Monday 28 May 2012

Account of a wedding - and nostalgia

Just back from a wedding in Shropshire. Lovely country hotel, beautiful flowers, great weather and all the usual wedding trimmings.

Patrick and Janine with Patrick's family
Janine and Patrick - R's nephew - were very sweet and obviously enjoyed their day. They had organised it all in minute detail, with thoughtful reply cards included in the invitation, a welcome letter as the day approached, and a theme of sunflowers and ladybirds. The wedding was held in a pavilion in the garden of the Elizabethan house, complete with red carpet. The bride wore a pretty embroidered and ruffled organza dress, the bridesmaids wore simple dark blue and the flower theme was huge sunflowers and even bigger blue hydrangeas!
Cake!
Really lovely and unusual. Each place was set with a little bag of sweets - a cream egg and jelly beans - and a perfectly formed tiny wooden top, handmade on a lathe by the groom, for each guest. Such fun!
our table
There were around 40, maybe less, for the actual wedding – a simple civil ceremony, with just a reading and entrance music. Then Pimms, photos and reception in a marquee – sit down, 3 course meal, all very lovely – and then their friends came for the evening dance. 
Richard SOOO disapproved of the ‘wedding dance’  - not the dance that P and J did, just the concept - but he did actually dance with me for an interminable enjoyable 5 minutes. Amazingly, we managed to keep in step with one another though it must have looked quite funny – especially as he kept trying to remember the salsa steps and do those to pop music! This was an improvement - the last time we danced, he performed a Scottish jig to waltz music...Perhaps we should try to learn ballroom dancing?
There were of course relatives, friends and acquaintances from decades long gone. Much catching up. We met a girl from Kenya, a twin a couple of years older than Cat and Jonny; I remembered we bought a double buggy from her mother when they were born. Cat is bridesmaid to a school friend this summer; this girl knows the other bridesmaid, from Cardiff, well. Common wisdom has it that there are no more than 7 links between any two people: this was only 4, but across two continents...
Richard with his sister Sarah
The next day, wedding over, we pootled slowly up to Manchester – our return flight left in the evening, so we had time to kill. So we stopped in Audlem, where we had visited a pub next to the canal with my parents, when the children were small: they had helped open the locks, which are very narrow there. We walked along the canal a bit, and nostalgia began to kick in. I spent much of my childhood and teens walking along the canal - the Grand Union - which circled our town, revisiting it much later when we returned from Kenya, exploring the history. It still fascinates...the technology and engineering needed nearly 300 years ago, skills which have stood the test of time. 
After that we went past Northwich, in Cheshire, where my parents had lived in a Victorian cottage overlooking another canal - the Trent and Mersey. The house was next to the pub at  Broken Cross and so we had a drink at the pub and a nose at the cottage, sold last year – the kitchen is being gutted and a lot of work done on the inside but the garden looked just the same. My mother had created a beautiful flower garden, filled with sweet-smelling shrubs and the roses she loved.
So then we went to see my mother, who knew me – and seemed to know Richard, too, at first anyway. She was in good spirits, laughing and joking though got very firm with one of the other residents (not right in the head) who came up. She looked well and was quite satisfied with a short visit – we stayed about 20 minutes in the end until she indicated that we should leave. It was a relief to see her so well - previous visits had been uncomfortable and strange, as she had been too confused to know who I was.
And so I am afflicted by nostalgia, and a wish to remember only the good, the happy. And for some absolutely unaccountable reason, I remembered this song from the 1940s which my father used to sing to me when I was very small: Mairzy Doats:
Memory is a strange thing...

Sunday 27 May 2012

Pickle and the pond

Friends have a beautiful pond with decorative antique glass floats adding an intriguing touch. We have some of these lovely fishing floats, too, so thought we'd add them. Pickle did NOT approve...

Aargh! Scary scary scary...
What on earth could this monster be? 
Don't like the look of his eyes...





Wednesday 9 May 2012

Neema House

What an inspiring evening yesterday with Joshua and Miriam Mbithi. They run Neema Children's Home in Eldoret, Kenya; a home for children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Love just shines out of these two.The story of how they started - and continue, by faith - is amazing.

Watch this short clip about their work.


Here is their brochure. Read more here and here

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Moving on...

I've been greatly challenged recently by a relationship.  A friend, once close, has now become distant.
As far as I know, it's not my 'fault'. I've tried my best to 'fix' it, continued to be as gracious and loving as I could - yet to no avail.
I know I cannot change anyone else's actions, thoughts, feelings.
I do know it.
Yet I live in hope. I find myself saying:'Maybe if I... this time perhaps she will...I wish...'
Nothing seems to change.
A friendship, dying for some time, now seems dead.
Then I read these wise words from Susan Lawrence, drawing the analogy of a transplanted tree which then died,:

"When have you tried to grow something where it doesn’t belong? If you’re like me, just about anything you plant doesn’t survive regardless of where you plant it, but think beyond plants…
When have you continued a relationship that’s unhealthy? Taken a job that drains you of your energy and talents? Committed to volunteer out of guilt instead of passion and service? Rationalized behavior or attitude you know isn’t appropriate?
We’re often planted in imperfect soil for a season, awaiting transplant. Isn’t that what life on earth is? It’s imperfect, and we make sacrifices. We deal with less than ideal situations at times…and yet we begin to feel at home where we’re only intended to temporarily live. Be careful of creating stubborn root systems in temporary soil.
Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times. Mark 4:8 (NCV)"
Trying to continue to 'grow' my dying relationship has to stop.
A lost friendship isn't something to mourn over. Nor are missed opportunities, past mistakes, difficult times.
Life is for living. Leave the past, move on in the present to the future.
Moving on.
(Having said that, I also know that Jesus is in the business of bringing life where there is death - so I try to keep an open heart without looking backwards.)


Also on that theme, I was reminded of these useful tips for choosing how I spend my life - time, energy, emotion - by Karen Ehman. When Life is Too Loud for Quiet Time, People-Pleasing + Passivity - Overcommitment,  Activity or Eternity and finally and most usefully: What's a Too-Busy Gal To Do?
Here are nuggets of wisdom: 
Every need isn't necessarily your call.
Make it your policy to pause.
Walk away and don't look back.
Don't take on more than you can pray for.
Live your priorities.
Stop second-guessing yourself.


She quotes from Renee Swope's book A Confident Heart:
“I know all of life is screaming for your time, but instead of giving your divided attention to many good things, commit to setting aside time each week to walk through the process of finding God’s things for you. A confident-in-Christ woman wants to know who God created her to be.  She is comfortable saying “no” to some things so that she can say “yes” to living the life God wants her to live.  She is intentional and secure about pursuing the spiritual purpose God has for her.”
Doesn't that sound like moving on?

February, this was you...but I forgot, so here are March and April too

I began the year with the intention of writing a monthly summary of our lives. January worked out quite well, but then I forgot. All. about. it.
Until just now.
Here's a summary:
February.
Cat came - and left again. Back from New Zealand for a short visit and a good friend's wedding. (She managed to find a stunning dress and accessories to go with it for just a few pounds. Beautiful.) Wonderful to see her, sad when she left. What more can you say about a beloved daughter without descending into maudlin sentimentality?
We had a day's training as CAP (Christians Against Poverty) money coaches. An amazing tool for helping those struggling with finances - and assisting others to become better stewards of the financial resources they have been given.
Half term. A welcome break from a very busy time. Lots of fun with and for the children, though. Otherwise, life is full with church and house groups and friends.
And fog.
And return to work for Richard, after 8 months sick leave. Praise God all the retraining and getting used to the flying schedule went well.
March
So, just a few weeks back onto full time rostering and Richard had an engine failure. Interesting. Too interesting. Suffice to say that all ended well.
Otherwise, school was busy. Lots of little pleasures. A delightful class makes teaching even more fun than usual, as we celebrated little triumphs: winning competitions, performing music and poetry, acting...and our yearly fundraising challenge, using talents to multiply £1.  And then, as the end of term neared, teaching about the real meaning of Easter is always a joy. I love the children's openness and questions, and the discussion this generates. I love how it inspires my own faith. Those eight little words need to be a book.
April
School holidays, and catch up with friends from near and far. Jonny came to stay for half the holidays - with Adele. Looking back, I realise April was a really happy month.