Joy Will Find A Way

Today is the most relaxed I've felt in a long time. I actually had the desire to cook. I think it helps to have another body in the house, and especially one that has lost around twenty pounds in the two weeks post surgery. Kirsten is able to eat soft foods, and I thought that lamb shanks that have been in an oven for three hours with vegetables, chicken broth and wine might produce a wonderful gravy to go over polenta. I made it, and it was fabulous. It was quite satisfying to pick the bay leaf, rosemary and thyme sprigs from the back yard. I'm most proud of not killing Peter's plants, and also very proud to have cooked a good meal. We had a friend over for dinner. I mentioned to the table that I have cooked more this week than I have in the last ten months. Kirsten thought that I should have "dinner parties", or at least "pot lucks." That's what they do in college, and if it works for them, she reasoned, it should work for me. Might be a good idea.

The rest of the evening was spent companionably in the living room, me reading a book of Kirsten's, and Kirsten doing some pre-studying, with Lulu's help.

I'm still amazed at how good I feel today. It was a challenging week, and yesterday felt like an exercise in futility with lots of rushing around and not feeling like much was done, but today was perfect. I can go on another day.

As I think about this peaceful day I remember: I laid in bed this morning and listened to two songs on my I-pod by Bruce Cockburn. I don't know why I picked the songs - the titles appealed to me in the early hours when I transition from dreaming to this world. (Bruce Cockburn is a Canadian guy who I discovered after looking up his work after seeing a verse or two quoted in the book The Shack.) At any rate, the first song was "Joy Will Find A Way." The lyrics are:

Make me a bed of fond memories

Make me to lie down with a smile

Everything that rises afterward falls

But all that dies has first to live

As longing becomes love

As night turns to day

Everything changes

Joy will find a way

Then I listened to this song by Bruce Cockburn, titled "Love Song":

In the place my wonder comes from

There I find you

Your face shines in my sky

In your heart where the world comes from

There you will find me

Your eyes dance in my mind

Come with me

We will sail on the wind

We will sway among the yellow grass

When you be beside me

I am real

Though my eyes be closed forever

Still I would find you

You shine across my time

Come with me

We will sail on the wind

We will sway among the yellow grass

When you be beside me

I am real

In the place my wonder comes from

There I find you

Both songs were amazingly comforting.

Thank you....