It’s a rainy Thursday, and we’re enjoying some much needed peace and quiet, indoors.

E: baking

R: reading/studying

We are in a time of limbo: knowing we will be leaving to Ecuador, but not quite packing our belongings into plastic bins and saying our goodbyes.

Lately life has been like a gusty autumn wind, blowing this way and that, up and down, picking up leaves here and tossing them over there. For a while, we were letting it take us where and when it wanted. There was no routine, no time for daily habits, no time for rest, and no time for peace. 

But (now), we are learning to be thankful for that which causes us to grow, and maybe, even before being thankful, we are beginning to notice that which gives us opportunity for growth (which I think is harder than being thankful for it), because in the midsts, it has slowly taught as (and we are still learning) to hold tight to moments of reprieve; to hold tight to those daily rituals/habits/routines that bring life and peace and self-care and beauty and rest.

We’re finding out that life needs liturgy.

Something that gives intentional form, to the rhythms of life.

So what does a life of liturgy look like?

We’re still finding out, creating, engaging, encountering, listening, and discovering. And I think that is how it will be because life is fluid….there will always be change, there will always be chaos and busyness…but God, in His great faithfulness and goodness as a Father, will always give us opportunities and moments (even amidst the chaos) of:

rest

and

peace

and

renewal

and restoration.

Maybe the liturgy of our lives right now looks like folding laundry every Monday, still warm and smelling of lavender. Maybe it is the country drive, to and from my parent’s house, soaking in the beauty of corn fields and blue skies. Maybe it is welcoming the Sabbath every Friday night by bread, grape juice, and prayer. Maybe it is the breaking of bread every Saturday with family, maybe a weekly baking, daily walks, morning quite, and listening.

So may we continue to fight for the grounds of peace we now stand on. May we hold tight to routines that bring life and rest. May we actively seek peace and purpose in the fluidness and rhythms of life. And may we purposefully look for or step back and recognize the liturgy in life and give thanks to the good Father who is in the routines and detours of life.