I check my phone.
Nope, nothing. No water breakage yet.
5 minutes later. I check again. Nothing! So I start some work on a Mennonite Church British Columbia Equipper event that I was putting together. 3 minutes later I am checking my phone again!
This other time I was working on a meditation for our baptism Sunday and found myself thinking about what my new baby boy will look like. As my wife puts it “we make beautiful children that don’t look like us.” Will he rock the blonde hair like his brother Asher? Should we name him Manny after the cartoon handy man as Asher strongly suggests?
Our house is saturated with anticipation! We are ready. We are scared. We hope beyond all hope that everything will go smoothly and we will welcome this boy into the world healthy and happy.
I am also becoming aware of my life rhythms and have come to a recognition that I am needing to step away from some things. For the last few months I have had many ideas and half posts that I have just not been able to give the time it rightly deserves.
Although there may be one or two exceptions (book reviews) I am feeling that a slight break from anabaptistly is in order for the next 2 months. I am hoping to explore what a healthy writing rhythm looks like with the new baby, and with new and exciting projects at church. I am happy to keep up my writing over at practicing families, and will dabble in other little and personal writing projects that may or may not see the light of day. Writing will always be significantly formative for me and a staple life-giving practice… I love it!
This will be a time of refreshment, getting to know my new son, trying my thumb at gardening, commuting to work, hanging out in my front yard with my neighbours, heading back to my beloved Winnipeg and reading classic sci-fi novels on my kindle (Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy and 2 or 3 Ender Novels written by Orson Scott Card).
Much love & see you back here in mid August!!
What are signs for you that new life rhythms may be needed? How do you go about implementing those changes?
anabaptistly 
Dude, enjoy the break.
As for the sci-fi novels… couldn’t pick better ones. LOVE Foundation… and Ender’s Game, Speaker of the Dead both made me cry…
Thanks bro. I deeply appreciate it.
I just finished Ender’s Game! Loved it. Slowly getting into Speaker… hoping it picks up a bit.
Enjoy the time, the different rhythms, and (most importantly!) the new life, Chris.
Thanks friend! I deeply appreciate it!
Enjoy the break from blogging and the immersion into parenting two! While I really enjoy your blog, I’m so glad you are making some choices that will make the transition to the bigger family easier. Blessings! BTW, I’m almost done reading Fingerprints of Fire. I’m finding it very engaging and affirming of the wisdom of many faith traditions while remaining strongly Christo-centric.
Thanks Elsie! I appreciate it!!
Noel Moules stirred the pot quite a bit when he was out here… it is a very engaging book!!
Excited for you, Chris and Katrina!! If “Manny” comes today he’ll share my awesome nephew’s Bday 🙂 .
Re: rhythms, I was just thinking this morning how I need to cut back on some things that I didn’t realize were taking up so much time. With more limits on my energy and finding myself getting pretty frustrated, I’m realizing that I need to more radically simplify.
Rhythms is a good implementation word too, because I’ve found that the more I can put positive priorities(like exercize) into habitual form, the better it usually goes.
Thanks for the reminder and thanks for your thoughtful blog posts. Cheers!
Haha! Thanks!!!!
Ugh. Amen. Life rhythms are sooooo important. Understanding what a healthy rhythm looks like is deeply connected to spiritual, emotional and physical health.
Enjoy your break from blogging, Chris! We love Ender’s Game too. Speaker of the Mind is worth the slogging in the end. For a bit of a more action-oriented read with the characters from Ender’s Game, you might want to try Ender’s Shadow and Shadow of the Hegemon…
Thanks,
And thanks for lending me your book! I look forward to reading it!!
but post a photo of that baby. or else.
Haha! Totally!!
Chris, enjoy the time of refreshment, and that new little hockey fan who’s on the way! I might still have a little Flyers jersey I could send over 🙂
Hahaha. Maybe, only if it had an old school Lindros or Clarke on the back…