Granny and the Waltzers!

It has been ages since I last blogged and so much has happened!

First there was the Unofficial KGS Reunion - when 7 of us got together for an afternoon/evening. The last time we were all in the same place at the same time was 23 years ago - but it felt like just yesterday. Was so comfortable with everyone and we all had stories to share - lives to catch up on. A Good day!

Then there was our family holiday - Tunisia - sunshine, sunshine, sunshine, wine, beer, books, chill time, lots of snoozes....just what was needed.

During the holiday there came exam results - highs and lows - the hardest of days for parents and offspring I think! Who thought exam results by text were a good idea????? Anyway despite the disappointment the good news is that KD will go to college to do Social Sciences after all - she has a place at college on what they call a 2 + 2 course - 2 years at college to do HND then 2 further years at university to complete her honours degree!



Home from week away to do some diy at the flat and get ready for John's arrival and then we had the Ballater Highland Games. This has become an important date in my family's diary. (John has been adopted in our family - I get a row for saying he is 'my' friend - coz he is much loved by all of us!)We all head for Ballater, where my dad grew up and his brother still lives. We then enjoy a picnic together and then enjoy all that the Games offer - including the obligatory visits to the beer tent and the Patron's Hospitality Tent. Then we pile round to my aunt and uncles for a BBQ. All this adds up to a great day. Normally we head home (one of us having been nominated Des) but this year well had all booked into the Craigendarroch. Neil & I had a beautiful suite with a huge four poster and jacuzzi bath - it was our 21st wedding anniversary afterall!

This years Games were special because my dad and his brothers and sister were all there along with most of my cousins. We really did have a lot of fun and laughs. I am also beginning to realise how grown up my children are getting.

Today's blog title is in tribute my mum who was persuaded by her two elder grandaughters to go on the waltzers!! The mind boggles.....

Anyway it has been great few weeks and its now back to work after yet another BBQ this afternoon.......

I think I need a holiday!!!!

How many 'me's are there?

This is the question posed by Stewart. He puts it slightly differently but essentially he asks how many different aspects are there to your life/persona. Here is what I posted in reply:

"Like you there is the ‘me’ that is in and of the world - I am involved in my community, I socialise in that same community - go to the pub, the gym, the shops. I love my community - I grew up in it, I cant walk down the street without bumping into lots of people that I know and who have known me for a long long time. I am a mother and wife - my kids and hubby are very precious to me. All of this part of me has helped shape me into the forty something I am.

I too have worked for the ‘church’ albeit the denomination I belong to. I now find myself training for the ministry in that same church. I have never been more content in what I ‘do’. It feels so right - whether it is leading worship or sitting holding an old lady’s hand whilst she tells me what is worrying her or even joining in with the kids at Sundays school. This ‘me’ is a content me. Working for the church allowed me to find this person.

At the moment because I am on a placement in a different town to that in which I live - these two ‘me’s don't seem to meet very often. Except, perhaps, when I know someone that someone else knows. The family don’t come to church with me - they prefer their long lies and work. But they do support me - 100%. For us, what might cause others conflict or concern, seems to work quite well. And that is despite the fact that in around a years time I might be asking them to leave our home and community to set up somewhere new. (Ask me again about this in a years time!!!)

Can I reconcile these two ‘me’s? I think I can. The two may only collide in me the person - but they both contribute to the whole ‘me’. They both influence the way I look at the world. There is cross pollination - I live my life in my community with an ethic and outlook shaped by my faith. My faith is in turn influenced by the world around me. And that is the way I think it should be."


I now want to go a step further and make this observation: I am a Christian and I belong to a community of faith BUT that does not exclude me from being of the world and community in which I live. My faith, as I said above, has helped shape me. But so has my community. I care about my community and in so doing I get involved. I have on a number of occasions got stuck in and joined various committees - including an action group to campaign for new play equipment for the local park, I have been chair of the Playgroup Committee, the School Board and even sat on the Community Council. I have for the last 6/7 years been heavily involved in a youth project in the town. But I am not sure that I ever thought to myself "I am a Christian and as such I must go out and help"- I have helped because I saw a need - I wanted to help.

Perhaps my faith has encouraged me to want to help - but it has not been my conscious motivator. I have instinctively got involved. And that is the crux of - instinctively I serve. Perhaps this is where my two 'me's collide?

One thing I am certain of is that God has called me to serve the church and my community - it is not one or the other, it's both. Not for me the Hauerwas world of Christians leaving the Christian huddles and 'doing' good works in the world before scurrying back to their Christian huddles. For me it is important to live in the world and be of the world. That is how I can best live out my faith and best share that love of God with others.

Sorry for the rather lengthy post - blame Stewart for getting me thinking!!!

Christmas in ministry...

Yesterday was a lovely day - I was particularly touched that my son announced his favourite present was the rather nice sketchbook he found in his stocking. (I think it cost £3.99!) And my daughter loved her lipsalve keyring. (Bought with her expedition to Peru next summer in mind.)The family were all in good form - lots of love and laughter around.

Family has been an important part of Christmas for me my whole life. I have been blessed with wonderful parents who ensured our Christmases were always full of love and I hope we have been doing the same for our children. I am blessed with a fab husband and two lovely (if at times trying!) children.

On Christmas Eve they all came to the Christingle Service at my placement Church: my mum and dad, Neil and the kids, my sister and her family. It was lovely having them there to share in the noisy fun. With over 70 children and their families it made for a noisy service - my voice at one point was drowned out by the excited children as they queued to get their Christingles lit. But rather than fight it, I let it go. Everything calmed down and we finished on a high sharing the blessing together. To be part of such a happy church service was great. To see more chairs having to be put out to accomodate the crowd lifted everyones spirits.

Tomorrow we come down with a bit of a bump. I have blogged recently about visiting a lady whose husband was ill. Well he died on Tuesday. Tomorrow is his funeral. So in this week of happiness I have been reminded it is not everyone who has felt like celebrating. I visited the lady on Tuesday to pay my respects. I had so few words for her but few seemed needed. Tomorrow I take part in the funeral, a year to the day after I took the funeral of my aunt. It might seem the saddest time of year to be dealing with death, but it is also the time of year that we are reminded of the love and peace that came to earth when Jesus was born. A love and peace that offers the comfort of knowing our Lord knows our pain and sorrow - he shares it.

Such is the lot of a minister (albeit probationer) that following the funeral I hot foot down the road to meet some old school chums for lunch. The last time we were all together in the same place was about 7 years ago and that was at my sis-inlaws wedding, so in reality the last time we met for a proper girly chat was more than 20 years ago. We were all at school together and don't see enough of each other. Infact one of my chums and I have had more contact in the last year than in the whole of the last 20 thanks to Facebook! I am really looking forward to catching up and no doubt sharing more than a few remanicences.

No doubt there will be blogging material.....