Alreet, wee mucker?*

I know I'm coming home when I see this. This is the welcome home Jennie sign in Belfast internationl airport. Tayto crisps, one of Northern Ireland's favourite delicacies: the best cheese & onion crisps in the world, both an acquired taste and a romantic disincentive. They're made in Tayto Castle, the northern irish equivalent to Willy wonka's chocolate factory. It's a very exciting place to be. Even if you're a grown up like my friend Heidi, a chartered accountant. She said she had fun auditing the factory.

I'm home.

But I've forgotten about the microclimate that operates in this part of the world. The weather varies between pretty cold and... baltic. But today it's beautiful and one of my very good friends is getting married later. She picked a great day.

I love coming home. Especially here. The shores of Strangford Lough on a beautiful clear day in April last year.

I guess most people would say their home is the place where they know they can just be... For me, home is veda bread, Maud's ice-cream and barm brack. Home is a cup of tea and a wee bun and the Harland & Wolf cranes at Belfast harbour. I've been home sick for the last month, missing friends and family. I have a friend in London, I asked him when he was next going home, meaning, Northern Ireland. But, for him, this is a place which reminds him of loss; it isn't home. Nor is London his home, even though he has lived here for 40 years. The place he calls home is the place of his childhood, Argentina. Home is a place of unspoilt memories for him.

Home, I think, is more than a postcode. Home is more than just the place where you have sole ownership of the remote control or a carton of milk in the fridge. I find, when I talk about home, I talk more about the physical qualities. Like how close it is to M&S and Kew Gardens and the river. Well, this is useful if I'm giving you directions to come and visit. But if I just hold onto the things I can see, I forget about the stuff I can't see. What our house is really like. Well, we love to have people round for tea and just hang out with us. We invite people to just be. We invite people to get to know them better. I love this about our home. Both of these places are my homes. They are both very different and still, they are temporary. Each time I come back to the house where I lived for most of my childhood, it's changed. And so it becomes less about the physical state, and more about the memories. Very precious memories of my family.

But home, again, is more than this and I'll not say much more. But this wee passage has helped me remember about the more-ness to life this weekend. Psalm 27:4-6.

* You have just learned some N. Irish slang: how are you my friend?

World of wonders

Feeling a bit blue by my volcanic activity related cancelled flight to the homeland, I decided I needed to look at the bigger picture and be thankful that I'm not flying through molten ash.

And stumbled across this.

He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work. Psalm 104: 13

In fact the whole psalm is pre-ttt-y amazing. But for me, this part really shines out.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works -
he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke. Psalm 104:31-32

But I'd encourage you to read the whole chapter because maybe you haven't been affected by seismic activity today and you might find an entirely different part really speaks to you...
or challenges you or you just find something that makes you think.

I love creation, which is why this psalm is really alive for me. I think because I 'get' that vibe when I'm hanging out in God's back garden. So the trees are just doing their thing, just being trees; and I get to just be me. And that's all. There's really not that much to it. But one-ness and stillness and... God, who made all these things perfect and wonderful and awesome, is there, in the moment.

Perspective.

Really, my cancelled weekend plans are not that big in the scheme of things. Although I will be sad not to chillax with a giggle of girls, including one who is due to be a hen tomorrow. But I'm sure I can find something almost as entertaining to do instead.

And as well, I just want to remember other places around the world where seismic shifts have had much greater consequences. Haiti, Chile and this week, China have suffered terribly. However, there has been a phenomenal public response to the integrated disaster response work. They will all need funding for many years to come. Please pray for those affected, for the thousands left without a home. For the community as they try to rebuild their lives, and for aid workers in these countries as they carry out their work in physically and emotionally draining conditions. If you want to keep up to date with what's going on, you might like to read more on the Red Cross website.