high’s and low’s

It has been a strange week.  A week of highs and lows in the extreme.  I hesitate to spend time talking about the ‘lows’ …except to say that life is like that, droughts and storms, pain and joy. 

So instead let me tell you about one of the ‘high’s’…my darling daughter turned 4 this week.  It is hard to believe that my ‘little girl’ is 4.  She is beyond beautiful and her ability to state the truth and observe grace is astounding.  Celebrating her and her life is a joy and privilege.  It is also a lot of fun. We gave her a keyboard for her birthday and ever since we have been graced by concerts and performances (partnered by a 2-year-old dancing).   It also explains the birthday cake!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have also noticed this last week or so that when things are confusing and painful, quickly followed by hilarious and fun, that I tend to gravitate to those things around me that are solid and familiar (even more so than normal).   Coldplay’s ‘Parachutes’ is getting serious air time, old books are being dusted off and re-read, Amelie is getting worn out and old friends are receiving late night text messages (sorry!).  While life is about the highs and lows, it is also about the things which bring comfort and consolation. 

I have been trawling through the bible looking for some answer, some insight, some of this comfort and consolation, and am yet to find anything concrete…apart from this… Who I am, what I feel and what I experience does nothing to change the fact that Jesus is Lord.  His Lordship is not dependent on my beliefs or my recognition. He simply is Lord.  I am beginning to understand that Christ’s Lordship is both static and dynamic–- it simply is, and that it also moves, twists and turns to influence every part of life, and part of life is committing to finding it.  It is not simple, nor is it a complete answer…but it is a start.                

 

All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the centre of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence. (Ephesians 1:20-23, The Message)

 

procrastinating

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am starting to see a slightly concerning theme here: whenever I really need to study, I seem to cook!  But at least this time round it was more than simply procrastinating.  This is my mother-in-law’s birthday cake (s) – Turkish Delight cupcakes, made with rose-water, pistachio nuts and white chocolate.  I was happy with how they turned out, mother-in-law was happy, guests were happy – good result all round. 

Now where did I put those text books…

practise

 

My in-law’s are moving to the country next month and we are putting on a little ‘au revoir’  afternoon tea for them.  So these are the practise choc-orange cupcakes. 

I have two little girls (and one big boy) who are awfully glad I do practise batches.

owl

It was our littlest girl’s 2nd birthday last week and we let her decide on which birthday cake she wanted (remember the good old Women’s Day Birthday Cake Book?!).  She chose the owl cake, which was actually a good choice considering she could have picked the carousel or the snake.  I don’t really like baking but little girls birthday cakes is one of the time’s I make an exception.  Initially the whole owl thing was quite random but, as these things tend too, it evolved into something more.  Owls ended up on the invites, on the walls, on the wrapping paper and hanging from the lights! 

There is something quite mysterious about owls. 

Throughout many cultures owls represent wisdom, intuition and intelligence.  The Native American tribes believed that the owl was their protector against harm and the ancient Greeks made the owl an emblem of wisdom. 

I would like to think that our little girl carries some of those traits – wise, intuitive, intelligent.  But even if she doesn’t, she had a lovely birthday and ate ridiculous amounts of owl cake and loved every second of it!

beauty

‘Beauty is to the spirit, what food is to the flesh’ – Fredrick Buechner.

 

I have been thinking a lot about beauty this last week- the absence of beauty and the definition of beauty. 

 

Autumn leaves, the smell of freshly ground coffee, my daughter’s giggle, lavender – all are beautiful, but all are subjective. 

 

The absence of beauty bothers me.

Moments of beauty breathe life into me. 

 

I live in an area which has recently been savaged by bushfires; horrendous, deadly fires.  And this week it snowed in these same areas.  In the blackest, fire ravaged landscape, there was snow falling. The contrast was startling.  Yet there has never been a more a literal example of ‘beauty from the ashes’.   

 

You don’t have to look hard to find beauty.  Sometime we just have to redefine our concepts of loveliness.

 

In response to some very ‘un-beautiful’ situations at my husband’s work, I made him this very beautiful cake. x