It being summer, we have been travelling a lot, and outside even more.  Our vacation adventures - and most specifically the 50th anniversary of my husband's parents, which coincided with the birthday of one of our daughters - kept us from attending church at St. Andrew's this Sunday, but, as is my habit, I read through the bulletin online.  I was taken, in particular, by the listing of the hymn, "In the bulb there is a flower," when I read through the bulletin today. 

During the anniversary celebration earlier today, I had gone for a walk in the woods with my son and nephew, who were both too restless to sit still in a restaurant.  They got very excited about gathering acorns, which are of course, teensy containers for baby oak trees.  I had, this morning, been marvelling at how the entirety of a giant oak tree, all of its potential and all of its future, is contained in the smooth, small, leathery shell of an acorn. This led me to think about how even the minute electronic exchange of data facilitated by an online read-through of a bulletin can be a way of being connected to church, and of course about how our children are growing into their potential, with each passing day and each birthday.  How marvellous! How miraculous!  

Thinking of you all and hoping you have a wonderful last week of summer,
Rebecca B.