It's the small things

One of the things I love most about being a mummy is the way Grace is fascinated by small ordinary things. Yesterday while we were having tea Grace was sat staring at the camera case on the table and happily played with it for about 10 minutes (which in her world is a long time!!)

Rotine Routine Routine

During the many long months of waiting for baby boyd to arrive in the world Mr B and me decided that we were going to be laid back in our approach to routine with baby boyd. That we would have routine when needed but not follow it to the minute of the hour and thus get rid of normal life and activities. This we have done, baby boyd goes everywhere and anywhere quite happily: church services and meetings, choir concerts, people's houses she has even been to her first hen party!!

But during the first week of the Easter holiday I noticed I was feeling bereft and missing something and what was it? Routine!! Somehow gradually over days and weeks left at home by ourselves routine has developed and emerged, it's not rigid, it's quite fluid really but we have it and we enjoy it and boy did I miss it. Last week we were away in the north east (that's a whole other story) and routine was no where to be found and we were all suffering without it!! So yesterday with half a mind on establishing some kind of fluid routine and the other half of my mind aware that looming vaguely on the horizon is my return to work and the need for baby Boyd to perhaps go to bed before 10pm so that I can at least pretend to be a teacher I designed a new but fairly strict routine of feeding and sleeping times.

Things have gone well on the first day of routine, I was feeling pleased but I knew it couldn't last and I was right. So as I write this baby Boyd is wailing and feeling sorry for herself abandoned to her cot at 8pm when normally she has the run of her gym downstairs and the attention of both parents. I wonder when she'll go to sleep??!! But it's good to have routine back with us again.

Friendship

Recently we've met up with quite a few friends from uni days (which seem so long ago and far away now) and it's got me thinking about friendship. You see, some friends from uni live near by and we see them quite often, others I seem to be in touch with through facebook. But on facebook you know what they're doing and you might know about the events of their lives but are you still friends? Would we be able to meet up and have things to talk about without feeling akward and uncomfortable?

Whereas some friends it seems to me might live far away but every time you see them, there's loads to talk about, you still care about them and are glad when they're happy and sad when they're sad - I like those kind of firends and am very grateful for those friendships. I just wish I saw them more often!
I also have friends from pre uni days who I see very rarely but ity's nice to see and there are friends from that time who I've lost touch with which I feel sad about.
Then there are friends we've made since coming to live in Cleveleys, people who haven't known us for long and didn't know us before we were Syephen & Hannah. But they're still friends and sharing in this chapter of our life.

I've also since giving birth made a huge effort to make friends with other mummys, people who understand that my life revolves around feeding, changing nappies, routines and sleep patterns. You see since I gave up work I feel I don't have as much to talk about that would interest my old friends, life is pretty boring at times. And so its been great to meet people in the same boat as me for a short while, people who don't know me as a teacher or Stephen's wife. These people only know me as Grace's mummy - I like that. And I hope that some of these friendships will last and continue, even after I've gone back to work and can no longer sit and chat for hours about injections, nappies, feeding times and health visitors.

All in all I feel very blessed to have so many wide and varied friends and friendships and I'm sorry to all of them if I talk about being a mummy too often!!

Long time no blog!

My goodness, I've not blogged in such a looonnnggg time but now that I'm a yummy mummy on maternity leave surely I should have time!!

The other reason I think I need to get back into blogging is that I've been completing a course: called to serve (and not enjoying it) since last September and I've just had to complete a self-assessment of the first two terms, which I struggled to do because I feel like since I became a mummy that has overshadowed everything else, so I struggled to remember what we studied in the first term or what i learnt from it. However my over riding conclusion is that I'm just not very good at being reflective. I enjoy talking, discussing and debating things but I'm just no good at reflecting on things, thoughts and experiences and yet I think blogging is good at encouraging this, so I'm going to set myself the challenge of blogging more often. It may also help keep the mummy brain at bay!!

You won't be surprised to learn that I had to reset my password even to get into my blog today!!

My head hurts

Now I'm not prone to deep thinking very often I leave that to other people see here and here but this week as I've been munching on my cheerios every morning I've been reading the latest edition of Christianity magazine and an interview with Terry Virgo who heads up Newfrontiers international has left me puzzled.

They don't agree with women teaching or having authority so women are not allowed to teach about the doctrine of God BUT they are allowed to teach about evangelism because that is seen as 'the proclamation of the Good News to the unsaved.' Now what is making my head hurt is that somewhere down the line of evangelism we have to teach people who know nothing about God about the doctrine of God. Where is the line? How do you know when you've passed it? I want to be facetious and imagine that some poor woman somewhere mid conversation with an unbeliever stops and says 'oh sorry I'm not allowed to teach you about this I don't have the authority I need to go and get a man.' What will the unbeliever think? Not sure that approach will win many into the kingdom.

The other thing that is really making my head hurt is the fact that despite this teaching, which I personally find a little comical never mind tenuous, is that actually God is blessing their work and ministry big time and that raises too many questions for me to process.

Anyone any wise suggestions?

Cherish

The boys at our Church (sorry men) have been nipping off to the men's Excel conference at Abundant Life Church in Bradford for a couple of years now and kept going on about how we ladies should go to the women's conference. My initial reaction was no way, I'm not sure why I just wasn't keen. Anyway as I'm prone to do I ended up organising a group of us ladies to go over half term. And I need to take back my annoyance at going, my oh it will be naff etc etc.

It was quite simply: awesome, life impacting and changing if I'm honest.

It's hard to describe if you've not been but you can search on Youtube and watch video highlights. But there's something about being with 1500 other women and being told that it's ok to be a woman and be a Christian and be called and have a vocation and a purpose and be reminded that you have influence no matter what you do. And it's more than ok to wear nice clothes and make up and care about how you look and be rubbish at baking (as I am) and be thin and be on fire and be crazy in a good way.

I'll be honest I came back affirmed. Affirmed by God that I am how he made me and that's good. I was inspired by some amazing women teaching the word of God honestly and with integrity. I felt affirmed in exploring my vocation and my giftings in Church. I loved being able to worship without being worried that old people we're tutting about me. It was great to take 7 other women with me and see God touch their lives while we were away.

So I'm going again next year, you'd be more than welcome to come with me!!
But we won't be staying in the ETAP hotel again, but that's another story!!!

PCC Meetings

Before I 'became an Anglican' (because really I'm not one!!) I always imagined PCC meetings were just like they are portrayed on the Vicar of Dibley random, boring and never ending.
However I am now an elected member of the PCC of my Church and have been to my first meeting and so I feel I may have to adjust my mental image of them because I don't want to label myself as being random, boring and never ending!! Someone told me they were looking forward to my being elected because I would bring life to what have previously been quite dry meetings - no pressure there then!!

In my first meeting on Monday we got to meet our new vicar who comes in September officially and August unofficially, I'm very excited about it because he seems like a fantastic people person who is willing to get stuck in and is excited about coming to lovely Cleveleys. He may also have won favour with me because he said he and his wife want to help out at the holiday club I'm organising and running in August - a very good start to his ministry here if you ask me. When it comes to the holiday club anything makes me happy!!