The blogging habits of the man indoors.

My husband uses the Internet for a myriad of reasons. He emails, he keeps up-to-date with news, theology, Christian Thinking, music, he orders things from the Internet, etc.

He also uses the Internet to build and maintain his friendships. He has a group of very good and close friends, without them he would flounder and sink (especially this year!). He keeps in touch with one friend from his Bible College days. They mourn, commiserate, laugh, insult each other, tease out theological truths etc. The large bulk of their friendship is conducted via the Internet due to the geographical distance between them.

One thing they started about a year ago is to post on their blogs songs that they like - they posted 25 each. After that they have posted 15 books. They take it in turns and write a little blurb as to why they like the song or book and/or what it means to them. Apparently, they have a lot of other catergories ready for future blogging. I am quite impressed by persistence in these particular blogs.

Another Confession (perhaps I should become Catholic!)

Oh, dear. One of my daughters whines a lot. She can wake up whining. She can go to bed whining. She can whine about breakfast. She can whine about dinner. About everything. About anything. Well, you get the idea with that.

(A digression: We went to her Parent's Evening last night and spoke to her teacher who described a happy, enthusiastic, cheerful, friendly, clever, intelligent child I am pleased to report.)

Today, I picked her up from school and she was complaining of feeling ill; not an uncommon event. I have to say I wasn't entirely convinced. The little smiles (you know the ones) weren't helping me either!

We got home and the whining carried on. The monologues of 'How nobody understands.' etc etc etc. And the volume got louder. A sign she isn't feeling that unwell usually. She kept saying she was going to be sick. My children have a blue-print for being ill (one that they worked out together on a subliminal level): They go off their food, they get a slight temperature, they are quiet, listless and need to snuggle on the sofa. She had decided to rewrite the blue-print so I didn't think she was really ill. Until, that was, she was actually sick.

And then I felt really bad. The mummy-guilt kicked in at full throttle. My girl was poorly and I had ignored her. I have told her that the whining will be like the boy who cried Wolf and that is what happened today. I am hoping that we can use this incident as a way to help her out of the whining.

At the moment I feel like parenting will be added to my list of failures. I really need that holiday we are due to go on on Saturday. Ho, hum.

At a tangent: If anyone has any tips on how to divert the habit then I will gratefully receive them.

Confession

I am reading through the Bible in a year. The scheme was devised by a friend of a friend. Basically, we started at Genesis and will finish in Revelation. I have found it good but also extremely challenging. The past 15 months of my life have been full of massive adjustment, and through some of the most difficult parts I was stuck in the Major and Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. I have found them hard, I have questioned the relevance of some of the more technical sections for Christianity today and I have come through reading them with lots of questions. I found it hard to find much joy in them.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I started the New Testament the other day. Am I the only Christian who struggles to make parts of the Old Testament make sense? I can't align the parts when God calls for destruction of peoples etc with the commandment not to murder.

If anyone, has any insight I would love to hear it. If anyone, feels the same way then please tell me. If you feel I am on the verge of becoming a liberal then please be gentle with me.

Our new pet ......

Here is Syd and the story behind her.

My youngest daughter is desperate to own a pet. I don't want one. I think we will have one when she is old enough to take more responsibility in looking after it. Also, I am not a pet lover.

Today, she asked for one for her birthday (which isn't for a few months) and I gave her the usual speal about Mummy not having time to look after it. Daddy is also too busy. When you are older we will think about it. etc etc etc. She cried and expressed her upset.

A little while later she went to our Utility Room where we keep all the craft material. I heard her say 'If I can't have a real one then I will make myself a pet.' So that is what she did. My wonderfully imaginative girl made herself a pet mouse along with a cage.

I wish I had her take one life. She didn't let a minor inconvenience get in the way of her desire for a pet. She found a way around the problem. I hope and pray this is how she carries on through life. My 6 year old daughter has a lot to teach me.

Prawns, mangos and margins around your field.

It was our harvest at church this morning. In our church we have all vegetable, fruit and harvested produce; there isn't a tin or packet in sight. Most of the food is home-produced give or take the odd mango or prawn.

We read from Leviticus 19:9-13

9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

11 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. 12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

13 “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

We were asked to think what the margins in our lives were? Have I left space for those in need. (In particular, we were asked to think about the charity Compassion who work to get sponsorship for children we need the money for basics such as education and medical treatment.) So, I don't own a field but a decent amount of money comes into our home each month, I have skills that could be used to help others, could I make time to give doing something for people more needy etc, etc? As a Christian God has called me to look after fellow-believers and also those in my community.

I shouldn't do these things to make myself look good but because I serve a big God. I do them to give Him glory. Selfishness will never draw people to Jesus but maybe a kind word in season or a gift of time or money might help. Then I would need to be ready to give a word about why I do these things. I should give because Jesus has first given to me; through Him I have my salvation and a relationship with God.

So I better go and check my margins.

Body image and a timely post

I woke up this morning at my usual time and managed to make sandwiches for my daughters, wash-up dishes and begin the Lasagne for tea before I had my shower and breakfast at 8am. Whilst eating my breakfast I checked my emails and Facebook as normal. I flicked through some pictures of a friend who has just come back from a sunny holiday. She looked great wearing her bikini and had lost a tonne of weight.

I got despondent. What do I have to do to lose the tummy I hate so much? The pounds that creep on very gradually? Why do I have to eat like a Sparrow and exercise hours a day to have a flat tummy? Then I tell myself: You are not big; some of your clothes are a UK size 8 . Pull yourself together woman.

I took the girls to school and on the way home felt sad about the whole thing. I know that I will have to wake up an hour earlier to fit in a decent exercise programme, eat less and keep away from the few suppers a month I have. Blah, Blah, Blah.

Then I came home and finished reading a post on a blog I follow. All I can say is thanks God that it was there today. I needed to read it. I needed to be reminded. I needed to remember the times my girls and husband have told me I am beautiful. The times when my girls have told me that they love their cuddly mummy. In Christ I am a new person and I need to live with that each day. I know that isn't an excuse for over-eating and under-exercising but if I am doing the best I can then I need to let it go.

Family together-time

In our family we are creatures of habit. We have our dinner at 5.30pm and then afterwards we all have jobs to do. The girls take it in turns drying-up the dishes or vacuuming the floor in the living and dining rooms. My husband always washes up and I do whatever job I find to hand. After we have finished we usually sit and read a book or go straight to the bed-time routine.

Tonight, we decided to look up the holiday brochure that came today. I really thought my daughters were going to explode with excitement; they looked at the brochure with their dad as I checked websites on the computer. One of the girls couldn't sit down and was walking around the table saying 'I hope we can book it!' A few were already booked for the week we wanted them. They came upon a cottage that looked lovely; we checked where it was on the map, I looked at the website, the photos of the rooms looked like they would meet our standards and my husband phoned the owner. The week was free. Hurray, the excitement. We have booked a week's holiday.

The girls spent all they wash-time saying 'I chose it.' 'No, I chose it!' But who cares really we did it together and it was lovely for us all to be involved. We just need to sent off the money for our first booked holiday (eg, not going to stay with friends, family or his army!) in a long time. We can't wait and the Linen is provided in the cost which for me was an essential.