STOP

STOP

1 Corinthians 24-27

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Sitting round a dinner table a friend was asked all sorts of questions; where would you like to visit? What would you like for the coming year?  Likes and dislikes.  I found myself thinking about these questions for myself and realised that I go from one extreme to the other.  One day I would be happy if someone showered me with pork pies, sausage rolls and mountains of all things chocolate, the next I would be happy with dust and air!   I will either wear something very feminine or I am in baggy jeans and a hoodie.  I go through phases of high impact exercise nearly every day to nothing.  Working hard on my house and taking pride in it to, not really caring.  My career dreams have spanned wanting to be on the stage to a paramedic to a landscape gardener.  Everything I do is at 100 mile an hour, changing direction at this speed can lead you off balance, thought processes at this speed can leave you exhausted and quite frankly confused!  I am sure many of us live life like this, striving for perfection in our goals can mean we feel like we have failed, but having a low expectations can leave us feeling unfulfilled.  

It’s like running lots of races and not winning anything but what if we tried to be somewhere in the middle and concentrated on running just one race?  What if instead of making our goals unachievable we sought God’s wisdom and encouragement?  What if instead of sitting doing nothing we sought God’s wisdom and encouragement and rested in his presence long enough for him to guide us?  Instead of running lots of races continually seeking to win something that would give us a moment of happiness and satisfaction, or sometimes would leave us feeling that it really wasn’t worth it.  What if we concentrated on running just one race, where the prize would last for eternity?

Paul states that everyone can run a race but there is only one winner, that we should run the race to win it.  In order to run a race to win it you have to concentrate on it, train for it and not be distracted.  Being distracted from the race (our walk with God) can lead us to forget about him; can make us strive for worldly gain and acceptance.  Can make us dash from one thought to another, from one goal to the next.  Before we know it we have no idea what race we are even running in. 

Paul says not to fight like a boxer beating the air or run aimlessly, I think he wants us to realise that the spiritual race needs thought, needs attention, needs training and practice.  So STOP….and listen..what things do you need to put aside?….STOP…and listen…what does God want you to do?….STOP…and listen.

Act for Jusitce

A few months ago I headr someone speak on trafficking in the UK I had absolutley no idea that it was such a problem, I mean these things don't happen here do they??  Maybe you will be as shocked as I am that children as young as 4 are brought and sold in the UK as slave labour or for the sex industry.

As I watched some of the media presentations my heart broke at hearing the gruesome facts that young women are forced to service 20 men, they are raped for profit.  They are threatened, brain washed, tortured, their lives stripped away in the WORSE possible way to make somone else a whole lot of money.  I have chosen to ACT!

I now run an Act for Justice group which supports an amazing charitable organisation called HOPE FOR JUSTICE who invesitgate and rescue victims from the abuse of human trafficking as well as campaign at a local, national and international level to ensure that relevant laws on human trafficking are effective in combating the problem.  99% of all those trafficked will never be rescued.  I would like you to read the story below and then answer this. Can we really sit and do nothing?

Zoe, worth 200k to her traffickers wanted to work in the UK, she was put in touch with a couple via a friend.  The couple said they could find her employment and accomodation and help her find her feet .  They collected her from the airport and took her to a place where she thought she as going to be the cleaner.  The man left the room and shortly returned with some underwear, "put this on" he said " we need to take pictures of you".  The young girl obviously quite shocked said that this wasn't what she expected and that she would not be taking her clothes off.  "yes you will" the man replied, "you belong to me now!"  A group of men then walked in and raped her.
Walls of fear were placed around her by telling her lies about the police, saying that they would hurt her family, they had taken her passport and she had no where to run.

Hope for Justice invesigators were given some intelligence and in time managed tro make contact with Zoe.  The perpetrators know that they have put such fear into the girls that they dropped her off at a hotel not knowing that she was actually going to meet a Hope for Justice negotiator.  After 2 hours this person could not convince Zoe to go with them, she was so very fearful for the life of her young sister that she returned to those who trafficked her.  Later she was sold on and hope seemed lost but after a long search the team found her again and this time they managed to gain some trust.  Zoe was taken to a safe house and it wasn't until later that she realised that this was real she had been rescued..she could lie in bed that night knowing that she was not going to be raped.

If you would like to know more about how to support Hope for Justice and see an end to trafficking please contact me or go to http://www.hopeforjustice.org.uk/

Fulfilment

I feel, as I'm sure others do that I am nearing an end of an era. Tehya is in School, Koen in Pre-school and will be in Nursery everyday by September.  So I am left with a bit of a dilemma....what next? 
Can you be happy and unfulfilled and vice versa?

I have loved being a stay at home Mum, it has given me so much happiness and yes fulfilment but only fulfilment as a mother. Does wiping noses and bums give me fulfilment...not so much and there are only so many times that I have the will to play sleeping beauty or pirates (we have a very stereotypical children!).  But I would never have changed this time even though many times I have craved the busyness and mental strain of what was my career.

I have maintained employment at Quintiles on a VERY part-time basis but does this even give me fulfilment...no, not really, it's just the same issue's. ( I am at this point grateful that someone who may be reading this was first my friend and colleague before she was my boss!).

There have been many times when I been totally fulfilled. A year ago I was in the middle of rehearsing for a play that stretched me not only as an actress ( I had to be serious for 2.5 hours) but also emotionally. The realisation of the number of lines that had to be learnt was overwhelming, the thought of not being able to leave the stage to recompose was terrifying.  From December to April I rehearsed every day for 2 - 3 hours, I went to bed with the script and woke up with the flipping thing.
A number of times I came home from a rehearsal in tears, my ever supportive husband gave me advice that only a man can give "oh just tell them your not doing it"  yeah right, with a week before the first performance.

Was I happy during this time?...no, not really but was I fulfilled?  Abso flippin lutely!  The adrenaline rush during and after each performance was huge and what an amazing sense of achievement.

Over the last few weeks I have been wondering,as I fill another skip, which is strangely fulfilling, what "floats my boat".  Not all the things that gave me fulfilment five years ago mean that much to me now. As priorities change so do my methods of seeking fulfilment.

Life is a journey and I am taking a new route, but a few things remain.
God is with me through all my journeys no matter what route I take.
My family are so precious to me and will always give me happiness.
The house extension is and will continue to be a never ending pain in my back side!

Secrets of a DIY Queen

So, phase one of our extension project is complete and as I look back on the last 6 months and think of the "nightmare"..I mean the joy of undertaking a huge task with Scotty boy I thought it only right that I impart some wisdom to you.
1. Don't agree to such a ridiculous idea to start with, when you have to remove your fence to get diggers and
   dumper trucks into your back garden you know there is trouble ahead.
2. Make sure you have all information required before getting quotes for concrete and scaffolding.  Cubic   
   meters? Square meters? What ever!!  I don't know just fill my whole in with concrete.  How many lifts do  
   I want Mr. scaffolding man....a ladder would do mate.
3. The removal of a roof in your kitchen is not recommended, at least not in the rain and without replacing it 
    for 3 months.  I would also ensure that an umbrella is kept handy so when you are sitting at the computer 
    and your husband has got in the bath, you do not get completely soaked from the overflow pipe that no
    longer flows onto you roof...because you got rid of said roof.
4. Tarpaulin is a great thing...if it hasn't got holes in.
5. To speed things along it is sometimes appropriate to cut corners.  Try to get things done when DIY king is
    out of the area, he need never know how many screws are in place keeping the floor together.
6.  When the roof is being built...disappear, then you wont have to fix the hole that may appear in your
     bathroom ceiling.  If this does happen I recommend duck tape and a Tesco carrier bag..it has held up
     well.
7.  Don't attempt to pour a garage floor at 7pm, by 9pm you need to do it by torch light which would just be
     silly, your DIY king may then get a little stressed and the concrete mixer may fall over, he then may put his
     foot through a wood pallet and get a little stuck which just wouldn't be funny at all.  Trying to get the
     floor level at 11pm with one torch is also deemed....stupid.
8.  Comments like "Just lift it women", "Can you not just balance it on your head?", "Get your backside up
      here the roof is only a bit loose" are just a few that could be encountered.  Keep mental notes, they will
      be valuable later.
9.  When you are drawing to the end of a phase, it is the DIY Queens turn to get the job finished, remove the
      DIY King, he will only hinder.  To follow are the real secrets that must never be disclosed.
10. To fit a ceiling just patchwork it and get it plastered before the king comes home.  Hundreds of screws
     are not required, sometimes bashing a few nails in will work.  Coving adhesive is thick for a reason, no
     need to get the corners of the coving perfect..fill it.   No need to get your plasterboard perfect...fill it.   
    The trick my friends is to get it done before the king comes home.

So we are now moving into phase 2, upstairs there is no floor if the King thinks I am going to balance on rafters he can think again.

Our Miracle

This coming week I will be spending my time preparing for my little girl's 5th birthday.  She likes all the things I hated as a child, pink, dresses, dolls, princesses...you get the picture.  While I would have seen climbing trees or bashing around with bits and bobs in my Dad's garage a good way to spend my time, Tehya is far too busy doing the Ice Cream freeze and striking her pose!

I could spend this entire blog telling you of our 3 year struggle for children. I could go into the depths of the tests that were carried out on both Scott and I; our thoughts, feelings and decisions that we made throughout this journey. All this can be interesting, it lets you into another persons world but it can take away from the most important thing the destination or outcome. It can take us away from how truely amazing God is because we are too busy thinking "no!", "I can't believe it".

So I will simply say GOD answered our prayers and gave us our miracle...her name is Tehya

Eyes that glisten, skin so pure and smooth.
Hair golden and lips soft pink.
A body beautifully proportioned but somehow unable to do all it wants to.
A mind overflowing, able to understand and question.
A voice so sweet, a voice so sour.
Within you a sensitive, dicerning nature not often seen in one so young, but it's a part of you.
Your laugh infectious as it sprinkles through the room.
Your ways bringing delight and smiles as one looks at those eyes that glisten.

Something New

 I spoke to a friend about writing a book... think I may have set my sights a little high so thought I would give this whole blogging thing a bit of a go, it's time to do something new.  The most topical thing in my life at the moment is the building of our extension, you may think "that's nothing unusual" but let me introduce you to my world.....

I married my wonderful husband in 1998 little did I know what lay ahead of me being married to an architect and wanna be car mechanic!  We renovated our pet poop infested first house by knocking down walls, re-plumbing with only one electric shock and a little tumble out of the loft.  This was followed by the purchase of a car...nothing unusual??  It didn't have an engine..well not one that worked!  So the process of dismantling pretty much everything under the bonnet took place, I was not aware that it would happen in my kitchen.  The smell of petrol and oil when you make a cup of tea in the morning just didn't do it for me.  But I was supportive and helped, I thought it might be fun.  We put the car back together with a new engine and off we went..we made it round the block...eventually we had a fully running car with only me nearly taking my father in laws hand off when I lowered the engine in, a Peugeot 205 GTi I loved it!

We moved on to another house, knocked down a few more walls, created a few floods, built an extension.  I didn't even electrocute myself but Scott took a few cuts...nothing a piece of masking tape wouldn't fix. 

So after the birth of our second child we moved house, Koen was 9 months so of course we brought a house with little heating that was a total wreck.  My daughters response was " I don't really like the walls, it's a bit stinky, shall we just stay at Nanna's"  Nearly two years have passed and we still have a very odd green bathroom, with random carpet tiles that were sent to Scott's office as samples..at least if Koen wees on one we can just throw it out and replace it with another random sample.

So when many of my friends are getting their nails done, having their hair coloured, sampling lovely lunches or enjoying a romantic evening I am otherwise engaged. 
Bashing, drilling, wheel barrowing, digging, sawing...I sometimes crave that carefree time of relaxation but I wouldn't change my life for a minute.