I'm home :)

Monday 15th February

Yurt yurt yurt
I long for my yurt
A few possessions
My heart doesn’t want

To live by a stream
To eat what I find
To share it with friends
We laugh till we cry

To have freedom to laugh
To have freedom to cry
To have time for myself
To lie under a tree

To cook on the fire
To pee in the yard
To sleep on a mattress
To gaze at the stars



I really cannot wait for the day God allows me to live in a yurt for a season, it’s something I have dreamed of for a long time. I love and admire the simplicity of yurts. No electricity equals no cell phone, no computer, no alarm clock (!), no hairdryer, no kettle, no television. I love that so much, I loved it when I travelled around.



There is something magical about being in a place where you are unreachable by the outside world. Something inspiring about living life by the sun and not by a clock. Something so freeing about cooking all your food and boiling your water over a fire and not using gas or electric to get by. I love the thought of always sleeping on the small mats we used in Thailand, or the ones they sleep on in Japan. Eating on the rug on the floor and dining together on a massive mat is so beautiful and I love the communal side to yurt life. I love that you can be together in the yurt but if you want space, all you have to do is step outside into the vast wilderness and walk.
Candlelight, lanterns, warmth by the fire, cosiness, star gazing, gathering berries, preparing food, making music, singing, it melts my heart to think about. I could daydream about this for hours. Hammocks outside on the trees, wind chimes on the branches of the trees, a small brook bubbles outside.
I can’t decide if I walk everywhere, or if I have a motorbike or a quad or if I have amazingly learned how to ride a horse and not be allergic to them. Either way, my transport is adventurous, no four by four for me. Depending on how long I am there, I may have goats that I use for milk and cheese, maybe some chickens for eggs.
It might sound all sweet and nice but that would be a tough life to live like that, it sounds idyllic or maybe I’ve painted an idyllic picture but it would take a lot of work. No running water means it must be collected, no electricity means fires are essential and firewood must be collected, food must be hunted for or gathered, clothes must be washed by hand, land must be farmed by hand animals must be looked after and cleaned. But when we look at the SIMPLE priorities of our life, our ESSENTIAL priorities of what matters, that is what we must sow our time into. If we value Jesus first, we may need to cut some things out that aren’t essential or a focus of our life and then there is always time.
There’s always time to dance.
There’s always time to sing.
Always time to gather.
Always time to play music.
Always time to worship.
Always time to invest time in people.
Always time to listen
Always time to romance with Jesus.
There is always time.





Tuesday 16th February 2010
I love airports.
No matter the size or where they are, I just love them.
I can’t say I enjoy the process of being searched or taking off my many layers but I just love departure lounges and waiting on check-in to open. I love picking my spot and nestling down to make a temporary ‘Ali place’. I love lying on the chairs or on the floor, spreading out my lava lava material if I have it with me, getting. It almost feels like home, I get into my book, I am fascinated by the variety of people around me.

I eat a biscuit that’s been in my pocket for a couple of days, thankful I don’t need to spend £3 on a chocolate bar. I listen to music or sermons. I’m wrapped up cosy in layers and boots, I wear my hat incense I get cold. I just love it.
I can’t pinpoint what it is. I’m flying home right now so it’s not the promise of an ‘exotic destination’. It’s more maybe that I love the opportunity for travel and I love to seize it and relax into it rather than let it ruffle my feathers.