Juggling, Waiting and Praying.

Just an initial though - why is it that even when you....OK, I... get 999 things right, so that life runs smoothly and effectively, people will only notice the 1000th thing that trips you....OK, ME... up.

A second thought is - get a cuppa as this is a long old story, but hopefully entertaining!

JUGGLING
This week as been a lesson in juggling - time , free time, kids time, work time, sleep time ( don't ever even think it's good to catch up on sleep when driving because it's not, and more to the point, don't ever try it) time to talk, time to dance, time to breath and have a chat...Ecclesiastes has a list. The funniest ( ie most frustrating) thing is trying to do two things that don't go well together, together i.e take Elyse and Thomas to work!

Ok, it was Kids Clubs and they can join in and the folks running them are kind and say the kids are great etc, but it feels odd for ME.

I also actually did try to learn to juggle hoops yesterday, and the concept is pretty different to juggling balls and also kids kept wanting to have a go too, which was ....annoying!

What is hard is being able to switch off when you can't quite finish what you've started because someone needs the loo or has spilled a drink etc and somehow, you...OK I...can handle it if it's someone elses child, but when it's mine it's just like being at home and I wonder why I have driven to Brightlingsea, Clacton or Colchester to do more of the same. Am I wrong? I feel wrong, but I know what I mean.

Anyway, I'm not the only person in the world doing this, so hats off to mums who work through the holidays - hurrah!

WAITING
Our walk was great last weekend, but those of us who couldn't/wouldn't do the 17 miles extra had to find something else to do while the others did the walking. It was the most scorching day ever, so after a bit of time in a playground, we took the kids back to our lodgings to freshen up and go meet some more of the Mighty Fox Family, of which we are now Honorary Members, for a limited period of time.To be official you have to marry someone in the family and we can't really do that...although Elyse was getting on quite well with Nathan..hmmmm!

We spent a delightful afternoon siezing up in another playground by a stream and looking out onto the Peaks where our loved ones were being mercilessly burned to a crisp while singing Ilkley Moor no doubt, and where Jenny was driving up and down with supplies, to meet the walkers at pre arranged stop offs. Irritatingly, the signal was awful for mobiles, so there were some anxious moments when we really didn't know where anyone was, but ironically Zoe could get through from Zambia!

It didn't feel like waiting, because the company and the scenery and the weather were fab and I didn't worry that much either - which is amazing ( see praying)

What did feel like waiting though, because it was, was sitting in the most boring waiting room IN THE WORLD for Joe's name to be called to get his lacerated knee stitched up at the Hospital last night. I have blogged about waiting with people who have lost the will to live before, and I guess that the reason the folks were in this particular waiting room was that they were feeling poorly, but COME ON, it doesn't hurt to smile, does it? Obviously, it does!

Queens Hospital is by far and away the most confusing place I have ever been and when you ...OK, I... am a little stressed and all the instructions look like they are in Chinese and Thomas needs the loo and is STILL going on about the ice cream he dropped at the beach 2 hours ago and, Joe's shock has worn off and he's feeling pretty grumpy, and rightly so really, and Elyse is worryingly quiet, a decent waiting room isn't much to ask is it? Obviously, it is!

What added insult to the rather nasty injury was that we had given Joe's name TWICE at reception, but when Keith arrived, the receptionist swore blind that we weren't there, leaving him in a mild state of concern as the last time we had spoken, I was 20 mins off leaving Clacton, and the battery on my phone was running out, and working it all out using math, we SHOULD have been at the hospital...which we were, so the math was good - the receptionst was NOT.

PRAYING
I have also blogged before about an incident where I voiced a need - indoor plastic hockey sticks- and the need was met almost immediately. I recall praising God like mad about that because it was so cool.
My concern was and still is that I wasn't praying about it officially i.e. Dear God what I could really do with are .... Amen' but am convinced by the words in Psalm 139 that God did deserve the praise for that and here are two other examples of what you might call lazy praying, but the outcomes being absolutely worthy of praise.

Number One
The lodgings I spoke of earlier were in Pindale Outdoor centre and were utterly random, but fun. Jen and Den had also bought their tent, so as it was so sweltering, we stayed outdoors with them for as long as we could on the two evenings and shared breakfast on the Sunday. A number of families were camping as a Geocaching Event was taking place ( just google Geocaching, I'm not going into it here) and one family had decided that it would be convienient for them to park their massive 4x4 in a passing bay, thereby causing 'a bit of an obstruction' in the road.

Jen and Den had planted their tent at the top of a hillock over looking this family and SO the following day when it transpired that someone had let this guys tyres down, wrapped the vehicle in red tape and placed a parking cone on the bonnet, we had an ideal view ( this isn't the answer to prayer by the way - and NO it wasn't us) to see how it was all going to pan out.

I am ashamed to say that initially, we were all of the mind that it served him right. However, as time went on, and the jack had slipped causing the side of the car to scrape down the wall, we did begin feel a little uneasy, not least that we were more or less ready to go and would need to squeeze past him to get on our way. I began to wonder out loud where all the grace in the world had gone and then suggested that maybe we should pray, and possibly offer some assistance ( goody two shoes!) I then needed the loo, but Den's brother did go over to suggest a better place to put the jack 'avoiding the diff'.

On my return, I was greeted with - 'Your Prayer worked Liz!'

It just so happened that the Land Rover Club of Great Britain were having a drive out that morning past the Pindale Outdoor Centre and had every gadget this guy could need to jack the car up, crowbar the tyres back on and inflate them. Not just one Land Rover, but about 10 of them!! Lavish and Extravagant God - Bless You!!

I did own up to not actually praying the prayer in the formal way, but hey - the needs of a number of people were met that morning.

Number Two
And finally, I dropped the children off at my mum and dad's today and my dad who is a diligent War Cry ( Salvation Army newspaper) seller enquired whether DHQ, where I work, get a pile of War Crys delivered ,as our Corps order hadn't turned up ( this is a bit jargony , sorry!)

No, was the answer, because it is true.....normally!

I arrived at work to find Natasha, one of our Admin. Assistants standing at the door with a massive pile of War Crys ( LOL) asking if I could 'do anything with them, or might anyone I know need them'

Turns out, there was a bit of an 'oportunity'at THQ for things to go wrong this week and Harlow's papers had got caught up with another Corps, but they had ordered more thinking they had been lost ( which must have happened to Romford's too) meaning that when they came to light, they were returned to DHQ

My jaw is actually still in recovery from dropping to the floor.

Did my dad pray about the papers? I don't know.

What I do know is

'God,I am an open book to you; even from a distance you know what I'm thinking.... you know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence'

Psalm 139: 2 +4 The Message

Time to STOP