Life is like that

So I had to go out today early.
Won't go into details but
I came back exhausted and fell into bed again.

So then I got up and had the very adult
lunch of Cheerios with milk.
I know.
Very impressive.
So then I was in the kitchen, the place
I love, as you know from all the photographs
I take of it, and esp. of this windowsill.
Well, the icon above of the Theotokos was getting
really dusty so without much forethought,
I grabbed it,
the stand came with it,
promptly feel off right above my oil lamp
that was still burning
spilled the oil right then and there,
I hurriedly put the icon down,
righted the oil lampada and then saw that
the holder with candle wick was still burning
nearly in a pool of oil.
I grabbed it and blew it out.
Divine intervention right there I think.
Oil, fire, fabric soaking in holy icon oil,
emmm, sounds like fire hazard to me.
Yeah.
*
So I thanked God,
apologized for the word I said as the
icon holder crashed into the oil lampada,
and thought
life is like that.
*
I've been thinking a lot about this lately.
How we can try so hard
or sometimes feel like we struggle to try
as hard as we should
and things don't run according to plan;
we forget lunch dates or forget to
label an important envelope correctly until we
have mailed it and are back home
from the post office
or we have to change plans, cancel a tea date,
lose our patience, forget kindness or,
like I did a week or so ago,
stub one's toe so badly that two toes bruise up
and after a few days snap a picture on
one's smart phone, email it to a
MD relative for reassurance that nothing can be done
but the obvious ice, elevate and buddy tape if needed.
And you know,
I think life is like that when life is going well.
*
When it's not,
it's just plain hard and we have to try to pray
and beg for God's help to get us through whatever
trial has beset us.
Sometimes I think our prayers
are sometimes feeling so dismal or lacking
that we forget that God can hear
the groanings of our heart.
*
So,
this is life.
Beautiful.
Hard.
Worth living.
Worth sharing.
Worth tending to.
Speaking of this sort of thing,
these articles on ordinary living
were so wonderful to me,
and at the same time made me feel
so homesick for the life I knew as a child,
I must share them.
So here they are:
One
Two
Three.

Where not those articles wonderful?
I thought so too.
So I had this light pink table runner
still unused
from IKEA in Ottawa
when I was gifted with a IKEA gift card from
my beloved Ottawa parish and
suddenly had to use it right then and there
before I moved all my stuff to the States.
So I have this wonderful memory of
being with my Ukrainian mother
in Ottawa one last time.

After cleaning up the oil,
washing up the windowsill while I was at it,
I put this table runner down.
I rather like it for summer
though I think I will love it more than my
beloved Mr. Husband who is not so into pink.
Understandable of course...
However the other table runner
is drying well after being washed nearly immediately
after the above said incident.
I am thinking the pink will be there until the fall
when the darker runner is a more seasonally appropriate
colour.

I am loving the roses
that Mr. Husband bought me.
Did I mention that I am really blessed in
my husband?
Marriage as my friends assured me
is a lot of work and not always easy
but still,
I will continue to reiterate:
I know when I've been blessed.

Lighting candles for so many.
By the way,
if you can help,
Ancient Faith Radio could need some support.
AFR is such a wonderful gift to so many of us!

This little flower was given by our
near-by church on Mother's Day
to all women,
Mothers or not.
My beloved grad mug that
my Mom found at a garage sale
has a crack in it :(
and so it is now a flower pot,
since the crack is not all the way through yet...

 

The other day Mr. Husband and I were at our friend's place
and found that one of their neighbours was throwing away
a box of books.
You know I know I found the one for me when I find both
of us rummaging through the box,
finding treasures that I can't wait to read...
(They are in a sealed box at moment in garage to be sure no
squirmies are alive in it,
a precaution I have learned is good to have in NJ where
such infestations (bed bugs, ewwwwww) can
be lurking).
*
And so it is.
Life is like that,
not the perfect magazine photos calm and all put together
but beautiful and real.
And when I think of the many wars and horrible things going on,
having an ordinary life
is really
a most wonderful thing to have.
And that sea salt chocolate bar that I ate most of
after lunch,
well, it just makes life all the more cheery...