In Finnish, Wednesday is keskiviikko,
i.e. middle of the week. And it alliterates nicely with the word for
thank you: kiitos.
Kiitoskeskiviikko - Thanksgiving
Wednesday.
I hope to make this some kind of a
tradition for myself: to pause for a while in the middle of the week
and give thanks for something before the avalanche of things-to-do
comes my way again. Just random thoughts.
1. My Mother-in-Law.
My Mother-in-Law is wonderful. She must
be one of the best MILs in the world. She's perhaps the most tactful
person I know. She's also incredibly helpful, kind, sensible... and
she loves reading. The kind of woman I wish I could be 20-some years
from now. Lord bless her.(We just celebrated her 70th birthday.)
2. Slow mornings
One of the things I love about
homeschooling is that I don't have to hustle us out of the door in
the morning. At this time of year, my son and I are not waking up
bright and early. (Even though we do get up literally at the crack of
dawn, at latest - you see, the sun rises after 8.30 AM on these
latitudes...) When I wake up my son, we have a morning snuggle time.
And every morning, I think, "This won't last forever." I
hope my son will remember at least some of these times. Of the love
we speak to one another via hugs and time spent together.
3. The birds outside my window
Our flat is on the 4th floor, and our
building is on top of a hill. The tops of pine trees are pretty much
on the same level as our windows. The birds and the squirrels that
come to the trees - as well as the trees themselves - are such a joy
to look at.
4. Coffee. Enough said.
5. New challenges
I have new work responsibilities and
that means a steep learning curve. At times, I feel stressed. At the
same time, I know I can learn this. God created me with a systematic
bent that helps me to handle these new tasks. At some point, it will
be routine.
6. This book
When my new tasks combined with all the
other responsibilities in my life seemed overwhelming, I took up this
book to read.
For one thing, it's a good book. This is a short
history of Finns working with the Red Cross in various crises in the
world, written by a journalist who has been reporting news stories
from many of those same crises. So, lots of exciting stories, and
plenty of facts and photographs.
And moreover, reading about doctors and
nurses working in the middle of famine, war and natural catastrophes
puts my computer woes and messy house into perspective. Their work is
a lot more stressful than mine. I remain thankful that there are
people in this world capable and willing to do what they are doing. The name of the book is Quiet Helpers. They go. They do what needs to be done. And they don't make a big deal out of it.
"The holiday season" easily
begins to look like an extended to-do-list. But it's good sometimes
to pause and think what, exactly, we are celebrating here.
And what we're celebrating just takes
my breath away.
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