Bratislava is OFF!

Many thanks for your prayers - as you'll see from John's comment on the chatterbox, John managed to send some information across to Oslo, which seems to have sorted the problem, and they are happy not to have a site visit - at least not this side of our Canada trip. It's a huge weight off our minds, and we deeply value every prayer - thank you all so much.

The tickets have arrived - 11 days, 7 hours 3 minutes and counting.....

Bratislava update

Quick update - John sent out another piece of software, which they tried to install, but it didn't fix the problem. He has also requested that he not do a site visit until after we return from Canada - not just from our perspective, but getting staff out to Bratislava from the parent company ( in Oslo) could be tricky in the height of their holiday season. So although we are 24 hours on, not much progress yet. We await e-mails.

Thanks for all the prayers and comments - much appreciated

I'm speaking at Ladies Prayer Breakfast on Saturday on Psalm 121 ( thanks for the inspiration, Sarah!), and I believe at the moment that we are dealing with higher forces and principalities than mere companies - so it's just as well that we have a God who created the world and the Universe, and is always going to be "more" than any problem that confronts us. And this is how I continue to pray - for those just completeing exams - well done, Luke, Shasa and Andy - for a miracle for Neil - and for breakthroughs in family members who don't know Christ.

Love to you all

Where is Bratislava?

We would REALLY value your prayers right now. We are due to go to Canada in 2 weeks' time to celebrate our Silver Wedding. Today John got an e-mail, which looks like it might mean that he has to travel to Bratislava (capital of Slovakia), and /or Oslo, sometime in the next two weeks. He is trying hard to be able to fix the problem remotely, but this might be problematic, as the customer might not allow him even a secured Internet access, which is what he’d need.

He also has no-one else where he works to help him with the problem – he is their only software specialist – so the buck definitely stops with him.

He also has another UK- based project on the go, and whilst they are not yet “at screaming pitch” for his attention, they might be by the time we return, and he can really do without worrying about this other one whilst we’re away. Apart from wanting to enjoy the holiday, it has been a manic year, and we both desperately need a break. Ideally, John was hoping to be winding down a few projects in these 2 weeks before we go, but this was probably always going to be a pipe-dream

Please pray that either John is allowed a secure Internet access line, and that he is able to fix the problem remotely, or that he will be able to get into Bratislava and deal with this on-site ASAP. If he goes, it might well be this Wednesday.

Thank you

Pretty Woman....

My thanks go to my very special sister, who yesterday treated me like a princess…

Have you ever seen the movie “Pretty Woman”? (One of my favourite films) There is this wonderful scene where Julia Robert’s character has been asked to buy a dress for a special meal, and she has trouble getting someone in Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive to help her get a suitable dress. After many tears, Richard Gere accompanies her to a clothes store, where the manager says, “How much money are we going to spend, sir?” If you know the film, you’ll know the line, so I won’t spoil it for you…!!

Suffice to say, that having worked hard on my diet, kept my blood sugar levels very well down, and lost 3 stone and 2 lbs to date (and still dropping), we invaded Bluewater, and purchased a brand new wardrobe, as most of my existing clothes kind of hang on me. I felt a bit guilty, but it was an incredible day, and I shall have great fun in Canada (18 days and 18 hours to go – but who’s counting…) showing off some wonderful mix-and match clothes. You’ll be seeing a brand new me fairly soon.

I was also treated (by Rhi) to the most wonderful goody bag – thank you, my love, it was (and is) beautiful.

Also to one very incredible husband, who turned not a hair, had cooked supper for us, and ooooh’d and aahhhh’d during the resulting fashion show last night…

Dead-heading...

The phrase ”dead-heading “ sounds awful, but for the gardeners amongst you (Lisa’s mum, for example!), it is an important and highly necessary step in the growth process of flowering plants.

Take two plants I currently have – one is my fabulous “Compassion” climbing rose in my back garden, and another is a wonderful hanging basket I have - soon to be placed outside my front door – so locals, keep your eyes peeled!!

Both of these plants have the most wonderful flowers, but they also have dead flowers on them. The rose naturally sheds dead petals, and the ground underneath the bush is littered with what appears to be pale pink snow. But the hanging basket (filled with amazing blue double-surfinias, called “Priscilla”!!) hangs onto the dead flowers until I come along and gently pull them off. I am now doing this on a daily basis, for two very good reasons. One, I don’t want to spoil the fabulous effect of the flowers with brown dead flowers; and two, every time I remove a dead flower, the nutrients and water I have carefully put into the soil are used up in something that is alive, rather than something already dead.

Pat’s Thought for the Day:
God has to prune out dead things in our lives. We rarely allow Him to do this regularly enough, but we easily use up what He has placed in our lives on something that may never bear fruit. If God challenges you to remove something from your life, (or let Him do it for you), you can be assured that it will always be to promote growth, even though it might not initially appear so.

Are you wasting energy on something in your life that is dying, or already dead?

The story of Philip...

Great preach by our guest, Pastor Nigel Tween, at church tonight , on Philip, one of the Early Church Deacons, and an Evangelist. It was a real blessing - if you didn't make it there, get the tape - it's worth it. Looking forward to more of the same in the morning.

Would appreciate prayers - I'm not sleeping brilliantly again, and rarely make it past 5 am. John is flew out to Singapore tonight (on business for a week) and this often means I sleep even more erratically.

Thank you

Planting...

Yesterday I started planting in the garden. I have a semicircular flower bed right at the end of the garden, which is often a focal point, and it is now filled with all sorts of annuals – verbena, geraniums, begonia, marigolds, pansies, busy lizzies, petunias, lobelia…. It was a very satisfying task to finally put back into the garden, after a huge effort in cutting back and removing brambles and weeds, and cutting back so much overgrowth.

Over the years this particular bed has looked brilliant – I think annuals give a very pleasing riot of colour – but it, too was really overgrown and weed-ridden. But it didn’t take long to get that lot out, and the new stuff in. I took care to double dig, put nutrients in, and generally make sure the soil was OK. And the fact that I have done this in the past makes this particular bed one of the most fertile parts of the garden – most of the rest of the soil I have is solid clay – very hard to manage.

I was therefore a little annoyed when I realised that a stray cat had got into the garden overnight, and dug up a few of the new tender plants. Have now re-planted, hopefully more firmly, and will keep an eye on things very carefully

Pat’s Thought for the day:
After God deals with sin and wrong attitudes in our life, He has the great pleasure and huge optimism of planting new things in our life, and watching them grow and develop. He has been working to ensure that He does everything necessary to ensure growth. It is our responsibility to ensure that we stop other things uprooting His plan, or generally refusing to be fed and watered by Him, so that what He has planted comes to fruition

Gardening...

Have spent an exhausting three days working with my boys in my garden. It has been neglected for quite a while now. I’d like to say probably a year, but the truth is, I’ve not done a great deal there since I started training for my Diploma – and that was 2002! Without Chris mowing the lawn regularly, we would have a jungle at the back of our house.

But we are having some folk around for a party to celebrate our Silver Wedding in 5 weeks time, so the heat is on to sort it out. Now, my garden is 90 feet long, and about 30 ft wide, so there’s a lot of it. When we moved here (13 years ago) the previous owner was a brilliant plants woman, and the shrubs she chose have done very well. But they have become overgrown, and needed serious attacking. I am exhausted, but as I was finishing off one of the long beds this evening, a few thoughts struck me – so I’ll probably share them over a few blogs.

The main problem has been brambles, and we’ve got loads of them. They have grown up in, through, over and behind many other shrubs, and I’ve had to cut back much of the shrubs themselves to get them out. My forearms are a mass of cuts, where the thorns have fought back. But I quickly realised that I could just snip off the sections of bramble I could see, and the shrub would look OK, or I could do the more difficult part, and trace the bramble back to it’s root, and cut it out. As I did so, each shrub looked like it had taken a bit of a battering. But Chris commented, “Mum, it’s opened the whole garden up.” And he’s absolutely right

Pat’s Thought for the day:
We can allow Christ to strip away the surface problems of our life, and look reasonably OK. But if we allow him to get right inside of us, and deal with root attitudes and sins, it will probably hurt a lot, but be oh, so worth it in the end.

And Christ already bears the battle scars required to get to the root of anything in our lives ...

Tagged...

I wondered how long it would take - this craze amongst bloggers where you select 3 people who pick out 10 things they like doing. Thanks (I think!) to Sarah for nominating me. Scroll down to the bottom to see whether I have picked you...

1. Preaching. I have a love-hate relationship with preaching God's Word. I find the preparation totally absorbing, and usually end up with at least 3 times as much stuff as I'll need, but the feeling of being in front of a group of people and sharing things they might never have heard, or seen before, and making the Bible come alive...best feeling in the world...
2. Being with my husband. Sounds corny, but he is my soul mate, my confidante, and the one who knows just how to build me up or calm me down. He is also my best friend, and even after 24 years, 10 months and 22 days of marriage, I still feel a buzz when I'm with him.
3. Needlecraft. Tough to nail it down to a specific, but included are knitting, embroidery, Cross-stitch, tapestry, blackwork, patchwork, quilting and knitwear design. I usually have far too many projects on the go at one time, and occasionally finish one or two!
4. Painting. I wish I could be a real artist, but I make do with painting Lilliput Lane cottages. I take it as a high compliment when people see my Cottage collection at home, and can't tell without checking which ones are bought painted, and which ones I've done...
5. Going to the Gym - honest! A new part of my lifestyle, which I do actually enjoy, and am noticing great health benefits from!
6. Gardening. Sadly, I don't get as much time as I'd like to pursue this, but being in my garden, whether it's pruning, weeding, planting or potting in my greenhouse, is a fantastic stress-buster. Also, the end results are quite pleasing and relaxing.
7. Sharing meals with friends Whenever possible, we love to have folk around, and just chill. I love spending some time on preparing real food, and talking into the wee small hours...
8. Prayer Lines in Church. I could mention many aspects of Church life that give me a thrill, but the privilege of praying with people who are brave enough to come forward and ask someone else to pray for them is a treasure I never take for granted.
9. Flying! I love the moment of take-off, and the awesomeness of being above clouds. Looking forward (VERY MUCH!!) to spending three wonderful weeks in Canada (in 5 weeks and 3 days time) indulging in Item # 2!!
10. Spending time with my boys. Last but definitely not least, I take immense pride in the achievements of my sons Chris and Andy. We were told that having Asperger's Syndrome meant a life with many limitations. I am so grateful to God and the prayers of His saints that in every case, this has been categorically shattered! Our life as a family may be changing again soon with Andy hopefully off to University this year, but nothing will ever dent this mother's pride, wherever they are.

I now tag:
Rhi http://rhileebonkers.blogspot.com
Ann http://worldofthelwell.blogspot.com
Neil http://cooperlongstomps.blogspot.com

Glad I got in first!!

Bye!

An arrogant day...

Ever had one of those days when you think, “If they could see me now, I dread to think what they’d say…..”

I’ve been a grouch most of the day. Started really when I got a less-than-helpful appraisal report at work, which is as yet only a “draft” – which means I have to discuss it with my Supervisor soon…. Most of me wanted to throttle him today, so it’s probably just as well that we weren’t in the same space at the same time. So many hurts surfaced, real and imagined, throughout the day. I also had to battle computers and printers that didn’t work this morning, and should have just kept my head down, and got on with things.

Then in the two hours I had “spare” in the middle of the day, I had to go to the bank (queues), and the main Post Office (unbelievable queues) to send off my accreditation re-submission – which has FINALLY been authorised (after only 8 drafts!!) via registered post. As you walk down Chelmsford High Street these days, you are often confronted by “The Clipboard Gang” – people who promise that they are not trying to sell you anything - “Honest”.

Yeah, right.

They infuriate me at the best of times, but today I must have had the prow of a battleship welded in front of me, because they tried to take a step towards me, then backed off pretty quick…

Just as well, then, that only one of my 3 clients turned up at work tonight. I was in no mood to face too many, and God in His grace probably protected them from me. I was bored, so read a little from Brennan Manning’s book “Ragamuffin Gospel”. It was like balm to the soul, and I spent most of two hours reading and repenting of such an arrogant attitude. It might be hormonal – could even be pre-menopausal (!!!) - but it was wrong, and should not have happened, let alone be fostered by my desire for attention, and internal temper tantrums.

Sleep might help – usually does – so from one rather chastised woman, goodnight.