o v e r f l u o

For the past two weeks... I've only washed cups, never any plates or pots or woks. I've never cleaned anything, yet my house is (visibly) dust free. The car has had its first real deep clean in a couple of um maybe months. Laundry has never been done alone. I've cooked only one meal. Most mornings I wake there is some sort of food ready for me. #justsaying #39weekspregnant Watching my mum wash dishes after dinner last night, I thought about how when we were young, parents would make us do stuff – bring your plates to the sink, wash the dishes, clean your room. But now we are older, our parents know we do those things. Those habits have been ingrained, we have lived in our own homes with our new family for years and know how to "keep house" and "zuo ren" ("be people"). So now instead of asking us to do stuff for our sake, they do  the stuff for our sake. It's their way of serving us, loving us, and perhaps grasping a bit of t...

Day 5 of maternity leave. Mum has flown in from overseas mainly to support us when bubs is born. Right from day one she settled into helping to market, cook and clean; it's a mum thing hey :p Today, surprisingly she said okay to breakfast at maccas so hotcakes it was. Then a walk to the nearby library, then she cut my hair so I've got a short bob now which will be more convenient for labour plus days when I just need my hair washed and dried quickly. Perks of having a hairstylist mum – I've paid for haircuts less than 10 times in my life.

One of the perks of having all this free time while on maternity leave, is doing whatever I want to – like finally finishing the watercolour of the second house we lived in. And getting super organised and cleaning the house. I was asked the other day if I've gotten into "nesting mode" yet. Well, I have always been an organiser. I'm always looking around the house, finding ways to neaten things up, store them better, or more recently also get rid of what we don't need. If this normality gets any more intense, then maybe that would be "nesting" for me. Another thing I did today was organise my feedly with good reads. As a quick reader it's easy to skim through, but the danger is in not actually processing what's read and thinking critically about it. One of the reads I like is Michael Hyatt's blog. He talks about productivity, leadership, and how to be your best self. He came up with a journal – one with guiding questions that gets ...

We've just hit 37 weeks and now we're waiting for Baby Loh to arrive, any time now. Our drawer for baby stuff which doubles as a change table just arrived yesterday, so that's the last thing to get set up, and we will be all ready. Or well, as ready as we can be. It's true that people give you all sorts of advice. My mantra is to hear everything, but choose what we think works for us. So many parents wisely say – trust your instincts. And really, you can plan all you want but when baby comes, you'll just have to see how it goes hey. Don't stress and put too much pressure on yourself. Meanwhile, I've just started maternity leave. I am very grateful to be able to have time to relax and do whatever I want, while e 'brings home the bread'. There are bits and pieces to do here and there, but you know what? While I can, I think I'll go take a nap...

I was reading this book which referenced the woman at the well from the Bible and it said she found Jesus, or rather He found her.  Now I'm not one to think too deeply about eh intricacies and theology or Calvinism or any of that, but when I read that I though, wow – in the midst of all people Jesus found her. In the middle of a crowd He found her, specifically her. It means she must have been special, she must have stood out somehow, there must have been something for Jesus to have found her.  And what a joy and delight, to be found by Jesus. 

The voice we should listen to most as we choose a vocation is the voice that we think we should listen to least, and that is the voice of our own gladness.   What can we do that makes us the gladdest? What can we do that leaves us with the strongest sense of sailing true north and of peace (which is much of what gladness is)?   Is it making things with our hands out of wood or stone, or paint, or canvas? Or is it making something we hope like truth out of words? Or is it making people laugh or weep in a way that cleanses their spirit?   I believe that if it is a thing that truly makes us glad, then it is a good thing and it is our thing and it is the calling voice that we were made to answer with our lives.   – Fredrick Buechner

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Nothing like a funeral to remind you of the transience of life, of the meaning of life, of what more there is to life.