As a young person I had so many dreams about where my life might go and what adventures I would have with God. He has fulfilled many of these dreams. I have an amazing husband who challenges and inspires me. I have a son who is a blessing and I hope to be blessed with more children in time. But one of the things I have dreamed of for a long time is a home that is buzzing with life and community. I want to share my life with more than just my husband and son. I want to be a blessing to lots of people. I want lots of people to walk through my life and home.

I saw this house on rightmove today and it just got me thinking again…dreaming about a big kitchen where I could cook huge meals, with lots of people eating and drinking and laughing round a table. A house with many rooms that were filled with people sharing life together. Living the highs and lows together. A safe place where people who were hurt or tiered from life could come and rest. Place of challenge where other people helped shape me and I helped others along life’s journey. A place to explore faith and God and why are we here? A place to be loved.

Will this ever happen I don’t know. But my question right now is how can I see some of these values in my life today. Even living in a small two bedroom house, how can I see more of this community lifestyle going on? How can I be the kind of person who feeds lots of people? How do you convince your friends it really is okay to just drop in any time? We live in such a different culture to this but wouldn’t it be amazing if things could be different, even a little bit?

So how about you, what are your dreams? What things lie forgotten, trodden on, abandoned in the closet of life? Will you dare to dream again with me? To turn frustration into hope. To maybe even allow God to inspire you?

Go on you know you want to have a splash!

Yesterday a friend of mine changed her facebook status to say …

Rachel…thinks that sometimes we make ourselves so busy, that we really miss the things that are most important for us to see.

This really got me thinking.  The last few weeks I have been thinking about this, how do we slow down and not miss out on living life!  I love having a toddler and again he has been teaching me things.  He is walking a lot more now but even taking a short walk round the corner from our house to the park can take ages.  This is because he wants to stop and look at a rock or a bush or touch the path.  Then today on the way back from the park there were lots of puddles to splash in.  What fun, the excitement on his face was priceless.  But this has been challenging me to be more patient and take more time over things.  To me I just want to rush along and get to the objective…going to the park or the next appointment etc.  To him the journey is all about fun and exploration.

So as my friend Rachel was saying how often do we miss really important or special things in life because we are too busy rushing from one thing to the next.  I think I do this all the time.  I know I spend a lot of my time planning for and thinking about the future and I forget to enjoy now.  I want to live each day and love living each day.  I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t be careful and plan for the future, but that this should not take over from actually enjoying what is here right now.

What about if life right now is really hard though?  Well maybe it’s about looking for the good in every situation.  Maybe its about seeing what we can learn from now even if we really don’t want to be stuck here forever!  That’s not easy to do but I do believe that all of life is important the highs and the lows.

So entering this new year I want to try and take a leaf out of my sons book.  I want to take time to splash in the puddles.  I want to try and make time for people too!  Not rushing all the time but giving attention to relationships and enjoying the life I have right here right now.   I want to make time for God and live the life he intended for me to have!

Psalm 46 v 10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

On the 14th November I did go to a rather interesting lecture by Christian Heritage in Cambridge.  Ranald Macauley was doing a lecture entitles ‘Rekindling the Vision’.  I’m not convinced I agree with all he had to say but it was very thought provoking and nice to be challenged intellectually like this again!  I will try to put some thoughts together soon.

8th November 2003 My Wedding Day

I went to my cousins wedding last weekend, it was a fabulous day. I have to say it’s a slightly different experience once you have a child to run after! But thanks to my wonderful parents we still got to relax and enjoy the celebration. I love weddings though, I always have. I really do still believe in marriage and I love to see this public declaration of love and commitment that two people are making. It is such a privileged to be part of such a special moment, to help the happy couple celebrate their commitment to one another.

But we all know a marriage is much more than this celebration day. A marriage takes a life time of commitment. It seems sad to me that so many people have lost sight of the fact that marriage or relationships take a continual effort. It’s hard work to have a good marriage. My husband and I often surprise our friends when we say that love is not the foundation of our marriage. This statement shocks some people but what we mean is romantic love is not to be relied on it comes and goes but true love means making a commitment. We have to make a daily choice to love each other. Some days this is easy some days it hard but we know that we are committed to keep going. We are committed to always keep on trying.

I was quite surprised recently to hear Cheryl Cole’s new song and like it so much! I love the lyrics they really sum up what I am talking about;

‘Anything that’s worth having, Is sure enough worth fighting for, Quitting’s out of the question When it gets tough gotta fight some more ‘

We have to fight for love, it doesn’t just happen. I get fed up of hearing statements like ‘we grew apart’ or it ‘just wasn’t working out’. Relationships only work if we make them work. In fact it is such hard work that we need help. We need a support network we can’t do it alone. That’s why an important part of a wedding is having all your friends and family there. It’s not just so they can celebrate with you, it’s so they can commit to supporting you in this enormous task. I know that I have only been married for 6 years, I don’t have a clue what’s coming up round the corner in our journey. Some might say who am I to be giving out marriage advice and your right I don’t have a clue really. But I do know for sure that if our marriage is going to stand the test of time we need support from others. We also need to keep choosing to love each other.

My husband and I are off to Leeds this weekend to celebrate 6 years of marriage. I am pleased to say that the romance is still alive! But even in the more difficult patches over the last 8 years of knowing my husband I have never regretted the decision I made on that day to stand up and declare to the world, that’s it for me, this is man I choose to stand by through all of lifes ups and downs. My husband truly is my best friend and I can’t imagine my world with out him! I am also eternally greatful to my friends and family who support us.

My 15 month old son is constantly making me smile. His latest fun thing to do is go to the cupboard and get out the dustpan and brush then wonder around looking purposeful with them. I guess this is just the beginning of him developing make believe play and imitating adult activity. Children love to copy adults and play at doing grown up things. It’s how they learn. I have been convinced for a long time that as adults we can learn a lot from children. Now having my own son I am even more convinced of this. The bible also tells us to become like little children (Matthew 18 v 3).

So what can I learn from my son wandering round with a dustpan and brush…. perhaps a hint that I should clean more! But it makes me think who am I copying? Who are the role models in my life, who do I want to become more like? As a Christian I have Jesus as an obvious role model. But I think God also intend us to learn from those we walk shoulder to shoulder with. I see glimpses of God’s character and glory in my friends and family around me and in many world leaders and influencers. But how do I learn from and become more like Jesus or any other good role model unless I spend time with them or spend time learning about them? I could sit and say the words ‘I want to imitate Jesus that will make me a good Christian’, but it means nothing unless I am actually getting to know Jesus and seeing what his character is like. I also believe that you learn a lot more from being with a person than just simply reading about them. For me reading the Bible is a great way to learn about Jesus, but actually spending time praying means I get to know Jesus personally. In the same way as when I spend time with my friends I learn from them and get challenge to grow and change.

The only way my son is learning to copy is by seeing us (my husband and I) doing things. Eeeek that’s a horrible reality check too! If I have role models, then who’s copying me, who in my life is looking at my behaviour and imitating it? As parents we have a responsibility to be good role models to our children. But actually all of us will have people that we influence. We can all aspire to be a positive role model and to influence others for good.

So here is my challenge to you, Christian or not who are you trying to imitate and what kind of role models do you have in your life? Are you spending time learning about them and getting to know them? Also who is looking up to you and are you being a good role model, in your work place, your family life, your friendships?

Sprinting to the finish line

So I ran 10k on Sunday! This was the highlight of my running career so far. I ran the whole way without stopping in just under 55 min (54.50).  I do now feel like an old lady getting up in the morning as both my hips hurt and my legs ache. But it feels like a great achievement.

One of the reasons I love running is it gives me space to think and breath and chat to God. I always feel so close to God when I’m outdoors. I think this is because I’m one of those people who connects with God through nature. Just seeing trees and fields and a beautiful sunset, it all makes me go wow, how did all this get here its so beautiful! There must be a creator it’s too brilliant and complex to be an accident. An aside if you want to read a great book about the different ways we can all connect with God read Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas .

I also find that God speaks to me a lot through running. Running a race makes me think of Paul’s words in his letter to the Philippians… Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil 3 v 12-14, NIV version) .

When you run you have to look forward and keep the goal of that finish line in your mind at all times. Otherwise you would just sit down and quit. So the challenge is to keep the goal in mind. Ultimately if this life is a race then heaven is the finish line for me. But what about the more nitty gritty of day to day life as well? I think as human beings we all need goals and dreams to aim for otherwise we will just sit down and quit too. I know in my life these are the times when depression sets in. I need to feel like I have purpose. I am gradually learning that to keep myself motivated and happy and moving forward I need two things, a daily conversation with my maker who reminds me how special I am and a scene of purpose.

The other thing that strikes me when running is the pain! It hurts at times and life is like this too, it hurts at times. But if we’re heading somewhere then we are able to push through the pain. Sometimes the pain is good it’s a natural part of growing and get stronger. Sometimes it is bad, a warning sign to stop and sort something out before we carry on. Either way pain is a part of life and I am wondering if we should embrace it as such rather than try to avoid it at all costs. I could just say I won’t run it will hurt too much but then I would never achieve my goal to run the London Marathon one day. In life I could just not really do anything for fear of getting hurt. But I choose to embrace life and live it to full knowing that I will certainly get hurt along the way but this is all part of the journey!

Paul talks about forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead! This is particularly relevant for me right now. I need to remember that what is past is gone, the good the bad and the ugly, they are all gone now. I must live in the now, love the now, even enjoy it and look forward to the future. We can’t change the past only where we are going as Enya so beautifully puts it in her song Pilgrim ‘You cannot change what’s over, But only where you go.’ (If you are able to download this track it is beautiful to listen to!)

So these are a few of my musings on running. What do you think? What are your goals or finish lines that you are aiming at? What pain are you running thought right now? Do you feel able to embrace the pain as part of the journey because in the end it will be worth it? Are you even looking at the finish line or are you tripping over because you are trying to run whilst looking backwards?

Now I just need to go figure out all the settings and how to make it look nice so watch this space….