Tag?!

The rules of the game are as follows:

1. Link back to the person that tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your entry.

1. I love hanging my washing out if the day is nice, crisp with just a hint of snow on the ranges and warmth in the sun. I also hang my washing in an orderly way i.e., socks together, undies together, etc. I actually have a preferred order of hanging my washing out. And I hang everything inside out to offset any fading the sun might do. If you think that's bad, I know of people that colour co-ordinate their pegs to match their washing!!! By the way, I also fold my washing off the line ... (should I keep going?)

2. I love ice cream!!!

3. I am, by nature, a lazy lay-about!!!

4. I love green (green is really the best colour in the world). My poor husband once asked me if we really needed to have more green in our home. I just told him that there is no such thing as too much green. You can have too much of other colours (I won't name any in case I am absolutely pounded!!!) but you can't have too much green. Obviously God thinks the same way I do, otherwise you wouldn't have green grass, green leaves, green stalks, green insects, green frogs, green crocs (I'm not really proving my point here!!!), etc, etc, etc!!! Obviously, green is God's favourite colour!!!

5. I once tried on the most expensive dress in David Jones without any intention of buying it!! It really was just for the thrill of having a beautiful dress on!! The trouble was that the dress was beautiful on the hanger ... 'nuff said!

6. Autumn is my favourite season. I simply love the magnificent colours and the soothing (to me anyway!!) temperatures!! After the heat and discomfort of summer, it's like stepping into airconditioning while you're still outside.

Okay, now it's my turn to tag (however, everyone I know has already been tagged, but hey ... here goes!!):

Ruth
Melanie
The Three Little Princesses
Kirsty
Michelle
Lachlan

Well, now, I'd better get a couple of hours work done before we go to church tonight!!!!

Rob turned 40!!!

It's true!!! In fact, Rob can hardly believe it himself. The other day he asked me if he looked 40!! My reply? "I dunno ... what does '40' look like?" I think he's tried to put it off, but that is like trying to stop the sun from rising or the tide from coming in and going out again.

Well ... the inevitable has happened and there's absolutely no turning back. We celebrated this momentous occassion with family and friends and after everyone left and the cleaning up was complete, Rob sat down to contemplate the meaning of generous friends and look over the lovely gifts he had received. I believe he felt really loved!

My beautiful sister made the birthday cake ... and it looked AWESOME!!!! Unfortunately, I forgot to put the film (that I had asked my sister to bring) in my camera and take photos and it wasn't until after the event that I realised the error of my ways!!! Thank goodness Kirsty was there with her digital camera, or I wouldn't have gotten any photos at all!!!

Back to the cake, it was a mud cake in the shape of the number '40', iced with chocolate icing with white icing outlining the numbers and decoratively drizzled on the top. Magnificent.

My mum brought the dinner (I really didn't do very much at all) and then she and my sisters cleaned up. I felt terribly guilty - but, at the same time, I felt soooo loved (and it wasn't even my birthday!!!). Thank you to everyone who made Rob's birthday so special!!!

I think, nearly two weeks later, that he still feels really special.

What J thinks about his mum!!

My lovely son made the following speech to his class today (secret: he and I worked on it together!!!).

My Mum

I love my mum. For one thing she’s responsible. I mean, whatever happens, my mum is always responsible.

I’m not sure yet if my mother's blonde, even though she flushed her phone down the loo then laughed like crazy. And when she loses something, she always has a mothers look even when the thing was right in front of her.

What, might you ask, is a “mothers look” –well, it’s similar to a “girl’s look" - you know - where they move everything & there’s more mess than they started with. Well, the difference with a “mother’s look” is that after Mum’s found whatever she’s looking for, she starts looking for the things she’s moved because she’s forgotten where she’s put them!

I’m just waiting for the day when Mum tells me "Be good and for your birthday I'll buy you a motorcycle!" or "I don't have a tissue with me -- just use your sleeve." Then I’ll know that she’s blonde.

My mum and I have a couple of reasonable arguments such as:

- I think a messy bedroom is a sign of creativity." Mum doesn’t seem to think so.

- I leave all the lights on ... it makes the house more cheery, but Mum gets ticked off if you do that.

My mum is really weird! She likes cricket but can’t stand listening to it on the radio. Mum said we would never get a bird but now we have we have Charlie. A beautiful budgie.

My mum’s favorite colour is green and she doesn’t really like pink, but the fact is pink looks good on her and green makes her look really sick. Freaky, hey?

Mum loves my family even when M is having a bad hair day. Even when I’m complaining about being too sick go to school (and she sends me anyway!). Even when dad has a headache. And even when B has a temper tantrum.

You may ask how I came up with this speech. Well, it was actually going to be about toe wrestling but I needed something more hilarious so I thought and thought until I came up with the perfect thing. My mum!

And that is why I love my mum!

By the way, if you liked this speech, my name is J T. If you didn’t like this speech than my name is Mr. M! (J's teacher)

Mothers' Day

Tomorrow is Mothers' Day. As a mother, I realise that tomorrow wouldn't be possible for me without my three wonderful children. I had the privilege of shopping with M and B today and I really enjoyed their company. Sometimes I forget what a privilege it is to be a Mother - I get tired, stressed, grumpy. It's not the fault of my children that I'm having a "bad hair day", but somehow, I manage to be short with them, or my expectations may be too high - actually, if I'm going to be brutally honest, I can be downright unreasonable at times. I find myself apologising to my children often - apologising is a really good way of keeping our hearts soft. I have shed many, many tears over my children as I have realised some very hurtful mistakes I have made that have the potential to crush their spirits. I am so grateful to God that He is in the healing business for our emotions and I believe that He has healed J's spirit (in particular).

Why am I saying this? I think, as mothers, we can really take our children for granted. And then I hear something on the news that makes me absolutely grieve for the mother who has just lost her son/daughter. Like this beautiful little boy, for instance. In case you haven't heard the news lately, his father failed to return him to his mother after an access visit and nearly three weeks later, the police found his little three year old body down a mine shaft in Coober Pedy.

I must confess, whenever I hear stories of children being abused, abducted, murdered, neglected - and there are plenty of them - I am filled with anger and grief! Maybe I'm being a little melodramatic over children I don't know, who aren't my concern, who have nothing to do with me, but I see these precious little ones as God's most innocent creations who have had the opportunity to grow up and realise God's potential robbed from them. The devil wants to destroy the innocence of our society.

I see and almost feel the mother's hurt as she comes to term with empty arms and an agonisingly sorrowful heart. How does she deal with such pain? God sent His Spirit into the world so that we could have a comforter. He clothed Himself in flesh so that He could "heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free." As women filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we have the privilege and opportunity to pray for the protection of our children. We want to see them grow up and fulfil the purpose that God has intended for them. Every step of the way.

When we read stories such as this, we ought to remind ourselves that our children need our prayers, they need us to encourage them, to love them, to correct them, to enjoy them.

Happy Mothers' Day. I pray we can be all that God has made us to be.

With so much love!

I found this in my Sunday School teacher's manual.

All have a share in the beauty,

All have a part in the plan;

What does it matter what duty

Falls to the lot of man?

Someone must blend the plaster,

And someone must carry the stone;

Neither the child nor the teacher

Nor the leader can do it alone.

Helping the child succeed

Or building a house for a king,

Only by working together have men

Ever accomplished anything.

- Anonymous

Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday saw the 15th anniversary of wedded bliss to the man of my house. 15 years!!! Can you believe that anyone would put up with me for so long????

I am so blessed to have such a Godly husband. He is strong in the Word of God and follows the principles that are laid out in the Word of God with all his heart. His desire is for his family to serve God ... "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" ... with all our hearts. If he wasn't patient before we got married, he's learnt patience since :o).

He loves his children and frequently tells them so. He doesn't just tell them, he demonstrates his love for them when he wrestles them on the floor (straight after dinner, mind you), reads to them (12 year old J still loves R reading to him), goes bike riding with them, plays cricket/handball/"tennis" in the driveway straight after work, corrects them, prays with them, teaches them, takes them places (e.g., youth, swimming lessons), blesses them with the little things they like, sells chocolates for them at work etc. The list of things R does for our children is lengthy! He is proud of them and expresses his pride in them often. Ever since our children were newborns, R has loved spending time with them.

He's a wonderful husband too. He helps me around the house. As soon as he comes home from work, he's with the children, giving them his time and giving me time to start preparing dinner (if I haven't already done so). He generally makes sure the children are showered and ready for bed before dinner and then, after dinner, he helps with the cleaning up and then he reads B stories and gets him settled into bed.

He calls me every day at around 12.30pm to "see how you're doing", so please don't be offended if I hurry you off the phone if you happen to call just before 12.30pm.

He encourages me when I'm going through a trial. He rejoices with me when I'm rejoicing. He shares all my heartaches, frustrations, joys, blessings and he bears them all patiently. He prays for me and with me.

I'm proud of him. His boss is so pleased with him that he often consults R on many different matters. R is honest, hard working, loyal, faithful and fair. He doesn't expect anything more from the staff he supervises then what he is prepared to do himself.

He honours his parents. He treats them with respect. They know they can call on him if they need anything. He has a burden to see them enter into the Kingdom of Heaven one day. I had a dream once that R's dad was asking me to teach him everything we know. When I shared my dream with R, he started to get excited and began to earnestly pray for his parents. Every once in a while, he becomes discouraged, but then he remembers the promises of God and he believes in a stronger and deeper way.

He is faithful to the Lord. He studies the Word of God and holds onto it's promises. He is such a good example to me and to our children. I am a blessed woman because my husband loves God with all his heart, soul, mind and body. He has dedicated himself to the Lord and he wants his life to count for the Kingdom of God. He loves serving the Lord and will do anything the Lord asks of him. He loves teaching Sunday School and he loves the children he teaches.

He welcomes the stranger and makes the stranger his friend. R is discerning and seeks the Lord for each new face. He has shown many "stranger friends" the plan of salvation and has seen most of them baptised in Jesus name and filled with the Holy Ghost. R won't turn anyone away.

Is this a "praise R" post? I guess so. The Bible tells us, in various ways, to honour one another. R is such a Godly man and I believe, as his wife, that he is worthy of honour.