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Let’s get them a bed, mummy!

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Hello friends! I haven’t kept in touch, I know and I apologise. I guess I had nothing worth noting on blog. But I am here now to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

The last few weeks I have been trying to think on the meaning of Christmas. Not at length, mind you, ’cause nothing can be done at length when you mother a small child. But between playgroup pick ups, present wrapping, daily cooking, frequent husband admonishing and tedious child rearing I found here and there moments of mental rest(rare!) when I pondered on the birth of Jesus.

Ever since I watched Oranges and Blossoms last summer, this nagging question stayed with me: what are the things happening at the moment in my proximity that I choose to turn a blind eye on rather than get involved in the change? How are children nowadays affected by the grown-ups indifference and choice of comfort? Some answers were revealed to me but I kept postponing action due to the practicalities of involvement, I suppose.

It was an attitude that sent a young, heavily pregnant mother to a stable 2000 years ago to give birth in less than hygienic conditions. Indifference, placidity, choice of personal comfort over humanity and kindness.

And then last night, my daughter blew my mind away during our bedtime story routine with the simplicity of her heart. We have looked before at the story of the manger but this time she noticed that Mary and Joseph were standing in the stable and asked me where their bed was. I answered there was none for them and probably they roughed it for a couple of nights before they got better accommodation. Her answer humbled me: “But mummy, they need a bed. Let’s get in the car and go get them a bed!”

My friends, if your heart has been burning over things God has showed you get in the car and go get a bed for the ones who are in need. Otherwise Christmas will be restricted to cosy homes decorated with tinsel but empty of meaning.

Happy, meaningful Christmas!

#21 Days of Gratitude:Thanksgiving and Gratitude

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Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it, first of all! I know that following my Halloween post you might consider me totally against imported holidays but I am not. I am totally against nonsensical, scary holidays who introduce our children to witchery and  monsters when they’re too young to discern for themselves. On the other hand, I am totally for holidays that teach children to be thankful to God and to their parents. It’s a good life lesson.

I didn’t learn this lesson when I was young.

This summer God used a book lent to me by a good friend(Who Switched Off My Brain, by Caroline Leaf) to shed light on some grey areas in my life. He showed me my life had been, up to that point, anything but full of thanksgiving and gratitude. My attitude had been poor as I always wished for “better” things: a better house, a better husband, a better figure, a better church…And you know what? Once I got what I wished for, there would have been ALWAYS something better to wish for.

And then God started to take things away and teach me that everything I had was better than nothing. I still struggle, my friends. I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking about what I could do better in order to get a job, get my hubby’s attention, get an answer from God…you GET the point :-).  But I am learning to take things as they are and not fret over working only for 2 hours a day and spending another 2 in Funky Monkeys watching my little one play and make friends. Over waiting on God’s timing. Over admitting I don’t have all the answers or the power to do what I wish I could do.

So, today I am thankful:

1. for a healthy child(as you recall, Emma has been sickly for the first two years of her life and I totally rejoice that this winter she has stayed clear of coughing and colds).

2. for a faithful hubby. We went through the mill these last three years and if not for his faithfulness, we could have drifted apart many times.

3. for good results following painful experiences. Once we admitted we needed help, God brought people in our lives to teach us His truth. Now God is using that experience to connect people and I am excited about what could possibly come out of this.

4. for you, my blog readers! Many friends have written a wee note or approached me to say they have been following my blog and that they enjoy reading it! Thousand thanks, your words encourage me greatly as I realise that I am being heard and that I can use my voice to bless and shed light and bring comfort to other people’s lives.

Once again, happy Thanksgiving, may it become an attitude in our lives more than a holiday in the American calendar!

Grateful for food, sunshine and a lovely family!

#21 Days of Gratitude:Education

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If you are in the least familiar with my blog , you know how much I believe in education.

I believe education is a powerful tool which can prevent generations from being at the mercy of evildoers. Education enlightens and empowers, education gives a voice to the vulnerable and makes way for change.

I believe in women’s education, as women are primarily agents of change and their influence can shape their children’s and their children’s children’s future.

Tonight I am grateful I was fortunate enough to have received an education. I see it as a responsibility, a responsibility to speak for those who don’t have a voice, a responsibility to advocate education for the ones in danger of not receiving an adequate one.

Education starts early 🙂

#21 Days of Gratitude: Intrinsic Value

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Today, following a prayer day during which my heart cry has been: “Which is the point of my life,Lord? Where am I supposed to work and how? Why am I supposed to wait humbly when I could be doing so much? How come I am still depending financially on my husband at an age when I should be more than able to share the burden?”, I am grateful.

I am grateful that in God’s eyes I have value. According to Investopedia, intrinsic value is “the actual value of a company or an asset based on an underlying perception of its true value including all aspects of the business, in terms of both tangible and intangible factors.” Meaning, God can see my true worth in my underlying being, in how He has made me be and function. I may well be a burden to my husband or an underachiever in people’s eyes, in God’s eyes in both my tangible and my intangible being, I am valuable!

Just like this washing liquid had value in the teenagers’ eyes who thought of using it in such a creative way :-), God has the capability to use someone as common as me and you to make the world a more…bubbly place!

#21 Days of Gratitude

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I found out about this challenge launched by Inspired by Family Magazine only today so I will post on gratitude until the 21st of November. Or who knows, maybe once I get the hang of it, I will do my own 21 days?

Anyway, this is what I am grateful for today: a God that loves us enough to challenge us out of our comfort zone. We had a meal with friends on Friday night and the conversation that followed reassured me of a few facts:

1. when God takes away our comfort crutches it’s because we have made out of them more than we should have had. These can be different things for different people: a business, a home, financial comfort; not bad in themselves, these things become a hindrance when we become secure in them and not in Him.

2. when God makes you uncomfortable, rejoice. He is growing you up, challenging you to draw near to Him. The outcome will be NOT your comfort restored(as you knew it) but a new comfort in the knowledge that He can pull you through the impossible.

3. when God takes things away from you He will replace them with things He considers you need to have: budgeting wisdom, joy in small things, wise friends and a revelation of the destiny you were created for. I am still waiting on the latter but I rejoice in having small things(like my daughter blowing bubbles in her Starbucks drink below) and wise friends.