Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty

On the weekend I put together some patio furniture. A deck is not a good place to do such things, but that's where I did it. I wrestled a little with the legs fitting in their slots and then the place where they fit into the table top. As I was wrestling with the various pieces, I heard something bounce off the deck - and I looked down to see one of the nuts fall down through a crack onto the ground below. The nut was kind of an important component - so I went below and crawled around on my knees in the dirt for quite a few minutes.

Nearing the end of my patience - I had an idea. The idea was a simple prayer: "Lord, can you help me find this thing?" A few more minutes of looking. Nothing. OK well, I'll put it together with what I got and see how it turns out.

So I went back up and continued to wrestle with the variety of inanimate objects that were the pieces of the table. And before long a bolt slipped out of my grasp and fell down through a crack, onto the ground. A sigh. A shaking of the head.

I go down to look for the bolt - and see it almost immediately. Sitting a inch beside the bolt: the nut. (The bolt was actually pointing at the nut.)

An example, I would say, of one of the ways God answers prayer: creatively (& not exactly how I was looking for an answer, yet - so much better).

To the Cross: Travelogue

So I'm out of flavour country headed with some intentionality towards Easter. Two things: On the one hand giving up coffee has been good for me in a lot of ways. Overall I think I feel better - no energy ups and downs. And it's nice to not be dependent on it. It's also somewhat liberating to not pull through every drive through I pass. And it was a good choice in terms of lent because not having something you like on a regular basis (on purpose) works as a good reminder - to spend time reflecting, repenting.

On the other hand, I have to admit that life is a little bit more boring without coffee. It definitely makes a lot of things more enjoyable: breakfast, reading, dessert, driving . . .

But, once Easter is here I am toying with the idea of keeping the coffee-freeness up. Giving things up can be really liberating. It has made me start to consider giving up some more things, making more space, making more God-room.