Pin of the week...

As a child, I always wanted a little summerhouse to play in. This one is PARTICULARLY adorable and inspiring... thanks Mama's Kram!

NWA 2012... We're off to Wales!

Truly one of the highlights of our year... this weekend, David, Ava and I are off to NWA 2012... so excited to be back there! What a fantastic week of Bible teaching, great music, amazing friendships, beautiful welsh scenery and working, as always, with a FAB team. We're going to be heading up the music for the 11-14s and will attempt (mobile reception permitting) to update you with daily pics from a great week in the Welsh valleys! 

I genuinely CAN'T WAIT!

x-x-x

March Reading...

Well, this month I have completed a grand total of ONE book... One book?!! Yup! I hasten to add, to my defence, that it is one very long book...

I have always been a fan of biographies... I find it fascinating to hear people's life stories - to find out where they have come from, and learn about the journey that brought them to where they ended up.

After watching the film, I decided to read a biography of Margaret Thatcher; also titled "The Iron Lady". John Campbell has written two larger volumes recording Thatcher's life, and this biography is an edited and shortened (!!) version of those two volumes. I'm not normally one for political books but I found this book to be a fairly unbiased (although, come on, clearly everyone writing the biography of a politician has SOME political agenda) portrait of Thatcher - her strengths and weaknesses, her successes and failures. I found Campbell to be VERY readable, and it helped me to understand the background to a lot of politics happening now. I only caught the tail end of the Thatcher era, and I was pretty young, so I found it fascinating to find out about the only female Prime Minister Britain has ever had.

Whatever you make of her, whatever your political convictions and judgements of her time in power, I think its fair to say that Margaret Thatcher was a pretty unique and incredible woman, with her steely conviction, incredible stamina and remarkable self-assurance.

Campbell begins to conclude his biography with the following words...

"Margaret Thatcher was not merely the first woman and the longest-serving Prime Minister of modern times, but the most admired, most hated, most idolised and most vilified public figure of the second half of the 20th century. To some she was the saviour of her country who 'put the Great back into Great Britain' after decades of decline; the dauntless warrior who curbed the unions, routed the wets, re-conquered the Falklands, rolled back the state and created a vigorous enterprise economy which twenty years later was still outperforming the more regulated economies of the Continent. To others, she was a narrow ideologue whose hard-faced policies legitimised greed, deliberately increased inequality by favouring the middle class at the expense of an excluded underclass, starved the public services, wrecked the universities, prostituted public broadcasting and destroyed the nation's sense of solidarity and civic pride. There is no reconciling these views: yet both are true." 

(Campbell, 2012, Location 10805)

The joys of teething...

This is a picture of my poor, grumpy baby... she has not been a happy bunny for the past couple of days, and all the symptoms seem to be pointing to the same conclusion: the dreaded teeth! Ava already has her bottom two and I think the top teeth are on their way.

I have caught myself getting frustrated with her a lot the last few days - and then I stop and think. How uncomfortable have I found it when my wisdom teeth are on the move (and I don't even have wisdom teeth issues)? And these poor little Bubbas can't even vocalise how they're feeling. It's pure guesswork...

I'm praying God will give me patience with Ava as she cuts these teeth. I'm praying he'll help me to understand and not get frustrated... to be sympathetic to her discomfort and make her feel secure and safe. I'm praying he'll help me to remember how blessed I am to have her, and how blessed I am that this grizzly behaviour is not the norm. I'm praying he'll give me the strength to be a good Mama even when I've been up in the night and she's being clingy...

I'm also praying these teeth will come through soon!

Resolution 13:

13. Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality

This resolution moves from our heads and our hearts, to our hands. It's about the action that should stem from a mind that knows the Lord, and a heart that loves him. We are to be generous, giving and sacrificial because Jesus is generous, giving and sacrificial. But this isn't merely about talking the talk - Edwards uses the word "objects"... that means we're not just to give our words, or our time. It's practical giving... physically and generously providing for those in need.

Will you join me, today, in asking myself whether I am really giving? Giving so that I feel it... because if I don't feel the pinch of it, I'm clearly not giving sacrificially or liberally...

Pin of the week!

Got a lot of 1st birthdays coming up in the next few months... have been looking into homemade gift ideas!

I love these scrapbook style hats... get some dirt-cheap tacky looking hats from the pound store and make them look beautiful!

If only I could crochet!

I LOVE this idea... all you need? Felt, wool and stuffing. SO easy!

These were made from old items of clothing!

Buy some cheap baby vests and applique on some cool designs!

I love the idea of a music box made up of entirely homemade instruments... someday I want to do this for Ava!

Happy weekend everyone!
x-x-x

Spring days and 40 bags...

So, if I'm honest, I haven't completely stuck to my 40 bags in 40 days schedule, but I think I will just about get everything done before Easter - not long to go!! It's actually been a real blessing... and very rewarding. I've realised how much unnecessary "stuff" we have accumulated in the last 2 years and its been good to go through and assess what's necessary and what's not. I've got a few black sacks out of it and a couple of charity shop sacks too.

Yesterday I attacked the bathroom... I got half a black sack out of my bathroom cabinet alone and threw out so many almost-empty bottles of sun lotion, shampoo and bubble bath... I couldn't quite believe how much stuff had got lost in the depths of that cupboard. I pulled everything out, sorted it, cleaned out the cabinet and put everything back in in an ordered way!

It felt SOOO good!

I stood back and breathed a sigh of satisfaction at my lovely clear, ordered cabinet!

*Sigh...* 

On that note, Spring has finally arrived! I have been loving the gorgeous weather! Ava and I have been making the most of the sunshine and spending every spare minute in the garden! She's sitting now, and its lovely as she's not frustrated any more and can sit and play to her heart's content!

Springtime has also entered the house... I took down all the winter decorations at the weekend and have the Easter decorations ready... but not up yet. It still feels a little early for chicks and rabbits and eggs, so I've gone simple springtime - pink and green and it just makes the place feel so bright and cheery!

 I love the spring time!

x-x-x

Little girl gifts...

On Monday, Ava went to her little friend Sophie's birthday party... I had no opportunity to get a present for Sophie, but wanted Ava to be able to take something for her little friend, so racked my brains as to what I could conjure up on Sunday evening! A couple of years ago, I made myself a hair-clip holder and suddenly thought, that given little girls tend to collect a lot of little hair clips, I might make one up for Sophie!

I got the idea from my years in Austria, when the little girl I looked after had a beautiful HABA hair clip holder, complete with zip-bag and mirror and gorgeous patchwork material... I wasn't going to attempt something as big as that, but I came up with my own design a couple of years ago after seeing something on another blog, using ribbon. (See here to read more about that!)

VERY easy to make... literally took me 20 minutes! All you need is some cardboard, cute material, ribbon and, most importantly, a glue-gun. This is a totally glued-up, no-sew project!

To start off, I just cut myself 2 bits of card and doubled them up to make it extra sturdy...

I then used my faithful glue-gun to cover the cardboard in some nice material

I attached a bit of ribbon, so it could be hung up later!

I cut the letter 'S' out of some different material to personalise it!

Choose some lovely ribbons and decide how you're going to lay them out. When you attach them, it is vital that you only glue them to the back... they need to remain unattached to the front, so you can slip the hair clips in (see below)

Ava's message which we attached to the back... just so Sophie knows what it is to be used for!

Happy crafting!

x-x-x

A weekend of encouragement...

On Saturday, David and I had the immense privilege of heading towards Portsmouth and leading the worship at the Solent Women's Conference. What an encouragement! Just over 200 women gathered together along the south coast to hear Val Archer and Ann Benton open up the scriptures and think through what "True Worship" really is.

We had a fantastic time of corporate worship, singing truths about the greatness of our God, listening to the scriptures explained, and learning about the kind of people God calls us to be. The morning was kicked off with Romans 12 v 1 - a verse very dear to my heart and one which really summarises what the day was all about...

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.

- Romans 12:1, The Bible -

We spent the morning looking at what the Bible says worship is... a life given to God. Its not about what we do - we no longer have to come with our offerings, our tick-list of good works or our piety. No. It's about what Jesus has done and our response to that. Ann Benton reminded us that "true worship is when we leave knowing that God is huge, and that we are tiny" Its understanding things in their true perspective.

In the afternoon, Val spoke very practically on what a life of worship looks like and about how to keep going when we don't feel like worshipping. One of the things she reminded us of, was that worship is about making the right choices... its all too easy to make excuses, to allow the guilt complex to kick in. But actually, all of life is worship if my eyes are fixed on the Saviour - whether I'm cooking the dinner, reading my Bible, travelling on the bus, or working on my 40 bags challenge!

Between the talks, we had some great times singing God's praise. It was so encouraging to look out on a sea of faces singing with all their might! It was clear to see that these women loved their Saviour and were eager to bring him glory with their voices... I didn't know any of them, and yet these were my sisters in Christ. And it was amazing to think that one day, we'd be doing this again...

The guys from 10ofthose.com were there with some great deals as always... we were so busy prepping, I sadly didn't get much of a chance to peruse the books... but we're off to New Word Alive in a couple of weeks, so I'll grab my opportunity then!

We had some fantastic times of singing together; some brilliant lyrics that just focussed my mind so much on the truth of what we were learning... that God is indeed a great God who is to be glorified through the Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

It was a long day - we were there at 7.30am and left at 5pm, but what a joy to serve these women and be encouraged and challenged myself... God is a great God, Christ is a great Saviour... why wouldn't we give our lives as "living sacrifices... holy and pleasing to Him"?

PS - for those wondering what we did with the baby for the day, she came with us and was an absolute star! My Mum was resident babysitter and did a fab job keeping Ava entertained (although to be fair, wherever there's music playing, Ava will kick her legs to her hearts content!)

Resolution 12: Reflections on blogging...

12. Resolved, if I take delight in something as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.

Literally five minutes before I checked out the "resolution" for this week, David read to me an article in the Guardian called "Facebook's 'dark side': study finds link to socially aggressive narcissism". I often wonder what social networking is doing to society. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE facebook, twitter and the world of blogging... I think they are great tools that can be used really well and effectively... but what is our motivation in posting about ourselves all the time?

When I really think about it, I sometimes wonder what the point of facebook "status" is... does the world really want to know what I'm thinking/feeling/doing? Does it need to know the private details of my life? At times, could what I write be taken the wrong way? Or taken out of context? Or simply insensitive to someone? WHY do I feel the need to write about myself... to put myself on the public stage? Social media networking gives us the feeling of celebrity culture... my photos are pasted across the web for all the world to see... people can follow my every move. It feeds our self-obsessed nature wonderfully...

Facebook, Twitter and blogging have wonderful advantages... I am able to share photos of Ava with family in Norway and friends in Austria, I have been able to get back in touch with primary school friends, I can, hopefully, use this medium to encourage others and point to Jesus. Don't mishear me... I think modern technology has opened HUGE doors.

However, I know for myself, I need to keep my motivations in check. Why am I blogging about this? Is it because I want to make my very mundane, normal life look perfect? Is it because I want people to think I'm some kind of superwoman mother/housewife (which I hasten to add, I'm not!!!)  Because if that's the case, then I am gratifying my vanity and pride and need to, as Edwards puts it, "throw it by".

Keeping this blog is something I am constantly checking my motives on. They are not perfect... I don't think I've done very many truly, completely selfless things in my life (if any!)  and keeping this blog is no exception. I am utterly susceptible to pride and vanity and I have to constantly watch my motives. But... I want this to be a place where God is glorified, and I see myself for what I am...

...a sinner saved by grace.

Pin of the week!

Lovely labels!

Happy weekend everyone!

x-x-x

Happy Houseguests!

We have been keeping lovely and busy with my parents-in-law this week... they're enjoying the sunshine with their little granddaughter. When I was preparing for their arrival, I took my inspiration from a pin I posted a while back, and made a "Guest Basket" for their arrival. I gathered together some facecloths, shampoo, bath and shower gel, nice soap and some yummy boiled sweets and a few old lemonade bottles and jam jars! All you need to make your guests feel welcome!

I soaked the lemonade bottles and jam jar until I could easily peel the labelling off. The simply poured the new items into the bottles, and put the sweets into the jam jar. Then, using my brilliantly fab Cath Kidston stickers (which I'm still using after 3 years - they seem never ending - once of my best presents ever!) and a bit of ribbon, I decorated the bottles/jars and made them all pretty!

Voila! A lovely guest basket!

Happy houseguests!

For Magni...

Today my mother-in-law celebrates a special birthday! She's over from Norway to be with the fam and enjoy some time with her granddaughter, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about a very special lady who is a great encouragement and inspiration to me.

Magni is one of those people who, once you've met, you never forget. She is an exuberant, bubbly, life-and-soul of the party kind of character with her norwegian accent and amazing baking (apple cake, fresh bread rolls, waffles... seriously good food!) She is adored by her sons, cherished by her daughters-in-law, a favourite with her granddaughter and appreciated by everyone who crosses her path (people who barely know her will always ask after her!!) Magni has this incredible ability to remember details about people which means that even if you've only met her once, you feel valued and loved. She is full of fun, full of stories, full of hospitality, but perhaps most importantly, full of the Lord...

Magni is one of those people who amazes me by her understanding of the world - everything is seen and viewed and weighed up in the light of her relationship with Jesus - no task is too big for him, no worry too insignificant - no thought, or decision, or area of life falls outside of the realm of her relationship with him. I am grateful for the way she prays for our family, for the way she has sacrificially and generously given her time and energy to us over the years, and for the way God has used her, in my life, to challenge me to commit everything to the Lord - no matter how big or small.

She has challenged me as well to be bold and unafraid about my relationship with Jesus. Magni will talk to anyone and everyone about him - she is not ashamed. And she doesn't come across as forced, or awkward, or strange when she seamlessly brings Jesus into any and every conversation... she is simply so grateful to him, that it seems natural to talk about him all the time!

Magni would want me to say she is a sinner saved by grace, she would want me to tell you she's not perfect, she'd want me to say she's made mistakes and that she doesn't love God as much as she wants to. She'd want me to tell you that, because she'd want to point to Jesus who turned her life around when she was in her early twenties. I love all that about her. I love her imperfections too, because they are real, and they are redeemed. I am so grateful to God for a mother-in-law who so consistantly, gently, humbly and lovingly points me to the Saviour.

Magni, you are such an inspiration to me for the way you love the Lord, serve your family, give time and energy to people and do it all with such joy and generosity. 

Happy 60th birthday Magni; I thank God for you!

Making Memories...

Yesterday, my house became a hive of activity... 4 mums, 4 babies, hundreds of photos, paper, glue, scissors, stickers, buttons and ribbons... we had a scrapbooking party! I've been working on Ava's scrapbook for the last 3 months, and its slowly taking shape... but we joined together for some company and inspiration! And yes... the house looked like a bombsite!!!

Hard at work!

While the babies are hard at play...

Too much hard work for some of them!

Horrified cries at the disgusting discovery that Dee had kept Mia's umbilical
cord stump!!! YUCK! :D

Serious scrapbooking requires serious concentration!

We had lots of fun, lots of laughs and lots of yummy apple and cinnamon muffins (thanks Nicole!) It was so successful that we've decided to get together for another sesh in a couple of weeks!

Quick blitz clear-up afterwards as my in-laws were arriving from Norway! Busy day, but a LOT of fun and very productive!!!

Resolution 11: Getting your head around it...

11. Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances don't hinder.

Questions, questions, questions... I don't think there's been a moment, as a christian, that I haven't had questions... "Why has God allowed this situation to happen?", "What does this bit of the Bible mean?", "How can God be both just and merciful?" Questions are part and parcel of being a christian and I think sometimes we can be scared of them... worried that we are becoming a "doubting Thomas". Actually, God's not scared of our questions, he's not worried he won't be able to answer them and he wants us to be real and honest about what's going on in our heads.

Edward's, here, is advocating honesty about our questions - firstly, recognising that we don't have the answers to everything, that there are certain things about God I can't get my head round, or I don't understand... and he urges us not to sweep them away, pretend they aren't there, bury them under the carpet... No. I'm to "do what I can towards solving it"... search the Scriptures, ask someone I respect, pray that God will reveal the truth to me, read a book on the issue...

One book that I highly recommend is Roger Carswell's "Grill a Christian"... the book is just a collection of questions people have about God, and Carswell is really easy to read and clear in his answers. I've leant this book out to a couple of friends recently, and they seem to be finding it useful and interesting! Worth checking out if you have questions, and want, as Edwards says, to "do what you can towards solving it."

Obviously, there are some questions that I will never know the answer to... that's life. Some things I will never get my head around this side of eternity. But I can trust that God is good. And that HE knows the answers to all of life's questions...

Pin of the week...

Mother's day in just over a week... here's some inspiration!

These amazing DIY projects were created (or featured) by some incredibly gifted bloggers...

check their blogs out for tutorials!

1. dolly canvas bag by under the sycamore

2. mason jar pin cushions by stolen moments

3. fabric covered notebooks by the brides diary

4. shabby flower tutorial by burlap and blue

5. labelled bathroom jars by tip junkie

6. block letters by sugar and charm

7. block print poppies by marthastewart.com

8. photos in jars by everyday celebrating

9. sweet hanging sachets by sew 4 home

10. etched dish by make it and love it

Happy creating!

Big thanks to www.thebusybudgetingmama.com for the ideas...

If any of you have a go at any of these, I'd love to hear about it and see some photos!