SPRING IS IN THE AIR!

I love Springtime, I don't know about you but it brings
a whole new way of looking at life for me, its so aptly
named because everything just seems to be springing
to life and coming alive, lambing and calving, the
blossoms blessing us with their presence as we drive
along the road.

Springtime always seems like a time of new beginnings,
I try out new recipes, I want to change my home around,
to spring clean, to connect with people more, it has a
certain hope about it, ushering in a kinder time for a
lot of us as it closes the door on a nearly forgotten
winter.

There are seasons in our life as well, I wrote about it in
a poem last year.


THE REFINING.

Like a piece of driftwood, washed up on the sand
being scorched in the summer sun,
is the battle weary man.

Beside the rotting seaweed, amid the twigs & leaves
The shipwrecked man bent over, on his knees he pleads

For the carefree days again

He wants to look inside himself to find the courage within
His strength is spent, he knows that know
Where does he begin?

Along the stormy coastline, being tossed, to and fro
You see the broken man now
He's learning to let go

Of the things that just don't matter
The things that do not last,
His mind is at rest
He's making peace with his past.

See along the breakwater, walks an upright man
He's found a safe harbour where no sediment collects
With the seagulls overhead, alongside the buds bursting
The peaceful man rejoices, no longer thirsting

Like a piece of driftwood, washed up on the sand
soaking in the summer sun

the seasons refined the man.

I LOVE IT, I HATE IT, I LOVE IT, I HATE IT, I LOVE IT

Ever felt like you hate something that is so very good for
you? Its like that with me and discipline, mainly self
discipline, actually always self discipline!

I like to think that God made me with this free Spirit
that floats around enjoying whatever I want, haha,
and I can do that for a season, but alas that season
departs as quickly as it arrives and it seems to leave
behind a trail of destruction, much like a tornado,
you see for me, I realise now that the pleasures of an
undisciplined life are short reaching, and there are
consequences, like no socks, no dinner, no towels,
no good attitudes, no fun!!

Now I love doing things, all sorts of things, I have
the kind of mind that likes to know about a lot of
stuff but that all has to be in balance, for example
I love to create things , to have an understanding
of how a lot of things work, and thats great but it
doesn't get dinner on the table. I love to cook as well
and create delicious meals for my family and I feel
really good doing that, and then I remember that
God gave me a family who wants to eat every day!
What is it with that???

Well I have had to learn to make self discipline my
friend, ( we do have the occasional falling out, but I
know that being disciplined actually allows me to
be a much freer person than before).

This is a work in progress, I have had help of late
with a book that I have read from my Bible College
Course, called "Celebration of Discipline". The
course has also been teaching me to live my life following
a weekly planner, this is very good for me and I am
learning to love it!

"Its not enough to have great qualities; we should also
have the management of them ."

WHATS GOING ON?

I have a couple of friends who often say to me,
"I'd just like to see what is going on inside your
head, just for a day", so I thought I would put
yesterdays mind on my blog.

1. Driving Son to work @ 5.30am, we discussed
the value of life and in particular the taking of
ones life.
2. I came home and did 3 loads of washing and
made 4 dozen sausage rolls, put a casserole
in the crockpot, and wrote my blog about
Learner Drivers, ( He was out playing golf
for his birthday with his brother).
3. While driving to my connect group, I was
pondering about some photoshoots and
whether the lighting was going to work at
9.30am during the springtime. I was
listening to my new Moshi bassburger
boombox which connects to my Iphone,
I love it!
4. At my connect group ( which is a wonderful
group of women aged between 40 & 65), I
gained access to a great study book on
Leadership - she would only lend it to me
for a week so I need to read fast.
5. I went to Target to see if they have what I
am looking for for spring and summer, I
have decided to focus on 3 main colours (I
know, I'm not normal and I don't really
care!)
6. I sat in Maccas for 40 mins and did some of
my assignment and waited for my 18yr old
to finish work. I thought about the way I
managed time and whether I was doing it well.
7. After a request for an Oreo McFlurry with
Hot Fudge sauce, I picked up my son and we
continued to discuss the value of life, He thinks
it's valuable!
8. I discussed with 3 of my sons about the brain
capacity and the fact that research says that
we use only 10% of our brain and often are
told that we think too much, I asked them
what they thought the other 90% was for?
9. I spent an hour doing my language lessons
( I am learning 2 other languages) and then
sent a text message in one of them. I really
need to practise more.
10. I squeezed in 10 minutes of self taught
Zumba and felt more like Pumba dancing
to "The Gipsy Kings" in my studio.
11. The little boy next door told me I looked
weird when I was waving goodbye to
a friend , I thought to myself "You
oughta see me Zumba!"
12. I told Amos (our cat) that no matter how
often he runs to meet my husband after
work and wags his tail like a dog, he will
never be one, and if he continues to sleep
on the lounge on the decking after we have
vacuumed, he won't be a cat for much
longer either!
12. Off to have dinner with my Bible College
Buddies before 3 hours of College where
I hope to learn to be a great asset to society!
13. While driving home I wondered where
Anastasia Romanov was, I visited her home
in the Winter Palace in St.Petersburg in
1993 and she certainly wasn't there.
14. I checked on the Biggest Storm in the
world that was being unleashed on my
beloved homeland, New Zealand and
wondered whether it was whitebaiting
season.
15. I checked on Facebook (of course) and
chatted to two funny and great girlfriends,
I needed to be in bed by 10pm, I turn into
a pumpkin much earlier these days.
16. My husband asked me "Did you have a
good day, anything interesting"?, "Just the
normal!

"L" IS FOR LEARNER...

While out on our daily driving lesson yesterday,
I gained a very valuable insight.

We now have 35 hours behind us and they say
that when your learner (when it is your child)
has accumulated around 20 hours, they can start
to think that they know everything and don't
really need teaching anymore, (now I'm not
necessarily saying that this child has come to
this thinking, let me just say he is at a more
comfortable place behind the wheel.)

I remember one of our other sons saying, at
this stage of driving (with an attitude), "Mum,
I don't really need you to teach me anymore,
I know everything I need to know". I smiled
sweetly at that boy while ripping his 'L's' in
half and said, "Congratulations, thats great
love, you won't be needing these anymore".
It took him about 2 hours to come and
apologise and 2 minutes after that to realise
that he was going to be released from driving
lessons for the next week. Haha. It really is
a great learning experience for all of us.

Now yesterday I noticed that my new learner
was taking more, shall I say liberties in the
drivers seat so I said to him "You do remember
what the 'L' stands for , don't you love", and
without missing a beat he said "Of course,
LEGEND!" Well , needless to say, I have a
much better understanding of teenager boys
driving and of why I might feel the need for
therapy after one of our lessons!

Its all really a matter of perspective.

BEWARE THE LITTLE FOXES.

Our lives are so full of big events, busy schedules,
tricky circumstances and we can be so focused on
them that we tend to forget or are too tired to
see some other things happening in our lives.

There is a saying that was used frequently in the
past " Keeping the Wolf from the Door", which
often kept the major part of peoples attention.

Wiki dictionary says "Keeping the Wolf at the
Door" refers to any danger or predator that
seeks to ravage the inhabitants within, ranging
from starvation to poverty to death. Well these
days I am sure that a lot of us are still following
this quote and are completely unaware of the
little foxes that are coming down the chimney
or finding other creative ways to enter our
world.

Our Wolves don't need to be things like
starvation and poverty, they can be normal
everyday life things like studying for exams,
planning weddings, family tradegy, the things
that take all our attention and the foxes can be
the stress our children take on, the busyness
of an overload of activity or the grief our families
carry through loss, illness, trauma etc.

The important thing to remember is to keep
our eyes and ears and hearts open so that we
recognise that the Wolf is often in disguise and
the fox loves to sneak about.

All these things can be managed well when we
learn to see them but are impossible if we are
not looking.

Have a great day!