STAYING FOCUSED

Hi!!

The last time I blogged was on the day my son got
his L's, that should tell you something, yes, I have
another hat to wear, this hat fits quite nicely, of which
I am very thankful , being number 5 child, I have worn
it a few times before, and I even think its feeling
comfortable. (Just don't ask him, he thinks I should
give it back to the army).

Staying focused - wow, there is SO much life to stay
focused on as a busy mum, we can multi-task and
do it very well but we get a bit stretched when we
are multi-tasking our multi-tasking, you all know
what I mean, its when we have 10 things on the go
and we forget to cook dinner, pick up the kids,
get dressed or whatever else we probably should
have done. ( Kids like to get picked up, I know this
because we got a phone call from youth group at
10pm last night with our son saying "Mum, did
you forget something?)haha.

It is impossible for me to stay focused on my day
if I don't have it written in front of me, mainly
because, I love life and I love the surprises that
come along each day to season my life but I also
love to know that I have completed the tasks that
I have already set before me usually weeks ago
when I have spent time working on a life plan for
myself. Sound like too much hard work? Well it
works for me, so much better than leaving things
to chance that I might get it finished.

When I have my life planned out, it is easy for
me to say yes or no to the things that enter into
my life through the many channels that are
available these days, phone, mobile, internet,
mail.

At the end of the day, I can have a quick look
at my list and see if I have completed what I
wanted to, its good to see that I have been
busy, even better to see that I actually got
things done!

CELEBRATING MILESTONES!

Well today my baby turned 16 and I feel quite excited
to be at this stage of my life. We have made it here five
times now and survived, not all of them have made the
journey quietly, some parts of it has been with kicking
and screaming and I would like to say that was all on
the child's part but I know better!

So today this son hit the roads with great gusto with
his new L plates firmly in place, He started off the
day by asking me three times if my car was fully
insured and then rung his Dad to make sure, haha,
I guess its good that he's thinking ahead, isn't it?
I am really looking forward to spending the 120hrs
of driving with him, I used to think it was a long
time until I realised it was like a gift from God to
have this individual time with each child before
they hit the world full steam ahead, I love it.

At the end of the day on birthdays in our family,
we go round in a circle and tell the birthday
person what we love about them, how they
have blessed us over the last year and ask God
to bless them with something that is on our
hearts for them for the coming year, this time
always produces a lot of joy and laughter and
a few tears, this year one brother prayed for
his brother to be blessed with a hot girlfriend
with 3 sisters!

Today was also a different milestone for David
and I, our childrens ages collectively add up
to 100 today, so we have been parents for
100 years! Sometimes it feels like it, but not
today, we know we are very blessed.

Only 118 driving hours to go....

WHAT KIND OF VAPOR?

Today I heard this great talk reminding me that my days

on earth are numbered, that my life is but a vapor, just a

vapor, here one minute and gone the next, such a short

time really.

I went to see how the dictionary defined Vapor and it said -

Barely visible or cloudy diffused matter, Wow, thats

encouraging! Not! But just like the spray in the picture,

a vapor is a fleeting thing, something that disappears.

Its not all bad news though and I actually did get

excited because I realised that we may not have a

choice on how long we were a Vapor for but it got me

thinking about what kind of Vapor I wanted to

be, because I do think that we have a choice in this.

I could be like my favorite perfume - Flowers by Kenzo,

and I would like to be, leaving a lovely scent wherever I

go.

I could be like a gas vapor that powers others, but not tuned

into the right source, gas vapors can make people very

sick and even die.

I definitely do not want to be one of those smelly vapors

that people are always complaining about, you know the

ones, the chicken farms and paint factories, the annoying

people, the ones that make you want to run a mile from.

Maybe we need one of those Vapor Recovery Units that

manage greenhouse gases! haha.

Our lives may be short, but lets make them count!

WE LOVE TAKING RESPONSIBILITY - DON'T WE!

I was driving along today listening to the radio
when the guy talking said " What do you expect
God to come to the rescue in or change in your
life that you are not taking responsibility for?"

No matter how fast I moved to turn the radio
off or how much I wanted to pretend the radio
was static - my mind would not become foggy
and zone out when I wanted it to!

This is actually a good thing (I'm telling myself),
because one of the values I have that I want to
live by is that I always remain teachable, and then
something like this hits you in the face and I have
to move to the next step from not only wanting to
be teachable, but BEING teachable.

So, I am now pondering on What things I should
be taking responsibility for and I'm not?

'It is easy to dodge our responsibilites, but we
cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our
responsibilities'!

Time to grow up.

DO YOU PLAN TO FINISH WELL?

Do you have a plan to finish well?

There has been a lot of talk lately about not finishing
well, people from all walks of life who have been
on their life journey and then seeming to fall badly
and we all have our own measurements and
requirements about how good or how bad one is
doing life. Some of us just want to have a life!!

I guess for a lot of people the standard they
measure themselves by is a personal thing, it can
be a number of things like;

* the car they drive.
* the holidays they take each year.
* whether their parents are proud of them.
* money in the bank.
* whether they feel like they have achieved
what they wanted to.

I'm sure that they never plan to...

* Leave their spouse and children for someone
else.
* Ruin their firms reputation.
* End up addicted to drugs, porn, drinking.

For Me, the measurement is much simpler,
something I can look at daily and adjust if I
need to.

I believe that God has placed in each of us, gifts
and talents and abilities to show the world a
better way, to lighten the load for others, to
show people that there is much more to life than
living for ourselves. The things that God has
placed in us are like embers burning, a desire
to do well, we need to keep these flames burning.

In Ancient Greece, there used to be a Torch Race
called 'Lampadedromia' where each runner had a
torch and those whose torch went out during the
race were disqualified.

I don't want to be disqualified because I didn't
keep the fire inside me burning, because I had
nothing left to give.

By the way- I hear the Ancient Greeks ran naked!

LET YOUR YES BE YES, AND YOUR NO BE NO.

I heard it said once that a child's job is to get their parents
and the parents job is to not get got!!


Well since then I am thankful to say that I have learned
that there is much more to life than this, the only time
we should ever be playing games is when everyone is
aware of the rules and knows that they are actually in
a game, Life is too important to be on a playing field
trying to figure out what someone's next move will be.


As Adults and Parents, we need to be always aware of
what it is we are conveying, in the way that we are in
each of our relationships. When our children were little
I realised that little people can often be moody and try
to change other peoples minds and actions by their
moodiness, and if not sorted out, we are left with
moody adults who always try to manipulate people
around them to suit their own benefit...

Oooohhhh, thats ugly!

Two great rules to live by..

1. Don't manipulate others by your moods, thats ugly.

2. Don't be manipulated by others moods, thats just sad.

HI! THE PERSON YOU ARE TRYING TO CALL IS UNAVAILABLE.

I do a lot of talking in the car sometimes on the phone
and other times just talking to God about what is
happening in my world and it struck me today about
all the things that I am thankful for when I need to
spend time with God....

* No one answers and says "Sorry, the person you
are trying to call is unavailable."
* I never get put on hold while He's sorting out
your problems!
* I never have to say "Please don't tell anyone
else" ( I'm just presuming He doesn't!)
* He never tells me I talk to much!
* He never tells me its bad timing.
* I don't lose reception and wonder if He's hung
up on me.
* I never have to worry if I have come across
alright or whether I have hurt His feelings!
* And as far as I can tell, I've never rung the
wrong number!

Yes, I am very thankful for this direct line...

THE GRASS LOOKS GREENER.....

Driving home from the shops today I noticed a
paddock full of cows and one huge bull, it was
obviously in the herd for one reason, now it had
all these cows to choose from but it was standing
looking across the road to one cow that was
standing looking back at the bull.

It made me think really that there is a little
but of that bull in all of us at one time or another,
not that we want to be in with the other cow but
that the grass can look greener in someone else's
paddock.

Looks can be deceiving and our hearts can also
be deceived into thinking that life would be better
if this, and this and this could happen.
On closer inspection we would see that with a bit
of tweaking, our own paddocks (lives) could be a
lot greener and lusher for us to live in.

I think if the cow could talk it would tell us ...

1. Prepare the ground well and Water every
other day, don't let it go stale.
2. Keep the pests to a minimum.
3. Kill the weeds at the roots.
4. Maintain your own paddocks.
5. There are snakes in my grass too.

BREAKING BAD HABITS.

Habits are at first cobwebs, then cables....

Today I feel really challenged to break a habit in my life,
its not actually something that is huge or even really
bad but I realise that it is something that I would be
better off not doing, now I would love to say that I
have been spending time myself thinking about this
but in fact someone else pointed it out to me because
honestly I would continue along on my merry way
quite content to leave my habits in tact.

Once upon a time it would have been easy to do, to
avoid dealing with something like this habit but
now I have this inbuilt alarm that rings when
something has been pinpointed in me and I know
that I need to do something about it, this alarm
doesn't ring loudly or even for long, its more
like a gentle prompting, I am thankful for this
and the voice of wisdom that delivers it to me.