God’s glory
in gorgeous movie stars, international arrivals and Murray
I love Hugh Grant. Mostly because he’s lucky
enough to look like my husband, but also because he makes me laugh and because
he has a way of inspiring the world to fall in love over and over. The Richard
Curtis film Love Actually (2003)
starts off with a Hugh Grant voiceover. His character, David, says that when he
gets depressed over the state of the world he thinks about Heathrow’s arrivals
terminal, and the real, uncomplicated love shown as families and friends
welcome their arriving loved ones. The film’s story is told in the crazy
festive weeks leading up to Christmas (i.e. now).
I had a Love-Actually-frozen-forever moment on
Sunday afternoon.
I was in Zimbabwe over the weekend, for
a wedding, and I walked through the doors of international arrivals at OR
Tambo at 17h00 on Sunday. In the middle of the massive, slick,
bring-on-the-World-Cup arrivals arena there stands a gigantic Christmas tree
festooned with enormous balls and twinkling lights. The place was teeming –
kids, old folks, people alone, jumbles of family, bored people milling around
with signs welcoming people they didn’t know. And there was Murray, Cameron and
Scott. Murray told Cam I was through the doors and he ran, trusting and
unquestioning, in my general direction long before he could see me. I ended up
on my knees, smothered in hugs and wet kisses and filth from whatever Scott had
been crawling through. I suspect we created quite a scene, but I really didn’t
care. It was magical.
Needless to say, Murray and the boys had an
absolute blast while I was gone, doing hardcore guy activities like making
pizza, swimming at Granny, shopping for light bulbs and fixing stuff. An
excellent husband, who can find? For his worth is far above jewels…! (Proverbs
31 – sort of) J
God’s
glory in people who are kind and patient
I’ve also seen God’s glory in the amazing team
of people that I work with at St Alban’s College. Schools are stressful places
at this time of year, but daily I see my friends and colleagues forgoing their time
and their egos to put others first or get the job done. I’ve seen what a forgiving
generation of people I work with. I had both my boys tearing around the
staffroom yesterday afternoon while I loaded exam marks et al. And yet it seemed they were a blessing to people, not a nuisance.
God’s
glory in diverse cultures, fusion food and giving up an evening to bless people
with kids
Murray and I celebrated our seventh wedding
anniversary on Wednesday night (a couple weeks early, for want of another gap
in the diary!) at a fantastic Moroccan restaurant that took us back to our
newly wed backpacking days in Chefchaouen. Reynard and Samantha ate takeaways
on our couch so that the boys could sleep in their own beds.
God’s glory
in milestones and celebrations
Scotty claps when he sees dogs on the TV, or
when Barney finishes a song. He also tries to stare me down and seduce me with
his blue eyes and raised eyebrows while a hand is poised above an illegal object
of his desire. This morning he pointed at the cow on my coffee mug and said something
that was most certainly, ‘What’s this?’ And then he mooed.
It’s November and people are tired, and yet we
seem to be hardwired to find shreds of energy and enthusiasm to mark the
passing of another year and to celebrate the advent of Christmas and God’s
unspeakable gift of life.
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