Weakness

"My grace is sufficient for you"

"My power is made perfect in your weakness".

I am so thankful to God that He reminds us of this powerful, incredible truth on a regular (nay, frequent!) basis. In our family right now it is a huge part of how we're getting from day to day - or more accurately, from night to day. If you're feeling weak or broken or burnt out or beaten down, you're in the best possible place for God to reach you and do the work He needs to do in you; the work He desires to do in you will enrich your life in the long run.

When we feel strong, when we have everything under control, when we know exactly what to do and how to do it, when we have the strength required for the task ahead, we can forget all too often that we need Jesus.

For those who are weak, struggling, in pain, worn out, (insert whatever weakness is yours here)....our need for Him is so great that we just cannot ignore it. Leaning on Him can sometimes be the only way we get through a day or a week. It's then that we see His power at work; we see Him do things and bring us through situations which we could not overcome or achieve in our own strength. I totally understand why Paul said he "boasted" in his weakness. It can almost be a relief to realise that we aren't meant to battle through these things all alone. Thank God that He allows certain situations and challenges to bring us to the end of ourselves so that we can find Him. He's there, waiting to perfect His power in our weakness. I believe Him when He says His grace is sufficient. It is always there, it never runs out and it lifts my head and heart. And when we accept that grace, we allow His power to shine through. Please Lord help us to do that.

Why I'm not "religious"

Flying Start Fame



I got recognised yesterday at a children's Christmas party. Four times!

Why? Because of this blog, would you believe.

I'm going to be even more careful what I write on here since it appears that more people have read at least one post than I ever thought would. The post in question is this one last month, all about the wonders of "Play Jane," our Flying Start friend with all the messy play ideas (and materials!)

After we had our final session with Jane last week, I gave her the gift of a collage of photos taken over the months of fun we'd had with her, along with a print-out of the blog post I wrote about her, both of which were intended simply to show our appreciation and huge gratitude to Jane. I thought it said it better than any cheesy card I could write to her.

Thing is, the collage attracted some attention back at the Flying Start office and that spiralled as more people saw it and read the blog post (eek!) It got into the hands of Jane's boss, then her boss's boss. And according to the people who recognised me at the Flying Start party yesterday it is currently with the Chief Executive of Flying Start as a whole! Self-conscious doesn't even begin to cover it - the thought of all those strangers reading what I wrote, without any expectation that they would ever see it is a bit weird.

I'm incredibly glad though to know that Jane and other staff were so touched by something so simple but also gobsmacked that apparently they rarely get thanks. I would imagine they would be showered with praise and gratitude on a daily basis for the work they do but evidently our appreciation is not normal and their reaction proves it. It shows how important it is to let people know when they make a difference in our lives, I guess.

Thank you Flying Start, once again!

:)

Gratitude

“@MaxLucado: Cranky? List 10 good things about ur life. God cures grumpiness with gratitude.”

Yes, cranky is a word I might use to describe myself this week (at times, not constantly!) However, gratitude is something I feel so strongly about; I have a lot to be grateful for. Let's do as Mr. Lucado suggests and narrow it down to ten things!

1) My faith in, relationship with and experience of Jesus Christ.
2) Fantastic, selfless husband. He's my best friend.
3) Beautiful, precious son.
4) Fabulous family.
5) Wonderful friends.
6) A home and food: two bare necessities (are you humming it too?!) never lacking, however tight things get.
7) My health returning.
8) The bar of Lindor chocolate in my cupboard, just waiting to be attacked!
9) Laughter. Whether it's triggered by the hilarity of some people in our lives or entertaining programmes like Miranda or How I met your Mother, for example.
10) Flying Start and the support they provide.
11) {Yes, eleven! I'm breaking the rules.} Freedom. Sure there are big problems in our society and politics but we are a free country.

And specifically today I am grateful for:

1) Home-made mincemeat cake. Yum.
2) Calpol.
3) CBeebies. Specifically, 3rd & Bird and In the Night Garden ;)
4) That Lindor bar. Yes it is worth mentioning twice!
5) The book, "The Science of Parenting."
6) The Internet, specifically twitter, Facebook and hotmail. Keeps me feeling connected and did even when I was too ill to leave the house for days and weeks on end.
7) It being Friday.
8) NCT for introducing me to one or two very nice new friends.
9) A 40% off voucher for a shop I need to visit anyway.
10) A potential tax rebate :)

Thank you God. I am grateful.

An Advent Calendar Worth Opening

Check this out each day guys, I reckon it will be worth your time. A couple of minutes each day. The first one is a bit longer but after that, it will literally be a few minutes. Be blessed...

http://www.igniteme.org/advent-calendar/index.php#

I blinked...

...and he went from baby to proper little boy.

3rd & Bird creativity

This week I have decided to embark on a little art project. Can I draw? No, not really. Can I paint? Erm...no. Luckily the target audience for my little masterpiece is a very forgiving, not overly discerning thirteen-month old!

During Noah's bathtime the past two nights I have been happily sitting on the landing listening to him squealing with delight and splashing Daddy whilst I merrily draw and paint. Or attempt to ;)

I'm making slow progress, as I need black and white paint to complete Mr. Beakman! :)

What I'm actually painting is the MDF board we had to use to block the gaps in our banisters upstairs about 6 or 7 months ago!! Trying to spruce it up with a little help from those colourful 3rd&Bird characters is keeping me entertained and Noah fascinated ;)

Perks

For all the challenges (and struggles, at times) associated with living in gibby, one of the big positives (or perks) is that our postcode falls right in the middle of a Flying Start area. What a fantastic organisation! So much support and so many services available to families with children under the age of four in communities considered deprived. We are so fortunate and have met some really lovely people through Flying Start. Our health visitor deserves a whole blog post all to herself. As does "Play Jane" as I refer to her. And this is hers!

Jane comes to play most weeks, always bringing with her some random new toy or game or messy substance for Noah to have an amazing time with. Favourites over the months have included cooked spaghetti, tea leaves, a massive tin-foil first aid blanket, squidgy, lighting-up balls.... the list goes on.

I don't know which was the most bizarre, they're all pretty crazy! Today's fun was water play. The pictures say it all.

The number of times these visits have brightened up a challenging or just generally quiet day and turned it on its head is quite amazing :) It's one of those grace notes in the symphony that is life here. A real blessing.

On this day last year....

It was snowing!!

And he was so dinky!!

Habakkuk: An inspiration.

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms and there are no grapes on the vines.....yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains." ~ Habakkuk 3:17-19

That's all :)

Dance dance dance

Love this!

Domesticated baby!

Not sure where he gets it from but this boy just loves cleaning/sweeping/wiping/washing (machines!!) Long may that continue ;) Except perhaps the washing machine obsession because that's the only one that has the potential to shrink things that should never have been put into it in the first place. The less said the better! ;)

Community

“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community (even if their intentions are ever so earnest) but the person who loves those around them will create community”. Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

My goodness me is that a challenging statement for us right now. 

In some respects we have never felt so much a part of a real community as we do living in Gibby. We know our neighbours -and almost the whole street - by name and they know us. Various people come to us at different times, needing help jump-starting their car, needing to come in cos they're locked out til mum comes home (that was this week's entertainment!!), needing help with the electricity or flooded bathroom (another classic), etc etc. We could equally go to these same people and ask for help if we needed it. That is pretty great in this day and age - particularly so given that our street is, according to the PCSO I spoke to last week, the current no-go area as far as many are concerned and certainly a known hot spot for crime and antisocial behaviour. ASBO central apparently!

That's where the challenge lies. Despite all that beautiful aforementioned neighbourly spirit, I find living here frightening at times. The unpredictability of the kids especially means there's rarely a dull moment and that's putting it mildly. Living here has always been about living out our faith as best we can in the knowledge that Jesus loves this community and its people enough to die for them and we're called to love them like he does. Part of our feeble attempts at expressing that love (which I need to dig very deep for all too often!) is having dreams for how different a place and a culture this could be if Jesus' light were to really break in. And those dreams are good but I do not want to be one of those people who focus on the dreams and inadvertently make things worse - or, heaven forbid "destroy community." 

The answer, according to Bonhoeffer is simple: love those around you. Not your ideas, dreams or hopes. Just the people. The seemingly unlovable and almost certainly the unloved. Funny, I'm pretty sure that's exactly the simple message Jesus had too. Just like his other teachings, it ain't easy (!) but I think it's worth it :)

Leave of absence......

(tentatively) over!

Alright, own up! Who sped up time and made these past six months fly by so fast? I'm sure absolutely nobody has missed me in the blogging world (and will therefore not even read this post!) so I'm not worried about that but I would truly like to resume my very own little commentary on everything and nothing for my own sake. I'm not sure how or when I think I'm going to manage to do this but it's worth a shot.

To sum up the six months since I last visited my blog would be utterly impossible so I won't even bother to try. Suffice it to say, the adventure continues: both the parenting rollercoaster and life in gibby.

Hopefully tomorrow, some specifics ("I love the specifics....the specifics are the best part!" ~ A little F.R.I.E.N.D.S quote for you there!)

I shall leave you with a random picture.

My boys both doing something they love