1984

I was gardening in the lovely sunshine with my granny today... or I should say pretending to garden... she is starting to need a bit of help but to be honest, I don't really have a clue so I was just following orders! She grows amazing rhubarb which she makes into jam but I stole some of it this week :)Anyway, she found loads of her old diaries and specifically this entry (23rd) when she was sorting through some things this week, so she gave it to me today!

For some reason, the fact that I was born on an easter monday feels more significant for me this year, although it's probably just because I’ve just thought about it more. Maybe it’s because I see easter monday as the day that celebrating the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection is lived out – where what I believe seeps into the ordinary - giving purpose and hope in the mundane of a monday...

Or maybe not. But even so, i thought the diary was kinda cool... (and my brother looks like he was totally trying to steal my thunder on the 24th...)

spontaneity

I loved the spontaneity of yesterday. My sister and I caught the train into town, met some cousins and other friends to watch the st patrick's day parade (which was pretty lame) and got lunch. Then we decided to head north and loads of us ended up in ballintoy harbour and white park bay and watched the amazing sunset while walking the beach, before headed to my aunt's for irish stew and guinness & a bit of craic... a proper holiday feeling, hanging out with my family & co... hard to beat :)

it's days like yesterday that i'd miss if i decide to jump ship to NZ to find a job....

scribbled notes and old photos...

I learned something about my grandfather this week. I knew he was a man of God and man of prayer, but I think that I missed out on a lot of his wisdom by growing up 1000s of miles away from him. He died the year I moved to Belfast. This week, I raided his bookshelf (a trait I picked up at home). The thing I've discovered (which I love) is that my granda's theology books are full of wee scraps of paper and backs of envelopes that he scribbled notes on as he read, which are still scattered through the pages. I feel like I'm retracing his steps, seeing what resonated with him as he read. It makes me wish I had known him better.

One scrap reads, "the danger of introspection p19..." which led me to this marked quote:

"Our thinking about who we are as Christians should not begin with what we can discover about ourselves by self-analysis. Rather, it begins with what God says about those who trust in Christ."

Sinclair Ferguson's Children of the Living God

And underlined and written again at the top of the first page of the next book is scrawled, "union with Christ is the root of holiness" in J.C. Ryle's Holiness.

Speaking of the past... loads of old images/photos (from 1750s on) from LIFE have now been added to google... Here's one from belfast in 1941:

A view showing the junction of Royal Avenue and Donegall Place with the City Hall in the background. Photographer: William Vandivert

summerlight

I love this song - Summerlight by Steve Jones that he just released this week. Makes me think about how my brother might feel about his wee son. It’s the first song on his album Sayonara Deadweight – listen to it here... if you have a minute.

main events

so, it's been too long. the main events?
1. i'm going to be an aunt before the end of the year... i'm so excited!! i think auntie anna has a ring to it... ;)
2. my sister left the country yesterday for 5 months so i have a very quiet house... :(
3. flights are booked to go home for the summer :)
4. this week brought about an historic moment in this wee country...one of those history book moments. a glimmer of hope and a change of tone. bring it on... :)
5. summer is on it's way with the clocks changing... (even if there was snow a week ago!) :)
6. i have more exams in a few wks... :(

so, goods and bads. but the goods outway the bads.
had lots on my mind this week. hate goodbyes or maybe it is that i dont like change. it always makes me contemplate everything else that's going on a bit more, but i guess that's probably a good thing instead of getting too comfortable with the status quo...

charles haddon

for some reason, i've been thinking about my grandfather today. he was such a godly man and i wish i had known him better. his first/middle names were charles haddon after charles haddon spurgeon. i wonder if being named after someone like that had any influence on his life, his choice of career (preacher) etc. i remember he used to smile and laugh a lot. i remember when i was younger i talked to him on the phone on one of those rare occasions from nigeria and he said to me 'we have such a wonderful jesus'. i wrote in the back of my bible as if i knew if my granda thought so, i should maybe take this wonderful jesus seriously.

i recently read this quote from spurgeon:
"quietude, which some men cannot abide because it reveals their inward poverty, is as a palace of cedar to the wise, for along its hallowed courts the king in his beauty deigns to walk."

what is it about solitude/silence that makes us search our souls? why are we sometimes so quick to run away from it? does a fear of loneliness make us grasp for music, people, activity instead of being content to be alone, quiet... anyway, just something i've been thinking about! hoping to linger more in that palace of cedar...