Contentment vs Ambition

Now isn't that a funny thing. Blogging is great, it's like having a diary that talks back to you! I loved the comments on my last blog and I think that they really are interesting. It is true that I am quite contented with my life and love the little things that I do, but you see I do what "layeth to my hand" I grasp at the opportunities as I see them. I constantly imagine how I would react in a situation if I was doing it for Jesus. Now I know that sounds flakey, but it's not, it really works, for example someone is coming for tea. I am flinging the duster around the get rid of the worst of the dust (we are renovating), as I do I ask myself, if Jesus was coming for tea, would I dust better. If the answer is no, (Jesus understands about the renovations) then ok, if the answer is yes, then more vigously strikes the rag at the dust!! It is a great yard stick I find. I suppose if you are not a Christian then just sustitute someone important to you, Helen Clark, Ghandi, Mother Theresa, The Queen... whatever.

Anyway maybe there are two main types of people, the ones who strive to acheive greatness in their field, and the ones who strive to acheive greatness in their daily lives as it comes to them!

Ambition

Recently I keep noticing people my age or younger who are achieving amazing things. They are athletes or City Councilors or Member of Parliments. I on the other hand have acheived almost nothing worthwhile or lasting in my life. I have no education to speak of, no business of my own, I hold no important positions in the community, in short I am a nobody.

I have decided that the problem with me it that I am very short of ambition. I am quite content to potter along in my life, running my household and suchlike, but have no ambition to do much more.

Maybe people have different levels of ambition or maybe we have to earn it, or do you get more as you do more stuff?? I have no answer for this.

Anyway it has been on my mind, so I thought I would see if anyone else had noticed this in themselves or others....

Like a kite on a string...

Hello everyone,
I haven't been blogging for ages, what with sick kids, school holidays and the Three-Year-Old starting kindy, well I haven't been at the computer! I must say time does fly by doesn't it. The Three-Year-Old has a new favourite thing to do. He loves to go on a picnic. Yesterday we went on an awesome picnic and lit a fire and cooked sausages and boiled the kettle for hot chocolate and coffee. It was the best.

The whole picnic thing started a few weeks ago when our very good friends go a new van for work complete with rows of (soon to be removed) seats. Before the demise of the said seats, off we all went for a picnic. The first of the spring season, and the first one the Three-Year-Old could really enjoy. Up Victoria Park we went and ate our buns and drank our coke and enjoyed the sunshine.

While we were there we were watching the children flying kites. Up and away they soared. It struck me how I couldn't see the string holding the kite, but I was sure it was there because I could see the kite flying (and not flying away like some of our boys' kites did!!). It made me think how as Christians, we want the world around us, our friends and family and the people we meet, we want them to see us soaring like those kites, and even if they can't see the string and understand how it works, the difference they see in us will be so visible that they want to soar too. Now wouldn't that be awesome! Lets soar...

A quilt for our mum!

Our mum is going to Thailand for Christmas and New Year. She has some important stuff to do there so she is busy getting ready for her trip. Anyhow I chanced to find out that some people are having a fund-raising auction for her and another lady to raise the money they need to go and do this very important stuff.
Now here is me, just look at me for a moment. I am a stay at home mum with three children, I don't produce anything that Helen Clark would regard as helping the economy (except maybe Ezibuy's turnover) so what important stuff can I do??
Well I am going to make a wall-hanging type quilt to sell at the auction. I've planned it, and found the fabrics, I've cut it all out and I'm going to sew it carefully together. Then i'll back it and quilt it all over and then I will put a binding on it. It will look ok I think and maybe it will raise $50 for mum.
Now officially I'm not going to Thailand to work with the children there or help the helpers in the special work that they do, but just for tonight I am part of that work in Thailand even though I haven't left my house.
What do you think about that?
Jesus said, "If you give a glass of water to a little child because of Me, you will be rewarded." I think He'll like the quilt I'm making Him tonight.

About my boys...

It's Tuesday night, I spent a few hours in bed today and took a few cold'n'flu tablets so that I could go to boys brigade, and now I feel great. It seems that no matter how crap I feel before I go I always come away energised! I think this means that Boys Brigade pushes all my buttons. I never would have thought that I would like it, to me the name summons up a picture of fuzty old men in tweed jackets teaching boys about tying knots.

But no, it is about 8-16 little boys. Real boys, boys with snotty noses and filthy hands, boys with torn trousers and not enough clothes. Boys who haven't had enough to eat all day, that devour the tea I give them and come back for seconds. These self same boys who still have room for two bits of home baking for supper. They are full of energy, they literally bounce of the walls. They are so spiky and defensive, but they have hearts that are longing to be loved.

These boys of mine just want me to watch what they do, they want me to hug them and tell them they are great. They want to eat up all the food (of course) but it's more than that. They just want me to be there. Sometimes on Tuesday nights it is hard work, we are setting boundries left right and centre. Boys get sent home, boys get told off again and again. They fight against our rules every step of the way.

But.. if we chance upon one of our boys at the fish'n chip shop, or PakNSave, or the movies, or if we drive past their house and hoot our horn at them, they love it. They are always so thrilled to see us. They go to school and tell their teachers about us, they go home and tell their mums (only two of our boys have dads that live with them). We are one of the highlights of their week. They even invite their skinny little friends to come.

It is such an honour to be involved with Boys Brigade at Opawa, I feel like I've waited all my life to find a spot that fits me so well. Tonight and last tuesday we taught them to use the sewing machine. Give a boy a machine with an accelerator and he's happy. They have all taken home bags they made themselves. They are filled with pride and achievement. They have eaten sausage rolls and chocolate chip cookies. I have told them that I love them all. What a priviledge to make these grimey little boys so happy.

Now isn't that a worthwhile thing to do?? Roll on next tuesday.

No pressure!

Today we dumped our old windows. Nobody wants them, not even the recycle depo at the dump so we had to throw them out. It seemed such a shame, years ago someone carefully made them and was pleased with their days work. They've kept the cold, wind and rain away from our family for 30 odd years. I kind of felt sentimental. But why keep them just because I've gazed out the glass for hours??? They have rotten bits (lots of) and they need painting (regularly), they have been home to many little borers who have flowen out into the big wide world to find new homes. Yes it's time to move on. Our new windows are snug and weather tight, and after Arthur has cleaned them (if i ring up mum and ask her) they will be clean and shining.

And the men who were satisfied with their day's work years ago?? Well they did their job well. They can be proud. It was not wasted. The windows were fantastic. But now we have moved on.

Often and often I find myself straining to achieve something that will last forever, but actually all that God requires is for us to do what lays to our hand and do it well. And as long as it lasts as long as it is needed, that is all that counts. No pressure! just a sense of achievement.

Hurray, what a relief. I'm just off to do some important jobs, cuddle my sick boy (that will be recorded forever), make my husband and friend a coffee (that also) and cook some tea for my family. All things that if done well are things that count.

Cricketers are like my marshmallow!!

Hello world! how are you all doing today?? I'm fine myself. My two boys are sick, one recovering and one at the lying on the sofa doing nothing stage (not being a bother). Our new windows are being installed as we speak, the last one is causing a headache for the builders (and ultimately our bank account) as the wall had no framing. I bullied all the men into fixing it the way I thought it should be and so that's what they are doing!!

I went off to the specialist today and I'm not getting a new hip till next year (bother) at the earliest, so I get to keep my crutches :)

Anyway I have been listening on the radio to all this talk about the cricketers going to Zimbabwe. I can't believe we are having this discussion. Why don't any of the cricketers have any backbone?? Where is their moral fortitude.

Recently I was making marshmallow slice for the boys brigade tea. I mixed all the ingredients as per the receipe, and left for the prescribed time. The next day I beat it and beat it, I beat it some more. Then I beat it again, but it still would not set. I could still be beating it actually and it would be no thicker because a vital ingredient was missing. It wasn't completely missing, some of it was there, but it needed more. I think our cricketers and the ICC are like my marshmallow. Something is missing, they are a little bit sorry (blah blah blah) but not enough. They are not going to be the real deal. They have not moral fortitude, they are not standing up for what is right.

I wonder what we can do about it...... I'll have to do some more thinking!

What am I thinking?

I am starting this blog because I think my mum would like to know what I'm thinking about!! You see my two sisters have blogs and she enjoys reading them. She said I should have one too cause it's interesting to see what people think. It got me thinking. I don't actually think much! I have three children and run a house and so I decided to start thinking. Now be patient with me, the cogs are a bit rusty, but hopefully as I learn this blog thing, maybe I will start thinking. I hope I can run it properly.

I don't suppose anyone is interested, but I am really trying to do the ironing, and have got seriously sidetracked!

I really think it is harder to think as a stay-at-home mum, cause you get so stuck doing mundane stuff!