Not that kind of excitement please.

Our youngest daughter is prone to coughs, colds, sneezes and wheezes.  She has been since she was a baby so we weren't too alarmed when she started coughing last week.  It is just what she does or so we thought. 

We had some friends for Boxing Day tea and one of them said that if it were her she would get our daughter looked at.  Her son is asthmatic and she recognised the wheeze.  So we phoned the out-of-hours Drs who, instead of telling us to dose her up with Calpol, told us to bring her in to be checked out.  My husband took her up and we fully expected her to be home that night. 

Well an ambulance ride and 5 days stay in Hospital she is back with us.  She was transferred to the Main Hospital in the region to be checked out by a Paediatrician.  They took blood, checked her breathing, and her oxygen levels which were too low for her to return home.

Her attitude to being in Hospital was remarkable; allowing the Drs, Nurses, Physios to do with her as they asked except at night when they tried to give her medicine through the Canular.  Then, from the depth of her sleep she struggled, moaned, told mummy off and squirted medicine over the Nurse.  In the morning she was back to her compliant self and had no recollection of the events.

During her stay they checked her Oxygen levels but they didn't sustain when they took her off the Oxygen Mask.  During the night it came out by mistake and her levels were still good, so the Nurse didn't put it back on.  When the Dr came round in the afternoon she was pleased with her progress and told her she could go home. 

We are all so pleased and thank God for all the help we have had.  Also for all the prayers people have offered.

A Good Friend Remembered

I am at the stage in life when a lot of my friends (and family) are hitting 40.  I thought this stage would never come but it has.  A few years ago a group of people from our previous church celebrated their 40th Birthdays by going abroad and doing a spot of White-Water-Rafting.

This event caused my husband and a friend of ours to discuss what they would do for their 40th birthdays which were a month apart.  Well the years have gone by but our friend is no longer alive.  He was taken to be with the Lord when he was only 38 years old.  Today would have been his 40th birthday.  I have been reflecting on him, his faith in God and his wacky sense of humour.  He and my husband shared that, often the sense of the absurd would overtake both of them and often at the most inopportune moments.  I have also been thinking of his widow and their son; she is remarkable.  God surely blessed us with this friend and I really wish he were still with us so that we could somehow celebrate his birthday.

So my husband will be celebrating his birthday in January but not as was planned.  He, instead, has chosen to have a party and share the time with a whole group of other friends and family.  And he will take time out to have a quiet time reflecting  our friend and what would have been.

No offence meant.

I read a great article today by Tim Keller.  I have been easily offended by people in the past (there are some people I still take a lot of what they say the wrong way!)  In terms of Church life the nature of my husband's job can make me more sensitive to negative comments.  In the past I have made sure I withdrew from people telling myself that I don't have to listen.  Nowadays, I try to be more calm about it and wonder if there is any truth in what they say.  I am learning that I am not always right about everything, that others have their own opinion, and that you can be friends with people and agree to disagree. Life is a lot easier that way. 

I am also learning that just because I am a Pastor's wife doesn't mean I need to put myself in an Ivory Tower and stay away from the rest of the world.  Ivory is beautiful but cold, hard and not particularly comfortable.  If I conduct my relationships in that way I am not going to get far.  I want my tower to be soft and warm and big enough for others to share; and I want to be able to share theirs as well.

Embracing my curls

But maybe not that much!  I love Ecological-friendly products but also like a good bargain.  More often than not the two are at opposite ends of the spectrum!  I don't like the thought of all the chemicals I put on my hair (face and body for that matter) to make it look half-way decent.  I have naturally curly hair and my no-products days are long gone.  I don't think bicarb of soda and cider vinegar are going to do much for my barnet either.  So I have been looking for an alternative.  I am discovering natural products are very expensive.  I have found a local company that makes shampoo (whoops sorry cleanser) and conditioners etc and will give them a whirl.  The only problem is the only styling product they sell is wax and I am not sure that will work for me. 

I have discovered products made by companies called Curl Cremes, Crown Pride, Kinky-Curly and Curl Junkie to name a few.  They are all American companies and whilst buying on-line is a lot cheaper, the shipping costs are high and the alternative of buying them through a UK website makes the products themselves more expensive.  I will try some out (in fact, my Curl Jelly arrived from Darcy Botanicals today) but will have to psych myself up to spend that much agauin on hair products.  Maybe, I should just try to make my own .......

Hey, good looking

I have 2 daughters.  They are both beautiful and clever.  I am not in anyway bias!  They have completely different takes on life already at their young age.

My eldest girl likes to look good, she is only 8 years old.  She is interested in fashion and how clothes go together.  I have only taken an interest for myself in the past few years.  Growing up I was never interested in clothes, hair or makeup.  My mum wasn't so I took my lead from there.  I think together my girl and I will learn how to be dressed well without it taking over her whole personality.

My other daughter on the other hand is more Marmalade Atkins or to use a more recent example, Ugly Betty!  She loves a riot of different colours and wears most of them at the same time!

I love them and pray that I can help them grow to be confident, godly people whether they are immaculately dressed or cute and quirky.  I will probably read this post in 5 years time and find the positions have been reversed.