I love my garden and I don't deserve it, except that I prayed and God said, 'What do you really want?'
When I was twenty, which was quite a while ago now, I told myself I'd love to own a house on Lake Ontario.  It wasn't as though I'd thought about it much since, but when I was finally in a situation to buy a house in Canada, after soul searching, thinking and praying, I ended up here.
My husband and I try to have people visit, stay, eat, share time as much as possible. Because we don't really feel this place is for us... it is much more a place to share. When I lived in England, I used to get quite tense when people were coming to visit because I wanted to have everything just right for them. But I'm learning that people visit to see us, or the view, and it really isn't about the food or how tidy the house is.
So, although I like to make people comfortable, I have come to realise that if I try too hard, I can actually make them quite uncomfortable with my anxiety.
And so I'm learning.
As to anxiety, well, there is no reward in it.  It usurps time, energy, relationship, peace.  Instead I advocate surrender, to trust that as we prepare as best we can for each new day, the rest of the hours will take better care of us than we can of them.
Time ticks by. It can be a friend or an enemy. When I wrestle to keep on top of my "to do" list, the hours fly by and I seem never quite to accomplish what I hoped to do. But, when I surrender my time, and put my attention on one task until it is finished, it is quite amazing how much I get done in a day, and in a frame of mind much more pleasant and relaxed.
This is my first blog. Light by way of introduction. May the hours tick by slowly and gently for you today.
God bless.