Tag Archives: spiritual journeys

Navigating Life’s Pathways: Lessons from a Spider

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Greetings, friends! It’s been a hot moment, hasn’t it? We’re back though, with another thought of the day to enlighten you. I was finally taking a moment to relax in the bath, when a teenie little daddy long legged spider decided to meander its way along the side of my tub. Now, I don’t have any fear of spiders, especially one so small, but I didn’t want this little guy to fall into my bath, or worse, disappear from view, so I gently scooped him up and placed him along the edge of my dangling English ivy (which I am so proud of… it’s growing well on my bathroom window ledge…long and sprawling… I am hoping to weave it all through the mirror). Anyway, I placed the little guy along the edge of the vine, hoping he would follow the path into the heart of the plant and live happily eating the fruit flies or whatever little gnat things live in soils. He did not. He made a quick veer to the right, grasping at the smooth painted bathroom wall to start his ascent. Once he slipped and slid along the wall, he had to spot check a few pieces of web to swing over the window ledge. I didn’t watch him after that. I don’t know if he every made it to the plant, or the sunny window, or simply slid down the other side under the sink and whatever lurks under there.

Which pathway to choose?

And so… you guessed it… I mused about that little spider and wondered why on earth did he choose the more treacherous path when I clearly had shown him the easiest route? The quickest definition of a pathway is “a way that constitutes or serves as a path” — it says nothing of the difficulty of the pathway, nor the length of the route, nor the dangers along it. It is simply a “way” from point A to point B. Plenty of us have traveled along many a pathway — both easy and hard routes in our lifetimes. They are worth a thought and a look back to see how far we have come.

Most of you know, it has been a hard, long, cold, snowy winter here at Itsnotta Farm. The snow is still deep on the ground, the days are still bitterly cold, and my farm chores are tough. Gates are frozen open, two feet deep in snow. Entry ways to the barn are icy because when it did warm up for a few brief days, the snow melted. The barn is a skating rink. I need to clean out my stall bound bunnies, but everything is frozen to the ground. One day, the wind created huge drifts enroute to the coop, I was waste deep and shoveling my way along. I bump my head on the top of the chicken run because the snow has lifted me up a foot or so taller. Goat fencing can’t be started because the ground is solid and still buried. Needless to say, I think we are quite sick of it all! Spring could not come sooner.

Photo by Anurag Jamwal on Pexels.com

Metaphorically speaking, we’ve been on a few pathways since moving out here. Adjusting to the weather was just one. We’ve had new schools, church, made new friends in a new community. I’ve been given several job opportunities and navigated that trajectory for awhile. Life is a seemingly endless pathway. And then you die. My faith would tell me that that isn’t the final checkpoint, though. The Bible tells us the pathway to Heaven is narrow and tough going. It’s a hard one to choose. Like my little spider, the challenges are real and sluggish. Choices we make now, will determine our fate. Is it worth the slow, arduous route to arrive in Heaven and eternal life? You bet it is!

I don’t know where you are, friend, on your pathway through life. I don’t know who reads my little public posts, or who shares them and why. I do know, God is faithful. He’s proven it time and time again. People around us try and set us on the path that is easy… one with few obstacles, an easy climb through the ivy. Sometimes, the sacrifice is worth the harder route. Sometimes, we need to plant ourselves and haul up over the ledge. It’ll be a bit more difficult for sure. Oh, we’ll have a few blessings along the way… someone will surely scoop us up every now and then and keep us from drowning; but it will all be worth it in the end. Trust me. Spring thaw is coming, and the pathways will soon be green again! And there will be plenty more spiders to watch.

Advent Adventures: Unusual Foods and Christmas Magic

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Welcome back to to another post. We’re preparing for Christmas with our little advent focus… I’m actually combining a couple of lessons from our study because we missed a week travelling… did you even notice? I did. Nonetheless, the kid and I have made it back safely to Itsnottafarm and have resumed our rather boring existence. Winter hit. I’m bummed out about it. So let’s talk more about our vacation instead, okay?

I love to try new foods when on vacation. Obviously, when you are in a new place, there are things that you do that are “out of the ordinary”. That’s the point, right? Vacations are supposed to be when you see new things, try new foods, and throw a few extra ordinary things in there. And of course we did this on our little mini getaway, too. Two restaurants on our list whenever we go to the USA are Olive Garden and Cracker Barrel. We used to have Olive Garden here in Canada, but no longer… and it is a shame. All you can eat bread sticks? Yes, please.

Anyway, amid our navigational disasters, we did manage to make it to an Olive Garden. And it was worth the drive. Our waiter bamboozled us a little into getting extra dipping sauces… but hey, we were on vacation. Alfredo for the win! I suppose pasta places are not unusual as far as restaurants go, but anything different from “home” is worth it. Our second unusual stop was a place called “Shake Shack”. A new one to me, but the “elevated” fast food joint was on the kid’s list and right next to our hotel… so it was hit up as well. Apparently the burger was great. I can say that my shake was quite good. I got a peppermint bark shake which had big chunks of real peppermint bark. I suppose the Shake Shack will be added to the list for future trips.

Being in Boston, we also had to try the “specialty”: Lobster rolls. It served as our lunch one day whilst downtown. We had the entire restaurant to ourselves at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon… and paid through the nose for essentially a sandwich, but we did it just to say we did. Anyone have any foodie lists for vacation? What’s your extra ordinary food when you don’t want to be ordinary? Perhaps a Christmas tradition that only comes out at this time of year?

So. Let’s make our transition to our lessons, shall we? Extra ordinary. Different from the norm. On the list but not the everyday. Can we say that the birth of Jesus certainly fit in this theme? First off… no sterile hospital bed for Mary. She had the luxury suite in the barn cave of a kind inn keeper. Mary and Joseph were on a trip, but nary a fancy meal for them. No endless bread sticks on the menu. Instead? Lowly shepherds in the middle of the night. Then later, a visit from a few wise men who followed an “unusual” star. One never seen before. Yup, babies are born in the middle East all the time… but this one? Freaky all around.

If you think about it, the entire description of that Holy night was unusual. Out of the ordinary. Different in almost every way from the normal… time, place, people, creatures… how did the world not know? Did the friends of the shepherds not question their sanity? Didn’t other people see a shining light and a multitude of angels on a hill in the blackness? What did Mary think of the whole thing? Really? “Treasured up all these things in her heart” is an understatement. Crazy crazy things happened to this peasant girl and her betrothed, slightly confused husband. They’d never been through these things before… and the verses in the Bible seem to gloss through the story… because it really is extra ordinary.

Ordinary Night in Bethlehem? Not in the Least! Photo by mark soetebier on Pexels.com

Perhaps that’s why we make Christmas time extra special. Perhaps that’s why we bring out all the goodies that we only splurge on at this time of year. It is cause for celebration. It is an excuse to see the phenomenal. Angels, wise men, unnamed stars, stinky sheep and their caregivers in a foreign village in a barn. Would not be on my birth plan. Nor on my vacation list. Yet, it was all as the ancient prophets had predicted. And all according to God’s plan.

Obviously there is a lot more we could unpack in these advent days. The story of King Herod and the death of innocent babies. Who were the shepherds? The wise men? What ever happened to Joseph? The gifts? Yet, I’m going to choose to sit here with my endless supply of bread sticks and just enjoy the unusual. It’s worth the seeking to experience an “ordinary event” in an “extra ordinary” way. I’m up to try it. Are you? Let’s make it a plan to see the magic of Christmas… both past and present this year. Cheers!

Exploring Boston: Anticipation and Miracles on the Road

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Greetings from Boston Massachusetts! The youngest son and I are on a spur- of- the- moment trip. Why Boston? Simply because it was a place on the map we could drive to in a day. So, here we are. It’s the most I have ever driven by myself. And getting here was a challenge. We decided to take a route through Vermont. Which was fine, except it was a very straight run through simple trees and the end of our trip was dark — therefore a long, boring, drive. No gas stations, no street lights, no tourist spots along the way… simply dark figures of trees and the road ahead. Barely even another car, because who decides to go through Vermont enroute to Boston in the middle of late fall ? Us crazy Canadians, I guess.

Needless to say, we drove the last few hours straight with a vengeance. We were on a mission to get there. To make matters worse, my phone battery was dangerously low and for fear of our GPS (and only navigation) source dying, the kid was taking screen shots of directions to get us there. Finally, our hotel was in sight… we were safe and had arrived! Then, we were starving and needed to find food (but that’s a different story).

One of the biggest lessons we can draw from our road trip thus far, has been the anticipation. As I said, we planned this little getaway with no real agenda other than the trip itself. Let’s just go! It’ll be fun! How does that thought link to our third lesson of this little advent study we’re in the middle of? Well, we are focusing on Mary and the miracle of her virgin birth and all that surrounds that subject. Obviously, from ancient texts, we can see that the world has been waiting… anticipating… for the final arrival of the Messiah, One who would save the world. We were on a mission to get to the end … and the world was waiting too!

Now, let’s talk about all that surrounded Mary’s story. A virgin birth. A visit from an angel. Lots of out of the ordinary stuff happening to poor Mary… exciting but crazy things! Our lesson points out some interesting facts about Luke’s account of the baby Jesus’ birth as recorded in the Bible:

  • Luke was an expert historian; he would have secured his sources and fact checked; this means he would not likely “make up” points just to be sensational in his writing; Mary’s virginity would be fact
  • Mary’s story also checks out with earlier accounts from prophets like Isaiah; the Bible is consistent
  • Many Greco-Roman legends of the time paint different pictures of their “immortal god births”, often citing gods having relations with mortals resulting in miraculous births… Luke’s account isn’t anything like this, and sticks to the facts
  • speaking of facts… most readers would ummm, understand the “facts” and not play stupid; in other words, because Mary was a virgin, Jesus’ birth is all that more miraculous. If she wasn’t, we could explain it away; We can also say that the ancient people of the time understood where babies came from… so His miraculous birth was just that: supernatural and special

Furthermore, I’m humbled to know that the mighty messengers who came to visit Mary way back then, were looking out for us on our journey as well. I am sure that angels were on the roads protecting us from snow and sleet and my lack of navigational skills. My phone wasn’t miraculously charged, but I have no doubt that God kept us safe on the roads, because lemme tell ya, traffic in Boston is awful! Narrow roads and one way streets with bridges and interstates with crazy on and off ramps. God led Mary and Joseph through miraculous parenthood adventures, and he led the kid and I on some crazy escapades as well!

Just think about all of Mary’s crazy adventures! Image from The Nativity Story

Perhaps I am drawing too much of a comparison between our road trip and Mary’s miracle. Still, it is valid to muse about the well familiar virgin birth story and all the anticipation of Christmas. Perhaps, should you travel this holiday, you’ll think of us and our long road through Vermont and be reminded that the same God who was with Mary, is with you, too, as He was with us on the roads in Boston. He still cares. He is still protecting us. He still has a plan for us. I hope this little post has brought you a little closer to knowing Him this season, and recognizing His presence, even on the dark roads of Vermont !