turning heels and the life of pi

This week I'm knitting a pair of socks for my Dad's birthday. (They're gonna be late, bother!) This is my first pair of socks and I'm just getting ready to turn the heel. Fingers crossed!

I'm reading The Life of Pi for my book club this month. The club is meant to be focused on classics and while I love this book I'm not sure it quite qualifies as that, yet. It's been a few years since I read it and I don't want to give any thin away (especially as there's no know how accurate my memory may be.) So I will just say that it is a beautiful and beautifully written story. It is self described as a story that will make you believe in God.

On this reading I'm intrigued by the descriptions of Jesus by Hindu eyes and I love this quote:

"The presence of God is the finest of rewards."

All the other lovely yarn along posts can be read here.

st. patrick and pete greig

I never saw this until now, it's from 24-7's birthday celebrations last year. Hil-arious!

lenten season

This year for Lent I am making a commitment. Instead of my normal daily routine of praying while I shower and reading my Bible while I eat breakfast I am going to increase the intentionality of how I spend time with the Lord and how I start my day. I'm going to begin each day with half an hour of prayer, worship, and reflection. I like this idea a lot. It involves a certain amount of sacrifice; sleep is something I love and crave and loosing even half an hour of it in the morning is a sacrifice for me. It also involves adding something to my life instead of merely taking something away. My hope is that this forms a habit which will continue after Easter. And it is realistic and doable, leaving no excuses.

As a part of this I will be using 24-7 Prayer's Prayer Spaces for Lent video podcast and readings. I find that a bit of structure when beginning something is always a good thing, as I move forward in this (after Easter) I can give myself increased freedom in what this time looks like.

For now I'm off to make an appropriate playlist. I'm excited about the journey!

PS (a couple hours later) making 30 minute playlists with worship songs proved challenging, it only takes a few to fill the time as most are longer than your average song. In the end I have 10 new playlists falling either under Loudly: Behold, Blaze, Caught, and Rend or Quietly: Beautiful, Closer, Holy, Open, Presence, and Surrender. Should have plenty of options to meet a variety of morning moods!

blue banjo

tomorrow I'm heading down to Dublin to see the Decemberists. I'm so excited!

world book day

Fern, Wilbur, and Charlotte heading out the door for World Book Day!

sing with your child

A couple years ago I completed Music Together's teacher training program. I haven't become a teacher yet, too busy moving back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean. But someday, hopefully not too far away, I would l-o-v-e to have a Music Together studio. March is Sing With Your Child month and they've posted some great videos on their youtube channel. I love this program as it allows families to all come together and really focuses on the parent's role! Plus, their music is fantastic!

pig pieces and the peace process

This week I've knitted up a pink piggy. Tomorrow is World Book Day and I'm dressing up as Fern from Charlotte's Web. Hopefully my Wilbur will be stuffed and sewn together in time to accompany me to nursery tomorrow!

I'm reading The Real Peace Process, Worship, Politics, and the End of Sectarianism by Siobhan Garrigan. Still in the beginning chapters, but excited about what's to come!

If you'd like to see all the other lovely knitting projects and interesting books in this week's Yarn Along you can find them here.