Christmas Unwrapped

What is it about the Christmas season that makes it so stressful? Is it our own expectations? Where do these come from? I don’t really have an answer other than I guess life’s like that. And stuff like being ill with the ‘flu for a whole week doesn’t really help! Still, at this end of the celebrations I can say that actually it all went rather well. Presents were unwrapped, by the dozen it seemed; food was prepared and then eaten, with great enjoyment; everyone was on good form, despite my head feeling like someone had replaced my brain with cotton wool by the evening! There was no arguments, no drunken outbursts; no-one was ill or upset.  It was a very enjoyable day and for that I am grateful. I am also grateful for the ability to buy and enjoy new things, for the space to house toys and gifts, for the efficiency of our boiler and new home!

Of course in amongst all the traditions of the day we remember what it’s actually all about. I watched The Nativity on the BBC this year with great interest and a sense of wonder at the new lease of life given to one of the oldest stories. It was a fantastic reminder of just what we are celebrating: Jesus, God made man (or baby)!  Truly the people walking in darkness have seen a GREAT light.

However stressful our Christmas may or may not have been, we need to say a prayer for those whose Christmas has not gone to plan, or who didn’t have a plan in the first place due to lack of funds, home or family or perhaps due to poor health. I find that at the moment I am always being reminded of just how much we have and how important it is to be grateful for everything God gives us, including Jesus as a baby. 

I’m off to make space for the new toys by giving away lots of the old ones, and organising the recycling of the furniture we no longer need. I’m looking forward to the New Year, I hope you are too; may God bless you richly in 2011. 

Christmas Letter

Well what a year 2010 has been! Lots of rubbish stuff but lots of amazing things too.  The year started at a busy pace but with a few resolutions to do things a bit differently, the intention being to give ourselves a bit of space. We spent a lovely weekend in London for Jon’s 30^th birthday in February. And then in March everything was brought into very sharp focus by Jenni being rushed into hospital with severe anaemia for a blood transfusion.  It was a shock although not as much of a shock as what came next. My apologies for those who haven’t heard this story before and perhaps for those who have heard it all too often! Four days after being admitted to hospital the medical people ran a test which showed them a cancerous tumour on the wall of my bowel, and all of a sudden the world stopped. 

The next weeks passed in a total blur of waiting, waiting and more waiting while the Multi-disciplinary Committee (which I likened to the Council of War!) met to decide what the best course of action was going to be and then a flurry of tests and other meetings with the consultant, who is a very nice man, and suddenly a date for surgery. I went under the knife on 8^th April and by 10^th April both boys had gone down with Chicken Pox and Jon was suffering with a bad Chest Infection! We were all feeling the stress. The following month everything seemed to slow right down as, with the help of my fabulous parents and many other people, we were able to stop doing anything much other getting better. Jon went back to work and I took a lot of time to do even the smallest of tasks. But it was a real lesson in taking time and leaning on others. 

My birthday at the end of April was a good day and many of the days that followed were also good. The decision about Chemotherapy hung over us for a few weeks with a lot of to-ing and fro-ing. However after one particular Sunday service I felt that the message was ‘Make the decision and then trust Me’ and after that we were able to decide I wouldn’t have chemotherapy, and with that decision a real weight was lifted.

In July Jon’s Grandma sadly passed away. At 90 she was ready to go but we miss her very much. We went on holiday shortly afterwards and so the funeral was postponed while we did this. The peculiarity of the situation is that we ended up having a week in August which started with a funeral, ended with a Christening and had a wedding in between! It was an odd week.

It was about this time we were considering putting our house on the market. I had a few misgivings about it, so I prayed; before I’d really had time to think it through! In my head I said to God ‘If this is the right thing for us to do [to put our house on the market and buy something else bigger] then the first people to view the house will make an offer’. And less than a week later they did. Remarkably! And yet why was it so remarkable?! We were utterly blown away by such a clear, obvious, exciting, positive answer to prayer.  And so began another whirlwind few months! In a housing market where nothing much was being sold and not many people were moving, it was a day short of 10 weeks from putting our house on the market to moving into our new place. 10 weeks!! 

So, this year, of all years to date, has been unexpected, tragic, exhilarating, expensive, amazing, and awe-inspiring. In amongst it all the boys have grown, becoming more independent than they were a year ago. They continue to be a blessing in many ways.

 And of course God is unchanging, unfathomable, uncontainable and yet interested in us and what makes us tick, loves us with an ultimate love impossible for us to see the end of.

Truly this year has been God’s year.

Life is a Battlefield...

And then some! You know, life is a struggle; the pursuit of happiness can, at times, feel completely futile; the stuff that happens outside of our control can take us on a rollercoaster ride that makes us want to shout: STOP now! You know this, I know this, and yet when we find ourselves on that rollercoaster we’re somehow surprised. We’re surprised because of what I like to call ‘The Great Con’ this being the notion that living life is all about being ‘happy’ and living uncomplicated lives in which everything goes to plan, all is within our control and there’s ALWAYS a happy ending.  In each and every family there are stories which tell us this is not the case; that reality is very different.

I believe that as a Christian I inhabit both a physical and a spiritual realm. The struggles that we come up against are both physical and spiritual and the way we deal with them impacts in both arenas. This is an area of deep theological discussion and disagreement between Christians and non-Christians alike, and I don’t pretend to have answers to it, just a viewpoint which helps me make sense of the things happening around us.

This past week my Mum has been waiting for results from a biopsy taken at the breast cancer screening clinic. Yes, on top of the aftermath of my own bowel cancer discovered 6 months ago; we were faced with the possibility of a second cancer diagnosis in much less than a year. At this point I should apologise to those in the family who didn’t know, we really didn’t tell many people at all. Mum was keen that we should not panic or involve too many until we knew the results, and the results are all clear. No cancer! 

What a week then! What a year. I feel pulled and pushed about, I feel knocked down, I feel like it would be easier just to curl up in a corner and allow the world to carry on around me without trying to make an impact. But this is not really the person I am. I will continue to tell people how good God is; I will continue to battle with my enemy in the name of God; I will continue to pray for people to be healed and to be drawn closer to God. And hear this, those spiritual powers who will continue to plague me and make my life a struggle, I will not stop. And do you know what? With the God of the universe on my side, we will always win.

Life in Chaos!

We moved! Who knew a modest 2 bed end of terrace could contain SO much stuff. We had some fantastic help from some fabulous friends and family who were just brilliant on the day (as well as being amazing most of the rest of the time!) and so we managed to get all our stuff out of one house and into another within 9 hours. And so begins the chaos of getting straight. 

Still, we have a lovely new house with plenty of space for the boys to 'grow into' and many possibilities in terms of where to put stuff, hopefully a lot less stuff than we actually moved in the end!

So the end result is a sense of thankfulness that lingers, and gives an aura of calm in amidst the chaos. God is indeed good.

99 secrets to life

I saw this idea somewhere else and liked it so thought I'd do my own version! It would be nice to hear of anything you'd put in that maybe I've missed...

001 Have faith in God

002 Belly laugh everyday

003 Build a snowman every year

004 Play with your children often

005 Say I Love You a lot

006 Keep learning

007 Take regular walks

008 Eat chocolate

009 Dress up as much as you can

010 Dance like no-one’s watching

011 Bread is Good

012 Wear odd socks

013 Salute the sun

014 Sing sing sing

015 Lick the spoon

016 Look for rainbows

017 Get wellies muddy

018 Make your own cupcakes

019 Read lots of books

020 Don’t buy cheap stuff

021 Trust yourself

022 Trust God

023 Wear Fairtrade

024 Drink wine out of wine glasses

025 Write letters to friends

026 Keep secrets

027 Make fond memories

028 Live in the moment

029 Get lost sometimes

030 Champagne is the answer

031 Have a picnic everyday

032 Smile like you mean it

033 Everything in moderation

034 including moderation

035 Respect your Elders

036 Pick wildflowers

037 Grow roses

038 Play music loudly

039 Speak to your friends often

040 Celebrate every birthday

041 Take a lot of pictures

042 Ask about your family history

043 Keep in touch with your siblings

044 Be neighbourly

045 Stay healthy

046 Take your vitamins

047 Drink good wine

048 Recycle with style

049 Wear clean underwear

050 Keep it real

051 Snuggle in a duvet

052 Don’t believe the hype

053 Buy new underwear regularly

054 Have deep conversations

055 Pray regularly

056 Share your chocolate

057 Watch the sun rise

058 Visit the beach often

059 Make new friends

060 Give money to charity

061 Cook for your friends

062 Play car games

063 Read your Bible

064 Say Thank You

065 Eat good food

066 Buy yourself flowers

067 Learn to forgive

068 Ring your Mum

069 Use words wisely

070 Get creative

071 Play like a child

072 Make ideas happen

073 Use good sunblock

074 Eat your veg

075 Smile if you’re skint

076 De-clutter

077 Don’t hold a grudge

078 Be generous

079 Hug a lot of people

080 Be confident

081 Take risks

082 Laugh at yourself

083 Eat and drink Fairtrade

084 Little stuff counts

085 Make an effort

086 Wear shoes that fit properly

087 Say I’m sorry

088 Go camping

089 Spend time with those you love

090 Walk barefoot

091 Star gaze at night

092 Know when to stop

093 Eat breakfast in bed

094 Get to know your spouse

095 Drink good tea

096 Only God knows it all

097 Paddle in the sea

098 Climb a mountain

099 Live a rich life