We may never see the full answer to our prayers, but their blessings may reach far beyond our lifetime. As part of a six-week course I am doing, I was asked to take a test to discover which emotions most strongly drive me. When the results came back, they stopped me in my tracks. The…
Tag: tenderness
Love Kneels Down
Sometimes the most ordinary acts of service carry the most extraordinary love. On Maundy Thursday, I find myself deeply moved by the thought that love kneels. Not proud.Not distant.Not hurried.But low enough to wash feet.Low enough to serve.Low enough to remain tender, even with suffering already gathering at the door. There is something about that…
Water over Rock
We are constantly being shaped by what we repeatedly allow into our hearts and minds, often without realising it. There are some places that seem to hold a feeling for you, so that when you return, something in you settles before you even understand why. Marysville is like that for me. This summer, on one…
Next To You
As love deepens, excitement can soften into something quieter: the feeling of being safe with one another. Yesterday was one of those days that start normally but end with your heart in your throat. My elderly dad had a fall. It ended well, thank God, but at the time it was frightening. The ambulance came,…
Tender Beginnings
Perhaps one of the greatest privileges of growing older is being given the opportunity to watch another generation grow, discover and find its place in the world. Although the day might have seemed like just another day, to me it felt like the world had paused for a moment, holding its breath for something extraordinary….
True Beauty
Older generations are worthy of honour for the wisdom they carry, the hardships they have endured, and the lives and stories that have shaped the world we inherited. During my visit to the hospital to see my mum today, I shared the elevator with an elderly couple. They got off one floor before me, and…
Something to Smile About
Notice what makes you smile. Those small moments are not interruptions to life, they are life. What makes you smile? I sometimes think life poses this question softly, in the middle of the most ordinary moments. Not during the grand occasions we prepare for and photograph and remember, but in the passing fragments of an…
My Dad, My Hero
There is deep tenderness in becoming the strength for someone who once was yours. I was told that when I came into this world, my father was especially glad that the baby placed into his arms was a little girl. I have often pictured that moment in my mind, my father looking down at me…
Bedtime Story
Perhaps the wisdom of growing older is realising that the hands we feared were empty have been holding more than we knew. When I was a little girl, about six years old, living in Helsinki, one of my mother’s dearest friends came to our home for supper. Her name was Eila. She lived nearby and…
