Skills of a lost generation.

I was sewing a button back on one of my dresses this evening when I realized something. While I am perfectly capable of sewing on a button, it still probably takes me twice as long as it would take my mother or my grandmother to do.

I have a feeling that my grandmother's generation is the last of its kind. The kind that had practical skill. The skill of cooking, cleaning, sewing, changing the oil on my car.
When I have grandchildren of my own, are they going to know me for my fabulous cooking? The idea of grandma's home cooking will have disappeared into the wind. It'll be a myth, an old wives tale. Grandma's who can cook?

Maybe it's just me, but in the midst of my university student, part-time worker life, I don't have the time nor the interest to sit down and learn how to use a sewing machine to mend holes in ripped jeans or alter a dress that is just slightly too long.
Nobody has ever taught me how to make pot roast, or potato salad like my Oma makes it. Sure I can follow a recipe. I can cook. I can make delicious food. But, it doesn't come naturally. I don't have a lot of practice.
I have absolutely no idea what I'm looking at when I open the hood of my car. And I wouldn't have a clue when it comes to changing a tire.

We say that we've made progress in the past 40 years, but we've really just switched our perspective. Instead of learning how to 'keep house' on our own, we go to university, to get well-paying jobs and will allow us to pay other people to 'keep house' for us.
We've traded in practical skill for academics. And we're still just as smart. But we're smart in a different way.

I remember sitting down with my mom when I was about 9 years old. We picked out some fabric, a pattern, and she taught me how to sow. I ended up making an entire outfit (hideous if you ask me, or if you look at our old family albums, but nevertheless, I did it on my own).
But it wasn't a skill that I harnessed. It doesn't fit in in with my lifestyle. Or maybe its the other way around.

All I know is that there's something sad in knowing that I'll probably never have the chops that my grandmother does when I'm her age. I'll have to keep practicing. Hopefully by the time I'm married I'll be able to make a mean pot roast.

Our society loves pushing women's rights. Loves seeing women climb the social ladder to become doctors, CEO's, researchers, you name it. Even I'm thinking about one day doing my doctorate.

But if you ask me, there is something honourable in the skills my grandmother has. She has an answer for everything. And I would never take for granted one of her good home cooked meals.

The Father's Love Letter

My child,  

You may not know me, but I know everything about you. - Psalm 139:1 

 

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.  - Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways. - Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. - Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image. - Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being. - Acts 17:28 

For you are my offspring. - Acts 17:28 

I knew you even before you were conceived. - Jeremiah 1:4-5 

I chose you when I planned creation. - Ephesians 1:11-12 

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. - Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. - Acts 17:26 

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. - Psalm 139:14 

I knit you together in your mother's womb. - Psalm 139:13 

And brought you forth on the day you were born. - Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. - John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. - 1 John 4:16 

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. - 1 John 3:1 

Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. - 1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. - Matthew 7:11 

For I am the perfect father. - Matthew 5:48 

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. - James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. - Matthew 6:31-33 

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. - Jeremiah 29:11 

Because I love you with an everlasting love. - Jeremiah 31:3 

My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. - Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing. - Zephaniah 3:17 

I will never stop doing good to you. - Jeremiah 32:40 

For you are my treasured possession. - Exodus 19:5 

I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. - Jeremiah 32:41 

And I want to show you great and marvelous things. - Jeremiah 33:3 

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. - Deuteronomy 4:29 

Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. - Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires. - Philippians 2:13 

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. - Ephesians 3:20 

For I am your greatest encourager. - 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 

When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. - Psalm 34:18 

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. - Isaiah 40:11 

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. - Revelation 21:3-4 

And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. - Revelation 21:3-4 

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. - John 17:23 

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. - John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being. - Hebrews 1:3 

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. - Romans 8:31 

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. - 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. - 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. - 1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. - Romans 8:31-32 

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. - 1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. - Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. - Luke 15:7 

I have always been Father, and will always be Father. - Ephesians 3:14-15 

My question is…Will you be my child? - John 1:12-13 

I am waiting for you. - Luke 15:11-32

Love your Dad, Almighty God

Chocolate Brownie.

After a full day of studying, I had no choice. I just had to grab the keys at 20 after 7 and go out for an icecream run. I thought about going to marble slab, but my mother reminded me that it's expensive, and also slipped me some money to go buy a carton at No Frills. Can't argue with the dollar bills.
Yum icecream.
So, I came home with some president's choice chocolate brownie ice cream.
It was slightly over the top on the decadent factor. You can never really know by just looking at the picture. So deceeeeiving. But chocolate always is.
Question though, why do we always feel the need to place "chocolate" before the word brownie. I mean the colour of chocolate is brown. Brown is already in the word brownie. It's just redundant. No need to say it twice. Any chocolate lover is gonna know that brownie means chocolate.
With my icecream fix satisfied, I sat down on the couch to watch me some SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE.
Perfect way to spend the eve of my final exam. Yes sir.

Speak Tenderly To Me

I don't really know what to say. But, I thought that the new layout deserved a new post.

Take a look at the phrase written under the title of this blog.

Bring me into the wilderness and speak tenderly to me. 

It comes from Hosea 3:14-15 which says 

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope." 

This verse has been very poignant to me as of late. 

Let me break it down for you.

The wilderness represents a season where God purposely removes something from your life. He's promised you something. He's given you a desire, but he has yet to fulfill it. You know he's faithful, you know he's working on it. But, his answer is at that "Not yet" state that we impatiently dread. But, it's a "Not yet" because he wants to prepare you in some way, and because He wants to meet with you and show you himself.

When I think of the world "Wilderness", the words drought, barren, dry, empty, void come to mind. But, I love how God paints a completely different picture. 

In this verse in Hosea, he comes to allure Her (being the people of Israel who have sinned) into the wilderness. Where He then speaks tenderly to her. 

In other words, God wants to spend time with her, to reveal himself to her. It's full of love, and intimacy, and understanding. 

He purposefully brings her there. 

And after her speaks to her, and tenderly at that, she finds herself in a vineyard. A place of life, growth, fruitfulness, and blessing. A place where God turns her trouble (the meaning of Achor) into hope. 

There is just so much packed into two tiny verses.

Three things I've figured out about the "wilderness" from reading my bible:

*If you want specific references, I can give them to you. Leave me a comment. 

1. We never lack anything that we need in the wilderness.

2. God shows up in the wilderness.

3. The wilderness is always followed by a promised land. 

Stew on that for a while. I know I've been. 

K

It is finished.

I choose you Jesus. Come be my one thing.

My hope is in you Lord

I am steadfast, I will not be moved.

An anchor, never shaken. 

My hope is in you.

Friends

In this very purposeful season of my life, I'm realizing I have 3 things:

1. God. faithful, unconditionally loving, ever-present in my life. 
2. Family. gotta love ya, always will. 
3. Friends. transitional groups of people that mean a whole heck of a lot to you for certain seasons in your life. 

It's important to never take any of those three for granted. But, for the purposes of today, that statement applies specifically to #3.
It wasn't until I ventured off to University that I realized how quickly friends can come into your life and leave without further notice. You start realizing that you're not the only one that has a life, so do your friends. And sometimes, for any extenuating circumstance, that life does not or cannot include the friendship.

I remember in 7th grade, my teacher told the class that the friends you have in elementary school will most certainly not be the friends that you have in high school and university. I didn't believe him, openly claiming that I would be best friends with _________ and __________ and ___________ (fill in the blanks) for the rest of my life. That school, distance, and circumstances would not able to pull apart the bond that had been so beautifully formed in the early years of my childhood.

I'm realizing now that I was wrong. Now, it's not impossible for a friendship to stay alive when school, distance, or circumstances get in the way, but It does become incredibly difficult. For a friendship to survive, three things need to be there:

1. The friendship needs to be mutual. This may sound incredibly banal. But it's not. It's important to establish that you both have the desire to pursue the relationship.

2. Friendship needs to be fought for. It's not easy to keep a friendship going. It takes effort, time, communication, understanding. It's not easy.

3. A friendship needs to develop. This is simply because we as individuals are continuing to develop and change. Our lives, jobs, schools, passions are in a constant state of flux (This being directed to the young adult of course) Our friendship needs to change with us. It can't be stagnant. We can't live off of "yesterday's" memories. Wasn't it great when .... We need to be able to form new memories.

All this to say that these past few years have made me incredibly appreciative of my friends. I know how quickly it can slip away. I know what it feels like when it does.

To all my of my friends, Thank you. I love you so much. I don't know what I would do without you.

De-Clutter

I don't really know where it sprang up from, the urge to de-clutter my room. All I know is that late Sunday evening I was sitting on the floor going through the shelves on my bookcase, discovering lost papers, photo albums, lifesaving manuals, and books all wrapped in dust - a sign that I hadn't looked at, nor cared about these items in a long time.

One thing you need to know about me. Deep down somewhere, I really do love to organize. I remember one time in high school, when I organized the entire prop room for my drama class with a few other girls. We started with a room that "didn't have a floor" and finished with a beautifully organized masterpiece of costumes, hats, and fabric. It was so clean, and we had created so much new space, that Peters, our drama teacher, actually used the room for final year monologue performances. Yup.

But I digress.

Over the past few days I have spent several hours going through every box, shelf, and container. I've been throwing away things that I never use, and putting away into storage old school assignments, drama scripts, agendas, and certificates that I still care about but that certainly don't need to be in my room all year round. I'm serious, I was finding school assignments from early elementary school on my bookshelf. Unnecessary.

I've been at it now for about two days, and am only starting to feel like I've made a dent. The thing is, once I start, I can't stop. I can't just do one shelf, because then I have to do all the shelves. I can't just do my shelves because then I need to do my desk drawers. Which makes me do my night-side table, and my closet, and my files ..... The list goes on.

I feel like its more than just an organizational rampage though. It's more like a passage into adulthood? A time that I can spend decluttering my heart as well as my physical room. (Try and find the symbolism there why don't you) God's calling me to a new season. I've also just turned 20. Maybe there's a correlation between all these elements. Maybe there isn't. I'll let you judge for yourself. As for me, there are a few more boxes I need to go through.

K