hard to resist invitations

Invites – I find them hard to get out I’ve realized. K is turning 6 next month and the date for her party is going to be the first day of that month! Ahhhhh only a week and a bit away. It has taken me awhile to get round to doing the invites. Partly because I feel nervous about having the party in a new place and with a whole lot of new peeps.
I think I’m lacking a bit of confidence even though I absolutely love parties and planning for them. I often say that we need any reason to have a celebration, whether with a few friends or a load. K is allowed to invite 5 to her party and that was a mammoth task. The names often changed up to the day of giving them out. I’m going to have an early party myself this year. We head away to London end of Nov and my birthday is nearer to Christmas. I remind myself that I want to have a party but it’s harder to get those invites out. I think I could pull the pin and not do it. But I kind of know that entertaining and having people enjoy themselves at my place, is very important to me. ‘Ahhhh I’m doing this on my own’ and ‘what if no-one wants to come?’ and ‘what will we do?’, are all q I am asking myself. Anyway once the invites are out – hope to do that this weekend, I’ll have to do it.
The last party I planned for myself was going to be amazing. But it turned out to be the most disasterous time of my life. Things with d had exploded, literally, and having a party thrown by me, for me wasn’t going to be possible. Actually d encouraged me too, at that time he was still in this marriage for the long haul. Good on him. A few girls and I went out for coffee and cake but it wasn’t the original plan.
Part of this whole party thing is reminding me of that particular time. Same time last year. But this year we are getting as far away from the memories as possible – London. Good move I’m thinking. I am so grateful to my family for this opportunity for the girls and i.
Over and above all this feeling of ahhhhhhh, I know in my heart and head that having a party, celebrating the memories of this year, with delicious friends (mostly new) who have prayed, given, loved and cheered me on, is a fab thing to do (long sentence sorry). Apart from deciding what to wear, no matter even what we eat, the path is obvious. Celebrate – look back on how far you’ve come, and look forward to great things around the corner. I’ve just talked myself into that party I think.
Today L said some great things. We rode our mobiles (me walking) to the local great park and had an ice cream there. L chose boysenberry but asked for poisonberry, as she thought it was pronounced that way. As we were eating them, I commented that I could see a peacock with it’s feathers out. She remarked that peacocks do lots of wees. What? She then told K and I that wees was the same as pee. The boys at preschool talk like that, she said. He he. Then she finished by saying she thought boys ate Boysenberry icecream. I liked her thinking about words.
Back to invites: God’s invitation is quite clear and he never has to think about whether he will write it or not. Come to me all who are thirsty and I will give you something to drink. He is so great. He is so not worried about inviting and it’s open to all, not just 5. I love your invite God.
Above are some flowers of colour that I adore, of flowers that have lifted my heart as I’ve walked. Only a few, but goodies. Don’t you love spring?

woodpigeon or kereru?

The preacher dude at church talked about different circumstances in his life where he had hurt himself (getting hit in the head with a branch, a nose break from a hockey stick!) and how he got restored. He then talked about our bodies and how our body represents Christ and the church. You could tell where he was going but again I am impressed how much I need to hear God’s word again and how it can be the same-ish message but I can still get so much from it. With each of his examples of brokenness, he said 2 things: It’s Ok to bleed (or break or get hit) and God is going to restore you. It was a simple and accurate reminder which sometimes is not heard in church – its OK to be sad and have down times. How we react is the key. I have been living that, this year – it was great to hear it up the front.
After talking with a dear friend today, I asked our girls a few simple q: What do you think God would say to a little girl? They replied: “I love you”. “You are doing great”. Next q: What do you think God would say to a little girl who had something sad happen? “Come to me”, said the 4 year old. “It’s OK”, said the 5 year old. Another q from mum: What do you think God would say to a lovely girl called …….. (their names were slotted in there)? They answered really nice things (I can’t recall them right now! Ahhhh my memory). And the last q was: Where do you think God is standing with you? “Right next to me”, was the answer from both girls.
Sometimes we need to picture where God is for us and also what he would be saying. I love it how these girls are so young yet they know some immovable truth: God is right with us, right beside us, cheering us on and comforting us. I will ask again, maybe on a day when life is screaming “ouch” at them. Maybe this is another way to help them in the grief they are experiencing this year. I hope so.
A funny things: After the girls got home from staying with daddy, we ate dinner outside for the first time since spring has arrived. It was lovely. We played soccer in our small concrete area and we read the final beatrix potter story we have. Whilst doing this, the youngest one was snuggling up to me. I asked what she was doing as it was a different cuddle than normal. “I just like cuddling your boobie mum”. He he, very cute. That same girl showed me her cleverness outside while we admired two beautiful birds. We were trying to work out what they were, I thought they were either “kereru or woodpigeons”. “Mum Kereru and woodpigeons are the same thing don’t you know!” Ahhhhh so clever, absent minded mum strikes again. So does bright little poppet!

Some of the weird (or perhaps even amazing) thoughts that have passed through my head and cool things that I have witnessed over the last few days:
I am amazed at how a tickle monster can lie on a bed and have so much fun with children. I am that very monster sometimes and it seems to be such a great and rough way to hang out with the girls. They love it, constantly come back for more and seem disappointed when it ends!
Simple acts of kindness – inviting someone to t, even if it’s eggs on toast, is a great thing to do. I feel very grateful for those invitations. They often come when I really need them.
What about this? A simple rule for parenting good eaters: We have at least one mouthful of everything on our plate (that rule is mainly focused on the new things we are trying, so at least they are tried!). K has developed her palette since we’ve started this: asparagus was asked for in the supermarket the other day, much to my delight! Roast capsicum and the Mango. I heard that Ian Grant suggests that at some age the children can have a list of 5 things on the fridge that they don’t like and then the rest has to be eaten, cool idea!
Treats aren’t treats anymore?! A friend said this to me, being convicted of the amount of chocie and chippies she was eating. It doesn’t seem to be as much of a treat nowadays, especially with our own children. It’s kind of normal, it’s so cheap and that has really challenged me. I am hopeful I’ll do something about it.
Beatrix potter and Paddington Bear. I am loving to find classics that are enjoyed still, to read with the girls. We even borrowed Paddington from a friend on dvd. Oh my goodness, it’s even on dvd! I am grateful for my friends who share their advice and great parenting tools, even books. Love it.
A delicious far away friend sent us some wafers and instant pudding. What a cool parcel to receive with a recipe of what to do with them. Thank you my friend , you are so much fun and so thoughtful.
Prayer. The other night was a most disasterous one on my scale of disasters. K said it was the worst of all the worst days and that it had hit her top of the list! I agreed with her. After having several battles with her to get to sleep, on our holiday, which took over an hour, I thought all was lost and I felt completely numb and useless as a dear mummy. My friends prayed with me, maybe even cried with me after she seemed finally tucked up for the night. It was wonderful and completely calmed my heart down. One prayed that overnight there would be a change in her spirit. No sooner was that prayer prayed, that darling 5 year old came in and told me she was very very very sorry.
God you are amazing and sometimes it is only you that can give peace, no matter how hard I try to make it myself. May I look to you more and more instead of being the control freak that I am. Glory to you, King of my heart.

Precious moments

Today was a nice day. We have met the next door neighbour a few times, a lovely chinese girl. We have taken her home made cookies and she has given us flowers. We know her by name and she has endeavoured to learn the girls names too. She is a sweetie. Tonight was the night that she came for tea.
It went so well. I thought that ‘being kind to my neighbour’ would be just that. Funny thing is, I think I learnt more and got encouraged more by her! This lovely girl told me she thought my cooking was professional (it was slightly cold and the couscous was gluggy!), that my parenting was so good (she confessed to seeing supernanny and commented on how horrible children could be) and she told me that d needed time to sort himself out! I am wowed by her.
As a family we played whonu (cranium) with her and it was delightful seeing her look up her computer dictionary to find out what brussel sprouts were (such a great game to play with people whose English is their 2nd language) and for her to show us where she lived before coming to New Zealand.
In the middle of a storm it is so easy to get swept away with it and forget about the simplicity of life – inviting a stranger to dinner. It’s something that I said (would you like to come to dinner?), before I had even thought about the consequences. What would we eat? What would we talk about? I am challenged again by the bible, 1 Cor 13 – sums up a life of love – putting others before ourselves. Others are important.
Some quotes of recent:
L (the 4 year old) told me in the car the other day, that she wanted to be a coffee maker and a show girl! “what do you mean a show girl L?”, I queeried after I’d laughed out loud.
“I want to do shows about princesses,” L replied. I was glad that was added and also that her sister would have to help. She would make coffee in the day and be a show girl at night. Hillarious.
A quote from a delicious friend: let emotions come like visitors...stay a while, entertain them and then let them exit. That we never know whether it's cleaning us out for something new?
I have had some wonderful times with some new and old friends this week. I have had the joy of hearing some stories of life from them. It cements the thoughts I already have about our lives. They are meant to be shared. Stories of things we have been through, even if they are not complete, are so encouraging for others. Let’s keep sharing our highs and lows with one another. I love your stories. I’m learning to love mine.