Nice pretty notebooks...

On Sunday night, after all the mayhem and madness of Ava's dedication had calmed down, Catrin and I sat ourselves down looking for a project. It is true to say neither of us are very good at sitting down and doing nothing... so a creative outlet had to be found!

We unearthed some plain notebooks (the ones I used to make these journals at christmas) and got out all our nice papers to create some gifts for family's/friend's approaching birthdays! We made pretty covers with card and pretty paper, and then filled the notebooks with little quotes and decorations on every other page... quite sad, afterwards, at the realisation I would be giving it away!

It took us an hour and a half to put them together, but we were both very chuffed with the outcome...

Blank notebooks, as always, from my FAVOURITE catalogue at Panduro, Cath Kidston stickers and envelopes and an assortment of nice card, paper and ribbon! All you need for a creative and productive hour and a half!

Ava's dedication...

We had a fabulous weekend thanking God for the gift of Ava and dedicating ourselves to the task of christian parenting... thank you SO much to all of our family and friends who made it such a special occasion!

Here's some pics to fill you in...

Thanking God for Ava, and promising to point her to Jesus, with God's help...

Good as gold for Pastor Bobby! (Even though she fussed for Dave and I!)

Pastor Bobby blesses Ava

Cream tea... yum!

The table - decked with scones, jam, clotted cream and cakes! My Mum is TRULY amazing!
(And thanks Liz and Jo for the other contributions!) 

The fruit ones went quick! 

Our little family

My friend Catrin came over from Austria and was an absolute SUPERstar, helping me
make the little labels early on the morning!

Present time... whatever could this be?!? Thanks David, Hazel and Jonathan! 

The lovely Ava...

Tegan... our magnificent waitress who travelled all the way from Wales and gave us excellent service, a beautiful table and even wrote a speech for us!

We did feel so blessed to have such supportive family and friends around us... making the task of parenting Ava feel slightly less daunting.

HUGE thanks to Catrin and Emma for travelling in from miles away... to Mum for being incredible... to Liz and Jo for the extra cakes... to Alex, Elliot, Becky and the other YPFers for being SO sacrificial and generous and spending their Sunday afternoon serving tea and coffee and loading and unloading a dishwasher in an overheating kitchen. And thanks to all our friends who made the effort to come along and share our special day with us!

We thank God for each and every one of you.

xxx

Dedication weekend...

This weekend, David and I will be doing something big... something we've intended to do for a long time, and in a sense, something we have been doing already for a long time. But this weekend it goes public...

It's Ava's dedication...

What is a dedication? It's partly thanksgiving for the gift of Ava - thanking God for all his provision in her safe arrival, and in the way she has grown and developed and brought such joy to us. It's also us dedicating ourselves to bringing her up in the Lord... we can't make Ava a christian. No holy water, or special blessing, or promises we make will be able to do that. The decision to follow Christ is a decision she will have to make herself (but oh - we pray she will!)

It's also an opportunity to ask for the Lord's help... I don't think there's anything like parenthood for revealing your sin - your pride (I want my 11 month old to make a good impression, and when she doesn't, I feel frustrated with her, that people might judge me for that), your patience (when you're up 2 and a half hours in the night and you've literally tried everything) and your weakness (how do I actually DO this parenting thing?! What are the tricks to turning out healthy, well-rounded, secure adults?) Somehow, relying on the Lord takes the pressure off me. Ava doesn't have to be perfect - my identity doesn't have to be found in her, its found in Him... God gives me patience (because he is OH SO patient with me!) and He gives me the freedom to say "I don't know how to make healthy, well-rounded, secure adults... but praise God that he does" I have the freedom to learn on the job, to make mistakes and rely on his grace.

So this weekend, as we celebrate the gift of Ava, and dedicate ourselves to pointing her to Jesus (what a HUGE task) we will be relying, more than ever, on God's grace and patience and mercy with us. And thanking Him for blessing us so abundantly.

I'll fill you in on how it went on Monday!

Happy weekend everyone!

Back to work...

Yesterday was a momentous occasion. I left my little girl for the longest time so far (during the day), and headed into work. I was away from her for 5 hours...

My maternity leave is over.

I am so grateful to God that I have had the opportunity to have 11 months of being at home full time with this little one. It has been such a privilege to be able to spend time with her, get to know her little personality, invest in her and enjoy her company. I am grateful that even now, going back, I am able to go back part time, so that I can see her take her first steps and say her first word. I am so grateful, because I know that so many people would love to have that opportunity. I am so grateful for a boss, and staff at my school, who have been so understanding, and have made it possible for me to go back 1 and a half days, and not laughed at me for it, or told me that's ridiculous, or said it's impossible. I am so grateful that my Mum is round the corner and is not only willing, but so excited, at the prospect of looking after her little granddaughter every week... I'm grateful because there's no-one I trust more with our little girl, and I'm grateful because it means I don't need to go back full time to pay for child care.

I am so blessed in so many ways, and I know that so often, I take so much of it for granted. So I just wanted to stop and say Thank You to the one who gave us Ava, who is faithful, and loving and always there. On Sunday, we will dedicate ourselves to bringing up Ava to know about Jesus (more on that next week) and I am just blown away, sometimes, by just how good God is.

So when I feel like crying, this morning, at the thought of leaving Ava for a whole day... of saying goodbye at 7.45am and only seeing her again around 5pm for a couple of hours before she goes to bed... when I have a little wobble at school at the thought of all she is doing and all I am missing... when I stop at the end of the day and have a pile of books to mark before I go running back to her... when all that happens, I must remember only one thing...

I must remember how truly blessed I am.

Cat-watching...

I'm going to be a bit controversial in this post... I know its not a popular thing to say, I know lots of people will be yelling at their computer screens and banging their desks/tables/laps/laptops in anger, but its just the way it is.

I don't like cats.

You can come at me with all sort of arguments as to why I should like cats... I don't buy the soft, fluffy, cute thing. I never used to have a problem with them - there was even a time where I would let them do that creepy wrap themselves around your legs things and stroke you as they walk past. But no more. When I was about 14, a cat jumped out from behind a bush down a road on my walk home from school  and literally missed my face by about a centimetre. That was it. Cats and I no longer got on.

My daughter, however, does not seem to have inherited this dislike I have. In fact, she is the opposite. She adores cats; if she sees one, she shouts "da-za" (Katze) and runs to the patio doors. When she bangs and hurts herself and cries inconsolably, I know all I have to do is take her outside to see Maggie, our neighbour's cat who sleeps in the birdhouse on sunny days, and all will be well again.

So I'm being taught a lesson by my daughter. When God made the world, he said it was all "good". I have to assume cats were included in that and so, much as I dislike these feline fiends, I must admit that they are creatures made by the creator God, and therefore, even though I'm not their biggest fan, I probably shouldn't loathe them in the way I am prone to do...

London, baby!

At the weekend, some very dear friends from my university days came to visit. We had a GREAT time of catching up, munching Pizza Express, watching movies, staying up late into the night and trekking around London. It was Ava's first trip to see the sights and so excited was she to see Buckingham Palace, she point blank refused to sleep! Cheeky little monkey...

With the lovely Lindsay in Pizza Express... yum!

Beth and Rose with the gorgeous little Crispin!

After yummy Pizza Express, we headed for the sights of London! This was the point at which my beautiful baby was meant to fall asleep peacefully in her pram (just like her well-behaved little friend Crispin) but instead, decided she didn't want to miss out on the fun. Buckingham Palace was clearly not to be missed...

Ava clearly taken by the passing horse and carriage while little Crispin does what my daughter was MEANT to be doing! 

Beautiful Buckingham!

So after she'd had her view of Buckingham, I promptly placed her back in her pram, lying down, ready to fall asleep... I look away for two seconds and this is what I find...

Clearly my daughter has a mind of her own!

We headed back towards Waterloo, and yes, my daughter did eventually fall asleep, but only once I'd put her in Crispin's sleeping bag so she couldn't stand up, and literally strapped her into her pram lying down! 

What a cheeky monkey!

A lovely weekend with great friends and lots of happy memories!

Joining the Social Media Bandwagon!

For those of you at Church with us, you may have already seen this article I wrote for the back page of In-Touch this weekend.

The motivation for blogging is a topic about which any and every blogger should ask themselves on a regular basis...

The Web of Social Media…

As a Christian, navigating the maze of social media, while keeping our character under check, and our motives intact, is an almost impossible task. I know. I’ve been seriously blogging now for the last 8 months and find this same question pops up time and time again:

Why am I doing this?

There are a lot of reasons. I hope my blog is a place that points people to Jesus; I know a lot of non-Christians read it, so it’s a great opportunity for people, friends and strangers, to see the impact the gospel has on everyday life. I hope it’s an encouragement for Christians too… to fight the good fight, both in the exciting adventures and in the mundane activities of normality. It’s a creative outlet, a place for me to put my ideas out there, and hear people’s responses and thoughts. It’s an earner; as a stay-at-home Mum, a little bit of extra cash in the pocket is a bonus!

But the pitfalls are many. They are ALWAYS there -they are lurking, and subtle and creep up at the most innocent and unsuspecting times. In essence, the pitfall can be summarised in one word. Pride.

I’ve just started working through Luke in my quiet times, and on Tuesday, I got to “Mary’s song” in chapter 1. As I began working through the passage, I felt increasingly convicted by verses 51-53…

He has performed mighty deeds with his right arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty…

As we go about our blogging, or facebooking, or tweeting, we face a choice. To glorify our own names and seek our own fame and fortune (how many retweets did I get today? How many likes on my Facebook status? How many hits on my blog?) or to glorify God’s name, and seek his fame and fortune. The second may not get me as many hits… my readership may drop. But the impact will be more lasting.

If I seek to glorify myself, eventually, according to Mary’s Song, I will be brought down, scattered, sent away… but if I join the ranks of the humble – look to glorify God’s name and seek his fame and fortune, I will be lifted up and filled with good things.

We need to pray for God’s strength to daily make the choice that honours him… and maybe change the question…

Not, “Why am I doing this?” but “Who am I doing this for?”

Let’s do it for Jesus.