Holidays and then....

Wow...time really does fly.

The last time I blogged I was really looking forward to the long stretch of the summer holidays.

Now it's September and zip....they've gone.

We went away twice - once to New Wine (a Christian conference...more on that later) and the second time, to one of my favourite places....Sorrento.  Imagine waking up to this view every morning...

I really miss it.  I miss the late mornings, heading straight to the pool after breakfast and not leaving until just before dinner.  Reading and relaxing around the pool, not having to be concerned with 'trivial' things like what we are eating for dinner and most of all - washing, ironing and loading/unloading the dishwasher!  Most of all I enjoyed spending time with the family.  We are a close-knit little bunch and we actually like spending time together (I'm sure most families do, it's just some of the time I hear otherwise!).  Sometimes they drive me nuts with the bickering and snippy comments to each other, but actually most of the time they play wonderfully together.

My knitting group resumed this week - I don't think anyone with children had picked up a crochet hook/knitting needle throughout the whole summer, so I didn't feel too bad.  We chatted about the holidays, our current projects, and other stuff which I can't remember.  I started a blanket (another granny stripe) which I am not sure about.  I have added a deep purple which I think is too dark, compared to the white and baby pink.  I may have to rip it back and start again - we will have to see!

New Wine was fabulous.  Hubs couldn't stay the whole week because he didn't have enough holiday, but he kindly drove us down, stayed for a few days and then came back after work to drive us home. The main speaker was a guy called Francis Chan who has written several punchy books - one of which is called Crazy Love.  Wow....I never want to be known by God as a lukewarm Christian!  You know...the person who just warms a seat on a Sunday in church, and then totally forgets why they were saved for the rest of the week.  God made me for a purpose, and it's my purpose in life to do everything which glorifies him.  Yes, I make mistakes - I am a work in progress after all (just like my blanket).  God may have to rip a few rows off me, take away the stuff in me that doesn't work, and start again.  I just have to submit to His will and trust him.

The children met with God too - H came back one night declaring God had told him he is an evangelist to the nations.  He even wanted to go and speak to the lady we were renting the cottage from, to ask her if she knew Jesus.  He went to Soul Survivor too.  C felt the Holy Spirit in her group and she listened to God, who gave her a list of people to pray for.  We came away feeling spiritually refreshed and ready for Kingdom action!

So yes, we are back home and still missing Italy, but we have so much to look forward to!

Write....

I have always loved the written word, and I have always loved writing.  I have a passion for notebooks (well, it may be more than a passion, I think my husband would use another name for it!) I really do delight in having a notebook which is full to the brim of notes, pictures, scribbles and general day-to-day blether.  I suppose a blog is just another notebook to me, another way of setting down my thoughts and feelings.  I used to write a blog which I started about five years ago.  It was a collection of thoughts and pictures about my creative life - I was learning to knit and crochet, plus I would post pictures of my sewing, baking and floral creations and little snippets about my life.  Looking back on it, I missed a huge chunk of my life out - you could see it if you were looking carefully and you would see glimpses but it wasn't on show for all to see (this is in direct contrast to my real life!).  I never wrote directly about it, not because I was ashamed, but I suppose I had a fear that people reading it would find it (or me) over-the-top and would stop reading.  How silly of me to fear man, I know that now.

You see I have a faith.  I believe in God and His son Jesus.  This will be silly, stupid and fanciful to some, others may think I am deluded, bonkers and mad but others (and I know plenty) will agree.  To me, my Heavenly Father...Daddy God is the most awesome 'person' I will ever meet.  He is so much more to me than mere glimpses on a blog.  He is the reason I am here, and so I can't leave Him out anymore and I won't.  So...continue reading, or don't.  I really don't mind.  But know this....even if you don't believe in Him, He believes in you.