coffee break bites of words, wit, and wisdom
OK – I know pride comes before a fall but I’m not proud of myself but of people within my family.
Last weekend Mrs H and I went to visit my family and on the Saturday evening we went to watch my cousin playing in a cafe/bar/restaurant with his band Sould. It was great going out for a nice evening and we also met up there with some other members of the Hartley clan for a chinwag and just a relaxing evening.
I’ve not said anything about this particularly simply because it’s taken a good few days to sink in and meditate on.
The weekend just gone was a huge one for our family and immensly busy for us all. Starting with a few days getting loads of jobs done around the house, baking cakes and bacon & egg pies, shopping and more we then headed towards that girliest of girly things – the sleepover!
Instead of a party, as such, we suggested that our girl could have a few friends over for a sleepover… and it was a brilliant idea that she thoroughly enjoyed but left us all shot to pieces and still reeling from only getting 3 hours of sleep!
The Sunday was a HUGE time, and the biggest hi-lite of the year so far – our girl got baptised!
There were 18 people who got dunked in the first service, and 19 in the second, and our daughter was one of the ones proudly being baptised. Well, there wasn’t a dry eye amongst us as she took the plunge – and there were a good few others with leaking eyes as well.
I don’t honestly think there was a prouder couple of parents in the building that day and it’s the start of a really great road for our girl!
Do you have your Ouch-es?
These are the sore points that come out and don’t so much prick your conscience as give it a totally huge kick.
Evenings such as the recent Comic relief night are seriously good for causing Ouch-es – did you see the video that showed the 12-month old boy dying from malaria?
Another good source of Ouch-es are the weekly sermons we hear at KingsGate.
Don’t get me wrong – Ouch-es are GOOD things, not negatives and, received with the right attitude, can be life-changing moments.
We can sometimes have the nice warm & fuzzy sermons, and they are great… but the ones that have the biggest impact, and the most effect, are those with the OUCH factor.
The current sermon series is looking at Jesus: close up and yesterday featured some seriously big OUCH-es (yes, they were that big they deserve to be written in capitals!!!)
Right now I am pondering all that these ouches are going to mean to me, to my walk with God and to my life in all.
And the core of my prayer – May I receive it well and… More Lord!
OK – well maybe not just yet but our littlest one was on local TV last week as part of his playschool who had a visitor teaching sign language.
The BBC still have the video up on their website at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7847547.stm
He keeps wanting to watch it on the tele (we recorded it thankfully) and can’t get over the fact that it really is him on the screen 🙂
Mrs H is just gutted we didn’t have more notice so she could have dressed him in a nicer outfit but I bet every mum felt that way.
Determination.
That’s probably the one word that underlined Christmas, and the days just before and after, for me. I have never been so determined to enjoy a season as I have this Christmas. I resolved to go with the flow, not let anything upset or anger me and just enjoy myself and celebrate the festivities as much as possible.
And you know something? It worked! Shocked? I was.
There were no sharp words on Christmas day, no frayed tempers and no tension or nervous twitches – just a complete peace and relaxation, the sort I haven’t felt for a considerable time. Continue reading “You WILL relax and chill and take it easy”