In the Garden: March 2012

In the Garden

One of my favourite memories of my Grandma Wall was hearing her hum to the hymn "In the Garden". We had an old 45 record of the song in German. As many things in life we have warm feelings associated with those we love...and I adored my Grandma.

As I grew up I had no idea that when I married my last name would be Lilly. I loved the name as it was associated with a family who had been faithful in ministry and lived a life of integrity in their community. I am proud to carry that name.

Now I have a family of my own who I desire to raise with the same faithfulness to the Master Gardener. I am His apprentice and nothing motivates me more than to be the kind of parent to my children that He is to me.

Today I was reading a blog of a friend of mine who has just recently had her 7th child. I was so encouraged by the blog that I felt I should start one. I pray that as I share my life in the blog that it will be a source of encouragement and light to you.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Namaste

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My Lenten journey of doing exercise has not been as successful as I had hoped. I am so thankful that the Lord does not depend on my faithfulness or success in my resolutions for our relationship. Another good reminder that Lent brings us...He is faithful even when we are faithless.

I have been exercising more than usual and doing different things. Monday morning when I had hoped to go to Spin I went to a class called "Monday Morning Moves". It was SO FUN! I am so uncoordinated but the instructor was so gracious. We did cardio-boxing and line dancing. What a blast.

Yesterday Maegan and I did a 20 minute run/walk challenge through the Running Room in the evening. It is so fun having her along. She's always been a girlie who enjoyed doing what I did which has always been fun but now she is more of a companion. Such a great time. Someone once commented to us (while we were singing harmony to Show Tunes) "It must be so fun to be you". And really it is.

Tonight I went back to "Flow". This time the class was being taught by a young girl who was just so beautiful, confident and soft spoken. She was easy to follow and the Spirit was so gentle. What a blessing. I think what I appreciate most about yoga is the pace of it. It really does allow you the time to contemplate. It is easy for me to center my thoughts on the Lord. My day was full of stress and struggles, but as I stretched and appreciated the beauty of how God created the human body, I realized how much greater our God is than any of the things that cause me to desire control.

As we concluded our class tonight, the beautiful young girl who instructed told us what "Namaste" means. It means "The Light in me recognizes the Light in you". As I thought of that I realized how true that is for those of us in the family of God. I remember the first day I met my BFF in the back row of choral class. There was an instant recognition of the Spirit in her. So often in other instances I have had similar encounters. It's a beautiful confirmation of our Kinship.

I really need to thank my friend Kellie Willie. She was a student nurse at work who also has a degree in Kinesiology. She did a 30 day challenge of Yoga to start 2012 off and kept a blog. Through her blog I was introduced to Yoga and realizing the Spirit in her and how she engaged with God through her Yoga made me investigate it. Her smile and gentle disposition drew me to her at work. I recognized the Spirit in her. So Kellie, if you read this...thanks for sharing. Namaste.