souldare

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. (Luke 2:33 NIV)

Every ADVENTure happens over time.

Our adventure of living on Intution happens to be drawing to an end in about two weeks. We will take our home away from home out of the water, put it back on its trailer and head north. Back to our house, our family, our friends and our cat. It would be easy to start thinking about the travelling home or what the weather will be like in February. Or wonder how hard it will be to transition from solitude back into community. Or worry over a myriad of possibilities.

But instead, I want to marvel for awhile. I want to recall some of the things that happened along the way. The ones I promised to tell you. Share pictures of things that I just found beautiful or interesting.

On my last post, my sister, Gillian mentioned a couple things for me to consider. One that it was still the season of Epiphany. And as a matter of fact today would be considered the Octave of Epiphany, which I am unfamiliar with, but believe is the culmination of this season of the church, and then tomorrow will start Ordinary Time.

Ordinary doesn’t mean plain. It is a time of counting to the next season. Ordinal. In order. Like counting numbers in order. In order to prepare our hearts and homes for the coming of Lent. The culmination of the birth of Jesus. Recollections of His life, His ministry, His vocation, His calling to be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:32 NIV) Simeon said this to Jesus’ parents and they marvelled. What if, we marvelled over all that his life, death and resurrection and future advent meant to us? What an adventure that could be!

Speaking of adventure . . . my sister also asked for the definition and roots of this marvellous word.

I found this explanation online:

adventure (n.) c.1200, auenture “that which happens by chance, fortune, luck,” from Old French aventure (11c.) “chance, accident, occurrence, event, happening,” from Latin adventura (res) “(a thing) about to happen,” from adventurus, future participle of advenire “to come to, reach, arrive at,” from ad- “to” (see ad-) + venire “to come” (see venue).

Meaning developed through “risk/danger” (a trial of one’s chances), c.1300, and “perilous undertaking” (late 14c.) and thence to “a novel or exciting incident” (1560s). Earlier it also meant “a wonder, a miracle; accounts of marvelous things” (13c.). The -d- was restored 15c.-16c. Venture is a 15c. variant (etmyonline.com)

My favorite definition from this list is the Latin “adventura (res)” or “(a thing) about to happen.”

Each day can be an adventure. A surprise to be experienced. A joy waiting to be discovered. A danger to overcome. A risk to love. Living life can be a “perilous undertaking” one day, and a “novel [new] or exciting incident” the next. Either way, life is a marvellous thing.

One of the adventures that I promised to share included some Christmas shopping I did back in Panama City Beach. I had this great idea to get some of my family members, flip flops and toe socks for their gift this year. Flip flops to share the joy of my adventure in sunny Florida, and toe socks (socks kind of like gloves for the toes) to keep their tootsies warm in the winter months. My first day of shopping, my focus was on the toe socks. I looked at one store and then another and another to no avail. I was quite discouraged because without them my gift wouldn’t be as meaningful or warm. I didn’t even buy any flip flops that day, since I thought my idea was a bust.

The next morning, I woke very unmotivated. I was upset. I didn’t know what else to get for Christmas presents. I really liked my idea. I didn’t feel like doing anything. So I sat in a chair staring into space. I halfheartedly wrote in my journal: “What do you want to do today, God?” And immediately the thought popped into my head: “Let’s go shopping for flip flops and toe socks.” I was like, sure God, there are no toe socks in this town, I already looked. He nudged me to trust Him, and so I headed to a Wal-mart that was near the marina. I hadn’t checked there yet. I wheeled my cart around to the sock row. There was one pair of toe socks stuffed in the midst of regular socks. That was a good sign, but I needed about ten pair of toe socks. I asked the clerk, they told me to look in the special Christmas display box. I found a few more and figured that I could make due, but really wanted everyone on my list to get a pair. I did some more shopping, asked the clerks if they had any more socks in the back. Nope, that’s it they said. I went back to the special display, and this time sorted thoroughly through the the tangle of Christmas socks. To my delight, I found the extra pairs that I needed to complete my list. I joyously told God that I would never ever doubt Him again. He gently told me not to make promises that I couldn’t keep. After that we went to three or four beach stores to get all the flip flops in various sizes and colors. (I was so happy that I forgot to take pictures.)

Once again, I was marvelling at how much God wants me to see Him provide in the most creative of ways.

The last couple days here, I have been enjoying my surroundings, but not taking very many photos. I saw the dolphins again, but alas even a short video didn’t do them justice. I collected some shells. I rode my bike. I ran along the causeway. I did some shopping and cooking and just every day things that I would do at home. Basking in the awareness of God’s presence seems to be all I need these days.

Here are some photos. Just because.

For breakfast, I usually have coffee and a bowl of plain instant oatmeal. I discovered that adding a teaspoon of orange marmalade to the oatmeal adds just the right amount of tangy sweetness.