Life as lockdown eases can feel like we’re crossing a bridge under stormy skies. Is it safe to venture out? Has the worst passed us by, or will spikes of the virus keep reappearing?
May God give us wisdom and mercy.
PS: This bridge has been under construction, and will be for a couple of more weeks, meaning I can’t make my full circular walk in the nearby brook. Even bridges can be blocked at times!
My dad called this one “Trees in Summer,” and I love the movement it evokes. We’ve had to cancel our trip to Minnesota that we had planned for August, and thus I won’t get to sit in my parents’ porch and soak in this view with its mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees. And so I will soak in the beauty of this painting and the memories it evokes.
Why not take a few moments to breathe deeply as you ask God to meet you and bring you his peace and comfort? Imagine yourself walking among those trees, just enjoying the time you spend together.
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
–Psalm 1:1–3
If you’re feeling stuck at home during this season of the easing of lockdown, why not set aside some time with Jesus? You’ll experience refreshment, inspiration, and rest as we explore some gospel stories. Join me June 20 for timings suitable to North America and 4 July for the UK/Europe.
At Home with Jesus
Jesus loved his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and their home in Bethany was his second home. We’ll explore action and contemplation, faith and doubt, despair and longing, resurrection and hope, sacrificial love, and the meaning of home. Each session has teaching along with the space for you to meet with God in interactive prayer exercises. Expect to be refreshed, inspired, and challenged to sit at the feet of Jesus, knowing again how much he longs to spend time with you, while also collaborating with him as you serve him.
Session 1: Prayer and action
Mary and Martha have been made into types, but they were so much more than that. In this session we’ll explore being and doing, learning and serving, prayer and action – how the one doesn’t negate the other.
Session 2: “If you’d been here, Jesus…”
Where is Jesus when we need him? That’s what both Mary and Martha asked him after their beloved brother Lazarus died: Where were you? We’ll explore lament and how to bring our feelings to Jesus – and how he transforms us through his love.
Session 3: Love poured out
Mary wasn’t afraid to show her love to Jesus in a public setting, even though her act shocked those around her. And Jesus received her anointing as a gift. How can we unselfconsciously pour out our love to Jesus?
Timings:
June 20 (for men and women in North America)
Session 1: 10–11am Eastern, 9–10am Central, 8–9am Mountain, 7–8am West Coast
Session 2: noon–1pm Eastern, 11–noon Central, 10–11am Mountain, 9–10am West Coast
Session 3: 3–4pm Eastern, 2–3pm Central, 1–2pm Mountain, noon–1pm West Coast
To book, send me an email (amy@amyboucherpye.com) saying that you’d like to attend. I’ll then send you the Zoom link and the materials beforehand. The suggested donation is $25 USD. If this fee would keep you from attending, please don’t send anything. If you can contribute more, you could be covering the cost for someone else. Here’s the link: paypal.me/amyboucherpyeUSA
4 July (for women)
Session 1: 10–11am UK
Session 2: 11.45–12.45am UK
Session 3: 1.45–2.45pm UK
Hosted by CWR, the wonderful organization that produces Inspiring Women Every Day. To book, here’s the link. There is a fee of £20, payable to CWR.
[Painting by Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.]
Today’s painting is one where, as my dad says, the water does the work. He spreads the water and the paint and sees what it creates. If you have something satisfactory, paint the fisher person and the shore. If not, try again. He says you can create a painting like this in 20 minutes!
If you were fishing on that lake, or that seaside, what would you be thinking and feeling as you cast out your line? Take a few minutes to place yourself there, and breathe deeply.
Such pain has erupted in Minnesota and has spread around the world. We seem to have reached a tipping point where the evil of institutionalized racism will no longer be tolerated. White people are being asked to “do the work” – and I’m seeking to educate myself from the voices of the oppressed, the ignored, the murdered. Just today Patricia Raybon’s book, My First White Friend arrived, and I read the first chapter stunned at her vulnerability and the sheer beauty of the writing. I’ve also been reading each day a devotional from Our Help: Devotions on Struggle, Victory, Legacy. May the Lord bring some good out of the evil done on that Minneapolis street.
Minnesota is a state known for its natural beauty, and so I thought for today’s Watercolor Wednesday I’d feature one of my dad’s paintings that gives a snapshot of this beautiful land, which is filled with many beautiful people too. The lakes and ponds will be bursting forth into life and no doubt will provide a place of calm in the midst of the pandemic and the unrest.
Wherever you are today, may you find peace, hope, justice, rest, and joy.
We were grieving the death of Ahmaud Arbery not long ago. And now George Floyd, killed in my home state of Minnesota.
My heart hurts for this injustice.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
My dad paints in many different styles, and I particularly like his more abstract interpretations, such as this lovely watercolor from a trip he and my mom enjoyed in the picturesque town of Heidelberg, Germany. What strikes me are the stark colors against the more muted background.
Our weather today is the opposite of the soaking drizzle we see here, but of course in the UK we have a lot of that kind of rain.
If you were to enter this scene, who would you be – one of the women under the umbrella or the man in blue, or someone off the side just entering? What would you be doing, and why?
A friend said recently that she’s often absent minded. I said, I prefer to say I have a lot going on in my head and thus I might seem forgetful. Again Wednesday has passed me by without posting art from my dad. I had it on my task list – but didn’t check my task list yesterday. I even was 45 minutes late to my regularly scheduled (as in I’ve been doing this for years) writing call. Just simply forgot.
We just need to extend grace these days, don’t we. To be kind to ourselves and others. To the tired parents; to the weary extroverts and introverts; to the overworked medical people; to those who have been furloughed and are feeling bored and bereft.
Whatever stage of emotion you’re in – or if you’re feeling many emotions – take a few moments to walk in this garden at twilight that my dad painted. I love its atmosphere and beauty. The colors and textures and mixture of plants and trees.
What do you hear in the whispers of the wind as you walk in the garden at twilight?
We celebrated Mother’s Day yesterday, and although I was supposed to be in Minnesota with my mom, the lockdown meant I got to celebrate with my family here in London. I was sad that my parents didn’t get to see any of their family on this day as they observe sheltering rules, but we had some good conversations over the weekend.
My mom is a woman of prayer, a ministry that she’s long had, along with her practical, hands-on service, but one that has especially flourished in recent years. Daily she prays for her family and others, and when I consider the potential effects of these prayers, I often think of the well-known saying by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
Some will be breathing a sigh of relief now that the UK and US Mother’s Days are behind us, for they can feel painful for a variety of reasons. I like the social-media post of a friend that says, “I may not be a mother, yet I have mothered many students in my years of teaching.” She plays an important role in their lives, and her love that she pours out on them indeed embodies the grace of mothering.
May you know the love of God who said to his people: “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you…” (Isaiah 66:13, NIV).