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The broken shoe

I gazed in wonder as our little car crawled through streets teeming with crowds, carts, cows, cacophonous patterns and colors, and the occasional overturned bus. Upward, there was a clear, cloudless sky with beating sun. Ahead, though there seemed not a clear path to be found, countless obstacles somehow parted before us as we made our way through the heart of the city.

Nairobi.

This was my first time in East Africa. But it felt like coming home. As I breathed in the warm breeze, and caught bright flashes of bougainvillea along the road, vivid memories surfaced of my childhood village home in Ivory Coast.

But enough daydreaming–we had arrived at last at Sunday morning worship. Before us was a large building bursting forth with the pounding bass lines and smooth synth sounds of pre-service worship rehearsals. I was with a warm and wonderful group of colleagues, and we were all so excited to worship with our Kenyan brothers and sisters in Christ.

Our gracious host was just sharing the plan for the morning when, oops! I staggered back, went over on my ankle and the strap on my flip flop broke!

Utter panic.

I looked around at all the joyful worshippers walking into church with some of the most colorful, beautiful outfits I had ever seen.

How could I possibly go in there with bare feet?

By the time I had digested my embarrassing predicament, our host had already opened his car trunk. He handed me his own spare shoes with a broad smile on his face.

“You can wear these,” he said.

Then he chuckled along with all my companions, seeming enjoying watching my face drain of colour as it dawned on me I may be compelled to wear men’s shoes into worship that day. Sure, they were of a dignified brown leather variety, but they wouldn’t quite coordinate with my swirly blue-black skirt.

I was sunk.

Stranded.

And sheepish.

Then Gavin truly went the extra mile. He picked up my dishevelled shoe, shook the day’s dust and dirt from it, scrutinised it for a moment, then popped the broken strap back in.

Phew. Genuinely grateful for our kind host’s generosity and common sense, I picked my way gingerly up those steps into the church, scared to stumble again.

But here’s the thing; I soon forgot my clumsy blunder when suddenly we were surrounded by a swell of sweet harmonies in that service. The fragrance of full hearts offering their praise and thanks to God amid many forms of trial and suffering moved me to tears.

One very simple thing has stuck with me from that day.

With God, whether you feel broken or stranded, you are always surrounded. Not by animosity, but His grace and generosity. In fact, it is often especially in those moments, that God’s generous kindness through His people is most evident.

Gavin’s instant reaction when he saw my broken shoe was to help, support, and serve. His godly heart to help surfaced just at the right moment. When you find yourself wondering what to do next, just look around; soon you’ll see the generous, caring, gracious, practical people God has placed in your path.

What should our response be?

In my case:

Buy better shoes?

Be more observant?

Well, yes.

But in your inevitable vulnerabilities, look for, welcome, and accept God’s generosity. And allow yourself to get lost in wonder, thanks, and praise for Him knowing and never failing to meet your every need.

H x

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

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When I lost my voice

I talked so much at work today that I lost my voice. It was completely gone by the time I got home.

As the girls tumbled into my arms, clambering over each other, clamouring to tell me all about their day, I tried to tell them how mine had been in return.

But the words didn’t register. Just a squeak squeezed out.

So instead, I heard…

an unceasing, uninterrupted stream of magically mundane memories from the afternoon; they’d prepped cupboards for painting; they’d been to the MOT centre with Daddy; they’d unlocked a new level in the latest game they were crazy about.

But the final thought was the most precious.

“You know, we missed you, mummy.”

“I missed you, too,” I croaked.

Zoë led me like a meek little lamb up the stairs to her room which she had transformed into her ‘classroom.’

I knew it was bedtime, but I didn’t have the strength in my voice to do my usual authoritative cajoling and encouraging towards that end.

So instead I listened…

and so became a model student. Zoë gave an engaging lesson on how to draw an ‘a’ on Eden’s back and sit up straight with my knees crossed (criss-cross apple sauce).

Then, I sat suitably mesmerised as Zoë read through The Cat in the Hat, eventually putting Eden to sleep as her lilting tones slowly and deliberately sounded out the words. Soon enough, her own eyes were closing. No nighttime nagging needed.

Silently, I guided her gently over to bed, got in beside her and enjoyed the stream of chatter until it petered away into sleep.

Oh, what we can miss when we overuse our own voice.

❗Our right to speak

❗our point of view

❗our opinion

❗our achievements

❗our agenda

❗our plan for what should happen next.

Think about it. If you lost your voice right now, what do you think you would get the opportunity to hear?

My personal lesson from today:

Don’t talk too much, because people will eventually stop hearing what you say. Don’t miss out on what you’re unintentionally drowning out. Talk less, listen more.

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Beware of the ditches!

It was my first day of boarding school. I was the grand old age of seven, and this was the most exciting adventure I’d ever had.

Imagine it: four little girls the same age, from four corners of the world, nestled in bunk beds at night under mosquito nets, and stumbling through corridors in the dark with torches when the part-time generators went off.

It was like something out of a Famous Five novel, except there were only four of us. And instead of exploring the demure British countryside with a loyal dog, we found ourselves encircled by humid West African forest, with lizards, spiders, frogs, and snakes as our everyday companions.

But this was our first day. And we had heard whisperings that one of the teachers had a beautiful white cat called Matilda.

Mission Find Matilda quickly materialised. The only problem was that all the teachers lived in houses across the road. It was only the houseparents that lived with us in the dorms.

That’s how Mission Find Matilda morphed into Mission Cross the road. Actually, it wasn’t really a road. It was more like a wide dirt track on a steep hill, and on either side, carved out of the dense red earth, were two deep ditches that had been dug to accommodate the deluges of rainy season.

That day, the rain thundered from the heavens. But the downpour only intensified our determination to cross amid the steady stream of traffic made up of of squealing bicycles, squelching flip flops and roaring mopeds.

It was then that we noticed the ditches; trenches filled with a delectable mix of water and mud, swirling and whirling down the steep incline of the road.

What seven year old could resist? Before we knew it, we found ourselves jumping right in. Splashing, rolling, laughing, and shouting—all the while completely ignorant of the danger we were in.

I’ll never forget the moment ‘Auntie’ Janet (our new houseparent) found us. Her horror and relief provoked by our reckless thoughtlessness quickly mutated into a suitably stern reprimand.

We were grounded for a week, and we had to walk up to the dinner hall each night holding her hand.

Needless to say, operation Matilda would be a failed mission forever etched in our memories.

Thankfully, Auntie Janet hauled us out of those ditches before we drowned, or were run over, or worse.

But I wonder, how often do we find ourselves stuck in a ditch quite before we’ve even realized it?

It’s so easy to get swept into the tide of popular opinion, a new cause, a compelling narrative, the ideals of a charismatic personality, or even a virulent vendetta against someone who has had a mishap or made a misstep.

But before we know it, we can get submerged in dangerous waters of divisive thinking, become entrenched in extremes, or fall too quickly into unhelpful ‘us and them’ categories. It’s so easy to label people without trying to understand where they are coming from.

So to avoid ending up in a ditch, let’s consider – where will the adventure lead me? What trouble might I cause? Who might my reckless words upset, and what consequences might I have to face? The danger and excitement of a cause or a rumour might feel fun at first, but is a crusade worth our relationships? Is an opinion worth the offence I might incite?Remember what and who matters most and refused to be distracted from your true mission in life: loving God and loving people.

So, don’t throw out the adventure, or your opinions! But don’t allow yourself to be swept into a ditch, or you might just end up needing someone to haul you out of it!

H x

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What one thing would you wish for?

I asked my six-year-old a pretty deep question today.

Zoë, is it more important to be clever, beautiful or kind?

Her wee eyes fluttered up to the sky and back again, which is what she always does when she’s deep in thought.

‘Kind, mummy.’

‘Yes honey. If you’re clever and beautiful, but you’re not kind, then you’ve missed the point.’

I was so proud of her in that moment. But I shouldn’t have been surprised – her teacher had praised her for this very quality in her last report:

‘Zoë is a kind and caring child who shows empathy to everyone in her class.’

Almost immediately, though, I felt the challenge of my own question as it began to reverberate around in my own heart.

‘If I had only one wish, what would I wish for? Would I want intelligence, beauty or to be kind? Would kindness really come first in that list?’

Some of us like knowledge a little too much. I’m guilty of this. I love to read, research, discover, absorb, explore and learn new things, no matter how useless the information. And sometimes I can get a little bit obsessive about certain topics.

But if what I know becomes more important than being kind to who I know, I’ve missed the point altogether.

Then, I guess some of us like looking good a little too much.

Whether it’s obsessing about our weight, keeping up with the neighbours or sharing that perfect family picture with the world, if what we look like on the outside becomes more important than how much we care about others on the inside, we’ve missed the point altogether.

So the next time we get feisty about something we’ve a strong opinion about, remember – whatever we think we know, it’s not worth saying if it isn’t said with kindness.

And the next time we’re tempted to care more about how we look to others than what our heart for others looks like, remember – whether you dress beautifully or you don’t – what matters most is to keep clothing yourself with kindness.

It’s nice to be clever

Everyone likes to look good (whether they admit it or not)

But it’s best to be kind.

I wonder, which of those three things will you wish for today?

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But this I call to mind…

I can still see myself standing there, stranded in a sea of smiling faces, coffee cups, chatter and laughter, while inside I’m screaming with sadness and feeling hollowed out by hopelessness.

But I wasn’t alone.

Her hands hugged my shoulders and her eyes enveloped me with kindness as she spoke into my life, my heart, my emptiness…

‘But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope;

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.’ (Lamentations 3:22-23)

That coffee shop encounter was about three years ago now.

But I’ll never forget it. What that dear friend taught me that day was that every time a bleak, black cloud threatens to swallow me up, my soul can whisper, speak, shout defiantly at the darkness,

But this I call to mind.

And therefore, I have hope.

For many people I know, these last months have threatened to extinguish hope altogether.

Please don’t forget the quiet inner battles of many around you.

Let’s take one another by the shoulders, look directly into others’ pain, cultivate kindness and speak hope into every lonely, isolated heart we can.

You may have trouble BUT I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Once you were not a people, BUT now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, BUT now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:10)

There is no fear in love. BUT perfect love drives out fear… (1 John 4-18)

My flesh and my heart may fail, BUT God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26)

What do you need to call to mind today?

H x

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Come out of hiding ⛺️

☀️ Little Eden sometimes just wants to hide from the world for a while. She doesn’t particularly warm to the sun (forgive the pun), so one scorching afternoon she made herself a little tent with a towel and sat like that for the longest time.

As I watched her, I couldn’t help but think of how this image encapsulates so many of our lives.

(This is as much for myself as anyone else, so please don’t think I’m self-assured, or that that I’m close to fully accepting myself – failure, flaws, fine lines and all- I’m not.)

But don’t you think it’s time we stopped hiding and started shining?

🩱 You may not have the body or complexion you had ten years ago, but have you ever thought that if you keep avoiding every family selfie or continue to skip putting on that swimsuit, you’re depriving yourself (and your kids, if you have them) of precious memories?

🎶 You may not be as exceptionally talented as the one you admire from afar, but have you ever considered if you don’t raise your voice or play your melodies, you’re robbing the world of the song only you can sing and the anthem only you can bring?

❤️ You may not think the things that make your heart beat faster and your mind come alive are more important than some of the demands people make of you, but if you don’t pursue the unique passions your Creator put within you, one day you will realise that all those years you were living out someone else’s dreams.

😢 You may not think people will think well of you if you reveal your private struggles or pain. But what if by failing to ask for help you are stopping others from being released to do the same?

✍️ So, as I’m looking here at the automatic prompt my blog platform gives me ….’start writing’ … I feel compelled to urge you all…. you don’t need to be paid to do what you love to start doing what you love.

Whatever it is you’ve always dreamed inside of doing… it’s your time to start doing it.

Start swimming, start writing, start acting, start singing, start studying, start building, start leading, start innovating, start teaching, start designing or DIYing or growing or counselling or travelling.

Come out of hiding. The world needs you. It’s crying out for what God has put within you.

It’s time to shine 🌞

H x

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Would you give up your spot?

I was so looking forward to getting into bed last night. You know those days when your muscles are aching, your mind is tired and you’re anticipating the moment of putting your head on your own pillow, snuggling into your cosy duvet and drifting off to…

Wait.

There’s a person already in my bed, Goldilocks style. A very small person who is sleeping horizontally across my mattress (why do they do that- I’ll never know??).

She’s right in my spot.

Question is, what do I do?

1. Put her in her (own) place?

I mean, all I needed to do was lift her gently and deposit her right where she needed to be. In her own bed. And yes, Gina Forde would be clapping me if I did. (And just to confirm, I have done this, many times!)

2. Squeeze in beside her?

I mean, this is mummy and daddy’s bed, but I guess there’s kind of room for all of us… (as I quietly resent her presence). I’ve done this plenty of times too, all the while imagining all the Montessori-style parents of this world nodding in solidarity.

3. Give her my spot?

Well, this one is kind of radical. Sleep somewhere else? Really? Somehow I don’t think many people would be patting me on the back for that.

But I find myself smiling as I watch her; she looks so comfortable, so at ease. Do I want to disturb her?

No I don’t.

She can have my spot tonight.

Please don’t take this as an inspirational lesson on parenting (I’m definitely not recommending making a habit of letting your children take over your bed!) But looking at Eden lying so peacefully there in my spot reminded me again of a powerful heart principle that enables us to wholeheartedly celebrate the joys and successes of others.

Gladly and generously give up your spot for others’ growth and flourishing.

Even in those times where you feel someone has stolen the spotlight… swooped in on the promotion… claimed the credit… or received praise in your place. Yes, even those times.

So, in your heart, will you:

❤️ put them in their place?

❤️ try to squeeze in beside them while resenting the fact that they were there?

❤️ Or, will you be radical enough, generous enough, loving enough to give them your spot, smiling with delight as you watch them enjoy every moment of it?

H x

‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.’ (Phil 2:3-4)

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The worry stone

Poor little Zoë faced her first major rejection today at school. This evening she struggled to fall asleep because she was worried the same thing would happen tomorrow.

We talked about it.

We prayed about it.

But she still felt sad, and my mummy heart was hurting for her.

Then came the idea. I grabbed a random pebble and a kinder egg capsule.

‘Zoë, this is a worry stone.’

Her eyes lit up with curiosity and her lips curved into the hint of a smile.

‘A worry stone?’

‘Yes. It’s a very special stone. You need to give it a name. Its name is what you’re worried about. Then you put it into this wee capsule. Close it up. Then I’ll take it into my room for the night so you don’t need to think about it and if you want to we can open it again in the morning.’

We named the worry stone and she solemnly and ceremoniously snapped the little yellow capsule shut.

‘Maybe I’ll just keep it under my pillow in case I need to open it during the night?’

‘Are you sure you want to do that? I can look after it for you and we can think about it together again tomorrow.’

She reluctantly handed it over. Then I saw the relief wash over her, the weight lifting and the eyes closing.

Sleep came quickly after that.

Have you experienced rejection recently? Or is there something you are anxious about? It’s healthy to talk about it. It’s wise to pray about it. But unless we choose to hand that concern over to the only One who can look after it for us, we may well find ourselves holding on to that little capsule, keeping it ‘under our pillow’ during the night, just in case we want to wake up and keep worrying about it.

It’s hard to release those things into God’s capable hands, but it’s also a major relief.

What would you name that little stone today?

Snap that capsule shut and hand it on over 🙏

You might just find you are given the relief, rest, and peace you need. ❤️

H.

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Keep feeding them, and they’ll keep coming back

It was such a joy to see the sun splitting the trees today! I loved seeing the blue skies, feeling the warmth on my face and hearing the birds sing. ☀️ 🐦 🎶

It was such a nice day, in fact, that after I picked Eden up from school I thought it would be nice to have a wee picnic outside on our garden table (which we’ve hardly used since we’ve bought it; such are the joys of Northern Irish weather.) 🌞 🌧 ❄️

We didn’t bank on the chickens, though. Our chickens are bold wee things; they can’t seem to take the hint. When you try to shoo them away from the door, they just stand stubbornly stationary, even if you accidentally clip their toes trying to shut them out.

Well, as soon as we started into our sandwiches, the chickens flew up on our knees, pecking at our plates for a bite.

I thought- ‘I’ll give them a few crumbs, and maybe they’ll leave us alone.’

Big mistake; once they got a taste for it, back they came, again and again.

Eden said nervously, ‘I think I’ll eat mine inside,’ and trudged into the house, with the hens in hot pursuit.

It got me thinking.

How often do we make the mistake of feed ing bad habits, unhelpful thoughts, or unreasonable demands, thinking – ‘if I give in a little, they’ll give up’?

Let me tell you, this is the worst thing we can do.

Ever heard the phrase, ‘if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile?’ The same principle applies to so many other things we let run free range in our life.

💭 Don’t allow yourself to feed your mind on negative thoughts – or you’ll come to believe them, and they’ll keep coming back.

🦶 Don’t dip your toes back in that destructive relationship; you’ll be pulled right back in before you know it.

🙋‍♀️ Stop trying to live up to everyone’s expectations, or they’ll keep overstepping.

We’re currently considering a cordoned off area for our precocious and pesky free-range hens. Perhaps they just need some firmer boundaries…

What do you need to put in place to ensure you don’t give the energy-drainers, joy-stealers and peace-takers in your life free range?

Otherwise, they’ll just keep coming back for more. 🐔

H x

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The day I fell out of a tree: moving on from past wounds

When I was seven, I looked a little bit like a blond version of Mowgli from the ‘Jungle Book.’ Scrawny frame, all arms and legs, and a straight bob that swung from side to side as I walked. 

And it suited me, because true to having grown up in the African bush, I was a little wild. I loved lizards and spiders and grasshoppers and frogs. At boarding school, I spent my time making mud pies, skidding across the shower room floor, and making forts out of bamboo shoots. Every year, at the first smell of rain that marked the end of the dry season, I was one of the first to dash out to the football pitches, arms raised in expectancy, dancing in celebration as the deluge that came shortly after soaked us all to the skin.  

But most of all, I loved climbing trees. One afternoon at boarding school, I was with a group of boys who were trying to outdo each other by swinging between the branches of a little grove of guava trees.

Now if you know me at all, you’ll know I’m not one to succumb to peer pressure. It’s just pure stubbornness on my part really. But on that day, I remember the feeling as they began to taunt me, saying I was too ‘chicken’ to join in. And so began a brief moment of madness. I just had to prove my worth. It felt a little like Anne of Green Gables walking across the apex of a roof to prove to Gilbert Blythe that she was ‘every bit as brave as a boy.’

But as with poor Anne, who soon came down from the roof with a bump, pride came before a fall. Guava trees have bark that peels off all too easily. As I jumped from the first branch and clung to the next, I came right off it, with the piece of bark in my hand. Before I knew it, I was lying on the ground, feeling pain that I’d never felt. 

Then followed a eight hour car drive to hospital, over roads with more pot holes than tarmac. I had been climbing since I was six months and had never once fallen until that day, but on that journey I subconsciously decided I would never climb a tree again. I had back problems for years – all stemming from the shoulder fracture I sustained that day. It wasn’t until after an X-ray in my twenties and three intense months of Chiropractic treatment that all was put to rights.

But that wasn’t the worst part – for years I missed out on what I loved best because of the fear of experiencing that awful pain again. A little of the daring and wild in me was lost that day.

Can you look back to a time in your life when a painful event opened a wound that has never quite closed? Maybe it was a conflict at home, a disappointing church experience, a shaming experience as a child, sudden bereavement, unexpected surgery, or a moment of betrayal. Perhaps as a result you have subconsciously withdrawn from people, put up walls around your heart, or stopped doing the things that used to give you life and joy. 

Maybe now’s the time for a heart x-ray. Ask yourself what’s holding you back from going there again. Get whatever treatment you need. Face the fear, let go of the hurt, resolve the disagreement, step out of the shadow of shame, or open up your heart. Don’t let the fear of what might be stop you from experiencing what could be. Find your inner Mowgli again. Start dreaming, start climbing, start learning, start talking again. There are plenty of trees left to climb, and this time there may not be a crowd of boys teasing you.

H x 

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Living a #nofilter life: who are we when no one is watching?

Kids have a way of humbling you in front of other people, don’t they? Parents never forget some of those red-faced moments. Like the time when Zoë told someone I barely knew that, ‘Every time mummy gets on the scales she is heavier,’ or blurted out to a crèche volunteer, ‘You couldn’t go anywhere near our car, it’s full of dirt.’ Both statements were true at the time, of course, but definitely not truths I wanted all to hear!

It’s well-known that young children have no filter. Filtering our thoughts and opinions before we say them out loud is something we learn to do as we grow up. Not enough sometimes; a little too well other times. Yet just as we learn to hold back comments that might hurt people as we get older, somehow at the same time we become accustomed to hiding much of our true selves from those around us.

Bill and I watched ‘The Social Dilemma’ recently. It’s a documentary about the how social media manipulates human psychology – including how using it contributes to poor self esteem, anxiety and depression. I tell you, it was pretty concerning, as well as thought-provoking.

One of the problems with social media for mental health is the pressure to present our best selves online. The best of our pictures, angles, memories, family activities – you name it. Let’s be honest – it’s tempting for all of us to present the world with an unrealistic picture of what we look and live like.

But when you’re living a ‘filtered’ life, how much of yourself are you actually letting people see? Who are you when no one is looking? And how much of a difference is there between the two? Everyone has struggles, problems, flaws, hurts and insecurities. We don’t need to share them all with the world, but neither should we pretend we have it all together!

And here’s why:

We are made to be ‘instruments’ not ‘ornaments’

True impact only comes when our motivation is to become an instrument for others’ flourishing, instead of just an ornament for their admiration.

Think about it; if our public persona only ever includes idyllic family photos, sparkling surfaces, glamorous achievements and flawless complexions, what effect does this have on those looking on? They may admire us, but is the person they are admiring even real? And are we impacting them for good, or simply perpetuating a destructive cycle of comparison and inauthenticity?

Some of the most impactful people on social media are those who began their journey seeking to encourage, to comfort and to build others up by bringing a bit of reality to online platforms.

Take Kristina Kuzmik, for instance. After moving to America from a war-torn Croatia and facing divorce, single-parenting, poverty and depression, she found herself wanting to provide the support for others she so desperately needed during those challenges. She’s now a worldwide icon of real-life motherhood; but she has never strayed from her core motivation: to be an instrument of encouragement.

So a good question to ask ourselves before we post something online might be, ‘Is this purely ornamental, or could it impact someone for good?’ If it’s more often the former than the latter, we may need to click the #unfilter button for a time.

We are made for connection above impression

I have never felt more deeply connected to my husband than after I had major surgery. It was far from glamorous for us both, I can tell you. On one level, I found the vulnerability of not being able to shower myself or dry my own hair really difficult; but on another, it was deeply intimate and precious. As I learned to receive support from him in my helplessness, we bonded on a richer level than ever before.

When you sacrifice your desire to make a great impression and replace that with true connection, nothing can replace the level of relationship you get to have with people. When you allow them into the unvarnished world of you – with all your fears and flaws – and they still choose to love you and draw close, it’s the most beautiful thing. Think about it, if people – even your family – think you’re self-sufficient, you only ever give them the opportunity to love you from a distance.

I love my friends who are open about when they get it wrong. Shared stories about parenting fails, work blunders, and relational mistakes bring us closer together. I want to spend time with them, because there’s not this pressure to have it all together. It’s comfortable. It’s natural. It’s deep. It’s liberating.

Connection always involves vulnerability. It’s not comfortable, and it can result in hurt if you are rejected as a result of being yourself. But we owe it to others, and we owe it to ourselves not to pretend. What’s the point in being loved, if you’re being loved for something you are not? But when you’re loved exactly as you are, and you seek to do the same for others – now that’s something truly special.

We are made for service, not self-promotion

One of the questions I love to hear my work colleagues ask is, ‘How can we better serve our users?’ It may be hard to believe, but they actually mean it. That really is their primary focus. And when that’s the pervasive attitude in a company, any marketing strategy becomes more about benefitting the people they are reaching, than earning prestige or acclaim.

What a rare ethos in a world that is so often too interested in getting ahead! It’s counter-cultural, but incredibly powerful. And it’s the way we are supposed to live. Consider the fact that the Creator of the universe chose to come to us as a humble servant. Paul tells us in Philippians to ‘Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.’ And as John Maxwell says, “The best place for a leader isn’t always the top position. It isn’t the most prominent or powerful place. It’s the place where he or she can serve the best and add the most value to other people.”

What would happen if we focused less on the amount of likes we get, and more on the value we could add to others’ lives? How would our ‘timelines’ look? What would we post about? What filters would we remove?

Maybe we can redeem the ‘social media dilemma’ after all – if we choose to ditch superficial edits and live a #nofilter life. If we seek to become an instrument of healing over an ornament for admiration. If we invest more in unvarnished connection than we do in maintaining a good impression. If we spend more time in service than in self-promotion.

The question is not ‘can we?’ – but ‘will we?’

H x

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Store it up for a rainy day: The power of encouragement

We all have those days, don’t we? You wake up on the wrong side of the bed, it’s pouring with rain outside, and before you know it you’re in tears over a comment that wasn’t badly meant but just hit you in the wrong place.

❌ Days when you feel unappreciated or taken for granted.

❌ Days when you are swamped by a loss of enthusiasm and courage.

❌ Days when you find it hard to distance yourself from negativity.

But then there are the moments that make you realise your perspective is all wrong and your focus needs to shift. And have you noticed that words are often pivotal for turning things around? Kind thoughts expressed verbally can make all the difference to a weary heart.

I’m forever trying to get my two girls to tidy up after themselves (if you’ve achieved this in your family, please share your secrets with me!)

Yesterday was one of those days. I heard Bill threatening the kids upstairs about their bomb site of a bedroom, and I smiled as I remembered one afternoon when – after I had tidied up the living room for the tenth time – Zoë took my hands in hers, looked me right in the eyes, and said genuinely and empathetically – ‘Mummy, I think I finally understand. You always clean up for us, and it’s a really hard job to do all on your own. You just want someone to do it with you.’

I couldn’t stop the tears welling up in that moment. 

‘Yes!’ I thought. ‘You actually get it! You may not care at all by tomorrow, but you do understand today.’

Somehow things didn’t seem quite so gloomy after that.

My dad emailed me a lovely note a while back. He’d watched a talk I did online, and he took the time to write me a few lines on how great he thought it was. 

And you know what words struck home the most? ‘I. Am. Proud. Of. You.’

Why did they touch me so deeply? Not just because my primary love language is words of affirmation – because they came from someone whose opinion really matters to me.

Another day, Bill and I were chatting about how he’s constantly trying to improve things and he suddenly came out with this: ‘You know, I couldn’t improve you, even if I tried. I wouldn’t ever want to change you.’

That was the ultimate compliment. The crème de la crème of encouragements. I’ll treasure it forever. Why? Because although Bill is constantly drawn to improve things, and he knows me better than anyone, he appreciates me just as I am (asides from the way I serve cereal, and butter toast, and lose car keys, that is … 😂)

Still, intentionally gathering up these moments in the same place and saving them for a stormy time is a powerful way to defeat discouragement.

My Dad used to say when he got a nice letter or sentiment on a card, ‘I’ll put that in my encouragement file.’ And he did – a literal file that every so often, on the hard days, he’d open and read through to lift his spirits.

So I have an encouragement file now too. It helps to remind me that there’s always a silver lining in a depressing black cloud. Recent research suggests that because our brains are hardwired to focus in on the negative, we need five positive comments per one criticism to perform at our best.

But the good news is that we can re-new our minds by fixing our thoughts on what is ‘true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable’ – by thinking about ‘things that are excellent and worthy of praise’ (Philippians 4:8). Sometimes we need to train ourselves how to focus on the good in order to grow gratitude and beat despondency in our hearts.

My manager at work is brilliant at this. She’s got such a positive outlook on life and people, and quite often she will end her work emails with, ‘Appreciate you.’ What a difference that simple phrase makes!

So when you find yourself feeling down in the doldrums, open your encouragement file. Whether it’s a journal, a ringbinder, a desktop folder, notes on your iPhone, a designated email account, or a collection of recorded voice memos – relive those golden moments, thank yous and affirming words in a place where they can’t be washed away by rainy weather.

My encouragement file not only lifts my spirits, it reminds me to stop and acknowledge those who otherwise I could easily take for granted. It prompts me to appreciate those in my life who are with me through thick and thin.

Let today be the day you speak only the good you know of other people and motivate others to do the same. We all have the power to lift a loved one up when they’re having a bad day. Use it!

H x

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When Good Enough is Perfectly Good Enough

The first twenty months of my firstborn’s life lulled the self-confessed perfectionist in me into a false sense of security.

After a relatively textbook labour (still grim, mind you – what birth isn’t?) I was so grateful to meet my little Zoë – a little rainbow baby after the loss of our first child through ectopic pregnancy. Zoë’s name means ‘the life God gives,’ and I felt so privileged to have been given this little gift that I determined I would work as hard as I possibly could to give her the best start in life.

Many of those early days and long nights were spent lounged on the sofa feeding, watching Netflix series as my selfless hubby brought me countless glasses of water and plates of food. I cuddled my baby as often as I could; sang nursery rhymes to her every every morning; taught her colours, words and letters with great enthusiasm; took endless photographs; and tenaciously noted down every milestone reached.

Don’t get me wrong, it definitely wasn’t some kind of Mother Earth Eutopia. I had lip-curling moments of pain, months of sleep deprivation and plenty of times when I felt down or overwhelmed. But all in all, I really enjoyed those first months of being a mum, and I thought, ‘maybe I really am up to this challenge.’

Then our precious little Eden came along, and instead of the peaceful paradise her name would suggest, all too soon my life descended into the chaos of motherhood I had heard about from others.

An unfortunate chain of events began when I became ill with a chest infection after labour, followed by a full year of sickness within the family. There were hospital stays, collapses from physical exhaustion, and weeks of isolation – all undergirded by a horrible sense of guilt that I just didn’t have the energy to lavish the same one-on-one attention upon Eden that I had been able to give first time around.

Feeding on demand alongside an equally demanding toddler pushed my already struggling body to its absolute limit. Then came several months of high anxiety; fears of what would happen when the next illness came along, horrible premonitions of tragedy, topped off by a real loss of confidence.

For the first time ever, I felt completely incapable of holding all my responsibilities together. I struggled when things didn’t go to plan and I had to rearrange and cancel appointments. It had been a long time since I felt I was truly doing a great job.

Over the period of a few months – with lots of prayer and encouragement from loving family, friends and mentors – I came to realise something totally life-changing: ‘good enough’ is actually perfectly good enough. Because while I was constantly worrying about how I was ‘doing’ at parenthood, I was missing the moments right in front of me to be savoured, treasured and enjoyed.

Now, I am so thankful that things are different. Not perfect at all, mind you, but rather perfectly good enough.

Yes, I may be a mum who is frequently late to the school gate, muttering muted threats under her breath of ‘… if you don’t … I will …’

Yes, I may often be seen frantically chasing my eldest, pulling her frizzy golden locks into a half-hearted ponytail, with the little one clinging onto my coat tails to avoid being left behind.

Yes, I may often be seen in my street red-faced from embarrassment, as I yell out my front door (again) at my children who are running around my front lawn in their pyjamas.

Yes – pretending not to notice the smirks of surrounding eyewitnesses at the shopping centre – I do wrestle a protesting daughter number 2 back into her car seat, flop into the driver’s position, take a few breaths, let out a dramatic sigh, and trundle off pathetically to McDonalds drive thru for a coffee – to ‘recover’ from the whole debacle.

And yet, I have the absolute privilege to be around everyday for my children, to take them for outings and adventures, and to soak up their shining smiles when they catch sight of me after I’ve been at work for a few hours. Understanding that for both of them, just being present and loving consistently is more than ‘good enough’ and so it should, in turn, be ‘perfect’ for me, has changed everything.

And do you know what the most encouraging thing is? This recovering perfectionist is now increasingly able to laugh at herself when things go wrong, embrace the beauty of the moment for what it is, and be thankful in the midst of it.

Can you?

Maybe, just maybe, today you need to hear that you are ‘good enough’, and that – all things considered – you are quite simply ‘perfect’ for the family and friends God has gifted you with.

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The power of the One

They call him the ‘Australian angel.’

He was the man who lived beside ‘The Gap’ – a natural beauty spot where lots of people attempt suicide every day.

For over 50 years, Don Ritchie watched through his window for troubled souls, then came close to meet them at the point of their need.

Standing at the edge of the cliff, deliberating whether or not to end it all, many a hopeless individual heard softly-spoken words from this compassionate stranger, ‘Why don’t you come for a cup of tea?’

Seemingly insignificant words, but since 1964 they have saved at least 160 lost souls from the precipice of death.

Wow! What a legacy, and what a reminder of the power of one. The power of one to impact one life, after life, after life.

Have you ever doubted that your life could make a difference?

It may be time to start believing differently.

It can be so tempting sometimes to focus on numbers; likes on Facebook, attendance and crowds. But what about the ‘ones,’ and the ‘ones’ those ‘ones’ will impact?

Someone once gave me a word of encouragement that has never left me.

They said, ‘The impact of your life is a bit like walking along the seashore across the sand, picking up shells as you go. Those shells you lift along the way represent the lives you have touched. Before you know it, you’ve walked the length of the beach. A little love each day can go a very long way.’

Sometimes we can expend so much energy into thinking about how we could make a big difference; but in so doing we miss the small daily differences, which over time, add up to big ones.

Who are we standing in ‘the Gap’ for? Which ‘ones’ can we look out for and love? Who do you know that is on the edge of breakdown, or financial ruin, or discouragement?

And if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, remember you serve in the power of the greatest One to ever live, love, serve and save.

🌱One Rescuer

🌱One cross

🌱One empty tomb

🌱One victory

🌱One salvation

Jesus was the only One who could ever stand in the Gap for all of humanity, forever.

Never forget the power of the One to change the world. Start with the ‘One’ right in front of you, and see where it leads you!

H x

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Is your trial a tunnel to get through or a bridge to a better you?

‘There’s light at the end of the tunnel.’

We hear this phrase all the time, and I’ve found myself saying it too often over these last few months. “When this is all over, I will…” “When things get back to normal, we’ll do …”

I’m fast coming to the conclusion that I’ve been thinking about this all wrong.

In his leadership podcast – ‘Developing the leader within you’ – John Maxwell explains how, when we are in the midst of a struggle, we can either adopt either bridge thinking or tunnel vision.

When you’re crossing over to something new, enjoying the scenery as you travel, you’re on a bridge.

When you’re going through something, willing it to eventually end, you’re in a tunnel.

In other words, there’s a difference between going TO something and going THROUGH something.

Trials shape us, there’s no doubt. They change our perspective, our attitudes to people, our philosophies for life.

But many of us falsely believe that we have no control over how our circumstances impact us. In fact, the opposite is true. The attitude we adopt towards difficulties has a massive influence over what we learn from them and accomplish through them.

How so?

The bridge

Well, on a bridge there’s a view. There’s beauty. There’s open space and a higher vantage point to see ahead. When you see the trial as a bridge, you gain greater perspective on where you’re coming from, and where you’re going to. Your focus is on your destination, but you’ll still benefit from the journey.

If we can think about this time as a bridge to perseverance, creativity, self-care, innovation and learning; if we can view it as an opportunity to cultivate patience, better attitudes and more love for others – who knows how beautiful our lives could look by the time we get to our destination?

The tunnel

In contrast, in a tunnel all we can see is darkness, until we come out the other side. If we view our difficulties with tunnel vision, we may well eventually come out into the light, but we will emerge groggy and bleary eyed.

Inside a tunnel, it’s challenging to think about anything but yourself, and it’s hard to keep outward looking and others-focused. At the end of a tunnel, you might be relieved, exhausted, dazed or gasping for air. But you definitely won’t be invigorated or have the energy to love and serve others as you otherwise could.

Crossing over

Do you feel like you are crossing over from an old ‘normal’ to a new, daunting way of living? Waves of grief come with that process. It’s only natural.

If we are not careful, our trials can become tunnels in our lives, and we miss all that we can learn during the transition.

Let’s not be tunnel people and become so preoccupied with the darkness that we will miss what can be learned, what can be cultivated, what can be enjoyed along the way.

Let’s see our hardships as a bridge – a bridge to making us better – better at learning patience, better at loving others, and better at living life to the full.

H x

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New year, new pyjamas, new you

About fifteen years ago, my ever generous mum-in-law gave me a pair of pyjamas (*incredible to think she was my boyfriend’s mum then – I loved her then, and now more than ever.*) They were the most comfortable pair of ‘jammies’ I have ever owned. But they were also leopard print, fleecy, garish and shapeless (see feature photo for close up😊). I was sceptical at first about how they looked, I’ll admit. But from the moment I put them on, I knew me and those pjs were in for the long haul. I LOVED them.

Year after year, regardless of how many new pairs friends bought me for Christmas, how many times Bill pleaded with me to throw them out, and regardless of how unattractive they looked, I just could not say goodbye to these pjs. They were comfort personified. They held memories of girlie sleepovers, movie nights, cosy days by the fire, and chaotic weeks in the house with newborn babies – all rolled into one.

Then this Christmas, something stirred within me out of the blue (or maybe it was the lovely royal blue tracksuit Bill bought me this year.) 😆

Either way, somehow I knew it was time to finally let my favourite old pjs go.

And in a way, 2020 – with all its change and uncertainty – has forced each one of us to let certain things go. It’s stirred something in all of us. It’s made us uncomfortably and consciously aware of all the luxuries we relied on year after year. It’s sharpened the edges of our comfort zones, exposed our garish indulgences, and reminded us of a sentimental desire to hold on to things that just make us feel good.

But maybe it’s time to embrace the new blue tracksuit of life and accept that things just aren’t the same anymore. To explore the new places there are to run. To understand that, for now at least, less is the new more; missing out is the new chilling out; that emptier calendars can lead to fuller minds and souls, if we so choose.

So, as I don my new (hopefully) more attractive tracksuit and finally say goodbye to those old pjs, perhaps I’ll be able to recognise the treasured memories wrapped up in what was, while at the same time putting my bravest, best (and potentially fittest) foot forward for what’s to come.

2020, we choose let go all that we need to let go of; and 2021, we choose to ‘wear’ you with all the dignity, energy and courage we can muster!!

H x

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What does your pet peeve say about you?

I was at a wonderful online course last week called ‘The Boundaried Life’ by Katherine Purcell – check her out at KP therapy on Instagram; she’s got so much wisdom to bring! The whole evening was full of gems to live your life by, but one principle she shared really stuck with me.

Your pet peeves point to your core values.

Let me explain. Often when we find ourselves saying yes to things we don’t actually want to say yes to, it’s because we don’t have a strong sense of our core values.

Many of us never take time to think about the principles that actually motivate our choices and decisions. But when we find ourselves burnt out it can sometimes be because:

1) We’ve never reflected on what should be guiding our decisions, or

2) We are struggling to balance the inward tugging of two or more things that we really value.

So here’s how it might look.

One of my biggest peeves is laziness, which points to how much I value productivity. Problem is, one of my other core values is meaningful relationships. So sometimes my desire to be productive in tasks conflicts with my desire to spend time with the people I love. At Christmas, I really enjoy making little gifts for the wonderful people in my life, but sometimes I get so busy doing that, my quality time with those very people is affected. The answer? Simplify, or start putting together presents much earlier. (I Haven’t quite mastered this tension yet, by the way 😂)

How about you?

😡 Maybe your pet peeve is rudeness, in which case one of your highest values is respect.

😡 Or, if you detest snobbery, you may well cherish equality.

😡 If you don’t like people who break the rules, perhaps you really value structures and authority.

😡 If you really struggle when people are distracted by their phones, you may well esteem quality time above a lot of other things.

😡 If undone dishes, disorganised drawers etc really stress you out, you are a person who thrives on order, and is in tune with their environment.

😡 If you can’t condone lack of initiative, you prize self-motivation and taking the lead.

What do your pet peeves say about you? How can you avoid getting frustrated and burnt out?

Maybe you could think about what your core values are and how they could affect what you choose to say yes to in the future.

Or perhaps you could brainstorm new ways to balance out things that are important to you in your life.

H x

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When you’re asking yourself if you’re making a difference, remember that the tip of the iceberg is all you see

Have you ever wondered, ‘Is what I’m doing making any difference whatsoever?’

Maybe you’re a parent trying to extract yet more endless patience from somewhere inside you. You find yourself guiltily longing for someone – anyone – to acknowledge the sacrifices you willingly make every hour, on the hour. In those moments, you don’t see the well-rounded adults your children could become as a result of your long-suffering.

Or, perhaps you’re working super hard at your job and you feel unappreciated and undervalued. You’re ploughing through endless amounts, but you feel like what you do isn’t making a tangible difference to others. All you seem to be getting back are problems and complaints. You don’t see the customers whose day you make brighter with your smile; the colleague who needed your kindness that day; or the manager who is secretly inspired by your work ethic.

It could be that you’re a teacher who invests huge amounts of time, emotions and creativity with seemingly very little appreciation in return. You’re pouring out day after day, but you feel taken for granted. You don’t see how instrumental your efforts are to the confidence those kiddies will have when they grow up.

Maybe you feel discouraged by the lack of ‘likes’ or ‘shares’ you receive on social media platforms. You feel unpopular and unnoticed. But you don’t see the person who was feeling stressed out and low until they read your post, or listened to that encouragement you put out there.

Let me encourage you today never to measure the fruit of your labours or the impact of your life only by what you see.

Because what you see is only the tip of the iceberg.

I had an experience recently which was weird and encouraging all at the same time. I’d written a poem and had messaged it to a WhatsApp group I was part of. A few days later I got a message from someone saying – ‘A friend from Scotland sent me this; it really encouraged me; I hope it encourages you too.’ I read the message, only to find out that it was, in fact, my own poem. Bizarre! I never would have found out it had been shared all around the country if this lady had not sent it on to me, not knowing I had written it.

This funny coincidence taught me something important. We will never know the true extent of how our lives impact others. This shouldn’t prevent us from continuing to pour ourselves out – on the contrary – it makes it all the more important to keep doing those seemingly insignificant things to bless others, because cumulatively they make an immeasurable difference.

I was thinking this week in particular about the influence teachers and leaders have over our lives.

🍎 I still remember my P1 teacher’s smile. It made me feel like she was happy to see me. It made me feel like I was loveable!

✏️ Then there was my wonderful English teacher at secondary school, who impacted me forever when she identified a gift for writing in me and encouraged me to pursue it. Her affirmation was a huge part of me having the confidence to step out and do it.

🍔 I’m also forever grateful to one youth leader in particular, who drove me to youth group every Sunday night for seven years, and sat with all of us in McDonald’s afterwards. He showed me commitment and practical love by example. Cumulatively, He modelled what it was like to walk through life with someone and watch them grow.

👱🏻👨🏻‍🦰 Or my mum and dad, whose effervescent wisdom has led me through so many complex and difficult situations in my life. I take their principles and values with me everywhere I go.

What an investment! You can’t express it, encapsulate it or define it. It’s immeasurable, unquantifiable, incalculable. It’s the shaping and forming and moulding of the life of another, through the little loving and selfless things you do everyday – consistently and generously.

Often you’ll not find out about how these seemingly insignificant acts made a difference until much later, and sometimes never.

And remember, for every one positive message you have received, there are many that you didn’t, and many people whose lives have been powerfully influenced by your presence.

So, whether your invest your energies, encouragements and investments in:

📚 life-long learning

💖 contagious kindness

👧 positive self image

👊 hope in despair

💷 Relief to poverty

💪 endurance in weariness

… keep going! You may not see all the results, but Van Gogh couldn’t have dreamed how the world would be enriched by his paintings 🖼, Beethoven couldn’t have envisaged how people all over the globe would be soothed by his sonatas 🎶; and Anne Frank never imagined how many people would read her diary 📔.

They only saw the tip of the iceberg, and so do we.

Let’s live with the great expanse under the water in mind.

H.

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🎁 The best gift you could give your kids for Christmas 🎁

Anyone else’s kids in the process of writing their Christmas wish lists?

Last night I realised – with exactly a month to go until Christmas – it was probably as good a time as any to get started, so I got the toy catalogue out, took a deep breath, and began the process. Writing Santa lists feels a bit like going down a rabbit hole, doesn’t it? Young kids have no idea what’s good for them sometimes, or even a concept of what things cost.

But this time, it all went a bit predictably- at least it did at first.

Zoë: [jumping up and down with excitement] ‘I want an Our Generation doll! Yes, that one with the glasses – she’s called Avril!’ 👧

Eden: [gasp] ‘Wow, look at that dragon!’ 🐉’

Zoë: [chomping at the bit] ‘No wait, I want that jungle Lego set… I do, I do, I do!’ 🌴

Eden: [pointing wildly in no particular direction] ‘Look at that dinosaur!!’ 🦖

Me: ‘Ok, girls, you can each choose two things from the catalogue. Deal?’

Zoë- ‘Deal!!’ 👍

But just then, Eden says, ‘mummy, I want to give you a cuddle.’

Hugging her close, I said, ‘Aww thanks, Eden, what’s that for?’

‘Because mummy, YOU are my present’ 🎁

Aww, my heart. 💓

And what a wonderful reminder, just at the right time.

In all the fun and chaos of getting ready for Christmas this year, remember this:

YOU are the gift your kids will love most this year. Your love, your attention, your affection. Your presence is the best present.

🎁 They’ll forget by this time next year all the gifts they received, but they’ll never forget how you make them feel.

🎁 They’ll enjoy the fun of unwrapping what’s under the tree, but they’ll never forget what values they saw unfolded before them as they grew up.

🎁 They’ll receive your gifts with joy and excitement, but nothing will compare with the joy of loving parents cheering them on, and being an effervescent support underneath and around them in life.

But one thing I’m going to try to do most intentionally this year – besides offering Zoë and Eden the best of myself – is to keep reminding them of a Gift far beyond myself. A Gift that surpasses the best I could ever offer. A gift that cost more than any other. The One whose presence brings joy unspeakable. The One who offers life abundant and free.

His name is Jesus.

H x

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No regrets: it’s time to do what you’ve been dreaming about.

Have you been having vivid dreams lately? If so, you’re not alone. Since March of this year, people all over the world have reported having intense and unusual dreams on a regular basis. Contagion, social distancing, health dilemmas and relational strains are just some of the things the world has been dreaming about.

Sleep experts tell us that dreams are a way of working out our deepest concerns on a sub conscious basis. The pandemic has disrupted our schedules, and has made the unconscious more alive to us than ever.

But many of us have been thinking about life dreams during this time, too. Often the deepest dreams our hearts carry exist only beneath the surface for much of our lives. Many times we never take time to deliberately examine or explore them. The uncertainty of the last few months has prompted many of us to take stock and take steps towards fulfilling some of those inner desires that we’ve harboured deep in our hearts.

💓 Some have discovered dreams to be stay at home parents and are exploring whether they could live on one wage as a result.

💓 Some have started to put our talents out there and share them with those around; from crafts, to cupcakes, to original music.

💓 Some are on their way to becoming foster or adoptive parents.

💓 Others have realised they need a career change and are currently re-training online, or have gone self-employed.

💓Still others have decided to move towards major lifestyle changes, like moving to the seaside, for example.

It’s well known by now that some of the biggest regrets people have at the end of their lives are not doing more for others, not working at relationships, not spending more time with family, living according to others’ expectations, not finding fulfilment and not pursuing their dreams.

Do you sense dreams burning in your heart but don’t know where to start?

Here are some questions that might help you do just that.

1. What do you love doing?

So many of us think of work as work and free time as doing what we enjoy. But what is it that gives you goosebumps when you think about it? What makes you laugh harder than you’ve ever laughed before? If you have any kind of opportunity to make those things your work as well, make it happen!

2. What would you gladly do for free?

Take time to consider what, if you didn’t have to work to financially support yourself, you would do for free? If money wasn’t a consideration, what would you contribute? What could you innovate? Who would you love to help? And how could you reshuffle your priorities to make room for those things?

3. Who do you love?

Most times your personal dreams will involve those closest to you. Think about who is top priority in your life and move from there.

Your family is irreplaceable and precious.

Good friends are rare jewels that need looked after and cherished.

But there are also those you feel ‘called’ to invest in. Who is most heavy on your heart? The orphan? The poor? The enslaved? The abused? The homeless? The elderly? Never let those who are closest to your heart become a fringe priority, because you are burdened for them for a good reason.

4. What do people say they love about you?

If you are having a hard time identifying your best character traits, talents and gifts, write down what others have identified in you. Do your friends say you are generous and giving? Do they admire your creativity and passion? When you’re having a hard time finding the gold within you, let others call it out.

A list of dreams

Put all these things together and make a list of dreams. Here are five from my top ten, for example:

💭 I dream of writing things that encourage, heal and bless others.

💭 I dream of walking alongside hurting people until they reach wholeness.

💭 I dream of inviting people to stay in our home so they can have a real rest.

💭 I dream of having a close relationship with my kids when they reach adolescence and adulthood

💭 I dream that my friends will feel part of my family

No regrets

So:

If you had one day left to live,

What would you say, and what would you give?

If this moment was your last on earth,

What dreams would you dream, what ideas would you birth?

This time has cut comfort with a knife

And taught us of the fragility of life.

But it’s also brought what’s important to mind

To love, give and serve – and most importantly – be kind.

H x

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Feeling all wrung out? Self care for emotional sponges

‘Mummy, it really hurts me in my tummy when other people are sad.’

Zoë’s wee eyes filled up out of the blue last night. Concerned, I asked her what had happened.

She described how she had seen someone in her class hurt her friend’s feelings.

‘But they didn’t hurt you, pet.’

‘I know, but I felt it.’

‘I know how you feel, honey.’

[And I really do.]

Soak it up

Looks like Zoë has inherited her sensitive nature from me. There’s a reason I don’t watch the news regularly or read too many traumatic stories on Facebook: I’m a super-sponge for emotions. Sometimes the intensity of feeling is so heavy it’s as though I’m staggering under the weight. When there’s tension in the room, I feel it in my head. When there’s sadness all around, I feel it in my gut.

Yes, it’s a gift to be able to empathise, but I’d love to be able to rein it in a little more often – especially when I’m trying to sing at a funeral or comfort someone without breaking down. I also feel intense stress when I see a need but don’t have the resources or energy to respond as I’d like.

So many of us are experiencing this at the moment with all the difficulties that COVID has precipitated, and in witnessing the suffering of so many in all kinds of ways.

Yet those in caring roles have always had to manage what psychologists call vicarious trauma.

Vicarious trauma is the emotional residue that is left when we become witnesses to the fear, hurt and wounds of others.

Over time, we can absorb this to such an extent that it just becomes too heavy; we lose our ability to carry any more and we start to feel the negative effects of it in our life.

💤 Disturbed sleep

😡 Irritability

👀 No concentration

😔 Low motivation

😴 Fatigue

🧠 Headaches

💭 Absentmindedness

So if you’re like me and you’re a bit of an emotional sponge, here’s some things you can do to make sure you don’t experience the above symptoms too often.

Let it out (gently)

When you squeeze a sponge, it instantly feels lighter and it gets some of its bounce back. However hard it feels, talk to someone you trust about what you’re carrying. Don’t open up to people who won’t listen sensitively; you don’t want to expose yourself to more pain. But if you share with a gentle and tactful person, You’ll feel so much lighter and you might even get that spring in your step back.

Hang it up (temporarily)

Everyone needs a break, sometimes. A sponge is made to tend, to wash, and to cleanse. But sometimes it just needs to be hung up and dried out before it becomes useful again.

It’s the same with us. There are moments we need to feel the breath of the wind on our cheeks and get a bit of space around us to feel ready for the next step. Don’t feel bad about that. You’re not lazy or hard hearted, you’re just refuelling.

Rinse off (regularly)

If you don’t give your sponge a rinse now and again, you’ll get nasty mildew and mould going on.

What de-stresses you? A walk? A shower? A coffee with a friend? Time to blog or journal? It’s amazing how a little time to rinse off the grit of the day can refresh you and reduce the pressure of feeling intense feelings non stop.

Don’t get wrung out

… or should I say, wound up. When you waste your emotional energy on the wrong things, you won’t have anything left for the right things. I can be so guilty of this sometimes. Ask yourself, will this stressor matter in five years time? If not, limit the amount of emotional energy you invest in it.

Fit for purpose

So if you’re a sponge, celebrate it as a gift! You’ve been designed that way for a purpose. But remember, you gotta take care of yourself or you’ll become rough around the edges and of no use to anyone!

H xx

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Clinging on for dear life

‘For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven…’

(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

I looked out my kitchen window yesterday and noticed an apple or two still on my tree.

It looked like they were just clinging on for dear life, just hanging on by a single twig.

Anyone else feel a bit like that these days? Sometimes I feel like I’m holding on by the skin of my fingertips to those ‘summer’ days long past.

🍎 The days where hugs weren’t a memory and crowds weren’t a hazard.

🍏 The days of dinner parties and cosy movie nights with friends.

🍎 The days of indoor play dates and real life music concerts.

🍏 The days when you could hold someone who was grieving and visit someone who was sick.

When I was a kid one of the rides I hated most was ‘the Waltzer.’ We used to go to the fairground at Ballywalter when I was staying at my granny’s caravan, and my cousins would persuade me to go on that ride.

As the button was pressed and our car began to spin freely while rotating around a centre point, I still remember that dizzy feeling of clinging on for dear life, closing my eyes, stomach churning, and willing it to be over.

The thing is, looking back now, wanting to feel safe and secure robbed me of the enjoyment of that ride, every time! I should have just joined in with my cousins’ laughter and embraced it for what it was.

You see, trying to cling on to the past can cost us dearly.

If that little apple on my tree would just let go and drop gently to the ground, it would release nutrients to the ground to prepare the tree for its next bumper crop.

But if it stays attached to the branch too long, it could attract bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases that might ultimately kill my whole tree.

It can be a bit like that for us, too.

I wonder, can we gently release that friendship that the other person has ended long ago – before it becomes detrimental to our souls?

Can we release the hurt someone’s words caused us – before it begins to taste bitter?

Might we let go of the ‘old’ imperfect normal and embrace a new one, however different it might be from what we imagined? Can we do this before nostalgia threatens to steal our joy in the present altogether?

If we keep clinging on to what we can’t get back, we will find only decay and stagnation.

But if we allow ourselves to free fall into the unknown, we could fall into new ways of nourishing and enriching others. We might even discover that our influence spreads as we allow our lives to become fruitful in a different way.

What will you choose?

H xx

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We’ve never come this way before

We’ve never come this way before
But now we’re in:
Uncharted waters,
Undiscovered lands,
Unplowed ground, and
Unprecedented times.

My world has never stopped before
But now I see
Deserted pavements,
Abandoned airports,
Empty restaurants, and
Vacant buildings.

We’ve never known this pain before
So many feel
Searing separation,
Prolonged isolation,
Unsustainable stress, and
Unspeakable sadness.

We’ve never felt so lost before
But now it’s time –
To admit our failures,
Confess our weakness,
Acknowledge our need, and
Accept our frailty.

We’ve never trod this path before
But it could be:
A road to hope,
A journey to freedom,
A trail of justice, and
wrongs forgiven.

We’ve never had the space before
But now we can:
Revisit values,
Reset priorities,
Reinstate rest, and
Restore our faith.

What will we choose in seasons new?
What will it be;
Will we stand still?
Will we press on?
Will we look back, or
Will we look UP?

We’ve never walked this route before
But someone has;
A sovereign God
Who’s seen the end
Before the start, and
Knows our hearts.

And this dark road leads back to Him
The Morning Star,
The Brightest Light,
Our Beacon shining
In the night – He’s
Ever close.

Yes, we are on the edge of spring
Winter will end,
And time will heal;
New life will come!
We’ll see the Sun, and
Come forth whole.

H xx

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A trip down memory lane: Five of the best (and worst) things about the nineties

The nineties are gone, but they are not forgotten.

It was my golden era.

Coming from the depths of the African jungle, I cut my teeth in British society during this decade. Forget swinging from trees and collecting grasshoppers, I was now making up dance routines in my garage- and I thought I was the bees knees!

And yet, nostalgia is such that when things seem too good to be true, they probably are. And so instead of looking back at this decade with rose tinted glasses, it’s worth laughing about some of the idiosyncrasies about it, too.

The radio pop chart on a Sunday

When you’ve lived in the West African bush for years, your exposure to popular culture is limited, to say the least. I’ve always been a researcher- so as an anthropological exercise (well, actually to try to develop some street cred), I listened religiously to the charts on a Sunday afternoon so I could learn some names of bands and impress my new buddies.

The negatives?

Well, trying to record songs from the radio on an ancient tape recorder is hard work. If you miss the cue, you’re sunk. There’s no second chances.

Also, we were always on the way to church during the top ten, which was less than ideal. Then of course my dad would switch to Classic FM on a whim or turn the engine off when we arrived (I mean, did he not understand how important this was??)- and inevitably I would miss out on who had taken the top spot.

Ah well – I’ve still not figured out the street cred thing anyway.

Inflatable furniture

Anyone else think these were the BEST THING EVER at the time?

I mean, I had a whole suite in my single bedroom. I think I even stretched to a pouffee at one point that I got as a gift in SHOUT magazine. This flexible furniture was great for entertaining friends; that is, until you inevitably got a puncture or leak. Heartbreaking times. Those things weren’t great quality, to be fair.

But do not despair- just in case you thought it was gone forever… inflatable furniture is now making a comeback! We can now all look forward once again to the beautiful plastic fragrances and the comfort of thigh tacky PVC!

Ironing your hair

Frizzy hair? Who needs straighteners? Why not use an actual iron? The pluses… you already have one in the house and they certainly get the hair straight as a die.

My friends and I used to walk to corner shop vainly swinging our long and luscious locks behind us. However, burn marks in the carpet and scars on your face were a hard price to pay- not to mention a few singed ends from time to time.

I think my bestie still has a mark on her floor to tell the tale…

The Spice Girls

I mean, who doesn’t want to get platforms on and dress up as a pop star? The worst thing is, though, when you look nothing like any of them you end up fighting with your friends according to which one you want to be like.

In my head I was most suited to be sweet and pretty baby spice, when in fact I was probably more of a feisty ginger spice at heart. Now, when you look back, it’s amusing to think – how did we spend so much time wondering if we were more Baby, Scary, Posh, Ginger or Sporty… I mean, was it ever really cool to wear an upcycled Union Jack-emblazoned tea towel? Hindsight is a wonderful (and cringeworthy) thing. Especially when you are doing performance to no one – in front of a mirror – on a handmade stage in your garage.

I dare you to get out some of those old videos of you dancing with friends and have a good old laugh at yourself.

10p mix-ups

I remember the good old days when you could actually get ten sweets for ten pence. Forget sleep-deprived, I was severely sweet-deprived in Africa, where the chewy sweets always seemed to taste like soap and the Mars bars smelled of plastic because they had melted and re-hardened so many times. We had tuck shop at boarding school once a month, and the selection was limited.

‘You only ate sweets once a month?’ I hear you gasp in horror.

Yep. Pretty much!

So imagine my delight the first day I saw a pick and mix counter. The joy was unspeakable, the excitement palpable. It wasn’t an anti-climax, either.

Nowadays, you take your ten sweets in a stripey bag, and just because you got to choose them yourself you’re charged a fiver for it. No wonder all the grown ups monopolise the pick and mix carts at weddings. They know a good opportunity when they see one!

Currently trying to think of something bad about 10p mixups actually being 10p…

Nope, nothing.

What do you miss about the nineties? And is it actually as good as you remember? Should we leave it there, or bring it back?

H x

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To be a parent is to eat humble pie: 8 myths I believed before I became a mum

If there’s one thing that serves to humble me on a daily basis, it’s being a parent. One of the reasons for that is that things I vowed I’d never do before I became a mum tend to come back to haunt me…

🍰 Slice 1. ‘The kids will work around us’

It took me a ridiculously long time to come to terms with this one. But I’ve finally accepted that children are not actually as flexible as I thought they could be, and that it’s ok to work around them for a more peaceful life – especially when they are three and under.

I’ve always had a bad habit of attempting to accomplish too much, but some of the things I’ve tried to do with babies in tow have – looking back – been completely unrealistic. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but if I could go back to the start, I’d be a lot kinder to myself, and to the little ones too.

🍰 Slice 2. ‘I will honour every social commitment I make.’

Before the girls came along I was a stickler for arrangements. No matter what happened, if I said I’d be there, I would be there.

What I didn’t count on were the new variables of wakeful nights, daytime naps and unforeseen sickness.

Maybe there are some babies out there that never get sick, sleep on command and always fit effortlessly into their parents’ schedule, but this is pretty far from our experience, I’ll tell you.

If you don’t facilitate naps, it’s often not worth taking them out at all. Grouchy toddlers are no fun for anyone. If I’ve slept a total of two hours, I’m not going to be able to be the life and soul of the party either. Sometimes it’s just better for everyone to reschedule.

It also helps the frustration levels if you can hold arrangements loosely, because as life would have it, as soon as you plan something, the kids inevitably get sick. In short, before kids I was convinced I wouldn’t sacrifice my plans for my little people. Boy was I wrong!

🍰 Slice 3. ‘I’ll never let them watch screens’ (or at least only educational programmes.)

Ha. Ha. Ha.

In this day and age, this goal is a pipe dream. Keeping screen usage down is a continual battle in our house. The more tired you are and the earlier your kids get up, the harder it is to be disciplined about this.

Yes, I have endured many episodes of the psychedelic and completely random Night garden. I’ve also watched random kids playing with barbies on YouTube who somehow have managed to get millions of views despite their mindless chats and awful accents.

Screen time has reaped some unexpected benefits, however. At bedtime prayers, Eden has been known to thank God for things I didn’t even know she knew existed. Turns out ‘Blaze and the Monster Machine’ taught her what kinetic energy was. Who knew?

🍰 Slice 4. ‘I’ll never let them have sugar.’

This, my friends, is one hundred percent mission impossible; at least in Northern Ireland, where we live.

Even if you decide not to give your children sweets, other people will; most of the time without asking. The old lady at the park, the shopkeeper, Kids’ clubs … you name it. It’s almost like children have ‘give me sweets’ written on their foreheads. At Halloween, it’s candy apples and trick or treat collections, at Christmas it’s selection boxes, at Easter it’s Easter eggs, and in the summer it’s ice lollies and candy floss.

The only way we have been able to have some control over this is to limit portion sizes to ‘one in each hand.’ But we know that won’t last long…

🍰 Slice 5. ‘I’ll never make empty threats’

‘Bye! We’re leaving without you!’

(Which of course, you can never actually do.)

‘If you don’t do x… we’ll tell the babysitters not to come.’

(and before you know it, you’ve cost yourself a date night out.)

The whole consequences thing is draining and tedious. We all know in our heads consistency is key. But we are doing this drill day in day out, and in the heat of the moment, threats that actually cost you more than they cost them tend to slip out.

So do I follow through every time? No, I don’t. It’s an unfortunate reality, but reality all the same.

Slice 6 🍰 ‘They won’t eat things I haven’t already paid for at the shop’ 😂

I used to think when I saw kids opening a packet of crisps before they got to the till – ‘like can’t your children wait just another ten minutes?’

Let me tell you, ten minutes is a long time when the baby is wailing and the hungry toddler is whining. I’ve now lost count of the times I’ve opened a multipack just to get me through the last aisle at Tesco. Let’s be clear though, I do pay for it at the till!

🍰 Slice 7. ‘My children will only drink water’

Well that’s ok, if they will actually drink water. If they won’t allow it to pass their lips, you’re choosing between juice and dehydration.

Five years into this parenting thing, I’d rather have a child who drinks than doesn’t. Zoë prefers water over juice; at times Eden will only drink juice. But the phase passes, and really, there’s bigger battles to worry about.

🍰 Slice 8. ‘I won’t bore people by talking about my kids’

For years, I struggled with conversation about nappies and sleep and milestones etc. Every time I started talking about that stuff, I either felt like I was being boring or that somehow I was losing my ability to have intellectually stimulating conversation.

Now, I realise that yes, I am a mummy, my girls are a big part of my world, and as long as I am sensitive about who I am speaking to, I don’t need to feel apologetic for the fact that my kids are a major part of my life.

I’d start to get worried if they were the only thing I talked about, but neither do I need to try to avoid talking about them.

🥧 Humble pie ain’t so bad after all!

Is it hard to have these myths busted on a daily basis? Sure it is. But all in all, perhaps eating a slice or two of humble pie regularly isn’t a bad thing. It keeps us grounded, normal and a whole lot less judgey. And truth be told, I’m starting to enjoy the taste.

H x

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A question that could change your life

I visited the drive thru at KFC with the kids some months back. It was one of the first days it had opened after lockdown, so the queue was massive. Unfortunately, this created a bit of difficulty for the people trying to get in and out of the carpark. Or so I realised, when I found myself sandwiched between two cars, and a very grumpy looking lady started blaring her horn at me to move.

Instantly, I could feel the irritation rising up in me.

‘Can’t you see I can’t go anywhere?’ I mouthed.

I gestured rather self-righteously at a way for her to mount the kerb around me.

She wound down her window. Uh oh.

‘Love, I’m not going over the kerb and wrecking my wheels. You’re blocking my way. You need to reverse.’

Suitably under pressure, I tried to manoeuver my way out, but my reverse parking sensors started to blare. I raised my arms helplessly.

She smirked surreptitiously. ‘Look lady, I’m a lorry driver. I know what I’m doing, I’ll direct you out.’

And so, slowly, and painfully, I did a 50 point turn with the whole place watching.

By this stage, I was seething. But then she had the cheek to say, ‘Try not to block any other customers now, won’t you?’

The steam was coming out my ears by now. But just as the frustration bubbled over, Zoë piped up, ‘Wasn’t that so kind of that woman to take the time to help us out?’

Ouch.

It reminded me of the question that changed my life a few years back. The question that helped me to begin refusing to be ruled by my own exacting standards or expecting the same from others.

What would happen if I assumed the best?

What would happen if I gave this person the benefit of the doubt?

Or, put another way, what is the most generous assumption I can make about this person right now?

Let me tell you, I was not feeling generous towards that woman at KFC. But in her childlike simplicity, Zoë reminded me in that moment that I could at least be hypothetically generous.

So… what if this woman’s general manner just happened to be brusque, and she was actually being helpful?

Hmm, that was perhaps a bit of a stretch.

But what if she was late to an appointment already and my lack of basic observational skills (and spatial awareness) was stressing her out? Yes, that was more likely. Ok, I’d probably feel the same in that situation. So I just need to breathe and let it go.

You see the difference the question makes? In your head it transforms someone from being rude and ignorant to harassed and stressed. That may or may not be the case, but starting from the positive helps you deal with the situation in a much more constructive way.

Are you finding yourself scratching your head or frustrated by the way someone is acting?

You might not be feeling like giving them the benefit of the doubt, but you could start with a hypothetical question.

For example, if someone overtakes you on the motorway at what you consider to be a dangerous speed, your first reaction will often be, ‘How irresponsible!’ (That’s the clean version). I wonder would you feel differently about their behaviour if you discovered they had an injured person in the car or were rushing to hospital to visit a dying relative? You’d find yourself praying for them rather than glaring at them.

Or, if you need an employee to answer an urgent work matter and they aren’t picking up, instead of getting annoyed or frustrated you could think, ‘Well, to be generous I might assume that this person had a family emergency and therefore couldn’t respond to me when I needed them to. I wonder are they ok?’ Now you’re concerned instead of cross.

Or perhaps your friend continually cancels meet-ups last minute, and you assume they can’t be bothered. I wonder if you knew they’d been suffering from panic attacks for months, and hadn’t plucked up the courage to tell anyone yet? Instead of taking it personally, you’d be asking them what you could do to help, wouldn’t you?

See how simply asking the right question could change the whole dynamic of the situation, as well as your own mood, at least until you find out what’s really going on?

Maybe it’s time to stop evaluating people based on what we think they should accomplish, and start respecting them for who they are. As Brené Brown puts it, our lives immediately become better when we “work from the assumption that everyone is doing the best they can.” This assumption may not always be correct, but neither are the negative judgements we can make so quickly.

Everyone is fighting battles we know nothing about. If we can practice choosing kindness and generosity, we will become kinder and generous people all around. If we assume the best, we become better.

So the next time someone does something that makes your blood boil, try asking yourself that question, and see if it doesn’t help you cool down and chill out.

Over time, it might just change your life.

H xx

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The hamster and the covid test 🐹

Ok, so this isn’t one of my proudest parenting moments. But I’m going to share it because no doubt most of us will have to go through this rigmarole at some point in the next few months, and as well as being mildly amusing (only in hindsight, I assure you), let this be a warning not to promise rewards in the moment you aren’t willing to deliver on; you may regret it.

A lot of you parents will already be familiar with the current dilemma – your child develops a cold, then starts coughing, so you need to get them tested before they can go back to school or attend doctor’s appointments.

This happened with Eden a few weeks back. I was desperate for her not to miss any more school, so the test got booked. The day started out well; we chatted lightheartedly about a little ‘tickle’ up the nose, then the plan was to do a McDonald’s smoothie as a treat afterwards.

Let me tell you, the half-hour drive to the test centre was the ‘smoothiest’ part of that day (couldn’t resist the pun, sorry 😂). We got there, they gave me the test kit, and I read the instructions in blissful ignorance. ‘Take your time,’ they assured me. ‘There’s no rush. If you need any help, just put your hazards on.’

‘Pfft, who needs help?’ I thought. ‘I’ve got this!’

The angry cat 😾

It was just myself and the girls in the car. ‘Ach, we’ll have a wee girls’ day out,’ I’d thought (uncharacteristically optimistically).

But my first mistake (of many) was not bringing Daddy with us, because as soon as Eden laid eyes on that cotton bud, she morphed from her usual cuddly kitten self into an angry tom cat in the front seat beside me. Back arched, reversing, growling, immediately she began swatting her little paws at me.

Oops, there goes the swab.

[Hazards on]

Red face.
New swab
New tactic.

The puddle protest 💦

‘Right Eden, here is a sweet, you may eat the sweet WHILE I put this stick up your nose, got it?’

Eden stuffed her sweet into her mouth, but as soon as I moved the cotton bud in her direction she melted into a puddle of tears and flopped herself down so far in her seat that the sweet strategy became logistically impossible.

The kind attendant saw the chaos, came over and tried to sweet talk her into it. All he got were frowns and grimaces. He suggested we come back another day. I assured him we’d get there eventually.

The wailing (brick) wall 😭

He suggested I let her watch a programme on my phone. That got the swab up for two seconds, but then pure chaos descended. Eden literally threw herself about the car, crying as hard as she knew how. By that stage, I was crying too. Zoë just kept saying, ‘my ears hurt, my ears hurt, my ears hurt,’ over and over. We had hit a (wailing) brick wall.

Desperation descended. All reason went out the window. Eden had flung herself into the back in an attempt to escape my clutches, so I had to clamber, (very awkwardly I’ll add, since I wasn’t allowed to exit the car), into the back seat, and plead with her:

‘Honey, we’ll go to McDonald’s and you can get a muffin if you’d like.’
‘Sweetheart, you can pick a toy in the shop.’
‘Pet, do you see the other GOOD children in the car park who aren’t making a fuss?’
‘Look, there’s a unicorn in the sky!’


I tried pinning her down. She was too strong.
I tried telling her off. She was past it.

By now we had been there two hours. Yes, TWO hours.

The rash promise 😬

I was done.

‘Eden, what do you want most in the whole wide world?

‘A hamster.’

Will you put this up your nose if I give you a hamster?

‘Yes.’

Ten seconds and the test was done.

I beeped my horn and the man came over.

‘Wow,’ he said, ‘you are one persistent mummy. Most people would have given up long ago. Well done.’

I just smiled through the watery eyes. I’d been humiliated enough. He didn’t have to know about the hamster, really.

And it’s a good job I didn’t tell him.

Because I was about to get even more embarrassed. We’d been sitting there that long with the music on that my car battery had gone flat. So a whole team of COVID test centre employees had to push my car so I could jump start my way home.

What a day.

And now, I have to deliver on my promise. Soon a hamster will be joining our family.
Good job we’ve already got a name. If he’s a boy, he can be Covid. If she’s a girl, Corona works quite nicely.

What’s the moral of the story?

In the heat of the moment – no matter how bad it gets – never promise what you’re not willing to deliver on. Because it may just come back to bite you 😂

H xx

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Kids making a mess?: Six reasons to let it go, for a while anyway

Most of us are able to look at the chaos in the kids’ bedrooms or playroom and laugh it off, roll our eyes, or even sigh and shut the door.

Most of the time, that is.

There are moments, though, when it all just gets too much. We step on a plastic pineapple or a stray piece of Lego and we snap. Out of nowhere, a stream of threats come thick and fast…

‘You better watch or the hoover will get your toys,’

‘Those things will be going into the roof space if they don’t get put away, fast!’

We’ve got a running joke with a friend – affectionately named ‘Auntie Beth’ – that she ‘will come around some day with her bin bag when you’re not there, and if she finds these toys on the floor, into her bin bag they’ll go!’

Shame on us, eh? Maybe none of you make those kinds of threats 😉 But if the mess is getting you down, here’s six reasons to not be too down in the dumps about it.

1. This is normal

Mess is totally normal. Let’s face it – what most people’s houses look like on Instagram is not what they look like from day to day. Especially those with young children.

There are those who thrive on tidy and are experts at it. But they are few and far between.

So if you find odd socks and toast mixed in with your duplo once in a while, it’s fine.

2. Mess may be in the genes

Yes, you can ‘train a child up in the way they should go,’ but I’m not entirely sure this totally applies to messiness. Bill nicknamed me ‘Cinders’ when we first met. My mum was very thorough in preparing me for life; we did lots of chores and tidied up regularly. But am I still messy? Yes, I am.

Actually, now most child psychologists agree that messiness is predominantly an innate personality trait. That’s why, from an early age, children will usually lean either towards lining up and organising their toys, or dumping them out on the floor.

What’s the lesson here? Do your best to train them, certainly, but don’t think you’re failing if they don’t always catch on.

3. You may be teaching independence

At one point in my early teens, my mum gave up nagging me to tidy and let my room become my responsibility. At that point, I got creative and enlisted help from my childhood bestie. Suddenly, tidying became lots more fun! We played games while sorting through all the stuff and letting my gerbils run wild in the midst of it.

Are you ready to give up on keeping on top of the clutter? Look on the bright side. At an appropriate age, allowing independence in this area can actually pay dividends.

4. Learning is messy sometimes

Maybe learning is actually a messy process. Some mums crack up when the toys are mixed up. But what if the Disney princesses wanted to go to the aquarium that day? Kids don’t play by manufacturers’ rules when they play. The world is their oyster. Let them play with more than one thing at a time, if their scenario requires it. After all, their play is their work, and their work is their learning.

5. You learn to function in mess

Ever heard the phrase, when a room is cluttered, your mind is cluttered? That is true, to an extent. Mess can negatively affect your mental well being, but only over a prolonged period of time. And maybe it’s partly because, especially in Northern Ireland – mess has such a stigma attached to it.

I remember the houses I loved going to the most as a kid. And I’ll be honest, they were the ones where mess was ok. Where your imaginative scenarios weren’t interrupted. Where you were given freedom.

A little untidiness from time to time can actually help you feel comfortable in a range of environments. Win win!

6. Mess isn’t wrong

This one is really important to remember. Order is nice. It makes us feel capable and in control. But sometimes disorder is beautiful too.

Like when the leaves fall from the trees and gather in a heap of fiery hues. Breathtakingly disordered.

If creation itself is messy, then it’s not a bad thing if our homes are from time to time.

Don’t mind the mess!

If kids are always pressured to put a toy away after they are finished, then maybe the play adventure ends before it’s supposed to.

Depending on my mood these days, I usually just leave the playroom now until just before bed, where the tidy up song is played.

Recently I’ve also put half of the toys in the roof space, and plan to do a switch in a month’s time. That’s why even the messiest it gets won’t be as messy as it could get.

Whatever your approach to mess, at the end of it all remember that one day you’ll miss that mess and the memories it created. Really, you will!

H xx

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The struggle is real, but what will we let it bring out in us?

Watching the live news updates on BBC the last few nights, I’ve been struck by the disparity of the comments, coming one after the other.

Sharp criticisms.

Cutting sarcasm.

Venomous words.

Coarse humour.

I’ve felt the force of the frustration and the upset of the unknown.

I’ve felt pity for the leaders speaking; human beings who are trying to do their best at an impossible balancing act, but who have become the targets of collective anger.

I’m feeling for the people who are feeling the loss of livelihoods. I feel the fear of business owners who don’t know if they will survive this time round.

I am devastated for special needs families who have gone so long now without vital support. They must be on their knees with weariness.

I feel the disappointment of those who have weddings coming up and for whom everything is up in the air. Should they postpone or forgo their once-in-a-lifetime dreams? It feels like an impossible decision to me.

I feel afraid for domestic abuse sufferers who are indefinitely confined to their private nightmares. Where can they escape to now?

I am gutted for grievers who are not feeling the physical presence of those mourning with them. How can they cope without someone to hold them close?

I am disappointed for our kids who have just got into a routine of education only for it to be unsettled again.

The struggle is real. The challenges are closer than ever, for so many.

And yet, I find myself dreaming… longing and praying, with:

Hope that we will stop allowing ourselves to be so divided by our opinions

All of us can so easily fall into the trap of callously labelling and categorising people. This is not a case of the ‘faith-filled versus the fearful.’ Or the ‘reckless versus the ‘responsible.’ Or the ‘selfless versus the selfish.’ All of us have good days, and bad. Days where we make wise choices, others where we make the wrong ones. Days when we are fearful, and days when we are brave.

So often we are so consumed by what separates us that we forget what we all share. We all have in common the human condition of being finite and prone to weakness and frailty. If we acknowledge our shared finitude, we can be united in it and strengthened by the fact that, we are not alone. No one else gets it right all the time, either.

Hope that we will stop pointing the finger of judgment

Oh we are so good at judgment. Suspicious glances at the person behind us in the shop who is coughing. Shaking our heads in disapproval when we see guidelines aren’t being followed. Glaring at young people who aren’t ‘social distancing.’

We aren’t so good at self examination though. Whatever happened to the plank/s in my own eye? Please God, open my eyes to see what I need to fix in my own life before I become so focused on fixing other people’s behaviour.

Hope that we will see through the lens of compassion

I’ve loved some of the crowd funding initiatives I’ve seen on Facebook recently. Fundraising for operations. Dieting for charity. Climbing mountains for a good cause. Donating clothes for people in need. It’s amazing to see the compassion rise up in people as they understand and respond to genuine need.

And let me suggest that what we all need right now is a good dose of compassion.

Because when we look at one another with compassion, people cease to be an inconvenience, or a hindrance, or an irritation, or an enemy. They are just people. People with good points, great points, poor points and ugly points. People with a story. People who need grace, just like you and me.

What will this (very real) struggle bring out in you and me?

Yes, this time is super hard for everyone, for different reasons, and in very different ways. Crises have a potent power to divide. To intensify the judgmental tendencies within us. But challenges also have the potential to bring out compassion in us.

There’s a very special kind of plant that blooms in the aftermath of forest fires. It’s called the fire poppy. For fire poppy seeds, intense heat is their very signal to sprout.

What if, when we are under stress and duress, what bloomed in our life was compassion first, always, every time?

We are all human

We are all finding this hard

Let’s not label or point the finger

Let’s let this furnace bring out a blaze of compassion in us rather than a flame of judgment.

The struggle is real, but what will we let it bring out in us?

H xx

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An operation in resilience #2

Today my wee Zoë is having follow-up surgery on her arm. She smashed the bone just under her elbow in June and had plates and screws installed. I wrote a post during her first operation – I’ll admit, it was partly to distract myself from pacing the corridors and going out of my mind.

This time around, she’s getting the metal work out. And just like last time, we’ve been pushed down the theatre list because higher priority cases came up.

Just like last time, Zoë has spent all day without eating or drinking.

But this time, I am able to be with her. And now, as she’s being operated on and I’m sitting on my own in the ward, I’ve found myself thinking, ‘what have I learned from the last time?’

Back in June, as she was being operated on and I was crying my eyes out in the carpark, I realised that resilience has very little to do with how you feel, but everything to do with how you respond.

This time round, I feel just as tense, just as helpless, and just as emotional. And yet I’m more at peace that this is simply a natural way to feel as a parent. How I choose to respond is much more important than my emotions. So this is what I’ve tried to do this time around.

Hospital selfie

1. Go with the flow

If there’s one thing the last few months of this pandemic have taught us, it’s that things change all the time; often unpredictably, and not in the direction we’d like.

What in the world can we do? The only thing we can do. Go with the flow.

Back in June, I became so frustrated that the timescales kept shifting and the plans kept changing. But this time, I chose to let reality be reality, accept it and look at the big picture. We are not the only priority for the medics caring for us, and they are doing it beautifully. So we just make the best of it; and that’s what we’ve been doing today:

⁃ Playing tic tac toe

⁃ Practicing writing our letters

⁃ Colouring in countless mermaids

⁃ Working through an activity book

⁃ Enjoying some crafts

⁃ Drawing pictures for the nurses

⁃ Playing memory games

⁃ Practising some rhyming flash cards

⁃ Modelling putty

⁃ Listening to music

⁃ Watching programmes

Each time Zoë asked, ‘When am I going for my operation?’ I responded as brightly as I could, ‘Hopefully soon!’ – and changed activity.

When things keep shifting, go with the flow.

Mouse craft 🐭

2. Look for the gold

Let’s not forget that the purest gold is forged in furnace temperatures. When we are feeling the heat in life, the opportunity is presented for golden qualities to rise to the surface.

Now that’s she’s in theatre, I’ve realised that what has made me so happy inside today is how Zoë seemed completely unperturbed by the situation she found herself in. She smiled and made polite conversation with everyone, and was just a ‘delight,’ according to the anaesthetist’s assessment.

I’m realising again just how proud I am of my daughter and the joy and fun she brings to others’ worlds. I’ve also admired her maturity today about not being able to eat, as well as having to wait so long.

I’m sure many parents whose children are in hospital regularly find themselves feeling this immense pride over and over again- delight at the strength and beautiful characteristics that come out of them in those moments. It doesn’t mean they don’t have their sad, emotional, and even angry moments. But it does mean that the gold shines through them – even, and sometimes especially- in hard times.

In challenging times, look for the gold shining through in the people around you.

3. Take time to dance

As the op was put back yet another hour today, wee Zoë started to flag. By now, she was super tired, and ravenously hungry.

Then I had a eureka moment.

It was time to dance.

I put on ‘The Nutcracker’ and her eyes lit up. She did a beautifully wholehearted (if slightly staggery) performance, and then (somewhat out of character), I jumped up and joined her of my own volition.

It was a good job the door of our side room was closed, because me doing ballet is not the most graceful sight to behold. Between the two of us there were more clumpy feet and disjointed timings than there were pointed toes and synchronisation. But as we swayed and she giggled, I thanked God once more for the beautiful relationship we have.

There’s days when we just gotta take time to dance (no matter how bad we are at it.) In fact, the hard days are the best days for it. For a split second, I forgot that we were in a hospital ward, and it was just me and my girl, painting our own beautiful moment in time.

I’ve just heard the wee pet is in recovery. And at the same time as remembering what it’s like to breathe deeply again… Here’s what I’m going to try to remember next time I’m in a situation anything like this:

…Go with the flow

…Look for the gold, and

…Take time to dance!

Are you facing a situation at the moment that you could affectionately name an ‘operation in resilience’? Have you been here before? If so, what lessons can you apply to right now?

H x

Brave girl post op
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On the days you just want to go back to bed…

Anyone else in the same boat?

One morning a few months ago (and there have been many since!), I pulled the covers over my head and said ‘No thank you’ to the new day. Yes, you heard me, this imperfect pastor’s wife does not always wake up warbling, ‘This is the day that the Lord has made,’ and neither do I always ‘rejoice and be glad in it.’

That day, my kids got the bleary-eyed, grumpy, uppity and woozy me- so much so, in fact, that they gave up trying to badger me out of bed, went downstairs on their own and made themselves chocolate porridge. I admired their independence, I have to say…

My kids keep finding reasons to get up early. I don’t really understand it, but they seem to waken earlier in winter, when it’s still dark and the street lamps are still lit. And especially the days when it’s pouring with rain!

The day before, it was 5 am because the tooth fairy had left a pound coin under the pillow.

That day, it was someone stealing someone else’s bed.

Tomorrow, it’ll be one child poking another awake and asking about dreams from the night before.

So, how do you make those groggy winter mornings a little more bearable? Here’s what we’ve tried these last few months. And believe me, we’ve needed all the pick-me-ups we could get!

1. Start the day with positive words

When your child, husband, or animal puts their freezing cold hands/paws on your face and wakes you up with a jolt, it’s a good idea not to say what you’re tempted to in that moment…

A better alternative might be, ‘Good morning- I love you! We are going to have a great day.’ See if it doesn’t make you feel a bit different! (I’ll have to try that one tomorrow 😊).

But if you need to follow that statement with, ‘But it’s still the middle of the night, so I’ll see you when it’s actually morning,’ that is more than acceptable.

2. Put on some music or an audio book

It’s amazing what listening to songs or stories can do for your mood and motivation. If you’re a parent, a happy tune or a sunny kids’ story often does the trick. Zoë can be really bouncy in the morning, but if you give her something to listen to, she’ll be more likely to concentrate on colouring in or doing something a bit calmer than talking non-stop or launching herself off the furniture.

Time for a coffee, I think!

3. Have a shower and get dressed

This one might seem obvious, but when you’re at home all day, it’s very tempting to stay in your pjs. My advice (from a wealth of experience) 😂 is, don’t! It’s remarkable how much better a shower and a fresh outfit can make you feel.

4. Lay out your clothes the night before

The days I am running around like a mad person looking for a missing school sock are not the most harmonious. I’ve started putting all our clothes out on the sofa just before I put the kids to bed. If you know everything is laid out and ready, you’ll immediately be more relaxed when you first open your eyes. In Instagram lingo, it might actually even make you feel more like the organised mom and less like scary mommy.

5. Don’t hit the snooze button

“Hitting the snooze button in the morning doesn’t even make sense. It’s like saying, “I hate getting up in the morning so I do it over and over and over again.” (Dimitri Martin, Comedian)

So many of us do this all the time, don’t we? But what’s the point! I’ve come to terms with the futility of this exercise. We are awake, so we might as well just be awake! Let’s not prolong the pain!

6. Set your heating to come on for wake-up time

This, my friend, is a very simple thing. But it can be a game changer. I remember growing up we lived in a big cold house in East Belfast. If you were freezing, you just put on a jumper. I still remember how cold the floor felt in the middle of winter. 🥶

Bill, on the other hand, grew up in a small, scorching house. He wore shorts in the middle of winter. Now, two having become one, we try to find a happy medium. The heating on in the morning but not much during the day we find to be a balanced approach, and makes crisp mornings much cosier all round.

How do you make cold winter mornings more bearable?

H x

“Morning is wonderful. Its only drawback is that it comes at such an inconvenient time of day.”

― Glen Cook, Sweet Silver Blues
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Screen fatigue and digital addiction: a family experiment

We’re all tired of screens, but we’re all also addicted to them. It’s making us sick. And tired, too. Here’s three tips for beating the digital blues.

‘Screen fatigue’ is a phrase we are hearing a lot these days. Employees are complaining of being exhausted after long online meetings. Some are loving online church, others struggle to stick with it. Meeting virtually keeps us connected, but we miss real people interactions. We enjoy seeing people’s faces, but we’re uncomfortable seeing our own staring back at us.

Some parents are stuck home with the kids isolating and are running out of other things to do. People whose income depends on online interaction find themselves sucked in 24 hours a day and longing for a break. And so the pendulum between screen fatigue and screen addiction swings back and forth until we are dizzy from it all.

The thing is, smart devices are useful. Too useful. They have calendars, internet banking, games, Amazon, Google, Zoom, social media platforms, Bible study apps – everything you need in your hand. For most people, they’re just too useful to set down altogether.

But it’s not just their usefulness that pulls us to constantly check our phones. It’s obligation. Work communications. Relational connections. Every time the phone buzzes, many of us feel like we have to reply right away. (If you don’t think that’s you, try not reaching for your phone when it buzzes. You may feel more uncomfortable than you thought you would!)

We all want to reduce how much tv we watch and the time we spend on social media. Yet as if it wasn’t challenging enough in ‘normal life’ to cut back on screen time, our ability to regulate our screen usage in the ‘new normal’ has become even further out of reach when we are required to work remotely, socialise online, and interact on school apps and Facebook pages.

Chatting to people, I’ve found that over lockdown they’ve often gone one way or the other; they’ve either put the phones away altogether because they found online stuff too draining- or else they’ve become more and more drawn in to the online world.

But what about the side effects of screen time?

I’ll be really honest here… the following is not an unfamiliar scenario in my house:

The stillness of the morning is broken by the shrill whine of child number 1 or 2, ‘I wanna watch something.’

The neighbours are then treated to a cacophonous crescendo of disagreement about what to watch:

‘Dora’

‘Elsa and Anna’

‘DORA!’

‘Elsa and Annnnnaaa’

DORRAAAA!!

[Resounding wails.]

Mum groans while dad runs to intervene. Or vice versa.

Great start to the day, huh? Please tell me I’m not the only one??

I wonder, if we really considered the potential costs of too much screen usage for all of us, would this cause us to take more drastic action? Here’s what I notice in myself when I’m on my phone too much:

🤔 Lack of interest or concentration for other activities.

😴 Poor sleep quality

😬 Increased irritability

🤯 Increased anxiety levels

I’ll admit that I haven’t always been convinced screens make a huge difference to these things. But a while back I decided enough was enough when I started to look forward a little TOO much to those moments when some digital character was entertaining my kids, so I could sit in a quiet room with a coffee and a chocolate bar.

So we turned it all OFF. For a week. And let me tell you how enlightening this simple experiment was for us.

Day one. I braced myself for strong feelings and bad moods. In the morning, I explained that for all of us to have a wee break from screens, we wouldn’t be watching tv for a week. There was very little reaction. I planned a busy day; going to the park in the morning, meeting a friend in the afternoon.

Day two. I notice that our pace in the house had slowed down. I was actually getting chores done with the kids in tow. They were ‘helping’ unload the dishwasher and brushing the floor along with me.

Day three. My kids were covering boxes with their creative art, making all kinds of creations out of play dough. They were fighting 10x less a day, and were much more contented and well-mannered.

And I felt more relaxed too. I was letting my phone battery run out and stay off. I wasn’t repeatedly checking facebook or looking for the next of those addictive little red dots. I felt much more present, and I felt like they were too. It actually made me consider whether to ever go back to where we were.

But now, after six months in lockdown, some days we are there again. Agitated, distracted and not sleeping as well.

So here’s my plan for the month of October, along with some ideas that might be useful for you:

Reduce

Limiting the amount of time you spend on devices in lots of little ways can add up to a lot of time!

📞 Take the Facebook app off your phone

⏰ Limit checking social media to x3 a day (after breakfast, after lunch, after dinner)

✅ Cut off the WiFi at 11 p.m. every night (for those of you with older kids, you can an download an app that allows you to shut off your kids’ phones remotely.)

🛌 Don’t use phone an hour before bed

🥰 Give yourself a reward for each of these goals you achieve!

Replace

Replace screen time with something good for your body, mind and soul!

📖 Read a chapter of a novel each night before bed

📅 Set a reminder for your daily devotions

🖊 Do a ‘brain dump’; write down your prayers, thoughts, feelings and worries at some point in the day.

🦆 Do something fun in nature; feed the ducks, splash in puddles, collect conkers or go for an evening power walk.

💄 Slot in a little pamper activity each day; even if it’s a five minute face mask, nail file and paint, craft activity or game of football – whatever helps you relax!

Refresh

Here’s the final, more radical step, that we need to be more disciplined about, but which is totally key to feel refreshed and rejuvenated.

For one day a week – for 12 hours at least, try to unplug everything electronic.

📺’Screen free Sundays’ are a habit some families are getting into.

🎨 Paint, do puzzles, play board games, play music, or bake together. Quality, focused time with family is a beautiful thing.

So how can we begin to beat the screen fatigue and addiction pendulum swing?

👍 Reduce the time spent on screen using a combination of habits.

👍 Replace what you do on your device with other fun things.

👍 Refresh from the digital by withdrawing from it for a day a week.

Next time you see or talk to me, please ask me how I’m doing with this! And If you’ve got some good tips on how you do screens in your house, I’d love to hear from you!

H x

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How to get through a pandemic: Just do the next right thing

‘Just do the next right thing

Take a step, step again

It is all that I can do,

to do the next right thing’

Anna, Frozen

This pandemic has had a way of making us take things day by day, hour by hour, even moment by moment. With the restrictions changing all the time, it’s become so difficult to plan – or even think about – things too far ahead.

I don’t know how you’ve found it, but that aspect has been pretty tough for me personally; I like having things to look forward to! Having kids forced me to become more spontaneous and flexible in general, but the last few months have felt like a step too far. Now, the disappointment of Christmas turning out differently and the prospect of being cooped up at home for yet another six weeks quite frankly fills me with dread.

But there’s one particular piece of advice that is resonating with me as much today as it did at the start of this year and is still keeping me going, for now at least.

Do the next right thing.

1.DO the

2.NEXT

3.RIGHT thing

Whether we are talking about facing a big challenge like navigating another day of grief, or contemplating a small gesture like mowing our neighbour’s lawn, every moment presents us with a new opportunity to make a good, healthy, just, loving, kind, impactful – right choice.

Just DO the next right thing

Yes, no matter what’s outside our control, we always have the power to do something positive. In Theodore Roosevelt’s words, ‘the best thing you can do is the right thing… but the worst thing you can do is nothing.’ And the worst thing for all of us right now is to allow ourselves to become paralysed by uncertainty.

You don’t have to handle the rest of this year, or sort out the rest of your future, all at once. You’re not required to have the day figured out, the week planned out, or every problem solved and settled. But no matter how long the days or how dark the nights, as long as you and I can see the next small thing in front of us to do, and act on it, then dawn will come eventually. One step at a time.

There will be many things we can’t do over the next while. But when there’s restrictions on what we can’t do, we can start by doing what we still can.

Reading more with the kids 📚

Journalling or writing a blog 😁

Doing DIY jobs that we’d been putting off 🔨

Baking for our neighbours 🍰

Writing and recording songs 🎶

Writing to elderly relatives and friends 🖊

Doing online courses or learning a new skill 🏫

Enjoying take-away treats in the open air ☕️

There may be lots we can’t do, but there’s still loads we can do. In the words of Nike, ‘just do it!’

Just do the NEXT right thing

How many hours do we waste worrying about what is ahead? Don’t get ahead of yourself. You have today! You can’t change the past, and you can’t control the future. But life is available in the present moment.

I had this term all neatly planned out. The kids would be at school every morning, I would work while they were at school, and I would be free to do other things in the evenings. Let me tell you, I hadn’t planned for COVID.

But then again, no one did. Between sickness, isolating, and half time schedules, there has not been one week where my utopian vision has been realised.

I have felt a bit frustrated about this, if I’m honest, but I know there are others facing much bigger challenges, and I need to make the positive choice to be present, enjoy the extra cuddles and quality time with the kids during the day, work as and when I can, and make the decision to be flexible.

‘The foreseeable future’ isn’t very far right now. Let’s stick to the now, and the next right thing that’s in front of us to do.

Just do the next RIGHT thing

Someone once said that if you do the next right thing, the next right thing will happen. It doesn’t mean that the consequences of doing what’s right will be easy, but it does mean that we can be confident we are living a life that’s true to the values we hold. The way we make decisions is just as important as the decisions we make. I want to live a life led by values rather than circumstances. But sometimes doing the right thing can feel pretty hard.

A value of humility prompts us to say “I’m sorry” to someone we’ve hurt. 💔 It might not feel good at the time, but it’s for our good.

A value of good stewardship motivates us to be generous to someone in need. 💵 It might mean sacrificing something we wanted to buy ourselves, which might not feel good at the time, but it’s for others’ good.

A value of selflessness allows you to let your partner take a nap while you watch the kids. 💤 If you’re tired too, it might not feel good at the time, but it’s for the good of your relationship.

How we respond to the ever changing regulations needs to be guided by values, not wants. Our behaviour needs to be motivated by the good, not what feels good to us. How can we best protect? How can we best love? How can we best serve?

By doing the next thing that is right.

So the next time all this uncertainty threatens to overwhelm you,

… Start by doing something, when you feel you can do nothing

… Do what’s in front of you, rather than worrying about what’s ahead of you

… Do the right thing, and the next right thing will happen.

H xx

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When your best is not enough

‘Do your best’ is a phrase we hear all the time. We tell our kids to ‘do their best’ and the rest will take care of itself. But what does doing our best mean? And what should the outcome of our best be?

I say this because sometimes without realising it we can unconsciously misinterpret the meaning of ‘do YOUR best’ for ‘do THE best at all costs.’

⭐️ For example, I used to think doing my best meant bending myself both directions until I nearly broke with exhaustion.

⭐️ I used to think doing my best was staying up into the early hours, trying to meet commitments I never should have taken on in the first place.

⭐️ I used to think doing my best was re-reading an email twenty times to make sure there was no mistake in it.

⭐️ I used to think doing my best was forgoing dinner so I could make a planned commitment right on time.

⭐️ I used to think doing my best was meeting the expectations of everyone around me.

⭐️ I used to think doing my best was never missing a note in a performance.

How wrong I was.

You see, doing your best is important, but so is recognising that not only will your best not always be the best – sometimes your best will not be enough.

Yes, sometimes you will invest 110%, only to find it still isn’t enough for those around you.

⭐️ Sometimes your best won’t be enough to get you that dream job.

⭐️ If you’re a boss, your best won’t always be enough to please your employees.

⭐️ If you’re a parent, your best won’t be enough to meet all your children’s needs all of the time.

⭐️ If you’re a friend, your best won’t always be enough to never disappoint.

⭐️ Sometimes the pressure of your circumstances will mean that temporarily you won’t be your best self.

And that’s ok. Really.

Because that’s where grace has the opportunity to abound.

Grace is unmerited favour. Grace is undeserved acceptance. When you experience true grace and learn to give it out, it is life-changing.

Here’s five ways grace kicks in when our best is not enough.

1. Grace accepts my limitations

We are limited beings with limited resources, capacities and abilities. For example, I am just not naturally sporty; even if I gave a 100m sprint my best shot, I’d still probably come in last. I’m also not naturally tidy; I could improve my organisation and do my best to keep on top of clutter, but my house still won’t look like the Joneses down the road.

I’ve also only got so many hours in the day. On the days when it’s my mum’s birthday, I’ve got a report to work on, my kids are off school sick and a friend has an unexpected crisis – I may forget to brush my hair, or fail to make dinner from scratch. And that’s perfectly fine, when grace is present. Because grace knows and accepts our limitations – whatever they may be.

2. Grace is realistic

And that’s because grace is unapologetically realistic. How many times have we expected far too much from ourselves or from friends or family members? But when grace fills our hearts and minds, we are able to accept the frailty of our humanness, and understand that we can’t be all things to all people, all of the time. Experiencing grace allows us to be more sensible about what we can actually achieve, and releases us to put less pressure on others to fulfil unfair expectations.

3. Grace celebrates progress

Grace is not only realistic, it helps us to celebrate when we do achieve something. Even if we have accomplished something seemingly insignificant – like getting to the bottom of the laundry basket or exercising every day in a week – when we have tried hard we should take time to acknowledge that. And even if we fail at something, when we have learned important lessons in the process, then we still have something to be joyful about!

4. Grace extends kindness

Grace assures us that doing our best does not mean sacrificing our mental health or stretching our physical limits out like chewing gum. When we learn to be generous to ourselves even when we get it wrong, how much more will we be equipped to extend kindness to others! We won’t expect our employees to work 60 hour weeks, or our friends to drop everything to speak to us. We can extend kindness, whether it is deserved or not. Do you want to be that type of person? I know I do; giving and receiving grace is the key.

5. Grace sees the heart

Lastly, embracing grace is a journey towards understanding that we are not the sum of your achievements; motivation and effort are much more important. It’s better to do something with a genuine heart and not get it totally right than produce something polished with a terrible attitude.

Your best will not always be enough, so embrace grace

Are you feeling like you aren’t enough today? That’s probably because none of us are, not without grace anyway.

There are some standards we will never meet. Think about it; when the best we could offer wasn’t even close to good enough for God, he gave His best instead – His perfect Son – so He could extend His unmerited favour to us. That is grace.

So next time you’re tempted to be hard on yourself or someone else who isn’t meeting your standards or expectations, remember,

… Grace is realistic. Be aware of your (and others’) limitations, and accept them!

… Grace celebrates progress. Don’t look for perfection, or you’ll always be disappointed. Look to learn instead.

… Grace extends kindness. Look for ways you can merciful to yourself, and extend favour to others today.

… Grace sees the heart. Attitude is more important than ability. Always evaluate motives above performance.

Sometimes your best won’t be enough.

And that’s where grace comes in.

H x

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‘Winter is coming’: five ways to keep your family happier and healthier

Before I became a mum, the phrase, ‘winter is coming,’ conjured up cosy evenings by the fire, brisk walks in the fresh air, and sipping hot chocolate with marshmallows in coffee shops while watching passersby through steamed up windows.

Now, on first hearing, the phrase evokes something else altogether… that dread of hearing feverish moans in the middle of the night as children wake up with temperatures; the continual rescheduled plans; cabin fever and perpetual runny noses.

Covid realities have added another level to this sense of uneasy anticipation. Here we are, only two weeks into term, and both my kids are off school already! But before I can feel too sorry for myself, I want to make sure I write down what I can do – what all of us can do – to stay healthier and happier in this season! We all know the benefits of a balanced diet and exercise, but is there anything else that makes a real difference? Here’s five things that will give you and your family an extra boost:

Fresh air ❄️

‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, only poor clothing’

If you’re anything like me, when the weather is cold the last thing we can feel like doing is going outside. But once we make the effort, it’s more than worth it for the benefits.

My beautiful and wise Finnish friend taught me this. She is always prepared for all weathers with impressive all-in-one suits that keep out the wet and the cold, and keep little ones warm as toast. Check out the Reima range at www.reima.com – these are expensive but long-lasting; if you buy them oversized they’ll last for years and can be handed down from child to child as they grow.

Not only does being exposed to the cold increase your metabolism, being active outside causes your brain to release more of the hormones that make you happy (epinephrine, adrenaline and norepinephrine.) So get out there and get some fresh air!

Vitamins 💊

When my kids were constantly getting infections a couple of years back, I did a LOT of research on vitamins. The best ones I’ve found for kids are from the Nature’s Plus Animal Parade range – you can get them on amazon and in some local health shops. These are amazing! Not only do they contain the key vitamins and minerals but they taste great too, and the GOLD ones also include probiotics for improved gut health. Since my kids started taking these ive noticed a huge difference! They still get the occasional bug like the rest of us, but they fight it off much faster than they used to.

For the adults among us; if you can take vitamin C, vitamin D and Zinc supplements consistently, you’ll be giving your immune system a huge boost. They need to be good quality though. Most gummy vitamins contain more bad stuff than good- watch out for additives and artificial sweeteners!

Essential oils 🧴

Essential oils do not work miracles, but when used properly and safely they can give your mood and immune system a much-needed boost. Used as cleaning products, they reduce the amount of harmful chemicals coming into your home. They can also help with mood, sleep, ailments, aches and pains.

A kind friend recently made me a wellness roller blend from thieves, lemon and frankincense oil. It smells gorgeous on your wrists and is mild enough for the kids; we put it on the soles of their feet at night (with socks on!) Talk about a pick me up!

Here’s some benefits of the oils we love in our house!

Thieves: the individual components of thieves oil have been shown to have antimicrobial properties, promote respiratory health and wound healing, and may provide pain relief.

Clove: antimicrobial, tooth and muscle pain reliever, improves respiratory conditions like cough and asthma.

Frankincense: anti-inflammatory, improves gut function, relieves asthma and improves oral health.

Lemon: Reduces anxiety, improves cold symptoms, improves energy, antibacterial and anti-fungal.

Good quality sleep 💤

I’ve yet to put this one fully into practice! Most of us need 7-8 hours of good quality sleep to stay healthy. This is super hard to achieve if you work shifts or you have young kids. But if you can get to bed earlier, and avoid screens two hours before bed you’ll feel so much better when your alarm goes every morning. Alternatively, why not try these great glasses from sleepspec? If you want to go on social media or work late at night, wearing these can cancel out the harmful effects of blue light on your sleep.

If little people wake you during the night or you have health conditions that keep you awake, what can really help you get the best from the little sleep you’re getting is taking magnesium supplements. I started doing this a few weeks ago and have noticed a huge difference in the quality of sleep I’m getting.

Making memories 📷

Lastly, let’s not forget that the colder months bring lots of opportunities to make amazing memories. As a friend put it,

‘When I think of winter, I think of earlier bedtimes for the kids as it gets dark earlier, reading by the fire before bed always feels special, more routine, welcome breaks at Halloween and Christmas with all the fun and extra time together those bring, being cuddled on the sofa under blankets more often, cosy lighting and smells. Everything feels a bit magic in winter.’

Isn’t this so true? We’ve all got harvest, fireworks and lanterns, cosy evenings, snowmen, stockings and gifts to look forward to! Why not plan in some new family traditions for the harvest and Christmas seasons? Twinkl has some great ideas for creative new winter activities.

So let’s all stay healthier and happier this winter by:

1. Getting more fresh air ❄️

2. Taking our vitamins 💊

3. Trying out essential oils 🧴

4. Getting better sleep 💤

5. Making new memories 📷

How do you and your family stay healthy and happy?

H x

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Are you fluent in love?

It takes time to learn a new language. A long time in fact. In order to become fluent in French, for example, I’d still need to spend at least three months living in France, even after learning it for years in school.

And just as it takes time to learn a language that’s not your own, it takes time to learn how those around you best give and receive love.

The people in my family communicate love in very different ways. Different things make them feel special. Different things make them feel warm and fuzzy inside. And so I find that each new day is a new step in the journey of learning to love well.

For Zoë, nothing says ‘I love you’ more than sitting on the floor with her and doing imaginative play. Her main love language is most definitely quality time. I really struggle with imaginative play; but I try to do it each day for a little while so that little love tank is filled up.

Eden is the cuddliest little article. For her, nothing says ‘I love you’ more than a bedtime snuggle and me allowing her to twiddle my hair through her fingers. Her main love language is indisputably touch. Sometimes it feels a bit claustrophobic, but because it makes her feel comforted and secure, I let her do it.

We joke that bill is the shallowest family member – his love languages are touch and gifts, in equal measure. If you want to reach Bill’s heart, buy him a ‘Jammy Joey’ (or a new guitar 😀) from the shop and give him plenty of hugs. For a long time I couldn’t understand why my compliments didn’t mean that much. He enjoyed them, but they didn’t mean the world. I was just speaking the wrong language! I’m still working on speaking his.

Nothing says ‘I love you’ more to me than when someone takes the time to listen to me, or to offer heartfelt words of encouragement. I’m words and time. Because Bill doesn’t need a lot of words of affirmation, he is still learning to speak aloud the positive things he is thinking!

You know where I’m going with this, right?Most of you will already have heard of Gary Chapman’s classic, ‘The five love languages.’ He talks about five main ways of expressing and receiving love: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch.

To know what your main language is, ask yourself, ‘How do I express love most naturally?’

💜 Do you love doing something for someone?

❤️ Are you quick to verbally encourage someone?

💛 Are you willing to spend a lot of time and attention on other people?

💙 Do you love giving personal and thoughtful gifts to others?

🤎 Do you naturally reach out to hug someone?

In the reverse, what do you ask for from others most often? A back rub? A weekend away? The grass cut?

Knowing how you and your other family members give and receive love is the first step to closer relationships.

Imagine if a husband knew that doing the dishes was much less important to his wife than buying her flowers once in a while?

Or what about the wife who showers her husband with compliments when all he needs is loving touch?

Or parents who continually buy their child gifts, when playing a game with them would speak greater volumes.

See how miscommunication can so easily happen? Don’t assume what you find meaningful others will too. Even sincere efforts to love can easily get ‘lost in translation.’

Why not take a moment today to ask the people in your life what makes them light up inside? You could begin (or continue) learning how to speak love, their way. Because when love lights someone up, everyone around feels the beauty of the glow.

What language do you speak when it comes to love? And how have you been learning to love others better?

H x

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Fact or opinion? A question for handling criticism

‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.’

I don’t know who first said this, but I can’t understand why it became so popular. Because it’s quite simply wrong. I would re-render it as:

‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but there’s nothing like words to bring you down.’

Some of us can handle criticism better than others. On the one hand, I’m a bit envious of the thick skinned among us, and I want to know your secrets! But on the other hand, psychologists say you need five positive affirmations per one negative comment to thrive. That means that no matter how self-confident we are, a lot of us are operating at a deficit of positivity a lot of the time.

No matter how thick skinned you are, I think it’s safe to say none of us enjoy being criticised. But we can teach ourselves to evaluate any thoughts, feedback or comments more objectively; to learn what needs to be learned and leave behind what needs left behind.

Here’s a personal example. One of the most important heart questions for me is, ‘do you really care?’ Just as a major need of mine is to feel cared for, I try my best to care for others. I don’t always do it well, but it’s really important to me.

So one of the most devastating things someone could accuse me of is being cold or uncaring. It’s happened to me before, and I lost a lot of sleep over it. But when a kind friend helped me lay out the evidence and weigh it up, I realised that the accuser didn’t actually know the details of how I spent my time or who I spent it with. But I did, and there was a lot they had assumed that was based on an incomplete picture. Their assessment was not a fact, it was an opinion. And it wasn’t true. Now, I could let it go more easily, without holding on to it, carrying it around, or trying to justify myself to that person.

That episode made me realise the distress that comes from treating every thought in our mind, opinion about us or assumption about us as automatically true. Just because someone has an opinion, does not mean it is valid. Just because someone has made an assumption about me, does not mean it is accurate. And just because I subconsciously believe something to be true about myself, it doesn’t mean I’m right.

This world’s people-pleasers have a tendency to burn themselves out trying to fulfil everyone’s demands. But at some point all of us have to realise that we can choose to live either according to unlimited expectations or our finite capacities. No one else is going to make that decision for us.

And here’s the thing that can really help us not to be driven by what people think:

Knowing the difference between fact and opinion.

💯A fact is something that can be verified with evidence.

⁉️An opinion is an assertion based on belief and viewpoint.

💯 Fact – The music is in C minor

⁉️Opinion – That music is awful

Seems easy to differentiate, doesn’t it? But it’s not always as clear cut as all that when people are involved.

So next time you experience thoughts or words that bring you down, ask yourself, is this fact or opinion?

Weigh up the for and against evidence. If you decide on fact, then take up the challenge to learn what needs to be learned. If it’s a misplaced opinion, take the necessary time you need to identify it as such and …

LET

IT

GO!

Maybe we need to adopt another version of that saying from now on,

‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never define me.’

H xx

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Dear mums, this might feel overwhelming right now, but you are stronger than you know, and braver than you think

I was chatting to someone the other day about how challenging this pandemic has been for mothers.

Some of us have become breadwinners, solo carers, and homeschoolers all in one! At the same time, many of us have been stripped of the extra family and school support we relied on. But as we look back at what we overcame in 2020, we should step into 2021 feeling encouraged – yes, we are stronger and braver than we thought we ever could have been!

Dear stay at home mum of littles,

As the nights bleed into days, you are stronger than you know – and braver than you think.

In the season of motherhood when you’re sleeping even less than your unsettled kids; you’re facing sickness after sickness; you’re heavily pregnant or you’ve got toddlers and infants in tow; and you’re struggling to make it through the day – you can think you are failing.

You can think you’re weak when you’re living in perpetual overwhelm, your house is in chaos, and you can’t keep things together. But look back now at how far you’ve come – You made it this far. You made it through last night. And you’ll make it through another one.

Maybe you feel at times like you’re barely holding on. And yet you do.

Maybe you feel like this season will never end. And yet, it will. It may feel gruelling, and that’s because it is. But it is not permanent.

So grab all the support you can lean on for strength. No one can do this alone.

Dear working mum of multiple kids,

As time slips through your fingers, and the days blur into years, you are stronger than you know, and braver than you think.

When drop off and pick ups, medical appointments, work meetings and house work feel like they are clambering all over you and weighing you down, you can think you’re buckling under the pressure.

With every music lesson, parent-teacher interview, laundry load and football practice taxi run, you feel the tug of wanting to hold on to each precious moment, and yet longing for something that makes you feel like you’ve still got some of your own identity left.

Maybe you feel like time is going too fast, and somehow you’ll miss what matters. And yet, with each lovingly-packed holiday suitcase, and wave at the school gate, you are building something incredible. Something that lasts far beyond these years. You are building what family means for your children.

So please don’t feel guilty about doing those little things that make you feel ‘you’ again, so you have the endurance to keep building that legacy.

Dear mummy to those with extra needs,

You. Are. Special. Your tenacity, perseverance, and willingness to sacrificially give out is an encapsulation of real, agape love. A choice to lay aside your own needs for another. A beautiful expression of love as a verb.

You’ve worried more than most of us. You’ve researched more than all of us. You’ve spend money on treatments we haven’t. And at the end of each day you may feel wrung out, but you are beautiful.

After spending every waking minute caring, investing, and reading up on how to alleviate your child’s distress, pain or discomfort, you might feel like you have nothing left. That you are on your knees and that no one understands.

You may have had to exit a restaurant with an overwhelmed, screaming child. But we see you as flexible. You may have had to spend hours in hospital corridors. We admire your patience. You may have been hit, kicked and growled at. We are in awe at your resilience. You are not weak, you are not alone, and you are not invisible. You may be in a position of constantly giving out, but you too deserved to be cared for.

Self-compassion is your survival. You need to forgive yourself when you get it wrong, and give yourself permission to take a break when you’re offered it.

There’s many different kinds of mummies in this world, but you’re all stronger than you know, and you’re all braver than you think. We see you, we celebrate you, and we cheer you on! Keep going!

H xx

M

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Life is not a board game: Don’t ask me what’s next, ask me what’s now!

I’m running the risk of getting on a bit of a hobby horse with this one … but it’s too important not to say, so here goes!

I’m convinced many of us have a bad dose of milestone madness. From literally months old, our lives are plagued by the next achievement or attainment. Everyone always wants to know the ‘plan’ don’t they? What’s your next move? Where are you headed? What are you aiming for?

But what about what’s now? Here’s what I feel compelled to say today:

To the mum whose little ones aren’t speaking in sentences by the time they are six months, don’t panic.

Revel in those little nonsensical gargles and giggles that you’ll look back on in six years’ time with tearful nostalgia. Respond to those pointed, ‘when do you think he/she will talk’ comments with, ‘Aw, they’ll do it in their own time, but watch now as they respond with delight to my every word!’

To the teens who go through puberty later than most, and feel unattractive and out of place, please don’t panic!

I was an early developer, my friend was a later one. When we were younger people thought she was my little sister. I felt lanky and awkward being taller than all the boys, while she wished she looked as old as me. Now you couldn’t tell the difference. And who really cares, anyway? If someone teases you about being a late bloomer, call them out on their shallow attitude and tell them about the more important things that are blossoming in your life right now!

To the 18-year-old who didn’t get the results you wanted in your A-levels, don’t panic!

You can repeat if you want to. And if you don’t, there are plenty of other options available. Volunteering, travelling, tech, you name it. I took a gap year just because I could, and completely changed my career path as a result. When someone asks you ‘what you’re going to do,’ ask them to quiz you about what you’re learning through the change of plans!

To the university graduate who didn’t get your dream job on the day after your ceremony, don’t panic!

The average person changes career 5-7 times these days. Experience in different fields and industries only enriches your life, increases your social capital and enlarges your skill set. When someone asks you when you’ll ‘make it,’ tell them to ask you how you’re building on your employability now.

To those whose friends are all getting married but you have no relationship on the horizon just yet, don’t panic!

You are not ‘left behind.’ You are no less good-looking or interesting just because you aren’t joined at the hip with another person. Life is not a board game. They haven’t moved ahead several spaces just because they’re married or have kids. Some of the loneliest people in life are married. Next time someone provokes you about ‘moving forward with love’, ask them to press you on what you’re enjoying moving into right now.

To those of you who are dating and constantly being interrogated about when the ‘question’ will be popped, don’t panic.

Instead, slow down. Get to know each other. Talk about the hard things. All of them. Enjoy the adventure and the getting to know one another before wedding planning and house buying sweep you away like a whirlwind. When someone asks you when the big day is, give them a detailed catalogue of what your best days together have been so far.

To the couple who don’t want to have children as soon as they get married, don’t allow yourself to feel pressured into it just because people expect you to. Don’t panic!

Enjoy the holidays, the lie-ins, the DIY projects, the date days – if that’s what you want. Because the people who are winking and gesturing at your stomach will not be getting up five times a night with your baby.

And when you’ve had one, you’ll be asked about having another.

Maybe you don’t want to.

Maybe you don’t want to, yet.

Maybe you are struggling to.

Maybe the question causes you a lot of pain.

And this is why, when it comes to the whole children question, it’s ok to say to people, ‘You really shouldn’t ask about that.’ Why? Because it’s really not their business. And it’s not the right question actually.

If you have children, ask people to ask you how they bless and enrich your life. And if you don’t, they should be asking you what many other people and things are blessing and enriching your life right now. Because although children are a wonderful source of joy, by no means are they the only fountain of fulfilment.

I could go right on through every season of life, but I don’t feel at all qualified to talk about what’s next, because I haven’t been there yet. I don’t know enough about climbing the property ladder, or looking after elderly parents, or pensions, or wills, or funeral plans.

The long and the short of it is, please, at least some of the time, let’s stop fixating on what’s coming.

Let’s focus on the gift of the now.

Let’s stop applying the pressure and instead take time to pursue what’s present.

Let’s care less about the ‘lowdown’ and more about the learning.

Let’s quit idolising the next and start celebrating the moment.

Rant over! 🤪

H x

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Baby steps: post natal exhaustion and my road to self care.

It was a day I’ll never forget. Eden was only a few months old. Zoë had just turned two. I was having a friend over for breakfast, and we were enjoying some really sweet conversation together.

Suddenly it felt like the room was swimming around me. I found I could no longer focus on what my friend was saying, but I could hear her concerned, ‘Are you alright?’ – in the distance, followed by a weird floating feeling as she guided me over to the sofa to lie down.

‘I can’t move,’ I remember muttering. Being an experienced nurse, she calmly took charge of the situation, asked all the right medical questions, phoned the doctor’s surgery, and got an emergency appointment.

I was so grateful she was there with me and the girls that morning. She was God’s angel to me in that moment.

When I eventually got to the doctor, I remember her diagnosis clear as day. ‘This is pure exhaustion. Your body is saying stop. Bed for you.’

For the next week, that’s what I did. Lay in bed. Bill brought Eden up so I could feed her, then took her down again and I slept. I felt like no sleep would ever be enough.

Two weeks on, I remember still struggling to lift my limbs to get up off the sofa and crying fearful tears, ‘Have I pushed myself too far? Will this be permanent? Is this chronic fatigue?’

I did recover fully eventually, thankfully, but I learned a very important lesson that day. I learned I had limits.

That I wasn’t eighteen anymore.

That I wasn’t invincible.

That I couldn’t stay up with a baby feeding all night and then do all I did before I became a mother, with two young children in tow. And here’s the biggest part- that was ok!

My body needed nourishment. My mind needed rest. And I needed to learn self care.

Baby steps.

And it’s still baby steps, to be honest.

I have such a woeful habit of packing activity into my week like a tin jammed with sardines.

All of us have an individual energy tank we draw from for work, looking after family, socialising, you name it. And when it’s empty, it’s empty.

If you feel like you’re at your limit, or you’re running on empty, but you don’t know how to set limits, try these five questions to help gauge where you are at!

1. Is my mind continually racing with what I have to do each day?

If so, I may be trying to achieve too much in a short space of time.

2. Is what I’m trying to do on a regular basis outside of my ability to achieve (in time, skills, energy or resources)?

If the answer is yes, you may need to pass some things on or shoulder responsibility along with someone else.

4. Do I always wake up tired?

If you never feel truly rested even after a night’s sleep, then you may need to slow your pace of life down before your body does it for you!

5. Have I begun to resent it when people ask things of me?

If you find yourself cross when someone asks you to do something for them then you may not have good boundaries in place. Time to say a polite ‘No’ to some requests so you can say a wholehearted ‘Yes’ to the right things!

I’m encouraged today that even though I still have a tendency to take on too much, I’m still taking baby steps to establishing good self care. Baby steps are still steps. And it’s the same for you.

It’s never too late to start! And it’s never too late to take another positive step towards a happier, healthier life.

How do you do self care well and where could you improve? I’d love to learn from you.

H x

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How to save time you don’t have (and save your sanity in the process!)

Ever wish time travel was a real thing, just so you could get through your never ending to-do list each day?

I have a bit of an obsession with time. How fast it goes, how key it is to invest it into relationships, and how I can find more ways to use it more productively.

Why? Because time is the most precious commodity we all have.

As Rick Warren puts it, ‘You can make more money, but you can’t make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.’

Because time is so precious, but so easily slips away from us, it can often feel from day to day like we are always trying to save time that we don’t have.

Here’s three tips I’ve learned (through many years of time-management mistakes!) about maximising my time and making the most of my days.

1. Sleep

What?? Hold on. You’ve just told me to make good use of time! I don’t have time to sleep!

Actually, adequate sleep is crucial for productivity. But so many of us are chronically sleep-deprived. Take it from me; a bleary eyed mum with young children who is still definitely not getting as much sleep as I should be. Very few people thrive on 4-6 hours a night. When you and I are physically tired, our productivity plummets. Full stop.

In fact, it may or may not surprise you to learn that studies of large corporations have shown workers who have insufficient sleep spend nearly three times as much of their day on the same tasks as those who sleep well. I know it to be true as well; the days I go to bed early and get up at six to work, I achieve so much more than when I struggle with a screen late into the evening.

Seems that early night is worth sacrificing an extra episode of Netflix for 🤔

2. Prioritise

Are there so many to-dos whirling round inside your head that it feels like a perfect storm and you’re too overwhelmed to do anything? Often we feel like this because we are spending our days multitasking, rather than prioritising.

I don’t know whether others struggle with this, but I have a really hard time sorting out in my head sometimes which tasks are the most urgent for me to tackle. I also struggle with over-estimating what I can achieve in one day.

But recently someone told me about the 1-3-5 rule, and I’ve found it so helpful for this!

1. Pick 1 big task you need to achieve that just can’t wait – and accomplish it first

2. Then choose 3 medium tasks that are important, but not as time consuming or urgent as the big one, and tackle them one after another.

3. Finally, dot your day with 5 small tasks that are easily achievable.

You’ll end the day with peace of mind that you accomplished what you needed to, started what you wanted to, and covered some of the little jobs that are always hanging over your head.

Hello productivity!

3. Delegate

When I was a kid, I used to pay my far-too-kind friend to clean my gerbil cages. 10p a cage. Sounds awful, doesn’t it? 😂

But maybe I realised the principle early on in life that time is money! And if money can buy you more time, seriously weigh up if it’s not worth it to delegate out some things.

During my teens, my neighbour used to pay me and a friend to mind her toddlers for one hour, just so she could walk around the block to clear her head. Her husband worked away and she didn’t have family living nearby. That £5 was well worth it for her. She came back refreshed and ready to parent again.

If paying someone else to wash your car on a Saturday morning allows you to go and visit your gran, why not?

If one hour of paid work will pay for three of cleaning, then it may be a no-brainer for you to get some help with the house!

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask yourself, ‘What is preventing me from investing in what matters to me most? And can I delegate some of those tasks to buy some of that time back?’

So there you have it:

… Sleep 💤

… prioritise 📅

… and delegate 🖐 your way to a more productive day!

H x

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Back to school 2020/2021: burst bubbles and brave steps.

Every year emotional parents and excited children anticipate the big adventure of a new school year. Tips about where to get the best value school shoes, smart first day photos, and proud as punch posts abound on social media newsfeeds.

But it all feels a bit different this time around, doesn’t it?

Because, in a way, this pandemic has forced teachers, parents and children alike ‘back to school’ in some shape or form.

🌱We are all starting an adventure of adjusting to a completely new routine, the ‘new normal’ everyone keeps talking about.

🌱We are all being presented with opportunities to adapt and adjust to a previously unknown situation.

🌱We are all mustering up the different kind of bravery involved in walking into/walking our kids into a school building post lockdown

🌱We are all going into this with a host of new questions that are as yet unanswered.

How will teachers manage to keep children at a safe distance from one another? How will they cope with that increased pressure?

How will parents manage new stresses of work, childcare and scheduling pick ups for multiple children?

How hard will it be for children to overcome decreased physical contact, staff wearing PPE at times, minimalist learning environments and restricted social interaction?

As we walk into this unprecedented adventure, we do so carrying the weight of potential disappointments.

Burst bubbles

Many schools are keeping classes within protective ‘bubbles’ for learning, creating, eating and playing together. This is an attempt to protect children from the rapid spread of infection. The idea means that if a student gets sick or tests positive for COVID-19, everyone that has had direct contact with them can be quarantined quickly and efficiently.

The size of these bubbles has recently doubled after an announcement that all children would be returning to school full time.

But asides from the worry that safety bubbles could be burst on public transport or interactions outside school, other uncomfortable potentialities are:

🌱The idea of whole classes and their families needing to self isolate due to unidentified coughs and fevers.

🌱Parents’ confusion about whether, when their kids go back to school, they will need to make changes to their existing social bubbles.

🌱Children’s disappointment at not being bubbled with best friends, parents struggling with work, childcare and pickups as a result of haphazard school hours and staggered collection times.

Brave steps

And yet, despite all these potential uncertainties and disappointments, every adventure requires bravery, and this is one we are all embarking upon together.

So surely this is a perfect moment to celebrate the brave steps being taken by each of us at this time. Steps towards normality. Baby steps towards life as we knew it before. Steps to overcome the challenges ahead.

💪Parents bravely releasing children they have held tightly these last six months

💪Mums and dads bravely cooperating to ensure the best possible work, life, school balance

💪Teachers bravely accepting responsibility for supervising children – all so they can thrive and continue to learn.

💪Officials bravely and diligently working through risk asssesments and balancing pros and cons

💪Children (with all the current anxieties added to normal new term nerves!) bravely heading back to a classroom situation which will be very different in some ways.

Yes, we might feel the weight of Unknown’s and disappointments, but let’s lighten the mood by celebrating the beauty of our collective bravery as we move forward into this new adventure together!

As an English headmaster wrote to his pupils just before lockdown struck,

‘These are very unusual times and one day, when this is all over, you will be telling your children about the time that our brilliant community overcame a huge challenge, how we stuck together to help and care for each other. You will also tell them how brave you have been.’

👏Thank you, brave teachers

👏Thank you, brave legislators

👏Thank you, brave key workers

👏Thank you, brave parents

👏Thank you, brave children!

… and let the adventure begin!

H x

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When weariness weighs you down, who holds you up?

Once upon a time there was a battle. A fight which felt impossible to win.

The leader of one side was known for his great exploits. His courage. His bravery. His boldness. His unwavering confidence in his God.

But in this particular story, he is vulnerable, he is weary, and he is tired. A group of raiders had attacked his people, and he is watching what is happening from a nearby hill.

This ancient tale describes how, as long as the leader’s arms were raised high, the tide was turned against the enemy of his people. But as soon as his limbs buckled with tiredness, the opposition got the advantage.

What won this battle, you may be wondering? Well, it certainly wasn’t this man’s independence or will power. (His name was Moses, by the way.)

It was his friends. Two people – Aaron and Hur – came alongside and held up his arms for as long as they were needed. The Lord honoured their combined strength, and the enemy was defeated.

The turning point in this story was not self sufficiency, it was dependence on God and interdependence between people.

The turning point in this story was the strength that comes with shared responsibility.

The turning point in this story was the intentional bearing of another’s burdens.

All of us have times when we become battle weary. Drained. Tired. And we often don’t recognise that our personal weariness has the potential not only to impact our own lives, but that of so many others around us.

Tiredness is the cause of many a battle lost.

Exhaustion is often the underlying factor for giving up something that is important to us, and crucial to the flourishing of others.

But when does the turning point so often come? When someone comes alongside.

🌱To share the weight.

🌱To bear the burden.

🌱To show strength.

🌱To communicate support.

When weariness is weighing us down, stubborn independence is not a wise way forward. Interdependence is how God designed us to operate. We can achieve so much more together than we can achieve alone. Or, to put it a different way, we can survive so much more through partnership than in isolation.

What a difference this makes to us when we feel our worries, demands and responsibilities stretching us out like chewing gum.

🌱Are you feeling weary today? Maybe you need to ask a friend (or two) for the support you need.

🌱Or maybe today is a day to thank someone who has held your arms up at crucial points in your life?

🌱 Is this an opportunity to be thankful for the ones who encourage you to lift your hands to the only One who can fight the battle for you?

🌱Finally, why not consider now whose arms you could hold up so that they too can have the strength to fight another day?

H x

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Dealing with disappointment: When things don’t turn out as you hoped.

Sometimes things just don’t end up the way we want them to.

When expectations are not met, disappointment rears its ugly head. When our hopes and dreams are out of line with reality, we are forced to admit we didn’t get something we wanted.

So many of us are experiencing disappointment at the moment.

🌱Disappointment that church isn’t what it used to be.

🌱Disappointment that we still have to social distance or shield after so many months.

🌱Disappointment at postponed weddings, cancelled holidays, attendance at loved ones’ funerals, or unfair employer decisions.

🌱Disappointment about deteriorating health.

I took time this week to write down some key moments of disappointment I’ve experienced:

🌱When our first church ministry experience together ended in mistreatment and great hurt.

🌱When the precious life of our first baby ended in ectopic pregnancy and emergency surgery.

🌱When we watched family members suffer awful illness and die prematurely.

🌱When a friendship I treasured ended due to events outside my control.

I’m sure you could easily make your own list of events where you felt let down or angry that things turned out the way they did.

But did you ever consider that if you respond to disappointment in the right way, it might actually be one of the keystones of growth? That it could change the way you live now, and kickstart a bright future based on reality rather than wishful thinking?

Here’s how we can turn disappointment into a productive, and even powerful, catalyst for change.

1. Feel what needs to be felt

Have you ever noticed how when children are upset, they will tantrum, cry or scream until the emotion passes and they are really ready to move on?

If you’re disappointed, you’re disappointed, and that’s just it. Denial will not make it go away.

Label the emotions you feel- worried, resentful, hurt, sad, let down etc. Think of the emotions as waves that wash over you but don’t engulf you. Disappointment is not a permanent condition. You don’t need to wallow in it. When you label it clearly, it loses its power over you and becomes a receding tide of emotion that gets further and further away.

2. Let go what needs to be let go

When you feel let down, it can be hard to let go.

But when we hold on to disappointment too long, it can quickly turn into discouragement, resentment, or even depression.

That’s why it’s so important we turn disappointment into determination to grow.

A wise friend once told me, release is a voluntary action. To find freedom from what it is you are holding, you have to choose to loosen your grip on it.

Next time you’re at the seashore, why not pick up a pebble, and consciously acknowledge the weight of it in your hand as you think about the weight of what you are carrying. Then let it slip from your fingers into the waves and watch as the water carries it away.

There’s power in release today.

3. Learn what needs to be learned

Don’t punish yourself for feeling cross or frustrated! Instead, commit to learning from every hurdle and challenge.

🌱Learn gratitude – train yourself to think of three things you can be thankful for each day.

🌱Learn discernment – learn to distinguish between the facts and feelings of a situation. You may feel strongly about it, but are things really as bad as they seem?

🌱Learn positivity- learn to see the positive side of the worst situations. Positive people attract positivity!

4. Build what needs to be built

Some people decide it’s best not to have high expectations about anything, so they are never disappointed. They avoid taking risks or going deep in relationships as a form of self preservation. But this leads to an unfulfilled and mediocre life.

Others set the bar so high that no one- not even themselves – will ever reach it. But this leads to anxiety and self deprecation- not to mention unnecessary annoyance at others.

We need to build expectations for ourselves and others that are realistic– not idealistic, pessimistic or perfectionistic.

Recognise who you are, choose who you want be, and take steps to build on that. If you want to be an open-hearted and gracious person, when unmet expectations tempt you to withdraw or run away, knowing your values will enable you to resist the urge.

1. Feel what needs to be felt

2. Let go what needs to be let go

3. Learn what needs to be learned

4. Build what needs to be built

… and kickstart a brighter future 🌟

H xx

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope”

Martin Luther King

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‘Good things come to those who…’ : 5 ways to live life to the full

My eldest daughter has inherited one of my biggest personal struggles in life: waiting.

Once she gets something in her head she cannot rest until she has acquired or accomplished it.

I am exactly the same; waiting to me has always felt like an utter waste of time- unproductive minutes forever lost in a vacuum of nothingness.

It used to drive me crazy when my parents would say, ‘Patience, patience.’

And yet, I’ve found myself saying to Zoë all too often- ‘Be patient, honey. Good things come to those who…’

1. …Wait

‘Instead of demanding the toy from your sister there and then, it might be an idea to ask once, then wait. She’s much more likely to give it to you than if you try to snatch it off her. Good things come to those who wait.’

‘Instead of asking me over and over for the sweet, it might be an idea to wait quietly without pestering me. Then I might be more inclined to give you two rather than one! Good things come to those who wait.’

If we are willing to wait around for a while, we will soon find life has lots of good things stored up for us. Waiting without demanding what we want is no easy task. But it often pays dividends- whether it be with a promotion, an investment return, or the provision of a need that we were were willing to hold off a little bit longer from splashing out on.

And if we are in a season when things are really tough; the principle remains. Wait long enough, and winter will end. Wait long enough, and you’ll see the shoots of spring coming through.

Wait, and the good will come.

2. …Give

We’ve all heard the saying, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive, but do we actually believe it? Well we should, because it’s true!

There is nothing better than watching someone light up when you give them a gift from the heart – whether it be your time, your money, your talents or your words.

Why?

Because the best things in life are shared. Because the hearts that give without expecting anything in return are the most richly blessed.

As Jesus teaches us- ‘give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

The measure we use will be returned to us. If you are giving with expectations, you’re robbing yourself of the blessing of real giving. Too often we give expecting the person to behave a certain way as a result of what we’ve given. That’s not a gift, it’s a loan or a contract.

How can you genuinely give with no strings attached?

🌱Love without condition.

🌱Talk without bad intention.

🌱Give without reason.

🌱Care without expectation.

How can you show true generosity today?

3. …Receive

All this being said, it’s not only important to learn how to give well, we need to be willing to receive the good, too.

Learn to let others bless you. To acknowledge you need their generosity, love, time and care.

Because too often, we let pride prevent good from entering our lives. Some of us won’t accept second hand offerings. Others don’t want anyone to think they are in need, so they either refuse gifts or try to pay them back.

Someone once told me, ‘make sure you are easy to give to.’ This applies to finances, compliments, hospitality – you name it. Be easy to give to. It sounds Irish, but the easier you are to give to, the more you will be given to!

Do you silently squirm inside when someone offers you love, care or encouragement? Do you find good things hard to receive from others? Or can you receive openly and with deep joy? If you’re awkward every time someone tries to compliment you, they’ll be put off doing so again. Make it easy for them!

Practice allowing yourself to surrender to the good feeling of receiving a gift! And in so doing grant the giver the great joy of seeing your delight in accepting their generosity wholeheartedly.

4. …Forgive!

This is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned and am always learning.

🌱Life is too short to hold grudges.

🌱Life is to short to keep record of wrongs.

🌱Life is too short to constantly expect too much of people.

Good things come to those who can let things go and move on. To those who can extend grace and realise that the majority of people are doing their best and haven’t deliberately offended or disappointed us.To those who do the hard work of processing deep pain so they can be free from it.

Forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts you’ll ever give yourself. When you practice releasing hurt and choosing to have an attitude of grace and kindness towards others, you’ll be able to be kinder to yourself as well (notwithstanding the fact that you’ll be less angry, sleep better, have less physical pain, better heart function and increased life satisfaction… I could go on and on about this one!)

So good things come to those who…

…Wait

…Give

…Receive

…forgive!

What words could you add to this list? I’m sure there’s many more I’ve missed.

H x

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The emotional rollercoaster of COVID-19: 5 ways to cope with the flatness, the curve balls and everything in between

One day, I wake up feeling fine. The sun is shining, the mood is good, the kids are pleasant.

The next day is grey from the start. It’s pouring with rain outside, tempers are frayed, and patience is thin.

The past few months have brought a perpetual series of ups and downs for us all. But when you continually experience such extremes, it leaves you feeling as if you don’t know whether you’re coming or going, doesn’t it?

In Northern Ireland we know all too well what it is like to experience every season of weather in one day. But now we know what it’s like to feel every emotion going in 24 hours as well! – From anxiety about the safety of our loved ones, to feeling isolated from friends, to frustrations with people who aren’t following guidelines, to joy when we get a thoughtful letter in the post, to comfort when we chat with grandparents over FaceTime.

Here’s how I’ve been learning to cope with my own pendulum swings this past year:

1. Be thankful for the great days

We have made some beautiful memories since the pandemic began. From planting shrubs, to collecting shells, to picnic lunches in the garden, to leisurely family walks around our neighbourhood. Nothing can snatch those memories away. In moments of frustration, I savour on them like I would my last piece of chocolate. Gratitude is a great source of joy!

2. Acknowledge the bad days

It keeps our feet on the ground to acknowledge our human flaws and frailties. We’ve cried our tears. We’ve had our disagreements. We’ve felt the stress of cancelled holidays, uncertainties about work and church, and navigating different boundaries and expectations. But as one good friend advised, ‘it’s only when you allow yourself to feel the feelings that you can move on from them.’

3. Take note of the ‘blah’ days

You know what I mean by a blah day? Days when you’re so drained you don’t know what to be at, who to call, what household job to start with, what work task to attempt. Days when you feel like a toy that is running out of batteries and whose music is going flat. It’s normal to have blah days once in a while, but take note if they are becoming more and more frequent. No one can live in a constant state of overwhelm. You may need to reach out for more outside support.

4. Grow in the scary days

These are days when the gravity of the situation hits you. When you hear of a friend getting sick. When you know of someone who has died. When your little people run a fever. These days break your heart and test your resilience. But they also have the potential to develop faith and perseverance in you. Don’t discount them as write offs or try to avoid them at all costs. Walk through them knowing that they will pass, that they will form character in you, and that hope is never out of the picture.

5. Learn from each and every day

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all this it’s that extremes are completely normal- so many people are feeling the same way! So please don’t feel you are odd if you’re laughing one minute and crying the next.

This time has included every conceivable emotion, from grief, fear and anxiety to elation, inspiration and hope.

We’ve witnessed people at their worst- looting shelves, violent behaviour on the streets, and committing racial injustice.

But we’ve also seen kindness, generosity, sacrifice and neighbourliness like never before.

We’ve seen people deep in despair, but we’ve also witnessed the brightest hope shining through at every juncture.

Days come in every variety, just like people. So-

1. Be thankful for the good days

2. Acknowledge the bad days

3. Take note of the ‘blah’ days

4. Grow in the scary days

5. Learn from each and every day

… and we’ll all get through this together!

H xx

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Find your voice and discover true greatness

I’ve always loved to sing. It’s more than just a hobby for me. It’s therapeutic. It’s creative. It’s meaningful. When words are paired with music, the truth of them comes alive for me.

I’ll never forget doing my first solo; I was six years of age, standing in front of a packed Sunday morning congregation. I still remember the lump in my throat and my knobbly knees knocking together, as my mum thrust me forward towards a podium that was twice the height of me. A crowd of two hundred people feels like the equivalent of a football stadium at that age. It takes courage to put such a little voice out there!

Another vivid memory comes from my twenties, when I sang a piece at a women’s conference during a Bible college placement in Ghana. The accompaniment was played on an ancient Casio keyboard and there were no microphones to be found.

I struggled my way through as sincerely as I could. Afterwards an old African woman hobbled up to me and complained that my voice was too ‘soft’ and ‘sweet.’ She suggested I get some of the African women to teach me how to sing.

I didn’t really know how to respond to that one! She wanted a bit more volume and oomph. She thought the passion wasn’t there because the performance wasn’t loud. She mistook softness for a lack of spirit.

In Northern Ireland, when you can hold a tune, people often say, ‘Och, so and so has a good wee voice.’ And in the same way, sometimes we think of our voices as just that- ‘Och, just a good wee voice.’

But boy is that an underestimation.

The beliefs and attitudes expressed when we open our mouths are more powerful than we will ever appreciate.

On the stage of life volume doesn’t necessarily equal power. Loudness isn’t not the equivalent of strength. The most important question is not, ‘Are people being impressed by what they hear?’ But rather, ‘Are they being touched, moved and impacted for the better by what they hear?’

So often we think, ‘I’m just ordinary. There’s not much mileage in the conversations I’ll have. I’ve got limited ability to influence others.’

But we all have a voice.

A unique voice that echoes around the chambers of our minds. A voice that ricochets around the corridors of our interactions with others. A message we can proclaim from the rooftops of our communities.

And we can always use it for greatness!

🌱When your mind is full of pessimistic assumptions, you can drown out negativity with the voice of hope.

🌱When things are uncomfortably quiet, between you and another person, you can use your voice to create new and meaningful connections.

🌱When you’re in a room full of people who are competing and jockeying for position, you can use your voice to inject cooperation and compromise into that environment.

🌱When you’re in an atmosphere of tension and offence, you can use your voice to infuse peace and harmony unto the air.

🌱When you see oppression and injustice, you can use your voice to challenge and bring change on behalf of the marginalised and downtrodden.

🌱When you see someone who is weary and burnt out, you can use your voice to affirm and encourage them to take another step.

🌱In situations where everyone feels confused and uncertain, you can use your voice to cut into the fog with clarity and composure.

🌱Where you see division and strife, you can use your voice to bring the balm of peace and healing.

Each one of us has a ‘wee’ voice that has the potential for ‘great’ impact.

How will you use yours today?

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What your bedside table may reveal about you

Have you ever thought your bedside table might just be a window to your soul? What we keep on them can say a lot about us. They can also say a lot about the differences between us and our partners!

Some of us like a well stocked table. We don’t mind a bit of clutter. We are larger than life personalities who love to be surrounded by people and things. The world would be less warm without us!

Others like to keep things simple. For them, sleep is sacred and only objects that are conducive to that should be kept nearby. They are intentional, practical, organised and efficient! A lot in life would fall apart without them!

One or two of you break the mould altogether and have no bedside table at all. You are the independent forces for change in this world. Nothing would progress in society without you!

But do you know what bedside tables were originally used for?

Necessity

Your bedside table was where you would have hidden your chamber pot in the old days. No more explanation needed there 😂

Convenience

The Victorians called bedside tables ‘commode’ which comes from the French word for ‘convenient’. That’s still true right? Many people use a bedside table (or nightstand) to store everything you need to use last thing at night or first thing in the morning.

Importance

Today, the furniture beside our bed can also be a significant revealer about what is important to us. I asked some lovely people yesterday to post what they had on theirs – with fascinating results! Here are some of the pictures you posted:

Some of your bedside surfaces were dominated by beauty essentials, some contained primarily practical items like alarm clocks or medicine, while others prioritised meaningful objects.

Some of you sentimentalists kept kiddies’ artwork and family photographs, while others preferred to have no clutter at all. You are the minimalists of this world!

For some of you the space had a spiritual focus, while others had a more earthly flavour. I guess it depends whether you like morning motivation, afternoon inspiration or evening reflection!

My mum and dad’s bedside tables were completely different growing up. My dad had a couple of books, an alarm clock, and a pen drive with all his translation work on it, but my mum’s was like the leaning tower of Pisa. There was so much on there just ready to fall off if you brushed past the wrong way.

It reflected them beautifully. One focused, strategic, intellectual and single minded, the other personally involved with a lot of different people and possessing a great many passions.

Here’s the lowdown on mine.

Currently perched within easy reach is a journaling notebook, as well as two books- ‘you are what you eat’ and ‘The anthropological lens.’ Not a mirror or beauty product to be found! The only practical items are a kid’s drink flask and an inhaler in case I can’t breathe during the night (because breathing is kind of a necessity 😂)

Oh, and in the process of taking this photo I also found my lost bank card underneath the pile of books! That says a lot about me! You can see a hint of the mess around the table here.

In other words, there you have it: three of my greatest passions in life – food, people and writing (not necessarily in that order😂). The phone is there too, but only in case someone needs to get in touch.

Bill’s is quite different. First of all, he made the table himself out of left over wooden floor. Anyone who knows him will see this as true to form! Then there’s a Bible, a computer and two books ‘Ancient-future faith’ and a book titled ‘Where is God in a Coronavirus world?’ So that’s three of his greatest loves right there: theology, technology and DIY.

That our bedside tables (or lack thereof) could reveal so much about us is something I’d never thought about before – until yesterday. It’s been a lot of fun looking through your lists and pictures.

But I suppose this whole lighthearted discussion can leave room for some reflection too!

🌱What do you think of as necessities in life?

🌱What do you feel the need to keep within easy reach?

🌱What’s important enough to you to sleep beside?

🌱What does all this say about you, or about the difference between you and your other half?

Just a bit of fun and food for thought for today,

H x

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The leverage of love: how to reach your child’s heart

We’ve all had those days with our kids where they test us to our limits. They get dirtier and messier than we’d like. They ‘push’ our buttons. They whine and fight with each other. They’re ‘ungrateful’ for the treats they are given.

The question I’ve been mulling over is, what is our parenting leverage in those moments? What influence – other than our authority as care giver – do we possess to achieve the desired change in our children’s behaviour?

Often the default in those moments is punitive discipline – we come down hard on the behaviour so we can squeeze the bad ‘out’, so to speak. Loss of privileges, threatening, shaming, grounding or smacking are common parenting techniques used to quash behaviours we don’t like.

But recently I’ve begun to think about the whole issue of discipline very differently. This is because not only is discipline training – and therefore so much more than punishment – I’ve also realised how often parenting comes from a place of:

  • Selfishness – making our lives easier
  • Habit – what we were raised with
  • Fear (of losing control or how others will judge our parenting)

The fact is, we are completely free NOT to use punishment if we don’t feel it to be the godly approach in that moment- even if we incur the judgment of those looking on.

I’m trying to reprogram myself not to immediately think- how can I stop this disobedience as soon as possible? Because discipline is not about making my life easier, or externals, or making sure people think I’m a great parent. It is being more concerned with the inward heart condition. How can I reach my child’s heart? How can I ensure they have a change of heart? How can I represent the loving authoritative discipline exemplified by Jesus?

Behaviour flows from the heart

Every behaviour has a cause – it comes from the thoughts and intents of the heart- how we understand the character of God, how we see ourselves, how we view others and how we perceive situations we are in. Actions are also influenced by our desires, wounds, hurts and unmet needs from situations and people.

So when I’m seeing unacceptable behaviour in my kids, I’ve found it helpful to ask myself, where is this coming from? And how can I respond like Jesus would?

Because while I thought of God as a cold, distant father, I ran from him, so I could hide from his scathing displeasure and conceal my shame.

But once I understood that it was actually when I was at my worst, when I didn’t love God or obey any of his laws, that Jesus chose to die for me, I wanted to live to please Him as best as I could.

Once I grasped that my Heavenly Father was infinitely close and loving in the times I messed up the most- my heart was captured by Him forever.

I’m not talking about a wishy washy kind of love that doesn’t confront or deal with behaviour. Christ’s love paints a very clear picture for us of our sin and how much we fall short of his standards. Wrongdoing should incur appropriate consequences. However, at the same time, this love covers our shame, and embraces us unconditionally while we are still in the mess of it.

It’s a question of love, for goodness sake.

…Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. (1 John 4:18)

  • Do our kids run from us, or to us, when they do something wrong?
  • Does understanding the great love of God make us want to run from Him, or to Him?

It is His goodness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4)

So next time your child disobeys you, you might find it helpful to ask:

  • ‘How would God show His love to them in this moment?’
  • ‘What does divine goodness look like in this situation?’
  • ‘How can I make my children aware they have done wrong whilst at the same time assure them of my deep, unconditional and constant love for them?’

What are we teaching?

Maybe ‘teaching our children a lesson’ doesn’t always teach the lesson we want. When punishment is our automatic reaction, they learn that bad things happen when they misbehave. But they don’t learn how to change direction completely. When we know we are loved despite our mistakes, we are free to work on them.

So if I want to reflect in my parenting the love that my Heavenly Father has for my kids, and allow change to happen from the inside out rather than the outside in, it is definitely worth the effort to invest in loving influence as well as firm authority.

Don’t get me wrong, I fail at this every day of my life. I get it wrong many times a day. At times I’m harsh and anything but an example of God’s love or goodness. That’s when I’m all the more thankful for His loving kindness and mercies that are ever new.

H x

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Cultivating courage: Becoming your own kind of brave

I love the Pixar movie ‘Brave’, and most especially its main character. ‘Merida,’ a Scottish highland royal, is a spunky princess with a fiery spirit. She questions everything and she resists restrictions of every kind. Yet as the plot unfolds, Merida discovers what real bravery is, and owns it in a way that’s true to her story. Along the way, she realises that – contrary to what she first thought – courage is not escaping the realities of her life but rather facing them head on – learning compromise and contentment on the journey.

The women I see all around me are all kinds of brave. All kinds of strong. All kinds of courageous.

  • Bravely longing 

Im thinking first of those who quietly carry the weighty burden of unfulfilled longings. 

… a soul mate to live life with 

… a child of your own

… a friend to open your heart to

… a body free of pain

For now, it seems like all around you people are celebrating their attainment of what seems so far out of your reach. 

Some of you sob silently in the car, in the shower, after every wedding, social occasion, a dedication service you attend. Longing yawns at your soul like an ever widening chasm that you can’t escape. 

You want to hide away. But the majority of the time you don’t. You attend that engagement party, wedding, baby shower, choosing to shower your friends with gifts, meals and love.

Even in the depths of deep longing, you continue to cultivate contentment and grow in gratitude. 

You are your own gracious and generous kind of brave, even when you don’t feel it. 

  • Bravely Misunderstood  

I’m thinking here of those of you who are ambitious, gifted in leadership, and career-minded. You have been painted as hard-nosed, cold, detached, or as having a hidden agenda. You’re the threat in the boardroom, the butt of chauvinistic jokes, the brunt-bearer of laddish humour. You laugh it off as you smart inside. You hold it together there and then and cry your tears later. 

It hurts, but it won’t stop you striving for excellence, growing in your gifts and getting those promotions. 

You are your own delightfully determined kind of brave, even when you don’t feel it. 

  • Bravely Battling 

We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.’ The fact is, some of you are fighting private battles we will never ever know about. 

Whether it’s hormonal issues, digestive problems, anxiety, depression, abuse, or traumatic childhood memories … you drag yourself up and out, go to work, smile, serve others or tend to little ones’ needs. You do your best work. Every single day. Even on the days when your best is simply lying in bed, crippled with pain.

Even those days.

You are your own tenaciously tender kind of brave, even when you don’t feel it.

  • Bravely exhausted 

Some of you caregivers are living bravely in the midst of your exhaustion. Whether it’s looking after multiple babies and toddlers, partners with depression, parents with dementia, or children with complex needs; you pour yourself out day on day, year on year, for the dignity and flourishing of others – often with very little support or respite.

You are bravely exhausted. But you’re effervescently courageous, even when you don’t feel it. 

The women I see all around me are all kinds of brave. 

Courage comes in all shapes and sizes. It looks different for every person. But it always involves facing facts, summoning strength to persevere, having the humility to make changes, and cultivating a sweet spirit along the way. 

Let’s remember, though, that bravery is not something that needs to happen alone. 

If you are experiencing complex challenges in life, you may feel invisible to the world. But you are not. You are seen by God. And you are cared for by so many. 

Reach out. 

Join a ‘strong girls club’ near you today. Reach out to other courageous women you see around you. Because when you are your own kind of brave before others, they will catch your courage, and they will pass it on.

Be your own kind of brave, but don’t be brave alone. 

 H x

When you’re lying in a sea of odd socks

Odd socks.

Normal people have one bag of these. Maybe even a box.

We have four boxes.

Bill became utterly enraged today by how desperate things had become. In a theatrical display of fierce indignation, he tumbled them out one after the other onto our bed and proclaimed, “I can’t live like this anymore. Get rid of them all!! It’s time for a fresh start.”

I did protest!

“Wait, there’s bound to be some pairs in here!!! Throwing these out is not going to change the fact that we are not good at keeping on top of laundry. This requires a lifestyle change, honey, not a clean slate.”

Later on, I lay down on our bed to chat to my sister on the phone. Then came the realisation.

I was literally lying in a sea of my own odd socks.

Then came the laughter.

The speed and chaos of our pace of life can be simply laughable at times, can’t it? No wonder some of us leave our car keys on top of our cars, or lose school library books every single week, or send our children in PE clothes on the wrong day (yes, I’ve done every single one of these things!)

Sometimes we literally end up face down in our own dysfunction, surrounded by all the loose ends we’ll never catch up with.

The temptation in that moment is to survey the extent of the odd socks – the unresolved or poorly-managed things in our lives – and think the solution is to throw them all out. We just need a fresh start. It’ll all be different next time.

The thing is, after temporarily managing to restrain my husband’s wrath against the socks, I did successfully make one box of pairs out of the original four.

I threw the ones out that were too small, or stained, or faded. But I rejoiced in every pair I’d put together, and kept the remaining singles in hope that, one day, their long lost partners will be found.

So, what do my odd socks have the potential to remind you of?

Well, I want this to be a reminder to be kind to yourself. Be prepared to laugh at your inadequacies and idiosyncrasies. And refuse to allow yourself to get too dramatic about all your little quirks or undone to-do lists.

Sure, there are some habits you will need to change, some routines you may need to improve upon, and some ways of living to throw out altogether.

But there is a lot you are doing right! And remember, there are always better things ahead, if we’ll just keep searching for them.

H x