WEEK THREE - SIMPLICITY

Since my experience last week, missing some beautiful shots and wishing I had my camera with me, I decided this week to travel with camera in hand. Or at least within grabbing distance.

Monday morning I was pondering what I might possibly photograph for this weeks theme. As I drove to work, I took that half hour commute to think about what simplicity means to me. I figured that it would probably be something I barely noticed as I rushed through my days. Something I took for granted but would notice if it was missing.

I had an ah-ha moment as I realized that the sun rises and sets everyday and I depend on it. My life depends on it but I certainly take for granted that the "sun`ll come out tomorrow". Faithfully. Without any input from me.

So my simplicity is a study of a week of sunsets (since anyone who knows me knows I rarely see a sunrise - I like my sleep too much!).

As simple as the concept of a sunset is, the experience will take your breath away.

If you thought last weeks challenge had too many pictures, I won`t apologize but this one has more. I couldn`t pick just one. Each evening sky transformed each moment into something spectacular. My pictures don`t do justice to the wonder I experienced this week but I hope they give you a glimpse of the beauty I beheld.

Day One

The sunset started with a simple yellow sky with a bit of orange tinges. The winter clouds covered most of the sky.

By the time I was almost home, the thick winter clouds were no longer in view.

Day Two

I was so disappointed that I had forgotten my camera at home in my rush to get out the door. Even more so when I watched a very pretty sunset dance across the sky. I was entranced all the way home.

Day Three

It started as a low orange streak across the horizon

Within minutes the entire sky was full of  colour. In our area, it seems that windmills are a blight on the skyline in every direction. Silhouetted by a flaming sky, even they can appear beautiful!

The purple streaks across the sky of fire, was a majestic display.

Day 4

The sunset started with a lot of cloud cover and a low pale pink streak. As I drove home, I expected this was the most colour I would see that dusk.

And then I rounded a curve in the road and met with the most amazing blend of pinks and purples.

I turned onto the next road and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds.

A bit further down the road, the sun dropped into full view.

Day 5

Once again, I thought a low pink streak was going to be the most I could capture and I wasn't going to complain, given the amazing sunsets I had already enjoyed.

And then again we rounded that corner in the road and rushed to a place where I could capture this:

Day 6

I arrived home, grabbed my camera and ran to the river.

I couldn't resist adding this father and son spending time ice fishing.

The sun setting over Fighting Island.

As I drove past a golf course, I couldn't ignore the sun between the hills. I stopped the car on the side of the road. jumped a ditch and followed the deer tracks through the brush for this:

I am so glad I did.

"so that from the rising of the sun
    to the place of its setting
people may know there is none besides me.
    I am the Lord, and there is no other."

Isaiah 45:6

A Weekend to Rest

I laugh as I write the title of this post because honestly, though I do plan on getting some rest,what I am really planning to do is catch up on some long overdue housework.

This is, however, the first weekend that I have had with "nothing" happening for a very long time.
Since about last May.
No commitments.
No plans.
Nothing I have to do and nowhere I have to be.
A rest. And I am claiming it. It's mine!

A precious friend sent me this today. It spoke to me as I sighed a deep and satisfying yes!

Enjoying a weekend full of rest and family......and a bit of cleaning thrown in for good measure!

Choose

Yesterday morning a friend prayed for me. He spoke words that spoke to my heart.

"Help Marnie to choose rest."

A simple sentence. 5 words. But the volumes spoken in that moment......

I know that I choose to love and I choose my words and I choose my attitude but I honestly believed that "rest" just happened. It never occurred to me.

I can CHOOSE rest.

and I can choose NOT to rest.

Anyone who knows me, knows that more often I choose not to rest. I choose busy-ness, full days and nights and weekends. I am afraid of missing out on something - like being excluded from the fun or missing connecting with someone special. So I choose to say "yes" to every invitation and often every suggestion that comes my way.

If I can manage it, I will be there. And, sometimes, even if I can't manage it, I will still be there. 

But something has to give. Someone loses out. Sometimes that's my kids missing "mumma" -time or my husband giving up "our" time. My being THERE means I am missing being HERE, in this moment.

Mostly though, it is me missing sleep, missing peace and missing time with those whom I love more than life.

A conversation I had this morning gave me a second pause. (You know one of those where you think "okay, is God trying to tell me something?")

"Why do you keep yourself so busy?!"

My friend asked an innocent question. There was no ulterior motive. No guilt intended. 

But I had to stop and think.

Why DO I keep myself so busy?

After some thought I responded,

"Hmmmm, well, I have a hard time saying "no". I don't like to miss out on anything and the next thing I know our calendar is completely full. It was interesting yesterday, my co-worker prayed that I would "choose rest" and I realize that I do have a choice. So this season I am learning to guard my time and my rest. I think that the Lord went before me a kept my calendar clear because I wouldn't have done that on my own. It is a good way for me to transition into this season of rest."

I am so excited to have some time unfilled, No pressure to do anything. No clock ticking down to my next commitment. Taking time to breathe in and be in the moment. 

So, today, I choose to be here and present.

Week Two - COLD

Well this is quite a fitting subject for this weeks' challenge! This week has been cold and with the wind chill feels even colder. According to our local weather station it was 14F but felt like -14F. The wind was blowing and biting. I was just generally happy to be inside. Out of the elements.

Friday  I was admiring an amazing sunset on my half hour commute. I was also kicking myself for not bringing my camera so I could capture the beauty. The sky was glowing a beautiful pinky orange around the setting sun. The trees and barns of the countryside were silhouettes on the horizon. The wind was whipping the snow into what looked like a cold mist hovering over the fields.

I sped home all the while keeping an eye out my window. Sunsets change very quickly. The transforming beauty is captivating but is gone in the twinkling of an eye.

I was less than a block from my home, ready to grab my camera and run, when the snow started swirling and the sky grew grey and the beautiful warm sunset vanished. I grabbed my camera regardless and headed for the golf course down the road, hoping to at least catch the swirling snow.

In honour of the effects of the wind chill factor, this is how it looked

This is how it felt

The next day, the sun shone again. None of the children were begging to go and play in the yard this week!

Saturday, I wanted to see what else I could capture that encompasses COLD. 

The Detroit River was frozen and looked enchantingly dangerous with the entrance to Lake Erie on the horizon.

The broken ice. If my hands weren't freezing from the whipping wind, I would have spent significant time taking pictures.

The road ends at the river, the water's edge protected by a dock, the contrast was stark as just two feet further the broken ice took over the landscape as far as the eye could see. But here, the ice is peaceful and glistens in the sunlight.

I love spending time with my girl. She braved the cold and even grabbed the camera to take a few shots of her own.

I also realized that I am not very good at settling on one photo to meet a photo challenge but I guess that is another one of my defining characteristics!

Photography Challenge 2015

Once again I am joining a photography challenge. I found this challenge mentioned on a couple of other blogs and I found inspiration in skimming the different themes listed without the intimidation of a large community.

As always, I take these challenges as an interesting way to document our life with a unique perspective. It encourages me to look at life through a new and refreshing lens.

Feel free to join me on this journey  - the more the merrier.

Week One - Beginnings

New Words for a New Year

This Little Word of Mine.....

A word a year. That has been my tradition for a number of years now. I started off in 2009 with INTENTIONAL. I wrote the following on Ali Edwards Blog: One Little Word

"Marnie Pouget

6 YEARS AGO

I am trying to decide between deliberate, intentional and choose. You could say I am deliberating about deliberate! I know the meanings are similar-it is the nuance of each word that I am trying to work out.
I read the challenge to my 11 year old son and he has chosen the word "attack". "As in attack the year. Do what you want to do. Get outside. Have fun. Maybe throw in a water park" (I'm hoping that throught he year he will decide to apply this word to his schoolwork as well!)"

I followed this with FOCUS, FOLLOW, ABIDE, PURSUE, and finally  [learning to] LAUGH.

At the beginning of last year I envisioned our home filled with joy and times of laughter. Happiness overflowing from an easy life. HA! I guess that laughing during the easy times doesn't need to be learned - it flows freely and abundantly. 

You have to learn to laugh in the tough times. That's the training ground. You know the old saying "no pain, no gain"? Well, there were some easy times of joy and peace but mostly 2014 seemed full of difficult challenges that pushed me to seek joy and trust God. If I am honest, I didn't to either as well as I would have liked.

I started my year with a trip to Ottawa. I love our nation's capitol and am thankful that I get to experience it's beauty each year. I love my boss and the people I work with.

Then in February, McKenna competed in the Shining Star Competition. She didn't get beyond the preliminaries but she met her goals and certainly made us proud. We enjoyed Winter Jam 2014 in Detroit.

This year I had the privilege of counselling two amazing groups of young women for Spring and Fall Purity and Holiness retreats at BLBC. "I laughed, I cried. They moved me..."

My beautiful girl graduated from Grade 8 and it was so much fun to find a dress, have manicures together, get her hair done and celebrate this milestone. 

We spent a ton of our summer at BLBC - exhausting but fulfilling. I love this ministry and the people there.

Leo and I got away for an overnight vacation in September. It was relaxing and lovely to spend time just the two of us.

We replaced our van. It was an incredible faith walk that was stressful in the midst but a joy at the end.

The holidays were full of family and friends. More restful in some ways than other years but extremely full of visiting and travel. A lovely way to end the year.

These were my "highs". 

If I could settle in on the laughter through these times I would say I had done well however, life is full of peaks and valleys. Highs and lows.

My "lows" included way too much snow and though I enjoy the occasional snow day, last year they were a little much. 

The van breaking. 

The freezer reaching its end. 

Financial stress. 

Moving two steps forward and then falling back, sometimes further than I had gained. 

Changing friendships. Sometimes forcing me into a very "alone" place.

There were too many deaths in 2014. It seemed that there was always a funeral to attend and a loss to mourn including those of my aunt from my mom's family and my uncle from my dad's family, within a few weeks of each other. Though often there was the celebration of a home-going, the loss was tangible and raw.

I also experienced two very heavy seasons of uncontrollable sadness - not diagnosed depression, but overwhelming sadness that required significant breaks from everyday life. I am thankful for my friends that intervened and my family that loved and supported through those seasons.

It was hard to laugh during those times.True laughs of joy not the bitter laugh of unbelief and cynicism. It would be easy to take the hard days and allow bitterness to get a firm grip choking the joy and the laughter from even the good times. I chose not to harbour bitterness. I didn't always embrace the rough stuff and I certainly can't claim laughter but I grew. My marriage became stronger. My faith became stronger.

I am still [learning to] LAUGH but a new season is upon me.....

A season of REST.

I admit that I am hesitant to share my thoughts of full nights of sleep. Sleeping in on Saturdays. Afternoon naps in the sunshine. I am bone-weary and the thought of rest invokes in me desires of deep slumber. 

though, it doesn't have to be all sleep....

Hot chocolate and a blanket snuggled up with a good book. Lounging in hammocks enjoying my backyard. Downton Abbey dates with my son. Evening worship with my kidlets. Mini vacations with my beloved.

If only that were it. I have a feeling that my anticipation of rest isn't all there is to this word for me this year.

I am claiming the following verses for 2015:

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. 

Psalm 62:5

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:1

Often, I will quietly choose a verse for my family for the year. One I pray through and think on and anticipate for them. I rarely share that verse but this year's verse encompasses both Leo and my words for the year so I have shared it with the children and we are memorizing it. You are welcome to join us

The fruit of that righteousness 

will be peace;

    its effect will be

 quietness and confidence

forever.

 My people will live in 

peaceful dwelling places,

    in secure homes,

    in undisturbed places of 

rest.

Isaiah 32:17&18

Time Flies

So here I am on the eve of my return to Camp. It is amazing to me that 6 weeks have passed since I was there last. Crazy!

Ladies Retreat. An amazing weekend with an incredible speaker, Robyn Dykstra, who challenged us to see God as our Refuge.

I shared in a breakout session at Ladies' Retreat a message entitled From Here to There, practical ideas to becoming the woman you want to be.

As I wrote my thoughts I realized that there was so much more to say than I could fit in an hour. There were so many ideas that would take time to mull and process and "do" without feeling overwhelmed.

I intended to come home and start posting sections of my notes. To be honest, this thought scared me. I was a little overwhelmed, to say the least. So here I am six weeks later, still struggling with this but going out on a limb and trusting that something I have to say may resonate with someone. somewhere.

This is the road that I have been on. Things that I have done or want to do. My thoughts. My desires.

So....here we go.......

We are all on the same basic journey. We are born and live until we face our eternity. Though this is true, each of us is at a different place and our circumstances make our journey unique.

I want to preface this by saying I don’t have it all together. I don’t have all the answers and I haven’t reached the “there”. I feel like I am just moving past the here.

I hope that through our discussion, you can find the place that you are and be encouraged in your journey.

Please join me each week as I share an expanded version of what I covered at Ladies' Retreat and all that I didn't manage to get to.


This weekend I am heading with my two eldest children for P & H. I am looking forward to being in the Word. Connecting with my Camp family. Enjoying a little R&R (or more realistically, late nights, early mornings, lots of laughing and way too much fun!)