Most people spend an August vacation soaking up the sun on the beach or a cruise. Not us. We spent ours freezing our bums off amidst icy glaciers and frigid lakes. We also didn't do much lying around and relaxing either. Each day involved either a big hike or bike ride, sometimes both. We filled the week full to the brim. Poor Cora was successfully inaugurated to the typical Jenkins method of travel: see and do everything you can possibly manage, and more. She had to find time for little catnaps in her carseat, the backpack, or even the bike seat. But she was amazing. The last couple days at home has been catch up time for us all on sleep.
It would take too long to tell of all the adventures we had, but you can get a glimpse of our week in our photo album (well, more than just a glimpse actually--it's a lot of pictures.)
Monday, August 27, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Birthday Party!
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Has it really been a year already? I look back over the extraordinary 365 days that I have been with Cora, and I thank God for such a precious year. I want to savor it more fully, especially as I imagine it will only begin to go faster and faster. After a crazy day of birthday celebrations yesterday, today I am taking some time to contemplate and consider what she means to me, what I have learned this year, and lessons I must carry forward into future years.
Yesterday was a delight. Cora seemed to sense that this was a joyful day, a day not for sleeping, for she napped only an hour in the morning, and even though she was in her crib for 2 hours in the afternoon, never fell asleep despite Daddy and Mommy's alternate rocking, singing, carressing, and soothing. She was not unhappy; there were few tears. She just sang and played in the curtained darkness.
Finally, although fearing she would be exhausted for her big party, we brought her upstairs as the guests began to arrive. 18 people gather together to make the day special for her. David manned the grill, while I made frosty pink lemonade drinks. Cora tasted her first hotdog...surprisingly, she's much more enthusiastic about green peas than hotdogs. We all gathered around to sing a boisterous "happy birthday" and watch her dig into her bunny-shaped carrot cake. She was cautious and dainty, a bit unsure what to do with the large ear placed before her. I don't know whether it was all the people staring at her, a desire not to get her fingers dirty, or simply that my healthy cake made with honey and whole wheat was not very tasty to her, but she did not dive in as expected. She patted it a little and allowed her daddy to feed her bites, but was not eager to forage into it herself.
Presents time was all so new and fascinating. The curly, colorful ribbons were especially thrilling, and reaching into bags to pull out books or shoes was a great game. She received a jack-in-the-box, a wooden puzzle, magnetic building pieces (which Jay and David found absorbing), books, clothes, 3 pairs of Robeez shoes, and some old-fashioned wooden toys.
Gradually the guests filtered out until it was just family: Grammie, Poppie, surrogate Auntie Melissa and Uncle Jay, Mommy and Daddy. We sat around in the living room playing with the new toys. She circled from person to person, from toy to toy. Then to our surprise and delight, she took her first few steps, going from Daddy to the coffee table on which were her pretty shoes. The next half hour was spent in a flurry of excitement trying to get her to do it again for the video camera. Teasing her with toys, shouting encouragement, she gave some effort but took a lot of tumbles. Things began to quiet down, the others began cleaning up, David began playing the piano, only Poppie and I sat with Cora. I stood her up before me and then with great concentration and deliberation, she took 4 good steps into Poppie's arms. What an amazing culmination to a wonderful day. It's strange to think that before long, she will be running!
As David gave her a bottle that night, she drank only 2 oz. before she was fast asleep. She woke up at 7 this morning, only to have a diaper change by Daddy and crawl into bed with Mommy where both slept again until 9 (poor Daddy had to go to Greek class.) We were exhausted from the festivities!
For a visual presentation of the day, make sure you look at our picture site: http://picasaweb.google.com/mtnbikedavid
Yesterday was a delight. Cora seemed to sense that this was a joyful day, a day not for sleeping, for she napped only an hour in the morning, and even though she was in her crib for 2 hours in the afternoon, never fell asleep despite Daddy and Mommy's alternate rocking, singing, carressing, and soothing. She was not unhappy; there were few tears. She just sang and played in the curtained darkness.
Finally, although fearing she would be exhausted for her big party, we brought her upstairs as the guests began to arrive. 18 people gather together to make the day special for her. David manned the grill, while I made frosty pink lemonade drinks. Cora tasted her first hotdog...surprisingly, she's much more enthusiastic about green peas than hotdogs. We all gathered around to sing a boisterous "happy birthday" and watch her dig into her bunny-shaped carrot cake. She was cautious and dainty, a bit unsure what to do with the large ear placed before her. I don't know whether it was all the people staring at her, a desire not to get her fingers dirty, or simply that my healthy cake made with honey and whole wheat was not very tasty to her, but she did not dive in as expected. She patted it a little and allowed her daddy to feed her bites, but was not eager to forage into it herself.
Presents time was all so new and fascinating. The curly, colorful ribbons were especially thrilling, and reaching into bags to pull out books or shoes was a great game. She received a jack-in-the-box, a wooden puzzle, magnetic building pieces (which Jay and David found absorbing), books, clothes, 3 pairs of Robeez shoes, and some old-fashioned wooden toys.
Gradually the guests filtered out until it was just family: Grammie, Poppie, surrogate Auntie Melissa and Uncle Jay, Mommy and Daddy. We sat around in the living room playing with the new toys. She circled from person to person, from toy to toy. Then to our surprise and delight, she took her first few steps, going from Daddy to the coffee table on which were her pretty shoes. The next half hour was spent in a flurry of excitement trying to get her to do it again for the video camera. Teasing her with toys, shouting encouragement, she gave some effort but took a lot of tumbles. Things began to quiet down, the others began cleaning up, David began playing the piano, only Poppie and I sat with Cora. I stood her up before me and then with great concentration and deliberation, she took 4 good steps into Poppie's arms. What an amazing culmination to a wonderful day. It's strange to think that before long, she will be running!
As David gave her a bottle that night, she drank only 2 oz. before she was fast asleep. She woke up at 7 this morning, only to have a diaper change by Daddy and crawl into bed with Mommy where both slept again until 9 (poor Daddy had to go to Greek class.) We were exhausted from the festivities!
For a visual presentation of the day, make sure you look at our picture site: http://picasaweb.google.com/mtnbikedavid
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Catching up
The paradox of my blogging attempts is that when I actually have something to write about, I generally have no time to write. The last couple weeks have been a swirl of activity, and so I am merely popping up my head in the midst of it all to catch up a bit.
2 weekends ago was our 5-year anniversary. When we were married in Jamaica, we said we'd try to go back for our 5-year. Perhaps we'll put it off until the 10-year. Instead, we celebrated by taking full advantage of our own spectacular city, which we don't do nearly enough. Plus, the temperatures here are much more to our liking than the steaming islands...we have had clear, brilliantly sunny days but with mild temps. In the morning and evenings, it is actually quite chilly.
We began the celebrating early by getting a friend to babysit Cora on Friday night while we went out kayaking with a few other Regent friends. It was breathtakingly beautiful: a placid cove nestled in the mountains, deep blue water, evergreen lined shores, a shimmering sunset.
On Saturday, July 28th, our actual anniversary, we arose early to a gorgeous day and rode our bikes, pulling Cora along in the bike trailer, to our favorite coffee shop, where we sat outside drinking lattes and eating breakfast.
All good anniversaries should have metaphorical fireworks, I guess, but lucky for us we got the real thing. The Celebration of Light is going on in Vancouver as it does every summer, where countries compete against each other for the most impressive and technologically advanced fireworks display. This summer, Spain, Canada and China compete. So, we packed a picnic and went down to the beach to watch Canada's display over the English Bay. It was choreographed to jazzy music including, appropriately, Nat King Cole's Unforgettable, which we danced to at our wedding. We brought Cora with us, keeping her up way past her bedtime. She had a blast, excited by our late night rendez-vous and enthralled by the fireworks.
On Sunday Shelli arrived to spend the week with us taking care of Cora while I took a short but intensive writing course at Regent taught by Lauren Winner, an author I love. In the midst of the studies, we have been enjoying plenty of eating out, shopping, and walking around, the typical things when parents come to visit!
Tomorrow we plan to celebrate David's birthday by going out to a French restaurant. Then we are preparing for a big birthday bash for Cora on Sunday. When it rains, it pours. I do love the rain.
2 weekends ago was our 5-year anniversary. When we were married in Jamaica, we said we'd try to go back for our 5-year. Perhaps we'll put it off until the 10-year. Instead, we celebrated by taking full advantage of our own spectacular city, which we don't do nearly enough. Plus, the temperatures here are much more to our liking than the steaming islands...we have had clear, brilliantly sunny days but with mild temps. In the morning and evenings, it is actually quite chilly.
We began the celebrating early by getting a friend to babysit Cora on Friday night while we went out kayaking with a few other Regent friends. It was breathtakingly beautiful: a placid cove nestled in the mountains, deep blue water, evergreen lined shores, a shimmering sunset.
On Saturday, July 28th, our actual anniversary, we arose early to a gorgeous day and rode our bikes, pulling Cora along in the bike trailer, to our favorite coffee shop, where we sat outside drinking lattes and eating breakfast.
All good anniversaries should have metaphorical fireworks, I guess, but lucky for us we got the real thing. The Celebration of Light is going on in Vancouver as it does every summer, where countries compete against each other for the most impressive and technologically advanced fireworks display. This summer, Spain, Canada and China compete. So, we packed a picnic and went down to the beach to watch Canada's display over the English Bay. It was choreographed to jazzy music including, appropriately, Nat King Cole's Unforgettable, which we danced to at our wedding. We brought Cora with us, keeping her up way past her bedtime. She had a blast, excited by our late night rendez-vous and enthralled by the fireworks.
On Sunday Shelli arrived to spend the week with us taking care of Cora while I took a short but intensive writing course at Regent taught by Lauren Winner, an author I love. In the midst of the studies, we have been enjoying plenty of eating out, shopping, and walking around, the typical things when parents come to visit!
Tomorrow we plan to celebrate David's birthday by going out to a French restaurant. Then we are preparing for a big birthday bash for Cora on Sunday. When it rains, it pours. I do love the rain.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Communal Living
I was laughing with a friend last week about how I feel like I've once again been initiated into "proper" adulthood. No longer living with parents or in an apartment the size of a dormroom, we actually now have a house, a car, a dog, a baby, all the conventionalities of a successful married adult. Chuffed at having progressed so far, she brought me back down a bit. "Except that you're sharing the house." Oh yeah...except for that. "And you don't have any income." Ooh, yeah, employment. That's a biggie. Okay, so maybe we haven't quite reached the settled down, successful adult phase after all. Eh, who wants to grow up anyway?
Our friends Jason and Melissa who are sharing our house came back on Saturday after three weeks visiting family in Toronto. Soon we will begin the hunt for a single to also share our abode. We are beginning to settle into the rythms and patterns of community life after having spent a good amount of time arranging details: dividing up the cooking and cleaning load, dealing with grocery and bill logistics, organizing kitchen space, etc.
Recent memoirs I've read on convent and monastic living have given me insight into both the intention and the nitty-gritty of communal living. Indeed, love and grace and service will be demanded in abundance, availing us of new avenues for spiritual development. Yoking ourselves together, we desire to push upwards, attempting to attain the unity that the New Testament elaborates, but which the Church seldom endeavors to live out.
Our friends Jason and Melissa who are sharing our house came back on Saturday after three weeks visiting family in Toronto. Soon we will begin the hunt for a single to also share our abode. We are beginning to settle into the rythms and patterns of community life after having spent a good amount of time arranging details: dividing up the cooking and cleaning load, dealing with grocery and bill logistics, organizing kitchen space, etc.
Recent memoirs I've read on convent and monastic living have given me insight into both the intention and the nitty-gritty of communal living. Indeed, love and grace and service will be demanded in abundance, availing us of new avenues for spiritual development. Yoking ourselves together, we desire to push upwards, attempting to attain the unity that the New Testament elaborates, but which the Church seldom endeavors to live out.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Books, Books, and More Books
My book stack is becoming ridiculous. You would laugh to see my nightstand. Between the Regent library, the Vancouver public library, and Amazon orders, I am overwhelmed with volumes that are already begun or anxiously anticipating being cracked. Browsing the stack and choosing which to read for a half-hour coffee break during Cora's nap or the reading hour before bed is pure delight. Not much could be better than a stack of great books waiting to be read, except perhaps the satisfaction of completing them one by one...which takes a long time when you keep starting new ones before finishing the old. There is quite a disparity between David's and my reading methods. He is systematic, never having 2 "pleasure" books, meaning non-school although they tend to bring a lot of pleasure as well, going at the same time, while I obviously am a willy-nilly, pick up anything that strikes my fancy reader. So, onto my book list, which I have failed to keep updated on the sidebar because it would take a lot of time to list the books that come and go off my nightstand.
Books I am in the middle of:
David is plowing through a 600-page Jonathan Edwards biography and loving The Ragamuffin Gospel, although he spends about 8 hours a day on Greek these days, so they are both going quite slowly.
Usually I am not quite this bad at being in the middle of so many books. Really. I just happened to get a bit carried away at the libraries. This infatuation with books perhaps accounts for my frustration and restlessness with mundane household duties that I blogged about a few days ago. It is truly a big lesson for God to get through to me that the holiness and sanctity of physical work actually can exceed that of the intellectual. Nouwen's question keeps echoing in my head when I am frustrated with a too long to do list: "Why do I always want to read about the spiritual life and not really live it?"
Books I am in the middle of:
- The Genesee Diary, Henri Nouwen--Highly recommended.
- Dakota, Kathleen Norris
- Stalking the Divine, Kristin Ohlson
- Gilead, Marilynne Robinson--Highly recommended.
- The Philosophy of Tokien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings, Peter Kreeft--Highly recommended...also doubles as an intro to philosophy textbook.
- Men and Women in the Church, Sarah Sumner
- Creative, Confident Children: Making the Most of the Preschool Years, Maxine Hancock (a Regent prof)
- Happiest Toddler on the Block, Harvey Karp
- My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers (daily devotional reading)
- The Message of Ephesians, John Stott--Highly recommended.
Then there are the books I'm reading aloud with David:
- Pilgrim's Inn, Elizabeth Goudge (This we started during our time at home in May and should have been long finished by now except that we started listening to Atlas Shrugged during the car trip, which obviously took a monumental amount of time to get through.
- Life as a Vapor, John Piper (devotional reading on most nights)
David is plowing through a 600-page Jonathan Edwards biography and loving The Ragamuffin Gospel, although he spends about 8 hours a day on Greek these days, so they are both going quite slowly.
Usually I am not quite this bad at being in the middle of so many books. Really. I just happened to get a bit carried away at the libraries. This infatuation with books perhaps accounts for my frustration and restlessness with mundane household duties that I blogged about a few days ago. It is truly a big lesson for God to get through to me that the holiness and sanctity of physical work actually can exceed that of the intellectual. Nouwen's question keeps echoing in my head when I am frustrated with a too long to do list: "Why do I always want to read about the spiritual life and not really live it?"
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
A Moment in Time
This morning as I nursed Cora, she looked up and gently touched my face. "I love you," I whispered three times. Still drinking, still touching my face, still looking into my eyes, the corners of her mouth turned upwards into a tender smile. A moment of understanding. That is happiness.
She is my little Maiden of Grace, revealing the continuous droplets of God's grace to me...and, at times, teaching me to be a woman of Grace myself. :-)
She is my little Maiden of Grace, revealing the continuous droplets of God's grace to me...and, at times, teaching me to be a woman of Grace myself. :-)
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Holy Living
Recently I came across this article and found it both comforting and inspiring (please don't skip this all my hurried, skim-reading, mommy friends...this one's especially for you):
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/may/30.48.html
I love when she says, "Mothering teaches me that spirituality is not only about folding hands and closing eyes. As my daily life has become more physical and immediate, so has my experience of God." Disciplines of solitude, fasting, and study like those Foster's Celebration of Discipline promotes, a book I adore even if it is quite daunting, are simply unrealistic right now, a fact I appreciate being reminded. But that does not mean my spiritual life is going down the drain until Cora goes off to school (even then, there might be more young 'uns under foot.) Rather, I have never grown so much in my life as these last 11 months, though it has been through more unorthodox means, as Paris so accurately describes.
This idea of the sanctity of everyday living has been reinforced through my reading of Henri Nouwen's The Genesee Diary, an account of his seven months living in a Trappist monastery. Belying my expectations, he discovered that the contemplative life eluded him in this place where he anticipated it would come so naturally. He finds the manual labor irksome and continuously frets that he is not having as much quiet study time as he had planned. Through several diary entries, he writes:
Yearning for extended study and prayer times such as my single friends are able to enjoy only leads to discontentment in my banal duties of cleaning, cooking, and caring for an energetic and attention-demanding 11-month old. Yet God is using these very things, these holy things, for my sanctification and spiritual development in this season of my life. I can and must daily exchange my restlessness for "greater" things for the quietness of a heart tuned to God's abundance surrounding my life call: "In quietness and trust is your strenth" (Is. 30:15). My daily chores of changing diapers and grocery shopping, when married with prayer and purposed for the glory of God, are equally as spiritual as that of monks...or seminary students.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/may/30.48.html
I love when she says, "Mothering teaches me that spirituality is not only about folding hands and closing eyes. As my daily life has become more physical and immediate, so has my experience of God." Disciplines of solitude, fasting, and study like those Foster's Celebration of Discipline promotes, a book I adore even if it is quite daunting, are simply unrealistic right now, a fact I appreciate being reminded. But that does not mean my spiritual life is going down the drain until Cora goes off to school (even then, there might be more young 'uns under foot.) Rather, I have never grown so much in my life as these last 11 months, though it has been through more unorthodox means, as Paris so accurately describes.
This idea of the sanctity of everyday living has been reinforced through my reading of Henri Nouwen's The Genesee Diary, an account of his seven months living in a Trappist monastery. Belying my expectations, he discovered that the contemplative life eluded him in this place where he anticipated it would come so naturally. He finds the manual labor irksome and continuously frets that he is not having as much quiet study time as he had planned. Through several diary entries, he writes:
"Why didn't I really enjoy the work, and why did I want to go back to my books to read about the spiritual life? Is selecting stones in the creek bed [for me: cooking, changing diapers] not the best spiritual life possible? Why do I always want to read about the spiritual life and not really live it?....
If I have learned anything this week, it is that there is a contemplative way of working that is more important for me than praying, reading, or singing. Most people think that you go to the monastery to pray. Well, I prayed more this week than before but also discovered that I have not learned yet to make the work of my hands into a prayer....
The spiritual life does not consist of any special thoughts, ideas or feelings but is contained in the most simple ordinary experiences of everyday living."
Yearning for extended study and prayer times such as my single friends are able to enjoy only leads to discontentment in my banal duties of cleaning, cooking, and caring for an energetic and attention-demanding 11-month old. Yet God is using these very things, these holy things, for my sanctification and spiritual development in this season of my life. I can and must daily exchange my restlessness for "greater" things for the quietness of a heart tuned to God's abundance surrounding my life call: "In quietness and trust is your strenth" (Is. 30:15). My daily chores of changing diapers and grocery shopping, when married with prayer and purposed for the glory of God, are equally as spiritual as that of monks...or seminary students.
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