Kid Connections

Wonderful week ...

So it's been anther busy week!  Last Saturday we had a wonderful Fischy music concert at church.  Awesome!  Then the launch of our first Growing Leaders course with many young people who have signed up to pursue the course and develop their leadership skills.  The week was filled with planning, re-organising, sorting and storing as we prepare for the building work at church to commence.  Then today a trip to the beautiful St Andrews to lead a training workshop with a dear friend on 'Encountering God' followed by a scrummy lunch!  On the way there we had to sit in traffic for almost 2 hours though -due to the air show!!  But all in all a great week.  Looking forward to our 'Together' service at church tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Daza

My second baby is 15 today!  How time flies.  Happy birhday gorgeous girl.  Love ya xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Work and play

Another hectic week in our household as No. 1 daughter prepares to move in to student accommodation next to where she'll be studying (Glasgow Caledonian University) after just being home from the USA a week ago. 

I've been meeting with lots of people of late ... lead a seminar for Lochaber Presbytery up in the beautiful Fort William on Saturdayand and spoke at this lovely local church on Sunday evening.  Yesterday was full of planning meetings for both the launch of our new Sunday Morning 'Together' services, where the whole church family will spend their morning worshiping together, and for the Growing Leaders - Youth Edition course we launch on 7th Sept.  

I also managed to spend some time with one of our church mums and her beautiful baby daughter.  I love the way mums beam with contentment and seem as though parenthood is the easiest thing in the world.  But I was reminded of how exhausting and isolating those first weeks with a new baby are as I remembered those first months with our youngest after an emergency c-section.  I long for church to be a place that connects with people well - being a friend when someone is lonely or hurting, knowing when someone is absent and taking the time to find out how they are, communicating the deep love and compassion of Jesus in times of need.  We need to work hard at connecting well - particularly with those outwith our immediate groups of friends, pulling in those on the margins to truly feel that they belong.  

So after a long day yesterday I hung out with a number of women in our church and some of their friends at our 'St Silas Women' event - 'How do we do this God thing?'  It was a lovely evening and a chance to relax for a bit and connect with other women.  The title of the women's weekend away 22-25th Oct is 'Connect' so should be good!  I can't go for the whole weekend but hope to make it for some of the time.

This Saturday we have Fischy Music in concert at St Silas!  Can't wait!!  Doors open at 2.30pm and the concert is from 3-4.30pm, tickets £3.  Come and join the fun!

Busy Week

Been a busy week ... again! And looks like another to follow. Saw U2 at Hamden on Tuesday - awesome! I love their 'Moment of Surrender' song from their latest CD.  Visuals were excellent too.

Great BBQ at Mugdock with out parent and toddlers groups on Saturday - with a gloriously sunny day sandwiched between all the rain we've been having of late, and some superb BBQ food! 

Lots of meetings and discussion at the moment to keep folk in the loop and several speaking engagements most weekends in the next 3 weeks.  New service pattern and new leadership programme launching in Sept.  Lots of furniture moving and organising to do.  Fischy are in concert at our church on 5th Sept too, so there is lots happening!

I love it when things are busy and lots of changes are happening!  It reminds me that nothing stays the same and we should be expectant of what is around the corner just waiting to bless us.  On Tuesday, our eldest daughter comes back from the USA and that will be a huge blessings this week.  Can't wait to catch up with all her news and stories.  We've missed her!

Family

I haven't blogged in ages!!  The summer seems to have come and gone and I don't remember much in terms of holiday time.  We've tried to give the kids some fun days but it's not the same as actually getting away somewhere.  There's something to be said for getting away from emails and ringing phones and simply enjoying playing with the kids.  And now, school starts back today!  S4, P4 and pre-school years begin for 3 of our kids, with our eldest beginning uni in a few weeks too.  All major stages in their lives - and ours!  Our eldest will be home in 1 week after working in the USA for 3 months, then 1 week later will move out into student accomodation.  I'm happy for her but sad at the same time.  I would love to think all my kids could stay at home forever.  Will that change I wonder as I get older?  Letting go is hard but how awesome it is to see our kids grow and flourish.  Family is such a blessings - even though sometimes it can be tiring, frustrating and costly.  But it's so worth it!  How glorious are the gifts of God - each and every one!

Your Urban Angel

So the new yoururbanangel.com website is now up and running, giving all sorts of details about how us women can make a difference in someone's life ... near or far!  Sign up today, get ideas and begin conversations with others about how to make a difference!  The site and idea developed as a result of the vision and teaching from the Cherish Conference theme in May 2009.  Awesome!!

Children and Church

 

So here it is ... the Child Friendly Church guide, which is the most wonderful resource designed to help you reflect on how you intentionally welcome and include children in your congregation!  I heartily recommend it (but I'm biased!!!) as it will provide you with much to reflect and consider about how you do church and be church with children and their families!!

As our co-disciples we have a responsibility to nurture and grow our children and to help them discover their gifts from God ... the Child Friendly Church will help you begin to explore ways in which you may do this.

The strength of this guide is that it is designed with a broad Chruch in mind.  The programme is less about ticking boxes and more about reflection in your specific context.  Where is your location? What is your church community's wider culture? How do you see the sacraments of our denomination in relation to children?  How best might you, in your Faith community, affirm children?  All these questions are asked in the context of Biblical and theological reflection.

So get your copy now and get excited about what God is doing in our work with and for children and in us as we learn from them!

Women of influence

I've had some wonderful times this week with some awesome women of influence - specifically this woman and the woman behind this that I wrote this Child Friendly Church initiative with, not to mention this woman  and this woman who I am privileged to work with, and I am looking forward to meeting my friends and fellow children's champions later on, including this lovely lady.  I love the fact that even when you haven't seen someone for a while you still share a depth of friendship that is quite remarkable.  Praise God for His goodness! 

So cute!!!

It was a hectic day yesterday with our big party at church and our beautiful no1 daughter heading off to the USA!  She is now in sunny Boston and says it's really warm.  She is enjoying getting to know the folks there - including a girl from Uddingston and a boy from Pollock!  Us Scots get around!!

She's already been to the 'mall' where she saw a little puppy Chihuahua in a pet store window!  She loves little dogs and has been desperate for one for years.  I doubt she'd be able to bring one home though with all the quarantine requirements?  But no3 daughter has already decided that she should bring it home and has called it 'Sasha'.  So ... we may be welcoming a new addition to the family in 3 months!!!

Camp America

Our eldest daughter headed off to the States this morning!  It will be an amazing experience for her, working with children who are either day visitors or boarding at the camp in New Hampshire.  She'll be 6 hours behind us so will most probably be jet lagged tonight!!

Praying she has a safe journey and a wonderful time, but we'll really miss her :(