July's Jungle Fun

Back in July, the "dream team" of Amy and Helen came to sunny Barry (which actually did happen to be sunny that weekend!) to transform a simple, dare I say boring, spare room in the Miti household into a nursery fit for a bean! When we asked if they would like to help us decorate the room which will belong to the baby once it's old enough not to sleep in our bedroom, we meant putting up a border and maybe giving the room a fresh coat of magnolia paint. So that was where we started...

It would have looked perfectly fine, nice and colourful had we stuck to just that, but when Amy is involved you can expect the unexpected! She had brought along lots of acrylic paints to do a mural on one of the walls; I thought she would paint one animal and that would be wonderful. Little did I know...! Helen, Vianney and I decided to give her space to start on what would become her masterpiece and left her to it while we went to Tesco for sustenance! What we found on our return was really rather exciting, giving us a taste of the transformation yet to come...

As the weekend went on and Amy's work progressed (with lunch and tea-breaks of course, we're not slave-drivers!!) I started to realise this was going to be a very special room - and one which I would want to sleep in myself if only it had a bed in it! Even now, more than two months later and with the baby not yet here to inhabit the room, I find myself wandering in there just to look at it on at least a daily basis!

As Amy painted, Vianney and Helen got to work with some brilliantly practical things like putting together the changing table and since then, Vianney has put up brightly coloured shelves and other such finishing touches and the room is now 100% ready to welcome its owner :)

So there you have it, Mini Miti's jungle friends await him/her and so do Mini Miti's Mum and Dad! Watchi this space (although judging by my inability to get round to blogging lately, any kind of mention of its arrival will probably come approximately 3 months after the event!)

Safe

Singing this and meaning it is something I'm finding encouraging and challenging in equal measure today but despite circumstances, I believe it's 100% true and it's a truth I'm determined to cling onto come what may :)

Keeping up with the PhJones's!

I realise this is a slightly odd thing to post as a first blog post in more than two months but hopefully something more interesting will appear on here soon! ;)

I have absolutely no idea why but this was the view from my bedroom window all throughout yesterday afternoon! Believe it or not there were two other PhJones vans just out of view, totalling 6 in our tiny little street! Bizarre to say the least....

While I wasn't sleeping...

Hello! I'm back. You may have been completely unaware that I'd gone anywhere. It's an overused phrase - especially by me just lately - but I've been on a whole other planet the past two months! I would estimate that I've spent at least 72% of the time I've been missing-in-blog-action sleeping in a near comatosed state. Maybe 18% of it I've been resident in the bathroom with my head over the toilet (no, not hungover) and the other 10% I've been awake, sometimes holding down some form of conversation and generally pretending to be "normal" - whatever normal is!

In short, I've been working my way through the first trimester of my first pregnancy. Fun times ;)

Most people (if not all) who read this blog will already know that by now so this isn't an announcement, just a brief explanation for my crazy long silence. So what else have I been up to in that 10% time window? Not huge amounts but here are some highlights....

(Unfortunately for some reason the formatting has gone very wrong and when I hit publish, the layout of this post is nothing like it is in the editor. However, I simply can't be bothered to fix it, sorry! Hope it doesn't offend your eyes as much as it does mine!!)

I had a very lovely 26th birthday only a couple of days after my previous blog post. It was a chilled out restful day, starting off with delicious hand-made lemon and raisin (wheat-free!) pancakes and a good strong cuppa tea in bed and topped off with a gorgeous roast dinner and AMAZING birthday cheesecake courtesy of Mr. Reay. The company wasn't half bad too as we spent the afternoon and evening with the Ravishing Reays! ;)

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Then there was the fun of playing with Thorntons' Easter Adverts with my oh-so-mature friend, H!

And before you think Amy and Vianney were better behaved and sensible on this occasion, think again......
This little diversion was taken during a gorgeous couple of hours spent one sunday morning in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, following a good friend's 40th birthday party the night before. Lots of silliness and lovely Starbucks coffee before hitting the road for the long drive home again.

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There have been a handful of very lovely visits to the fabulous Morgans, hanging out with them just a couple of days before the arrival of the newest member of the family (and the day before my birthday, hence the lovely presentation from Zach!) and a couple of days after the aforementioned new arrival, Hope Seren, joined them on 22nd February. She's a beautiful addition to a godly, wonderful family.

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Another birthday, this time Andrea's and we celebrated it with a Spring picnic at Cosmeston, playing silly card games (which I enjoyed winning, oh yes!) and mocking our husbands for various accent-related reasons! Racists or what!

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And finally (for now!) the most recent highlight was a delightful afternoon and evening spent with the fabulous Pizos. You may know them as Mr. and Mrs. Pippa of "Pippa's Long Stockings" among other enterprises! We had a brilliant BBQ and very much enjoyed their bargainous, brand-new hammock/swingchair thing. So much so that we went right out and purchased one the very next day! I say "we": Vianney went and bagged the very last one left in ASDA while I hung out in my usual spot for the morning. I won't elaborate on that :)

Anyway, the "Pizo highlight" is certainly one we are going to be repeating soon. They put the Joy into Joyce (their surname) and spoilt us rotten with their gift of hospitality as well as their gift of a very talented local butcher!! Here's to a summer of such BBQ's and company. And here's to me managing to write another blog post before two more months pass!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...

We have just spent the most delightful long weekend at the cottage in Cornwall. I say "The Cottage" as though it belongs to us, when that is in no way true. It's just that I'm used to the fact that it generally no longer requires explanation when I tell most people that we're going there; it needs no introduction after so many wonderful, sunset-enveloped, woodfire-burning, cornish food-centred weekends spent there with our fabulous surrogate sisters, Amy and Helen! We always come away feeling so blessed to have had the opportunity to spend time chilling out there and soaking up the gorgeous local coastline and cuisine (whatever the season), let alone to be so spoiled and looked after by such precious friends.

I think my guestbook entry for the stay sums it up nicely so if you can squint enough to read it, enjoy. And FYI, I don't really think the wheat-free thing is silly, I just felt silly being wheat-free in Cornwall. If that makes any sense! ;)

You'll see I refer to a coast guard's tower in the third page - more on that in another blog post, another day. It refers to my ongoing desire for healing from M.E (Tenuous link? Perhaps!) and something really wonderful dawned on me that day as I collapsed on the bench on halfway along a cliff path in Boscastle, after the others had carried me up it! Watch this space (or the space above this post actually, where the new post will appear soon!) for me to make more sense of what I've just said.... I know it's just waffle right now! Suffice it to say, we defied the apparent limitations of the Boscastle cliff walk and in doing so, opened my eyes and mind to new possibilities... A wonderful weekend had by all.

King of Treats

Last Sunday in church, God gave me a really beautiful, simple reminder of the way He cares about every detail of our lives. He showed me again that not only does He care about and provide for our needs, but He also gives thought to our desires and our hopes and even just the little things in life which make us smile. This most recent reminder of that truth came through a lovely lady in our church, named Olga. We've never had a proper. in-depth conversation, Olga and I, but at the end of the service on Sunday, she came up to me and gently handed me a small, beautifully wrapped parcel. When I asked her what it was, she looked at me, smiled and said, "I don't know."

She went on to explain that while she was visiting her son out in Tenerife recently, he gave her this parcel and told her that she was either to keep it for herself or give it to someone in her church; she chose the latter option, despite still not knowing what was inside. I didn't know what to say so I just sat down and unwrapped the lovely pretty paper, and found inside it a gorgeous silver cross necklace. It's so beautiful and I was honestly blown away.

I used to have a really lovely cross necklace which was incredibly similar to this new one, but as time had passed, it had become old, faded and just a bit grim to be honest (!) so I stopped wearing it a while back. I had been really wanting to get a new one, but knew it was not a priority at the moment as money is tight. It's not an essential and I had just put it at the back of my mind on that shelf we all have, marked, "When we next have some extra money" :)

When I saw this beautiful necklace, I was so touched and quite emotional firstly at Olga and her son's kindness in first buying it and then giving it away, and secondly at the fact that I felt God really blessed me through their kindness with something I didn't need but something which I absolutely love and wouldn't have bought myself. He's so good like that - He's the King of Treats and going the extra mile and it's so important I remember that in amidst the tougher times and the challenges He allows us. Thank you God for my new necklace and thank you Olga and your son for delivering it to me in your generosity. It made my week!

Truth

"If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places— firm muscles, strong bones.You'll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry.You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again." Isaiah 58:10-12 (The Message)

Biblical Bench

I only appear to be doing blog posts lately of two paragraphs or less. I think that gives you a good enough picture of my energy levels and consequent brain function of late, but I just really wanted to show you this gorgeous bench which we came across today at Rest Bay. It was situated in a beautiful location, with a stunning view over the bay (always enhanced by a gorgeous sunny day like today) but what struck us was the inscription.....

As I'm sure I will share in a post soon, the passage of scripture from which this statement is taken is one which God has been using to speak to me quite a bit recently. More on that another time when I'm more awake but for now, enjoy the bench. And if you live anywhere near Porthcawl or the South Wales coast, go enjoy it for real. It's a beautiful spot.

My Level of Monday Evening Maturity!

That will be all for today!

Easy for Who to Say?

I love worship music, it is one of the most powerful ways I find myself connecting with God and expressing myself to Him. God has given His people beautiful and inspirational songs throughout history but I feel like we live in a time where we are blessed to have so many talented musicians and songwriters who know and love Jesus, and who use their God-given talents to bless the church (and glorify Him). In our multimedia culture, we also have such easy access to this music; we probably don't realise how lucky we are, and we may often take it for granted that there will be fresh, new worship music just around the corner, giving us another new perspective. I think it's safe to say worship songs and lyrics will come up more than once or twice as this blog goes on but today I have been really thinking about a couple of lines in one specific song.

It's amazing how easily we find ourselves singing along to some of the words of the songs we sing, without really assessing or considering exactly what we are saying. I know that can certainly be the case for me. It's so important when we are singing songs of worship that we really know and believe every word; we are singing them to God after all. Today we were listening to a beautiful song called, "Hosanna." The words are simple, straightforward and - if you mean them - incredibly powerful, with the potential to change your life drastically.

The first verse and chorus are beautiful but the second verse and what I guess you'd call the bridge are the focus of my thoughts on seriously considering what I'm singing. I remember when we were at Momentum last summer, we sang this song and I was brought to my knees when I took in the full weight of what I was singing and truly meaning:

"I see a generation, rising up to take their place - with selfless faith, selfless faith.

I see a near-revival, stirring as we pray and seek - we're on our knees, we're on our knees....

Heal my heart and make it clean,

Open up my eyes to the things unseen.

Show me how to love like You have loved me.

Break my heart for what breaks yours,

Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause,

As I walk from life into eternity."

The verse just inspires me and makes me truly want to be part of that generation, full of faith and willing to take my place, wherever that may be. I find myself increasingly prayerful at the moment, on my knees for the place in which I live and the people amongst whom I find myself. However, it's the next few lines which really challenge me, and when I sing them, I have to know what I am asking God to do. When we ask Him to break our hearts for the things which break the heart of God, He takes us at our word. Most of us know what it is to be even remotely heartbroken: it's a painful place to be, to say the least. When we ask God to break our hearts for the lost, for the hurting and the broken, we have to be prepared to see them through His eyes, to see their pain and not be able to look past it. To feel real compassion and the measure of love Jesus has for those people. It's easier said than felt, that's for sure. If we're honest, it's sometimes easier to change channel when the plight of victims of war or famine flashes up on the news than to consider for more than a moment the agony they're going through. It's sometimes too easy to block out the discomfort we feel when we start to sympathise with someone else's pain. It's not comfortable or clean or straightforward.

The next line, "everything I am for your Kingdom's cause" is also quite a bold statement and not an offer we should make without serious consideration and understanding of what we're saying. I've only just begun to understand how literally God takes us when we offer Him ourselves, and that's not to say it's not an amazing and beautiful thing to put yourself fully into His hands but equally it can't just be treated as a nice, pretty line written to fill a song which we should sing along with, if we can't then back it up with our lives. Don't get me wrong - commiting your life wholly to God and relinquishing all control to Him (or as much as you're able to at each stage of your walk with Him) is the most fantastic and fulfilling adventure ever! A bad day with God is better than any good thing without Him involved. I just hope and pray that I will never let myself glibly sing along with such songs, without always considering the full weight and impact of what I am singing - and thereby promising - to God. There is such power in music and I pray that I, for one, will only ever sing to God what I am willing to live out.

Don't judge a loaf by its gorgeous aroma...

...because once you open the breadmaker, it might just look like this!!

Just to clarify, this isn't just part of a loaf, it is the entire result of the ingredients we put in. Turns out normal breadmakers do not make wheat-free bread. And if there was a way to show you just how solid and tough it is, I would. The word I've heard used most frequently to describe such an object is HOUSEBRICK!! Oops!

Whom shall I fear?

Before we moved house, during the decision-making process (a rollercoaster of emotions in itself), I knew God was challenging me on a number of levels and preparing me for some of the changes ahead. If I was sure of anything in that period, it was that God was about to start chipping away at what is probably my biggest weakness: fear. Fear of many things but particularly of harm coming to the people I care most about, and ultimately of losing those people. Wow, that's honest! I've said it.

I was under no illusions about the place we were moving to, there were no rose-tinted spectacles in my glasses case - and not just because I don't have a glasses case! I knew that my determination not to fear anything other than God was going to be put to the test in a way it perhaps hadn't been up until then. I was pleasantly surprised in the early days of living here by my distinct lack of such anxiety. Knowing that we were living in the centre of God's purpose and will for us gave me such a peace and assurance of His presence that there seemed little room for fear.

That knowledge, trust and assurance that we are where God wants us right now still remains strong as we enter month number five on the estate, but frustratingly - and perhaps, inevitably - the fear has crept back over the past week or so. A number of things have happened in that short time which appear to have allowed all sorts of worries and concerns to flood into my mind, overwhelming me at times if I'm honest. One night in particular last week, I got a real taste of the battles going on in the spiritual realms as I lay wide awake throughout almost the entire night. I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say, it left me slightly shaken. What I'm sure the enemy didn't bank on though was that it would also leave me evermore determined to see God's light break into this place.

"We have not been given a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline" ~ 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

This verse has been speaking very strongly to me throughout the past few days, and I am reminded again of how important it is to hold onto such scriptures. It is vital that we love those around us and keep a sound mind, in the knowledge of the awesome power of our God; fear never leads to anything positive or productive and it certainly doesn't change anything about a situation, however frightening it might feel. As I look back over the many times I have been fearful in my life, whether over something trivial or something more serious, I cannot recall even one circumstance where that fear I entertained made one bit of difference to the situation or its outcome. All it did was paralyse me at the time when I most needed to be taking action or simply praying and giving it all to God.

As I lay awake that night, I decided to listen to something positive -anything would do at that point! I reached for the ipod and flicked through some of the Christian podcasts I had uploaded to see if any of the titles seemed relevant. One jumped out at me straight away, called "Ambushing satan with Song." Given it was the middle of the night and my lovely husband was sleeping soundly beside me, I knew I couldn't be doing any singing but the part about ambushing satan sounded good to me so I listened to what the speaker (John Piper, I think) had to say. It turned out to be teaching based on the passage in 2 Chronicles 20 about Jehoshophat. The short version of that Old Testament story goes something like this:

King Jehoshophat was informed that a whole host of people were planning to attack him and his people, coming from various tribes and nations surrounding him. It was immediately obvious that his armies wouldn't have a hope if they went out to fight as they were outnumbered beyond belief. His reaction to the news was to instantly seek God. He had the whole country pray and fast and as he gathered them, he cried out to God for them all:

"...For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." (v 12)

God's response came quickly:

"14 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah... as he stood in the assembly.

15 He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. 16 Tomorrow march down against them...17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.' "
18 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. "

And that's exactly what they did; not only did they go out and simply stand but they put worshippers on the front line of the battle. As they marched out to the battle field and as they stood, they simply worshipped their God in heaven and waited on Him, trusting Him to fight for them as He had promised. And of course, He did!

Now I have been brought back to this passage in the Bible so many times in the 6 years since I first heard it, almost always at times when I've forgotten about its existence, and invariably when I have something to face which cannot be done in my own strength. This time was no exception, and it did its work yet again, leaving me much more peaceful and finally able to sleep. I cannot even imagine how fearful those people must have been, knowing such a vast army was coming against them, intent on destroying them and their homes. And if that's hard to imagine, the reaction of the King is just awe-inspiring in its impossibility! To simply say, "Okay Lord, we will trust you, no questions asked" is incredible, and something I aspire to! Us humans tend to have a lot of questions and for some reason we think we know better than God at times; we think we've come up with something He might just not have thought of, and we'd better just check He's aware of! :)


One thing in particular that John Piper said in that podcast grabbed my attention and still has hold of it now:

"The enemies of God are thrown into confusion by the songs of the saints!"

When the people of God are worshipping Him - whatever their circumstances - in spirit and in truth, the enemy cannot handle the confusion it causes. It's as if spiritual worship and spiritual warfare go hand in hand, and that encourages me. Worshipping God it turns out is a weapon, and it is definitely something I can do! What is there not to worship about Jesus? And I notice that as I worship, so many of those fears I'm harbouring begin to ease, or even evaporate. In the presence of God, with His light shed on them, those things suddenly don't seem so impossible. Perhaps that is the effect of that spirit of love and power and sound mind that Paul was talking about in his final letter to Timothy.

I'm not there yet with winning this battle against the spirit of fear - far from it - but God is doing His work and I hope and pray that perhaps this time next year I will look back and see a significant increase in my faith and reduction in my fears. Although, if we're praying for things, maybe I should pray for a complete absence of fear in my walk with Him. He can do anything after all; just ask Jehoshophat!

Amazing Grace

A very positive experience of physiotherapy this morning has left me pretty exhausted so I will keep the words in this post to a minimum; the video clip very much speaks for itself anyway. I'd seen something similar to this a year or so ago but forgotten all about it until my wonderful honorary sisters, Amy and Helen, reminded me this week. I hope that "thatjustinguy" (youtube) won't mind me borrowing his clip - it's just so apt for the theme of my blog! Let it speak to you, right deep within because these people aren't isolated cases and I'm sure they would say they aren't anything special - they simply let God do His work through His cross. And His amazing grace.

New Year, New Blog

Hello and welcome to my new blog, glad you found me. For anyone who didn't know, I used to have a blog called "Going Nowhere Fast" and I loved it. I decided on this fresh start mostly because I am happy to say that that old title no longer seems relevant! In the middle of July 2009, Vianney and I began a journey with God which led us within six weeks to a new home and, in many ways, a new life. We hadn't seen the move coming, or anticipated any sort of change in our lives until it seemed to hit us like a huge wave and sweep us along, finally depositing us on a new shore - Gibbonsdown! For more on the how, why, what, when's of that whole story, feel free to go back in time to the now ironically titled blog, "Going Nowhere Fast." The most recent posts on there explain a bit more about that initial move.

I know I could have simply changed the name of my other blog and carried on, but I chose to mark the fresh, new era in our lives with a fresh, new blog. And why not! So why grace notes? Well, any musicians will know that grace notes are extra little ornamental notes in a musical arrangement, which add depth or texture to the sound and generally complement the original melody; on the score though, they are so tiny that you could easily miss them. They are beautiful embellishments to a piece of music which can make the difference between an exquisite sound and a mediocre one.

Since moving to Gibbonsdown four months ago and becoming part of the life of the church, I have been blessed and challenged in equal measure by some of the trials and the triumphs of the people I now call friends. Their stories of God's healing power in their lives are like grace notes in an otherwise bleak, dark place. This blog won't be all about church or the estate, just as my old blog wasn't all about the condition which keeps me from going anywhere fast (M.E), but I suppose there has been a shift in my perspective and that's reflected in the blog titles. Before we moved, Vianney and I both felt that we lacked purpose in our lives - and although we had so very much to thank God for, with amazing blessings and provision from Him in terms of friends, family, food, shelter, clothing, etc, we struggled to understand how our lives were making any eternal difference. We had lost that sense of purpose and drive to see people saved that we once had, probably because we were only spending time with the wonderful Christians God had gifted us with. There is absolutely nothing wrong in that and I pray that it continues but I guess we were accutely aware that we were just enjoying the wonder of our God without being able to share Him with others who don't yet know Him. And that's the difference - now, in Gibby, we get to live right in amongst those very people, and their particular need for Jesus is so blindingly obvious that we cannot help but pray for them, reach out to them and love them. Being part of the church here only deepens that love and concern God has given us for the people of the estate, because we are in it with others of the same heart and mind. It's exciting and challenging and scary and wonderful all at the same time and I look forward to sharing some of the joys ahead on this blog.

As you would expect though, there will also of course be random extras thrown in, because after all, this is me! You can't have a Vix-style blog without an ecelectic mixture of God stuff, motorised wheelchair exploits, holiday pictures, pet stories, youtube videos and way too much more! So watch this space for anything and everything, from grace notes to quavers. (That's a joke but you never know...!)