Letting go

29 April 2018

I am letting go. Letting go of…

…ideas of a big family, siblings for my two, a long “career” as a mother of young children, lazy chats at playgroups, an easy social network of ready-made “mum” friends…

I am trying to balance things out. Trying to balance…

contentment with longing, acceptance with hope. Trying to perfect the tightrope walk of living with the decidedly uncontrollable unknown future while fully enjoying the present moment which holds so many joys too wonderful to be missed.

All who fall down

April 2018

The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145:14

Today I am weary.

I’m in my garden, feeling the warmth of an autumns evening, and all I can think of is the children. The children I see week after week whose greatest and sometimes only achievement each day is to simply get to school. Little children who got themselves up out of bed, packed their own lunch, found their own clothes to wear and possibly left the house without someone to even say goodbye to them. No warm hugs, no kisses, no ‘love you! have a good day!’ whispered into a grateful ear.  Just a parent in bed, sleeping in or sleeping off the night before or perhaps themselves simply too weary of life itself to gather the wherewithal to get up and keep on keeping on.

It is sobering to be privy to little children’s daily woes. Naturally, it presses heavy on my heart. So I pray. I think of seeds and earth and rain and I pray.

Continue reading All who fall down

We fly away…

Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Psalm 90:10

His death sent visceral shockwaves through our community. Ripples of grief spread through every generation of this town as old tears were shed with new ones.

I did not know him personally, this strapping young man, but only of him and his young sister who attends the school I work at. It was in support of her and our school staff and simply as a member of the community that I attended his funeral.

Continue reading We fly away…

The shoreline

November 2017

But I have calmed and quietened my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:2

For four years I have grieved. I have cried. At times I have basically raged like a tantruming child. I have questioned. I have despaired. My heart has been broken.

Continue reading The shoreline

Hello!

Hello dear readers!

Welcome back if you have read along before and welcome if you are new to this space.

This is the second edition of my isle of serenity. There is some back story to these posts here but hopefully everything will generally stand on its own and make sense well enough.

I’m experimenting with some new categories: the journal (personal reflections), the country (stories from our time in the country), the city (stories from our time in the city), philosophy & theology, and ‘who is wise among you’ (bits of gold from my new favourite book – Proverbs).

I hope you enjoy! Comment or email as you please (bronsisleofserenity@gmail.com)