Leah Perrault

This winter finds me in a new micro-climate. Chinook winds blow up over the mountains, creating a rapid warming as the air comes down the other side.

I work in a retreat centre, where people come to find space for quiet, for reflection, for rest. It’s an extraordinarily peaceful (and beautiful!) place.

My prayer for Advent this year emerged out of an evening retreat, given by a colleague at the retreat centre where I work: “Jesus, move in me.”

Advent is calling. The Church new year begins not with resolutions and parties, but with a season of purposeful waiting.

My whole life, I have been a doer. I love to roll up my sleeves. Tackle a big job. Make things happen. I love this about me, and I think it is safe to say that others often appreciate it too. And, there are many times in life where that is neither my job nor what is needed.

Harvest is stretching into September on the Prairies. The labour is long awaited, bringing home what is hoped for and sustaining life for another year. This weekend, I surprised my daughter with a trip to one of her favourite places – the airport.

Over the last few months, I have been thinking a lot about the way that places and spaces hold us. Walking through our old neighbourhood for the last time, I walked under aged elm trees, whose branches provided cover from a gentle rain. In other seasons, that park was a playground of snow, and a mountain of leaves. It was a space that held our family so beautifully over the last few years.

This spring, I noticed that my rhubarb plant was getting overgrown. I was not going to be able to use it all. That same week in May, as often happens in a world full of grace, someone on social media was asking for a rhubarb plant. I made arrangements for her to pop over to split it so it could be transplanted.

There is a part of me that cannot resist the beauty of dandelions releasing single seeds on the breeze. They are an icon for me of the lessons of letting go.

It is always tempting to resist the hard and painful parts, to hate the stretch marks, and run away from the challenges. And, it is so much more helpful to me to see how the stretching can make more space.