REACHING

                             Reaching for the last warmth of the fall sun

.Reaching outwards is the call of the spiritual life when we have felt the reality of His presence.

  I have had goals and dreams in my life that have caused me to prayerfully reach out

 to others and to God. There have been times of uncertainties and disappointments and failures but

 as Henri Nouven says "the paradox is, indeed, that new life is born out of the pains of the old".

 

The whole experience of this life is to become aware of this awesome love surrounding us.

Seeing the goodness in others.

And it is especially hard to see your own goodness.

 

I am so thankful for our minister Daniel who shares so openly his own personal struggles.  He is open and honest and genuine.  I am so thankful for the renewed hope in a loving God who is personal and pure and holy goodness.

Dad and I and Sandra enjoyed watching Ben play his soccer game and knew he was confident that they would win.   They were player against older boys so this made a win difficult.  Ben had two more games on Sunday and they won the last one and he played very well.

Sunday was a perfect sunny and warm day and we were happy to be able to Skye Carol and Panteli and Kim and hear their news.  Kim was off to a Thanksgiving party with friends from Canada.  It seems the Island is crawling with them.

Sandra went to such a lot of work to make everything look fabulous and I glad Theresa and Mikie and family arrived early to help in the kitchen.  Theresa is such a good help and after her and Mikie and Craig helped do the dishes..  Leah had make some excellent yams and I would have liked to eat more.  Mikie made a gluten free pumpkin pie and it was a challenge that wore him out.  The pastry did not want to paste together.  It tasted good and it was hard to choose that or pumpkin cheese cake.
In the end I know I ate far too much but enjoyed it all.

Lots of food and lots of noisy laughter.  I am hearing new stories about my children and grandchildren it is amazing. We are a family full of opinions that is for sure.  I do not know where my camera is so I will put pictures on later.

It is wonderful when family gets together and we celebrate life but there is a sadness when the party is over and everyone leaves.  Life has to return to normal and that is okay too.




 

 

 

Theresa is the last to leave as she checks over everything before she heads out to the soccer game.  This was Sat. morning after they has slept over.  What a busy week-end for them two turkey dinners, and four soccer games.  Sat. night they stayed in a motel in Richmond and went to the midnight market

I received a lot of goodness.  My neighbor Gundy brought me flowers and wine and a thank you card for walking with her.  She feels it is doing her so much good..  I also received a bag of goodies from a friend at church so thoughtful and kind.  This is all apart of the spiritual experience which is not that we have to believe right but live close to the Goodness and there comes guidance and direction and love flowing back to us.

There are parts of our hearts and our lives that should be private and respected.  "Our inner mystery,"