Weekend in Kelowna

The pedicure I got for this trip when I was in need of pampering on Friday after work, before we left.

Sitting at the Kelowna waterfront on Saturday night.

This was a combination of smoke plumes from a nearby forest fire, and the clouds. The dove shape of it struck me deeply that night.


Having dinner and sampling some wine at Quails Gate Winery in Kelowna on Saturday night.

More photos from the weekend and the various vineyards we visited can be found here.

Not Feeling the Grace

Yesterday was a rough first day back at the office after a long and very full weekend.

There was one person in particular who was a challenge to my sanity.

I was thinking about her on the drive in this morning, praying for patience and grace.

I'm not feeling the grace. Quite frankly I want to respond to her in the rude, biting and sarcastic way that she tends to engage the world.

And then I feel the prompting reminder that has come so often lately - how the things I struggle most deeply with in others that I encounter are also often my own sin tendencies.

So, I'm not feeling the grace. Or the patience. But I'm asking Jesus to send both. Or at least to set watchmen on my heart and tongue, so that I don't respond in kind.

I meant to...

I had good intentions of posting a few pictures from the weekend here, but sorting them and getting a few on facebook took longer than I anticipated.

And we ended up grocery shopping.

And a few emails also took slightly longer than anticipated.

So, tomorrow I'll post a few, and some links to the facebook albums as well.

Right now I'm finding myself desperately in need of bed.

Say yes...

"Everything that happens to us spiritually, everything that causes us to grow, will bring us closer to God if we say yes." (Catherine de Hueck Doherty)

Snapshot

So, here are just a few of the things my weekend contained. I really can't find words to capture just how truly surreal it was. I think you'd need to have been living in my shoes for the last couple years to truly catch all of the undercurrents. It really was full of the sorts of things that happen in my dreams, rather than when I was awake. But here is a mini word snapshot in list form... (pictures coming when I get some time to sort and upload them - hopefully tonight.)

The weekend contained:

• snafus with the hostel booking resulting in L. and I being in separate rooms
• neither of our "female only" dorm rooms ending up being "female only"
• a drunken guy being put to bed (half clothed! at least the right half was clothed!) in my room
• visits to several vineyards
• some spectacular scenery
• way too much heat (it was around 39 degrees celcius on Saturday)
• tears at really unexpected moments
• a sort of "full circle" occurrence that has left me reeling a bit
• two stops at "The Dutchman Dairy"
• swimming in Lake Okanagan
• one hug that was rather healing
• an unexpected time of prayer
• searching for a quiet beach only to have a wedding nearby
• the nearby wedding having a live band
• sitting on the shore of a Western lake with an East Coast band playing traditional music in the background
• 20-22 hours of driving all told
• a few nights of missed (or mostly missed) sleep