Facebook Friday


Humble apologies for the late post this week. The school holidays can mess up the ol' blog routine but it's so worth it to get away for a few days with the family. 


We have just come back from our favorite holiday spot, Phillip Island and I can report the wind is out in full force today, cutting an icy path up from Antarctica and into the very heart of those who venture outdoors.


 I am thrilled to be home, although I did lose out when it was time to collect the eggs and feed the chickens. The other contender for the job, my 15 year old son, begged for mercy as he's just had a haircut and the wind is no friend after a visit to the barber. 

This week's Facebook Friday award goes to my dear friend Alissa whose comment caught my eye and made me sigh with longing. This is what she wrote:

Alissa wishes that the cape was still a socially acceptable garment.

Oh, Alissa, as someone who gladly dons a shawl for winter writing, your wistfulness tugged at my own heart. I am sure someone will tell me the cape is back in fashion, or that in some far, far away place it never left, but other than my red riding hood costume (yes I really have one!) I haven't seen anyone else disappear under a cape lately. Superheros not included.

In the Victorian Era, men and women wore shoulder length capes or their full length versions, the cloak. Now there's another delicious word from yesterday... cloak. Typical fabrics used for capes and fur lined cloaks were velvet, silk or satin. Preferred in place of coats, they kept dresses or frocks, (ha... had to use it) from becoming crushed. 


Google images has quite a few pictures of fantastic looking modern day capes and cloaks, and I know Alissa would carry the look beautifully. 


My dear son would look equally handsome in his hoodie, collecting the few eggs the poor chickens manage to lay in such wintery conditions. Their cloak is of the feather variety and reminds me of the covering God's children enjoy in all weather.


Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge: His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 


The Lord Jesus wore a cloak too. In Matthew the story of the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years focuses on the moment she reached out in faith for healing. 

She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." 

Matthew 9:21

Even more than my longing for a taste of the past in all it's romantic detail, is my desire to know Jesus in the days He has appointed for me. Each day I want to be renewed by His transforming power, and find refuge in His faithfulness to me. 


So I'll wrap my shoulders in my writing shawl and look out for Alissa in her velvet cloak. Our frocks won't be crushed and neither will our spirits.