Tuesday, 8th June 2011

A great couple of weeks have been had by all. Highlights include:


Short trip to Interlaken-bad weather but went swimming and walking and it was a time of relaxation. I read Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa, an amazing powerful novel about the life of a Palestinian woman and her family. The novel spans four generations and gives a profound insight into life in a Palestinian refugee camp and the atrocities of the Israeli-Palestinian war. It was written from a Palestinian perspective which I hadn't really considered before, when thinking about the Jews return to the promised land. It just made me want to read about the experiences of Palestinian Christians, so I am waiting for This Side of Peace by Hanan Ashrawi to arrive from Amazon.


Amazing times at church-a day drip to the beach with the twenties group, powerful and life-changing talks about how God worked through Nehemiah and God ministering to people during the Alpha Holy Spirit evening.



Rosie will be 13 on the 14th! My baby will be a teenager. Her party is on Saturday. 17 girls will be having a manicure here. It is also Graham's mum's 80th and we will be having a small party for her here the day before.


Next week-end three friends and myself will be going to Interlaken for the weekend to do part of the Alpine Way, from Schynige Platte to First. The walk will take 6 hours. Really looking forward to it. Last year we climbed Helvellyn and decided to go continental this year. However, next week will be busy as I have my next draft chapter deadline on Thursday. The following week I will be presenting at the HSC conference which I'm not looking forward to.

Charlie's exams have finished and he has been busy doing jobs for us around the house as he needs to earn some money to help fund his trip to China next month. Harry is in the middle of exams and is off school timetable this week. Rosie is winding down now until the end of term and end of an era on the 8th July.

It will be our 20th wedding anniversary on the 22nd!

Working from home

I'm trying to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons of working from home. Whilst it is great that I can spend time in my own home and can combine work with the children and housework, I do miss my student colleagues. My home environment is more conducive to writing than the one at work but it is also one which leads to distraction. I also tend to accept too many coffee/lunch invitations. I recognise that I need to be more disciplined but putting it into practice is another matter. The cat getting stuck up a tree (again) whilst chasing a bird this morning didn't help! Thankfully Charlie is at home and so scaled the tree with a basket which the cat jumped into and then passed it down to me. Working on another draft findings chapter at the moment which is due in on Monday.

Charlie only has 3 more AS exams left, Harry has had a few end of year and an early gcse exam with more to follow after half term and Rosie's end of year exams are taking place all this week.

The weather is lovely but at the back of my mind I am concerned that we haven't had any rain for weeks now and the garden is looking very dry. The North of the country are having more than average rainfall whilst in the South there is talk of a drought!

A Monday in May

When God pours out His blessing upon you, you'll begin to see three things. First, that your problems are just an opportunity for Him to '...show Himself strong on [your] behalf...' (2 Chronicles 16:9 NKJV). Second, that His '"...strength is made perfect in [your] weakness"...' (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV). Third, that you can reach a place where you actually begin to thank God for your enemies, because God 'prepares a table', and vindicates you right there in front of them (Psalm 23:5 NKJV).

Part of my Bible notes for today. So true.

Really struggling with bad Hay Fever. Don't think I've ever had it so bad but it feels like I've got a permanent cold. I have been taking cetrizine or loperamide but both make me drowsy ( even the non-drowsy ) and don't make much difference in terms of symptom relief. Now taking Beconase. I heard on the radio this morning that the Milton Keynes area was the worst in the country for Hay Fever sufferers at the moment as we haven't had any rain for weeks plus it is so windy at the moment. Anyway, little rant over with. Supervision tomorrow then back to writing another draft chapter. I won't finish at the end of September but hopefully by the end of the year. My funding runs out in September so will need to find a part time job then. Just have to think that God is in control and knows what is best for me.

Our new assistant leader preached for the first time yesterday. Wow-what a challenge for us individually and as a Church. We need to break-out of our comfort zones and stand up for what we believe in more. Not rocket science but basic principles which we should adhere to and stop being wishy-washy Christians in our environments.

Charlie is off school now for exam leave and Harry breaks up soon. Half-term in a couple of weeks and we are off to Interlaken for a few days.

Loving the day already. Just about to go and get ready for church. The sun is shining and I'm enjoying the peace and quiet. Graham is away golfing in the Lakes with three friends, Charlie is in bed, Harry is camping in a field somewhere for a practice D of E and Rosie left early this morning to go to London for a friend's birthday party.

I drove 400 miles yesterday- a 350 round trip with Rosie to visit my mum and then we drove to Horwich and then to see my dad's tree and then to Frankie and Benny's for tea. We got back at 9pm. I'm glad I did it and whilst it's difficult trying to communicate with my mum I feel less guilty that I live so far away from her. She seemed well physically though.

Next week will be very busy. Two draft chapters in for Friday, Twenties on Tuesday, Prayer meeting on Wednesday and lots of the usual children's taxiing around. My car needs a major overhaul so will be in the garage all day on Tuesday.

We start prayer and fasting for a week, so Facebook and lunch will be replaced with prayer! That is my plan and with God's help I will do it. I know when we have prayed and fasted previously God has moved in our family and within the church!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful to God for many things at the moment:

Family-Graham and children and our health
Friends-I'm thankful that God always provides supportive friends especially at times when I need them.
The privilege of helping lead the Twenties group at church with Graham. We had 17 young adults in our growth group on Tuesday night and it was great. I'm so excited to see how God is going to help us all to grow and how He will transform us over the next few weeks. We're still running our Saturday group for the time being.
The opportunity to work from home and I'm praying that I won't get so easily distracted when I'm trying to write.

Another deadline approaches and I need to get my act together and start working hard. It has been difficult to write anything half decent during the last few weeks with the children being off school. Normally I can work when the children are here, with fights, arguments and laughter surrounding me alongside the general background noise that three children plus their friends make but since Harry has upped his band practices the noise from electric guitars has caused my brain to cease functioning I think!

I took my car to the garage this morning to sort out the air conditioning (which they couldn't fix and I have to return it next week)and as I was walking to collect my car I took the above picture of the lovely countryside.

Good Friday 2011

I was up early this morning. I love this early morning solitude whilst everybody sleeps. I relish this short amount of peaceful time on my own when I read my bible and listen to the sounds from outside which are birds chirping away at the moment. The sun is peeking through the trees and it looks like it's going to be another beautiful day.

Good Friday today- what's good about a day that commemorates the brutal murder of God's son?

''He is broken, beaten, bloody. Pilate's soldiers are hitting him, making fun of him. They give him a crown of sharp, twisted thorns.''

I thank you Jesus for that brutal death on a cross because it has changed my eternal destiny! That is what is 'good' about today.

We have a busy weekend ahead. Church service this morning then an Easter witness service in the town centre at lunchtime. We are then driving to Cambridge to see some friends for a BBQ. Tomorrow we are having two families round for dinner and then on Sunday Graham's parents are coming over for lunch.

I've had a great few days this week and in between working a friend who was visiting from Australia came to stay and we went to Cambridge for the day which was really enjoyable. The weather has been stunning-it's like the middle of summer here.

Our new church leader has arrived from South Africa and will be preaching on Easter Sunday for the first time- really looking forward to that.

Easter holidays

We had a few days in sunny Interlaken over the week-end. It was so hot and the weather was like how it is during August. We were going to go sledging but went walking and swimming instead. The snowline was retreating higher up the mountains so we decided to give it a miss. We climbed Harder Kulm which took two hours and then two hours down again. Rosie brought a friend with us and I was worried as she had never climbed a mountain before, but she was fine. The short break did me good and I started back working straight away and finished my second draft chapter yesterday.

I'm so enjoying the lazy mornings when I can stay in my pjs without school runs to contend with. Looking forward to seeing an old friend next week who I lived with in Switzerland. She is over here from Australia for a holiday and I spoke to her the other day. We are planning to meet in Cambridge next week as she will be staying with her sister who lives in Norfolk.