"No reading at the breakfast table"

... to my nine year old son.  'Stop reading and get out of bed'.  And then having to say it again.  And again.  (Ok by this point it is a little annoying ...). What's got him going on reading this last few weeks is the '13 Storey Treehouse' series by Andy Griffiths.  I think I might love that man just a little bit (although having never met him, it is purely a You Help Boys Get Into Reading kind of love). While there are only three books in the series so far and they take about 1/2 an hour to read it's not going to keep him going for long.  But since the man that I have the  You Help Boys Get Into Reading  love for has written LOADS of books, I think we're now, as they say, cooking with gas.* *I like to throw in a bit of KRudd for my Australian readers every now and then

Since the start of this term way back in July I've been thinking a lot about the speed at which we live our life.  I think the contrast from our lovely two week holiday was so confronting. And I found that it took me weeks to get back up to speed.  I've been wondering if this is a speed that I want to live at.  I do cling to the belief that I have some control over the pace! I have thought hard about me working and the impact that it has on our family life.  Being a mum and full of the Guilt,  I have talked and talked with my husband and friends about whether or not I should keep working.  I've come to the point now where I feel OK about working.  I've realised that I like it, it is enormously stimulating for me and I'm not sure it would make all that much difference to the kids if I wasn't working.  My hours are good, they are 80% of the time being cared for family members when they aren't with me or at school.  So I think on that front ...

I have been silent for so long but I do still love you. I've just been busy doing other things. Most of them are not that interesting! But here's a little of what I've been doing that some of you might like to read. It's an article about Christian parenting-about it being about a relationship not a project. I (just quietly) don't think it is very well written but I'm hoping it encourages some. http://growingfaith.com.au/parenting/families-are-not-projects

I've been doing more sewing. It is successfully helping me avoid my Uni work. And it is calming and good for my head. My sewing machine did break down last week - stress - but my addiction could continue because a friend provided an almost brand new, almost identical machine for me to borrow. Now mulling over my next project but first, I really do need to write my assignment (yawn). Oh I'm doing a MEd to become a teacher librarian. I am a teacher and a librarian but strictly speaking, I am not officially a Teacher Librarian by qualification. I have lots of credit from the previously accumulated degrees so I only ('only' ... ha) have to do four subjects. Feels like a mountain too hard to climb at the moment.

I recently had to make the hard decision to close down the Bible study I had been leading for a couple of years. It met at my house on a Sunday afternoon. At one level it wasn't a really a hard decision because most people in the group hadn't been able to come for most of the year, so it had reached the end of its natural life. But it was hard for me personally because it made me feel that I had failed by not making the group a success. As I decided to close the group I was reading a little book called 'Serving without sinking' by John Hindley. It was a helpful book as it identified many of the reasons that people in churches get burnt out. And part of getting burnt out is believing that you have to keep going because God can't really do it all without you. It has been humbling for me to acknowledge that I can't make something work even if I try hard. I have to trust that God will look after the people in my group because once again I am reminded tha...

I've been a bit quiet here recently because I've been thinking.  I like thinking.  I do my best work in my head (always such a star in my head!). But sometimes I can't always think and write.  Not because it isn't physically possible but because sometimes what I'm mulling over isn't fit for human consumption. Sometimes it can be a bit judgy and not very nice.  Or it can involve people that I can't write about.  Or involves my work.  Or my children.  Or my church. It's hard to work out what IS OK to write about sometimes.  On the other hand I'm quite fond of some of my thoughts.  They might be thoughts that could be good for others. One of my thoughts is that I just need to be a bit braver and put more stuff out there.  Not other people's stuff or stuff that is a bit too personal or is a bit mean. But try and prise some of the good stuff out of the rambling mind and share it.