Are we there yet?

Hello friends 

It's been some months since my last post. Thanks to those of you who have asked what's been happening and why the long blog silence?

If you've been following my blog for a while you'll know the significance I place upon the time in early January of each year when I sit with God and ask Him for some indication of what is to come in the year ahead.

Here is a snippet of that conversation as it unfolded on January 3, 2021...

This will be a long year. It will feel at times as though it will never come to an end, a contrast to the usual where it feels as though it flies. Your life is about to undergo a complete 180 ... 

And never a truer word has been spoken. Should I be surprised? It is God, after all.

Because I knew it was truth, in the past few months in particular I've been like a kid on the backseat of a road trip, asking the inevitable question of the parent who is driving ...

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? 

Are we there yet?

Lord, please tell me we've got to 180 because I'm not sure what else could be crammed into a single stretch of 365 days with 57 still to go ...

Now, don't get me wrong. In the midst of some pretty trying times that have had me on my knees, there has been some wonderful news. First and foremost would be that my baby, Claire, is about to become a mum herself ... and as she put it, I'm being promoted to grandmother. She has about ten weeks to go and it's been one of the most precious times of my life to walk alongside her as she comes to grips with the biggest gamechanger life can present. 

Given that Covid-19 has remained in our midst in 2021, that has necessitated a physical move for me to be with my daughter in the country town in which she lives. She is a single mother and as her support person for the birth, I needed to ensure that I could be with her at any tick of the calendar. Me living in Sydney was proving problematic for that. My employers graciously allowed me to work remotely and I packed my laptop and moved to my daughter's couch - thankfully replaced soon after by a bed. So, life has been half the week with her and the other half we both travel up and spend time with my husband (grandfather-in-waiting) here at Bountiful.

Both mine and my husband's jobs have had our hours cut this year due to Covid-19. We've both been blessed with second jobs, miracles within themselves and stories for another day. They've added to the juggling act that life has become.

And the good news hasn't stopped there. My son Andrew and his wife Ruth are celebrating their first wedding anniversary today - still in the UK but successful in their application for Ruth's spouse visa so they can both come back and settle in Australia. They've had a rougher first year of marriage than I'd wish on anyone, capped off by them both contracting Covid-19 whilst working on a remote Scottish island and trying to complete their immigration applications. Trust me, what you've seen in the movies about the crazy hoops partners need to leap through to prove their married relationship is legitimate before being allowed into the country IS ALL TRUE. Thankfully, both are now physically recovered from Covid - not an experience they (or I being a Mamma on the other side of the world) would wish on anyone.

When I jot down all the highlights, there's a bucketload of change involved, but it still all sounds pretty peachy.  

Yet, threaded through all of the highs, we've had a year of heartbreak and anxiety that I never would have anticipated. Most has involved situations in which I am unable to share or have not been released to blog about. But God's words about that 180 have surely helped to keep my head above water. 

I did find it confusing though when God said the year would feel as though it would never end and that time would move slowly. Once a baby is on the way, the march of time is relentless, and it feels as though the year has galloped at breakneck speed. 

So, what was that comment about? It had me flummoxed. 

But now, I think I've got it.

Here at Bountiful, the garden moves much more slowly than anywhere else, quite likely due to our high altitude. This is cold-climate gardening. Whilst I love the winter and the times inside by the fire, I have missed so much doing exactly what I am doing right now - sitting here on my front verandah with my laptop and drinking in the peace that comes with the view. The winter has seemed to drag its feet more than in any other year, and much of my garden has resembled my struggling heart - a bit dead and devoid of colour. 

Yet in the last fortnight or so, the garden has come to life! Growth is happening all around me, plants I had long forgotten about are pushing their way back through the soil towards the sun and everything feels more hopeful. 

This rhododendron is the perfect picture of the garden right now - the buds, shaped like candle flames have colour peeking through, just waiting to fling themselves open and show the world their brilliance. 

And the sweetest of blooms, this Star of Bethlehem has brought me such enjoyment as I've watched their dear little faces open to the sunshine. Tiny bulbs I'd forgotten I planted months ago when it was so cold but now popping up to remind me that everything has a season, and no matter where I might be on that journey to 180, there are still reasons to smile.

Once again, this garden comes through and encourages my heart.

How has this year been for you? 

The song for this post is from the musical Pippin and begins with the words "Everything has a season, everything has its time". I have cherished memories of my high school presenting the show around 1978, four years after it premiered in Australia with John Farnham (Johnny back then) in the lead. I do love a song presented by the person who wrote it, so here is the crazy-talented Stephen Schwartz's version of Corner of the Sky. 

Wherever you are on the roundabout of 2021, may you find reasons to smile in your corner of the sky. 

Tracey 🌞

Thanks to the YouTube channel of kzm2333 for Stephen Schwartz Performs "Corner of the Sky"