The Cost of Love

The country is in uproar as the price of stamps is set to increase by approximately 30-40%. And electronic mail is being promoted as the cheap (free) go-to for all our communication needs.

But when our communication costs us nothing, what does that say about the importance of our message?
Or the value we place on the receipient?

If all we do is to be covered/woven/seasoned with love, surely it is going to cost us something? Surely it must cost us something?

If we are sharing God's love with a community of people who feel unloved, isn't their value worth the price we may have to pay?

The price may be the cost of paper, a card, an envelope, a stamp. Or it may be our pride, our prejudices, our securities, our time.

We follow and serve a God who paid the ultimate price for us, because he loved us. Because he wanted us to know how much he loved us.

What are we willing to sacrifice to communicate love?
What price are we willing to pay to tell someone they are loved?

Mother's Day flowers

No words...just photos...

Our February 2012

Another selection of photos from my phone from February.

1. The peacock dress that I was considering wearing to the mother-in-laws wedding....hmm!

2. & 3. Pear slice sculptures.

4. & 5. Sometimes its nice to see the moon when I leave work.

6. Ceiling fixing work in progress.

7. Ethan sorting the crayons in the cafe into rainbow order (total fluke) and making me very proud!

8. Ceiling fixing work complete!

9. Talking to the telephone...trying to talk to daddy!

10. My playdoh flower...before small fingers squashed it!

11. Testing the new boxes for the toys!

12. The fixed chairs being removed at church.

13. Larry in his pjs!

14. Jigsaw time.

15. My first ever eggs florentine...yum!

16. Cooking with the big pans!

Happy Tuesday!

A year of classic cinema - January

Way back in January I came up with the crazy idea of watching one 'classic' film a month in 2012. There are so many films out there that are 'must-sees' that I simply haven't seen, so I thought I'd try rectify the situation. Plus, who doesn't like the idea of a regular film night?!

So, that was over two months ago and I haven't reported back on how the crazy idea was actually going (thank you to everyone who made suggestions) so I now have another situation to rectify!


If I'm totally honest, I've seen Rain Man before but it was a long long time ago. And I had no real memory of the film.
There are so many things I liked about the film and I'm so glad we watched it even though it wasn't a new new film for either of us. I don't really want to give any of the plot away in case anyone reading this (is there anyone reading this?) hasn't seen it and wants to ( you should do). But I will say that it's a Tom Cruise classic, even though his acting annoyed me at the start. And Dustin Hoffman...amazing. It's a great story and I loved the development of the relationships between the characters.
And who doesn't like chuckling at the 80's fashion/hairstyles/everything!

The next 'classic' film review will be up soon and hopefully they'll be a bit more regular from now on.

12 in 2012 - February

I'm a little behind on this 'ere blogging thing! So, let's try and get all caught up...


Two months of 2012 have now passed and I'm still trying to aim (rather ridiculously) high!
So,...how am I getting on? Well...

1. To read my Bible more
This has been very up and down. I have continued to read my Bible-in-one-Year at bedtime, but with an endless list of craziness going on this last month, bedtime has often involved my head hitting the pillow and zzzzzzzzzzzz!!! 

2. To memorise Scripture
I need to try much harder here. Nothing else to say.

3. To pray more
I would say my prayer life has increased and has gone through a bit of a journey. I still haven't been journalling my prayers, partly because they tend to be random bits of conversation throughout the day, and partly because life and prayer has been hard recently and it's not the sort of stuff I've wanted to take time to write down. But I have seen some great healing and answers to prayer this last month. God is good!

4. To be more thankful and content
Once again, if I'm honest, the being content thing is still not going well! In fact, I've found myself with no words other than 'argh' to express how I've been feeling about stuff. Spending time with great friends, and away from tv/magazines/media/unattainable images has helped in some ways.

5. To watch less tv
I have spent more evenings away from the telly box this month which has mostly been due to lots of other stuff going on...but hopefully I can maintain the abstinence.

6. To read more
Reading has been slow (read sssllllloooooooowwww) this month. I am still chugging on with quite a heafty book. It's a great book and totally worth it, but I will be grateful to finish it and move onto something new.
7. To take more photos and craft more
I have done more of both of these this month. Crafting for a fundraiser, creating for an afternoon tea hen-do and taking photos of both plus other activities. Hopefully there will be more evidence shortly.
8. To bake more
I'm still exceptionally good at the consuming of baked goods...and I have baked two cakes and pancakes for the inter:act team! Hopefully there will be more on the horizon!
9. To encourage and uplift the women in my life
I hope I am doing better at this. I am certainly enjoying spending time with the women in my life.

10. To compare myself with others less
Not much change from last time. Once again, lets just say...'could do better'.

11. To wear a dress or skirt at least once a week
I'm still going to blame this on the extreme weather. Cold temperatures and a strong breeze are not skirt wearing conditions for me. But I did wear a dress to inter:act the other week. Hopefully as the weather gets warmer (even milder will do) I'll get my pins out a bit more!

12. To do more stuff with my hair
I got my hair cut...and had about 3 inches taken off...which very few people noticed!!!
It was needed, but now I have less hair to do stuff with...so it's either down and straight (weather dependant) or tied up. I feel that I might have regressed in this area a little. Maybe some hairband or accessories would help?!
So, February came and went. And we're half way through March already! 
2012...please slow down a little!

Off to India...kinda

I spend my Tuesdays with a lovely bunch of people. We learn together, we dig deeper into God's word and try to figure what it means for us to follow Jesus and be a disciple. It's a good job we're all such nice people cos some of that stuff is hard, and emotional, and challenging. But the team is very good at supporting each other as we journey together through the course.

Well, in seven day's time the rest of the team will be embarking on an adventure to India!
While in India, they will be supporting ongoing work with local dalit families and helping to teach young people and children. It's going to be an amazing time for all of the team.

Unfortunately I will not be joining them on this adventure. But I will be their correspondent back at home, enabling them to keep in touch with friends and family by updating a little blog. If you'd like to know a little bit about the team and what they're up to while they're in India check out http://interactinindia.wordpress.com/ for more information.

Happy Wednesday!

Some snaps of the weekend's activities

Today I am recovering from the crazy weekend that involved lots of planning and preparation and general stressiness on my part. It's getting to be near my bedtime but I thought you'd enjoy a few pictures to show what all the fuss was about...

An energetic family ceilidh 

 A BIG hair transformation....before

 The first cut...

 Celebrating the second cut!

 The final transformation.

Then, an afternoon tea for some lovely ladies...

 The bride to be

 And some silly games

Woah!

How is it the 1st March already?!
We even had an extra day yesterday and yet the months are whizzing by! Did you do anything special to celebrate/mark the extra day?

You may have noticed that blogging has taken a slight back-seat at the moment. I have a bit of a crazy time coming up and lots of preparation to do for a few things that will all be happening on the same weekend.
So please take this as my formal notice of absence until around 12th March. I will try and post when I can but I'm not making any promises.

But by the 12th I will hopefully have lots to update you about, including a ceilidh & craft fair, a family farewell and a ladies afternoon tea/hen party...and lots of pictures too!

Bring on March 2012!!!