Whimsical, Wonder, White

 I am so thankful for weekends. Respite and rest have taken on a whole new meaning of late. I am so thankful for my aunt who comes out faithfully every weekend to care for my mom.
 

And this weekend has been epic. There are so many adjectives I could use to describe it. A celebration of life, a return to the wonder, awe and delight of a child, a moment to gather with friends and create magical and whimsical moments... and so much more.  

 I am so thankful that in the midst of intense pain and grief, God is continually surprising me with joy. And happiness. And delight. And it is made all the more richer by the pain and is such a beautiful thing.

While my mom was in the hospital a little over a month ago, I made a special bucket list. 35 items by the time I'm 35. As I journey through the valley of the shadow of death with my mom, I am reminded of life eternal and life abundant. And as long as I have life to live on earth, I want to embrace it fully. I want to engage with people, I want to have fun, I want to feel all my emotions. Jesus said He came to give us life and life to the full and as I live in Him and Him in me, I want it to be true that "in Him we live, move and have our being".  Not that that means it's all about experience, because it's not, but I'm so thankful we can have moments of adventure and moments of being like children and enjoying life and delighting in the little and big things.

One of the items on my list was to host a chinese wish lantern party. At first it was to go to a festival, but then I thought, why not host one myself and invite people I love to join in and enjoy it together?  So we gathered. I got people to dress in white (inspired by dîner en blanc) and we had picnics as the sun set. And then as it was dusk, it was time to light the lanterns.  And it was magical. Whimsical. 

I loved hearing the "oohs" and "ahhs" of those gathered, as you could hear their delight and excitement.  We lit the lanterns, waited for them to fill and let them go at the same time as the sky filled with glowing lights.  It was beautiful. It was as though time stood still as we stood there. Lighting mine, I was sending up prayers as well and it seemed watching them all go up, they all symbolized prayers for my mom, who was at the window watching. 

 

 I love that moments like this unite old and young, male and female.. no matter who you are or your differences, in these moments, there is a sense of community as we all join in together to create a beautiful memory.

Photo credits to Ron Peters (he took the ones with his copyright on the bottom right corner.. he did a fantastic job of capturing the delight and whimsy of the evening!)

So,  number  26 on the 35 by 35 bucket list went off fantastically and will be remembered for years to come. I'm thankful for moments that return you to the simple awe and wonder of a child's delight in discovering the world around them and enjoying those magical moments.

 

  

And in case one amazing event wasn't enough in one weekend, I thought I would take a stab at number 2 on the 35 by 35 list: 5KM race. 

  

A few of us signed up for the colour run in Vancouver today. You run and as you go through different checkpoints, they throw paint powder at you. There were four different colour stations and then they give you pouches of more powder as you cross the finish line. So fun!! Once again, it was such a neat and unique event and fun to enjoy it with friends. 

So.. this weekend, I am thankful that life is full of juxtaposition and different tensions. I am thankful that in the midst of sadness, there's happiness; in the midst of death, there is life. And I will celebrate and live in every moment and am thankful that eternal life doesn't simply commence when I die, but it is now, today. And I'm thankful that God is behind, before, beside, over and underneath me on this crazy journey of life.