The Christ of the Indian Road

I read a quote by this author whilst reading "Speaking of Jesus" by Carl Medearis and decided to investigate him further. This is the book; it was published in 1925. I am only on Chapter 4, but already I am underlining his words and am challenged by his message and the various conversations he has with people like Gandhi who was a personal friend. He has written other books about following Jesus and some of his lectures can be read online. I shall be interested to hear what he has to say on a number of subjects.  Here is one passage from the above book:

If you are interested in his biography the link below will take you there. There is an interesting comment by Martin Luther King which is worth noting towards the end of the page.
 
http://www.estanleyjonesfoundation.com/about-esj/esj-bigraphy/

 So, with Bible in hand, "church family" support and a variety of books, the "searching for and finding Him" journey continues and as we all know, it is much more fun doing this together!

Now, which one am I, I wonder?!

Wash Day Blues

You know how it is, you almost finish ironing someting and then you realise, actually it needs to be rewashed....so irritating!!! The offending article was a light coloured pair of trousers that dh had been wearing in India. The washing machine had done its best at 40 degrees, but deep-seated Delhi dust and grime was stubbornly refusing to budge...ingrained and tenacious.  

Action plan:

24 hours soak in biological washing powder in bath....followed by

Kneeling down by side of bath, bent over scrubbing with nailbrush and Vanish soap, any bits I could see.....and there were a fair few up for a fight!!!

Steam-washed on 60 degrees...

Hung out in sun to dry..

PERFECT! SORTED!

Such hassle...one pair of trousers...so inconvenient.....so  time-wasting...

but what if I had to do this every day, like some of my friends in the slums....day in, day out.. Bent over a bowl, scrubbing away, hanging things out to dry in the grimy conditions they would not choose to live in...

It made me realise, yet again, what I take for granted....and suddenly I wasn't frustrated any more with my minor annoyance....I practiced gratitude.....

"You're never fully dressed without a smile!" (Annie)

Walking to work this week, I saw a man walking towards me pushing his little daughter in her buggy. As I passed them, the toddler and I looked at each other, suddenly she smiled broadly and her eyes sparkled! It was one of those special moments, captured in a second, where lives connected, a celebration of being alive, of sharing a moment in time. What a refreshing start to a day!

How easy to just wrap your coat around you and stride forward, head down.....and miss out.

Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love — Mother Teresa

You're still the one...thirty years on!

 Thirty years on....


Our Song......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXtc-TH0Iv4


10 things I would tell my "newly married" self, 30 years on:

•  Your marriage will go from strength to strength, there are adventures to be had!

•  Marriage is not 50:50, sometimes it is 90:10 on either side due to outside influences past or present and the time will come when you no longer need to "unload your issues" at ridiculous hours of the evening

• "This too will pass"- 120 hour working weeks when you spend evenings and weekends alone with small children.

• Enjoy the fact that you both have very different personalities and learn from each other! 

• Don't talk to him when he is reading in bed....

• Always feed him before you tell him something that will cause irritation, when he arrives home.

• He has totally  different "love languages" from you, try and remember that (constant note to self)

• Map reading in cars will cause major stress if you are the navigator....but Sat Nav is on the horizon!

• He will introduce you to growing stuff, dogs and chickens and you will tell him about India....

• He will always love you, just the way you are and will encourage you to become who you were made to be!

Who knows what the future holds, the next 30 years?!

One thing is certain, our marriage has never just been about us.....

"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Ecclesiastes 4:12

God has always been our third strand...without His transforming work in our lives, I wonder where we would be today?

What is enough?

On the road to simplicity and contentment, there are always questions to be asked.....

 The story of the Mexican fisherman

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.  Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna.  The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”


The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos.  I have a full and busy life.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part.  When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions – then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire.  Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

Spring, watch ya sowing?

"If you do not sow in the Spring, you will not reap in the Autumn"   Irish Proverb

So what am I sowing this year?  What am I hoping to reap as the year comes to an end?

Do I have aims, hopes, aspirations, oh yes, just a few..... :)

Will I be making a list? I expect so...Checking it twice? Understatement....

 The words for the year....Prepared, Productive, Purposeful and Party! All with sub headings and bullet points that elaborate further....  okay, it works for me!

I expect some of it will be recorded on here, working stuff through, living stuff out. It certainly looks like a year full of challenges for the taking. Will be learning to adjust to the rhythm of fast and slow and plan to enjoy both to the full.

Someone once said "Life is like a box of chocolates...." we all know the rest of the sentence....

Whatever I get, I pray I will honour Him and wake each morning with a renewed sense of expectation for what the day holds and how I might walk through it, perhaps meeting some of you along the way!

I had two of these last night!!!!  I just love the presentation with the heart in the middle.

And this is a sculpture called  "Never Let Go" by Jane Osmond which I stood and looked at for ages at New Wine, last year. I only have the postcard, but I loved it!

Just wanted it there to mark the start of the Year.

I wonder, what are you sowing into this year?

Felt Needs

Sometimes you just have to start somewhere and get moving with a concept or a decision rather than wait for it to take shape before your eyes in its perfect form...  I ended last year with a number of embryonic ideas whirring around in my head and twice as many questions following up close behind.  Should I start this, should I change that, hand this over or wait.  I questioned my motives, did a reality check....oh you wouldn't believe it.  My mind seems to be mulling stuff over constantly!  Sometimes I say to dh, if I see him staring into space "What are you thinking about?" "Nothing" he replies..."Nothing???!!" I cannot get my head around this.  Even when I wake up in the night I always have a song in my head...bizarre.  I think I ought to do a play list at the end of the week and see what I listen to when I sleep!

So when it came to this blog, I was stirred up to be more proactive this year, stop waiting for the Muse to come and just write a few of my thoughts and observations down as and when...It doesn't have to be perfect and it doesn't have to look like someone else's. It just needs to be authentically me.

So now here we are entering Week 2 of the year and what do I see? Zippo, the blog pages for 2011 are empty, why? Part of my problem is I want to, but I leave it until the evening...too tired. (I keep chicken hours!)  Rethink...need to book time in, only trouble is: have to be in the mood, capture the moment, obviously going to have to work on this one.

The other thing I am learning is that I have something to offer, I don't need to see other people's creativity as the only way. This felting project began by following the pattern exactly, apart from my own choice of colours, I have been guided by the instructions.  Well no, I have been rigidly adhering to them, except that my knots were more visible than they should be, in my eyes...so I had a rethink and halfway though the design I changed two things about the pattern.  Will it work?  We'll see if the coaster stands the test of time.  I am happier with the result, but it isn't perfect.

So my first attempt is a bit wobbly, but I have two more coasters to make and I will improve as I go, that's the point.  I have learned along the way! Thank goodness I am not a perfectionist, that little curve could really do my head in!

,

Thank you, Jane, you were the encouragement I needed to kick start this blog into action this year. We've never met but little by little we are learning about each other's lives.  Also, hello to the person in Togo who popped in to have a read yesterday! 

So here's to 2011 and what's my word for the year? Purposeful....let's see where it leads.

Between washing the windows and making the chutney

It's Saturday, nearly evening and if I sit here for much longer, the green tomato chutney will be just a an unticked job on my list.  I sit here in baggy joggers, surrounded by magazines that "need sorting" Home Farmer to the left, "Slimming World" to the right. The house in a sort of "lived in" chaos, at least I've cleaned the windows and can see out!  Blackberries never got picked form the hedgerows...perhaps tomorrow...after the chutney....after lunch...after meeting with my precious (( church family))... :)

But I did come across this blog today and much of what she has written here resonates with me, I do find it reassuring todiscover there are people across the world thinking similar thoughts, but manage to say it far more eloquently that I can!  See what you think:

http://sharonastyk.com/2010/09/23/staying-put-2/


And then there is Anita Renfroe, hopefully I've spelled her name correctly, who made me smile on this quirky clip.  Some of you may remember her from "the Mom song"!






A small peep at part of my Saturday. Tomorrow I will look at Autumn and marvel at cobwebs beaded with dew....perhaps I will practice macro settings until I get it right....

Finding time to blog? Making time maybe?

This is ridiculous! There is only one thing for it and that is to slot in blog time... I want to write as an expression of what I see and hear around me, you know, the small moments that make you smile inwardly or exasparate you or make you think... Instead, I have allowed the "work that needs to be done" flow into more work that could be done and by the time I have said "Enough already!"( in my best Fagin accent) I am wiped out and apart from a quick friends' status updates trawl on Facebook am not fit to write anything except "I'm for bed, mother" and out goes the light!

So......what's a girl to do?! I'll be pondering on that one. In the meantime I'll be totally girlie and show you my "dressing table" which is really just a glorified chest of drawers, but I'll show you my latest creative purchase from Greenbelt last w/e. The felt flowers adorning my mirror... I have the need to stake a feminine touch in a home that is becoming more male orientated by the day....









This is a naff photo and only serves to annoy me that I decided at the last minute NOT to take the camera to Greenbelt BIG MISTAKE....My phone camera doesn't do it justice. The first evening I saw the best rainbow I had ever seen which stretched in a dramatic arc right over the Cheltenham Race Course where Greenbelt is held each Bank holiday w/e in August.


We survived in a 3 man tent, the two of us, a weekend was fine....not sure I could do a week at New Wine with two of us in it, pretty cramped...Still, we left the tent in the morning and didn't return until late in the evening, so it wasn't really an issue. The food was plentiful and international, so we were glad we had taken advice from friends who go every year and just packed breakfasts and a kettle! We did take a while to find our tent again the first evening on our return in the dark.....

How can I describe Greenbelt in a nutshell? A rich and varied mix of the Arts, Music (Beverly Knight was brilliant!) justice talks, particularly Palestine/Israel situation, debates, ethical issues, off the wall, monks, hippies, grannies, babies, charity stands, ethnic clothing, henna tatoos, massages, films, beer tent, wine bar, Politicians (Claire Short and Peter Tatchell were doing talks) coffee served everywhere, themed tents, curries, pizza, mexican, chinese food, food for all palates. Loads of creative stuff to do...the kids were having a great time from what I could see! You can't do everything there is so much going on, so we may just have to return next year methinks, perhaps some of you may join us?

http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/

A sample of what I did:

Hospitality seminar and discussion
Interview with Simon Mayo with a lady who was raised on a rubbish dump in South Africa.
Boycott Israeli goods or not?
Beverley Knight gig
Hearing Church from a Deaf person's perspective.
Consultant Orthopaedic surgeon's experience working in Beirut and Gaza operating on wounded Palestinians.
Be Attitude (Sermon on the Mount) living it out.
Compassion talk

The list goes on and the programme is downstairs so that's all I can say off the top of my head, but you get the idea...

So it's goodnight from me, but hopefully I'll get my head around this blogging and I'll be more intentional from now on!

A poem and a ponder

A New Perspective

The little cares that fretted me, I lost them yesterday

Among the fields above the sea,

Among the winds at play,

Among the lowing of the herds,

The rustling of the trees.

Among the singing of the birds,

The humming of the bees.

The foolish fears of what may happen,

I cast them all away

Among the clover-scented grass,

Among the husking of the corn

Where drowsy poppies nod,

Where ill thoughts die and good are born,

Out in the fields with God.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"For Christians, the beginning of the day should not be burdened and haunted by various kinds of concerns that they face during the day. The Lord stands above the new day, for God has made it. All restlessness, all impurity, all worry and anxiety flee before him. Therefore, in the early morning hours of the day, may our many thoughts and our many idle words be silent and may the first word and the first thought belong to the one to whom our whole life belongs "

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Not In Service?

I was walking down my road yesterday and a bus drove past with "Not In Service" across the destination window....I found myself thinking how long could he get away with that sign on the front, just driving around Yeovil or wherever, enjoying the view, not having to deal with passengers, just cocooned in his little bus chuntering along...No kids crying, no one mucking up the seats, no grumbles, not having to stop and start on demand!

Could I have a sign like that, I wondered?! As someone choosing to discover each day, God's way of living, allowing Him to transform my life so that I start to look and act more like His Son....No, I'm in this for the duration....don't think a sign like that will somehow help the process!

Actually I prefer to imagine a sign that says "In His Service", take your seats, don't always know where the journey is taking us today, there may be some stops and starts, some crying, some messing up the seats, a few grumbles but come on, lets live it together, let's sing LOUDLY and Dance in the bus, check our maps, encourage each other to get out and explore, let others on, share our food and let's drink together, laugh ourselves silly. Let's throw out the questions, give up our seats to those whose need is greater than ours, learn to stand holding on to the loop thingy above when things get crazy and scary....

Sometimes it is tempting to flick that sign over and just drive that bus off into the distance, ignoring the requests to stop and let someone on who wants to do part of the journey with you, someone who wants to be "At Your Service, In His".

Call it random musings if you like!

The things you overhear

I popped into town last week to buy a birthday card after my dwindling stash at home was unable to come up with something "right" for that person. Whilst I was browsing I overheard this conversation:

Youth 1 to Sales assistant: "So what's the most popular thing for Mother's Day, what are people buying?"

Sales assistant shows him some items that are selling well....

Youth 1 "Yeah, she'd like that, what else is there?"

Youth 2 " not exactly original though is it, like you've thought much about it" or words to that effect...

I felt SO sad, not just because it seemed to be a case of "Oh it's Mother's Day, I need to buy stuff, something, anything, just to make her feel like I've remembered, yeah, she'll like that...", but because he could do something that would mean so much more to her.


This is what I wanted to say to him:

"Okay, how about this, tell your Mum, you are going to do something different this year for Mother's Day. Tell her your gonna take her out for coffee and spend some time with her, buy her a Danish Pastry and tell her you love her. Tell her that despite the fact that you may drive her crazy at times, actually you really appreciate everything she does for you and you may even try to do this again in the future, just because you want to, not because you feel under any obligation. She will probably have a little cry which she will try and conceal unsuccessfully, but she will probably tell her friends, it was the best Mother's Day present she ever had, even surpassing the first one you ever made at Pre School"

Yep, that's what I'd say to him....but then I'd have to turn that around because it works both ways and I know I still have much to learn too.

A quick disclaimer, this is a detached remark and in no way reflects my own feelings towards my boys and Mother's Day!

"Going with the flow, and trying to keep up!"

Well it has been a funny old week so far, everything has exceeded expectations and I am beginning to realise that "going with the flow" can actually mean moving at quite a pace! I am learning to step out of my comfort zones, knowing that He is in this day with me.

Yesterday,three of us from the team going to Delhi, met up in our local toyshop to spend some vouchers they had donated for us to buy toys for the children in the slum we will be visiting next month. The manager and her staff were really helpful and allowed us to be photographed with them in the shop with our purchases. I then went home and D and I prepared a press release about our trip, what the team would be doing, what part the shop had played, that sort of thing. The photo was duly attached and everything emailed over to the press office.

This afternoon I have a message that a journalist has phoned and wants to interview me to hear more about our trip and the local volunteers who will be part of the team. Now I am apprehensive, hoping I do Asha justice by saying things clearly...

The school presentation went well today. D&I spoke to 2 classes comprising of 52 9 year olds, who were delightful and had LOADS of questions! I have a sneaky feeling we may be doing more of these in the future. If anyone finds a baby doll which looks Indian could they let me know, I think I need a prop box now for these sorts of talks....may have to review the pillow case pregnancy kit too....


The backpack picture is something I have been asked to share at church on Sunday. Again I need to think about how I do this simply as it is supposed to be, especially as all the children will be listening too. My church family, how I have grown to love them!

Thankfully, the fact that my home looks a little scruffy this week, hasn't perturbed me too much. Samar has cooked most nights which has released me to work late (looking at fragility fractures in the elderly). We will all miss her when she goes, not only for her culinary skills! We could have taken out shares in garlic and lemons, the girl can do dressings with panache...oh and freshly ground black pepper!

The chickens have started laying again, the apricot tree and gooseberry bushes are in, the marmalade was an unqualified success, my first attempt, and all is well with the world....

I just need to keep up!

Day 5 and the Wake Up call continues!

The Challenge:

To practice being a better listener...to hear His voice..

The Dilemma:

I want to set aside time to do this as a purposeful act as well the "everyday conversations" I normally have, so how to practice this without becoming all legalistic about discipline, ritual and planning when I know it is all about going with the flow, at the moment.

"The Spirit is willing...but the flesh....."

After an initial struggle on the first morning having spent 10 minutes or so wrestling with the desire to stay in bed. I could hear this voice in my head, 20 minutes Julie, 20 minutes? I remembered the words of songs I had sung recently "I surrender all...." and "All I am is Yours", and here I was begrudging 20 minutes...hmmmm, so up I got and He spoke and I thought "I should do this more often" and so off we go...

The Deal:

We make a deal...If He wants me to wake up earlier to listen and pray, then could He wake me without the alarm clock?

Request 2... I'm going to have to take baby steps, so from 6am is okay and then we review it at some point.

So I wake up the next morning, turn to look at the clock....05.59 and then clicks into 06.00 before my eyes...I grin, God has a sense of humour. I am reminded of GroundHog day when the guy has this happen, day after day....

My ritual is, get the washing machine going, unload the dishwasher, get the chickens out, make a cup of tea, grab my Bible, find the throw and wrap it around me, sit and wait for God to speak or prompt me to read or pray for someone, whatever...I sit and sip my tea and the day begins!

So 5 days in and it is all very exciting! Only ignored the "wake up" on one day and then felt so disappointed that I'd missed out, notice, not beating myself up for turning over, just the same feeling you get if you arrive somewhere and you realise your friend has already been and gone and you could have had a good time together, that sort of feeling.

In Soundbites:

Yes I am hearing Him speak to me about a variety of things!

I am finding it a helpful discipline.

Listening is important for 2010.

The mornings before everyone gets up, works well for me.

Dick gets coffee in bed every morning at the moment, instead of taking turns!

If I don't get woken up, I won't fret, it just isn't for THAT day.

It is a small start, but God just wants me to want to be there!

I'll keep you informed!

Going with the Flow....

Well, Little Miss Structure is quite surprised at herself, so far...she is not only coping without a set pattern to her day, but is also feeling quite "chilled out" about the whole thing! It's all very odd, I feel as if I am on holiday....weird and yet so so releasing in a "it is well with my soul" sort of way. There is an inner contentment and calm, the day seems to have a rhythm and everything gets done, sometimes faster, sometimes more slowly and thoughtfully. People pop in, phones ring,interruptions happen, yet none of this seems to interrupt the flow of the day. I can't explain it, except to say I have an inner peace that seems to hold it all in place. I am not writing in the dust yet and I am cooking and sewing and knitting, studying, thinking,listening, going off to work, reflecting, meeting up with friends and praying, yep, the first fortnight has been a good beginning...

Backpacks and the journey

I had a picture for the start of the year. It was an old faded blue denim backpack, not a huge one full to capacity and heavy to carry, but one that looked as it it might have one or two items in it, but laying fairly flat against my back. I had been trying to write down my challenges for 2010, what I would aspire to, targets, lists, those of you who like lists are nodding in an understanding way. It was not going well, the list making. Somehow, what was taking shape in my brain wasn't looking right on paper. I stopped....what was going on?

I should have been at a New Years Eve party, I've been going to one every year for as along as I can remember, but this year it has been different. I have needed to stop and listen as if I need to prepare for 2010 and whatever it holds or us, either as a family, our church family or as a nation. It feels as if the year needs to be entered into thoughtfully and with purpose in a sort of "bring it on" roll up the sleeves type of way. I'm not preaching doom and gloom, but I do think it will be significant year and I wondering if others are thinking the same, I don't think I am "off the wall"!

I thought about the back pack again. It was about my lists, my challenges, my resolutions, if you like...It wasn't going to be about what I take into the year, it would begin with what I leave out, what is unnecessary and a hindrance, what needs to remain in 2009, so to speak....

The challenge came in a quiet thought "what about if we do it differently this year, each day you make the decision to connect with Me and you will gather and learn as each day passes. These will be added to your backpack, which will never become too heavy, but will be filled with the experiences and adventures of the year. The key is to Connect...with the moment, the conversation, the person, the sadness, wherever the Partnership takes us for this year. Are you up for the challenge?"

So no routine as I know it then, each day a rhythm of it's own. "It's not about disorder is it?" I ask with a pained expression, being someone who isn't so much Little Miss Structure" as she used to be and can cope with the people who put toilet rolls the wrong way round and don't iron their tea towels...but I needed the reassurance. "A new way to walk through the day does not mean you ignore your responsibilities..." I am okay with that...

So I've "signed up" and what happens, SNOW in the nation and everyone's routines are
thrown into disarray!!!!

Anyone else want to come along for the adventure, to be there when it is hilarious, scary or sad, affirming and enriching...in fact Life In All It's Fullness! I wonder what your backpack looks like!

2010, bring it on, I'm rolling up my sleeves...

Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided,
urged and inspired us, cheered us on our way,
sought us and saved us, pardoned and provided:
Lord for the years, we bring our thanks today.

Lord, for that word, the word of life which fires us,
speaks to our hearts and sets our souls ablaze,
teaches and trains, rebukes us and inspires us:
Lord of the word, receive your people's praise.

Lord, for our land in this our generation,
spirits oppressed by pleasure, wealth and care:
for young and old, for commonwealth and nation,
Lord of our land, be pleased to hear our prayer.

Lord, for our world where men disown and doubt you,
loveless in strength, and comfortless in pain,
hungry and helpless, lost indeed without you:
Lord of the world, we pray that Christ may reign.

Lord for ourselves; in living power remake us--
self on the cross, and Christ upon the throne,
past put behind us, for the future take us:
Lord of our lives, to live for Christ alone.

(Timothy Dudley-Smith 1967)

From where I'm sat sitting...

Saturday night and I'm passed caring....tired in a pleasant sort of way, but a few jobs left to do, so why not spread the work across the duvet and then chuck it all on the floor and turn out the light.

So here I sit feeling frivolous with camera aimed around the room. I take photos, I delete photos, I almost take a photo of me taking a photo in my mirror, then realise I am sans vêtements and the words "totally inappropriate" spring to mind....you see how tired I am....



So,those of you a nosey as me will be wondering what the pile of books are....all books I am reading at the moment....

I will put you out of your misery....





The chicken knitting pattern is for Pre School. The story of the Little Red Hen needs a Little Red Hen to hold. Hmmm so off to a knitting pattern website and there I find the perfect hen, the perfect size...the wool drawer stash reveals the ideal DK red ball I need, so job done, now just need to knit it...

The asha leaflet, learning how to explain the work with clarity, practising keeping it simple. If people want to know more they will ask!

The bead boxes to sort and give away, that chapter has ended for me, but for someone else it is just beginning...it feels good.





The notes from the Leadership Training Day to read though and ponder on. The Bible for reference, so many challenges...so many great people to work through them together over the next ten months and beyond....




The sheep and the goats,the Egyptian wallhanging above our bed. Dick's best barter encounter EVER. Every time I look at it I remember the afternoon when we left the shop three times, only to be called back and the bartering continued!



And so to bed.....

The Important over the Urgent

If you were to write down 4-5 things that were most important to you in your life, I wonder what they would be. Yesterday, I wrote down my list of 4 and then I had to ask myself a question. "If I see these as being so important, then how much time am I actually investing in each of these 4 areas?" Then, because I'm a list person (!) took each area and looked at what "investing" could look like on a regular basis in terms of my time. It was an interesting exercise as it showed me that I needed to get my act together if I want there to be a richness and authenticity in those areas.

Someone has quoted these words; "If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you always got."

I wonder as I wander....

This year I decided that I would walk more, partly as an exercise discipline, partly as an attempt to reduce my carbon footprint in some small way. However, by planning my day without including 4 wheels has meant that without making much effort, I have immediately slowed my pace of life to a rhythm where I can observe and ponder,stop and listen, reflect, plan and dream. Sometimes I meet people along the way, in a 36 hour period this week I met 6 people I hadn't spoken to for years...interesting, makes you think what you miss when you are travelling at 30mph with your concentration on other things.

Here is a list which for my own benefit, I'm going to note down.

Met J who I knew from Yeo Doc days, last saw him about 4 years ago, at least, chatted about our families,the NHS :( and gardening....

Walked up "Lovers Lane" for the first time, on Hendford Hill. Met lady with friendly rescue dog, had a chat about dogs in general!

Had lunch with K in the coffee shop, purely spontaneous, caught up with her life again!

Went into town, met H and son in a charity shop, again not seen her for 2 years of so. She now has a job(s) which she enjoys. Her son is growing up fast!

A father walking away from the toy shop with his small child, having an almighty tantrum...oh the joys of parenthood!

Red Nose day, people were smiling in the town, some guy was singing in the bandstand with a violinist accompanying. Sounded fantastic!

Walked home across the Rec. Beautiful minature daffs outside the college. I stopped to admire.

Watched a pigeon fly into a fence and injure itself...not very nice looking at its bleeding chest...but made me think of when life hurts, so I went all pensive for a while and watched it...whilst stalking it for a photo in case, well just incase...I wanted to use it for some illustration at some point...why.....sick...It's on my phone and I haven't worked out how to transfer it off my memory card yet...but at least I am using my phone as a camera too, so I'm getting better. I have this big memory card with about 4 photos on it (!) and some Arabic music for when Samar rings me!!!

I digress...sigh...

I walked behind a group of teenagers and wondered about peer pressure, watched their body language, listened to their ***language and wondered, why...and felt old and then maternal and then a little sad...

What is it about mobile phones...EVERYWHERE you look people are talking...but are they? What are they really saying? Talk to me, I need to feel needed, that you know I am available to you whenever you call? I am here, but I'm not REALLY here because I can't hold you or watch your expressions or see what you see. But you can have this distant bit of me, this cheapened version..What did we do before mobiles?

I watched a boy kicking a football alone on a court, a father playing tennis with his son...people walking their dogs at the end of the day as the evening approaches and the sky changes into a deepening blue.

Anyway... a little taster of my walk and my meanderings....

Came home and sat down to watch "Babette's Feast" OH MY WORD, a film to make you think BIG TIME! Might actually buy my own copy and use it for in a discussion at our home group sometime after everyone has watched it! Won't give away too much on here...