I’m in a liminal space right now, as we settle into our new home in Moose Jaw in the season of Advent.There’s a strange sense of moving forward while still waiting that leaves me feeling discombobulated. It’s pause to look back at the week and count blessings with a the Christmas season, yet with the transition we’ve experienced and are still sorting through—it doesn’treally seem like it. Still, the lights on my non-traditional trees and brown paper wrapped gifts under it tellme otherwise. This morning, as I sit snug under a blanket in my office with a sleeping Yorkie by my side, IFriday’s Fave Five post.
Grandma/Granddaughter time. I wrote about our mid-week shopping trip earlier so I won’t say more aboutit, other than it’s a sweet, sweet gift to be able to spend time with my love.
A working furnace. We experienced a blip with ours that left us without heat for most of the day yesterdayand required a call to a local plumbing and heating place. A working furnace is pretty important when thetemperatures dip below -40 with the wind chill! We spent the day under blankets by the fireplace until thetechnician arrived and fixed the issue—which had nothing to do with the furnace itself but with an iced upintake pipe outside (ours was the fourth of its kind he tended to that day). Gerry learned how to mitigateagainst it happening again so it turned out well in the end.
A dumbed down house. I’m wary of the trend toward “smart” homes. Our new one has some technologythat has me flummoxed. We took out the smart thermostat in favour of the old programmable one (that wasstill here) that allows us to control it the way we’re used to. It was a week of technology woes what withfiguring out how to control the temperature and restart the SaskTel TV box. Remember the old days whenthe thermostat was controlled with a dial, and TVs with knobs? I’m glad for most of the improvements but,man, one has to practically be a rocket scientist to navigate this brave new world.
Those who work outside. It’s been bitterly cold this week with most days seeing -40 windchills. Westopped for gas one day at a full serve station where two bundled up fellows were manning the pumps. Wereceived deliveries of things for the house. The furnace guy came, as did a woman from the window blindstore, and a pizza delivery person. And I can’t forget Gerry, who cleared snow from our driveway andsidewalk. We’re all looking forward to getting out of this deep freeze when things start to warm up a bit starting on Christmas Day.
Daily devotional time. A return to routine with early morning reading and prayer time is absolutelypriceless and necessary to remain balanced in a world that’s anything but. The wing chair in my office, witha dog on my blanketed lap and a mug of hot tea on the table beside me, my Bible in hand and an assortmentof highlighters, pens, and other books in a basket next to me is where you’ll find me first thing in themorning from now on.
So, today on this day before Christmas Eve, I send warm greetings your way and prayers for these next fewdays to be ones of peace, mystery, and a smattering of seasonal magic.