Yes, it's Sunday. It's my blog and there are no rules. :)



1) Pumpkin! Shocking, I know. We have finally started harvesting our impressive six-pumpkin collection for consumption. So far we've made pumpkin soup (using a variation of this recipe), pumpkin bread and muffins, pumpkin seeds and pumpkin pie. And we STILL have 8 cups of pumpkin frozen in the freezer. I'm toying with trying this pumpkin mac & cheese recipe, and we're making sure we save enough to make pumpkin pie for an American Thanksgiving get-together later this month. I'm open to more suggestions!

2) The grand finale of Autumn colour. The eldest was due for a "baby root canal" on Tuesday, but when it was cancelled at the last minute, Matt and I jumped at the chance for a quick - and breathtakingly beautiful - morning walk through Phoenix Park. Even though Autumn begins early here, it seemed muted until just this last week. Everywhere we go now, the trees are on fire. We've even had a good bit of sun, almost making up for it setting before 5pm.



3) The Peace Experiment update :: So far, mostly good. I've been praying peace over our children before school, we've been sharing what we're thankful for during dinner, and we're all trying not to yell up and down the stairs at each other. I printed off these images to display around our home and above our kitchen table, and I've started a devotional on peace through YouVersion. Also, Jesus Calling for this week has been the perfect compliment to our growing focus on peacefulness. Of course, a couple of mornings have been a wash and the bedtime routine was wild whilst Dad was away, but we're aiming for intention over perfection.

4) What I'm Into. So the last few months I've been trying to do the monthly link-up What I'm Into with Leigh Kramer. This month she'll be having a giveaway for all those who participate in the What I'm Into for it's one year birthday! This is one of my favourite bloggery things to take part in, always inspiring me to read, listen to or try something new, write concise reviews and get to know new bloggers. You should do it, too!

5) Serve the City. Since moving back to Ireland, we seem to have hit our stride with life, school and work (we think, mostly), and one of the ways this is all syncing for us is through Serve the City. Matt's taken on a leadership role with STC Dublin and it seems to be a perfect fit, not just for his awesome man-skills, but also for our ministry philosophy: we want to see glimpses of God's Kingdom here on earth, and through serving the vulnerable in our city, we get to share a little bit of that Light and Hope. And by "we" I mean mostly Matt and the amazing STC leaders and volunteers. Matt spent the weekend in Berlin with STC leaders from around the world and it's so confirming and encouraging to see how the crazy puzzle pieces of our life are finally starting to fit.

That's it for me this week. How about you? What's been a favourite happening in your part of the world?

Fill me up

After a few exhaustingly busy days, I'm feeling empty emotionally and physically. The wee kiddos are watching cartoons, we're all still in pjs, and I'm mindlessly surfing facebook and blogs while feeling completely devoid of energy, apart from the ability to click a mousepad with my index finger.

I'm amazed at how quickly this happens; mothering and planning and field-tripping, these seemingly natural and mostly normal activities that zap the body and mind.

I'm mildly amused by my ability to press the gas pedal without checking the gas gauge.

I'm frustrated at how quickly I empty myself without noticing the need to fill myself back up again.

I'm realizing that I've got to fill up first, or there will be nothing to give. Only an empty vessel, and empty vessels don't do much good of anything. Until they're filled again and again...

So come on, God. Let's fill 'er up. I want to overflow.

Weary in not-well doing

A few weeks back, a wonderful gentleman who has known me for the better part of my life prayed over our family in church. As he prayed for us (a not unfamiliar task, as it was his prayers - together with God's call - that propelled us to overseas work), he asked the Lord that we would "be weary in not-well doing." I'm quite sure he meant "not be weary in well-doing," but, well, you know...

I couldn't help but laugh, as there are more than a few times I have felt weary in not-well doing. Dishes are piling up and it is way past bedtime. Sunday morning finds angry children and exhausted coffee-tumbler-toting parents hunkered down in a minivan. Prayers seemingly go unanswered after late nights of whispers and tears. Coming in third, or thirtieth, or threethousandth in a marathon, or worse yet, collapsing before the finish line.

You get the picture. Who hasn't felt weary in not-well doing?

Reflecting on that dyslexic prayer left me feeling all tied up in knots. I think I secretly wonder if this accidental prayer put a little hoax on me. We know - or really, we'd like to think we know - that God knows the thoughts and the needs behind prayers. Behind the mixed-up names and unspoken requests, He truly knows the soul and longings. (I actually referred to a not-so-new friend by an entirely different name during a lovely and inspired 3-minute verbal dialogue between me and God and in her forgiving presence. You know who you are!) But I think deep down inside my doubting heart, I ponder the ridiculous notion that in hearing those jumbled words, He did indeed grant the prayer: may she be weary in not-well doing.

But what do I really know? I know that He says:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me." John 14v1

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives..." John 14v27

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you." John 15v4

"Apart from me you can do nothing." John 15v5

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last." John 15v16

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galations 6v9

I think we're lying to ourselves if we don't own that sometimes we do grow weary in not-well doing. But what do we know? That even up to His death, Jesus - who may have grown very weary - did not grow weary in well-doing. Up to the end, He was inspiring us to pursue Him, to rest in Him, to find peace in Him, and to abide with Him. He was comforting us in our very time of need.

I woke up weary in not-well doing this morning. I mean really, super-duper, tears on the pillow weary. And then I spent the morning with Him. He chose me - me! - to go and bear fruit; fruit that will last, well past the expiration date.

So I rested in Him for a good long while, and then got back to work.

Love in the kitchen

I hear him in the kitchen now. He says I love you with the clanging of dishes and the crashing of forks.

He wears an apron with a cartoon crazy-chef-like image on it and is covered in flour. Hospitality could be his middle name, apart from the tornado aftermath of an amazing meal. But without the tornado, there would be less to love, for he throws all he has - hands, eyes, brain, and heart - into making us full. He allows the rest of us to sit awhile and talk, sharing ideas and updating stories, laughing like mothers and sisters do.

He knows its value, the heart of his wife. The ability to care for and nurture does not come easily to all men. But to him it does, he says, because he does it for me.


the man, the tattoo, the camping/cooking/loving legend