit disturbing as it attempts to better understand this broken world full of broken people. Mom came along with me to the first lecture last week, and it gave us a lot of fuel for conversation.

Well, with this long post about our goings on, I will leave you now. David just appeared with tea, so it's time for our nightly cuppa as we quietly wind down in our reading corner, each independently absorbed with a book, yet bonding just the same through a communion of mutual understanding, appreciation, and familiarity. I bet we're still doing this when we're 80.