Would you choose ........here?

I visited my mum today, and she was very keen to take me out into her backyard.

We often enjoy a walk there, as she is keen gardener, and while my brother-in-law Roger does most of the work, Mum takes great pride in her flowers.

But today she had something different to show me.

We had to use the sliding door out of her living area, rather than the laundry door, I wondered why.

When we were outside, Mum directed my attention to................

her 2 mops and outside broom. You can imagine my excitement!!!!!

Mum has a cleaning lady, so she doesn't use the mops much, but the outdoor broom is usually in use fairly regularly.

But the mystery remained.

She beckoned me to examine them more closely............

There tucked in behind the broom was a birds nest, perched on top of the mops.

Mum has been watching it for a couple of weeks now, avoiding using her laundry door, respecting the privacy of the occupants.

and this is the result..........

three tiny little chicks cuddled up on top of Mums domestic floor cleaning equipment!

Would you choose ....... here?

I just hope that the whole thing doesn't collapse as the chicks grow, and that Mums' cleaning lady continues to bring her own supplies!

To avoid any disasters we bought a new mop today, as a precaution.

Prayer

We are currently doing a series on prayer at our church. Each week our minister has asked someone to talk on praying before he speaks. A few weeks ago he asked me. In sharing

with my church family about prayer I was honest enough to admit that I have found it difficult at times over the past 15 months to pray. But I am trying to put in place some things that will help me to pray more regularly.

I thought I would tell you too about my strategy to pray more.

So here is an excerpt from my talk.

I found it hard to pray when I faced great personal loss and deep grief. There were times when I just cried out to God. But I know that he wants me to talk to Him, and so I have thought about some things that might be helpful.

Being honest with ourselves about our prayer life is very important. Do we pray? How often do we pray? Do we sit quietly and pray or is it usually when we are on the move? It helps us to make changes or to try to pray more regularly if we are honest with ourselves.

I know that it requires discipline to pray. Like all things that are good for me, [for example physical exercise] it takes commitment to pray. I am not fooled into thinking that it will one day become easy. Yes it is a delight and becomes more so, the longer I practice the discipline, but it will always require me to make time for it.

I must be intentional about praying. By that I mean if I want to pray while my grand daughter is napping, I have to be intentional leading up to that. It is very easy to get side tracked into just clearing the kitchen bench, or putting on a load of washing. If I want to pray before leaving the house for the day, I need to keep an eye on the clock as I eat breakfast so I don't run out of time. I have chosen not to have a set time each day, as each day is different. Instead, I am trying to set a time that morning in keeping with the days activities.

An important thing for me is to have a specific place to pray in my house. It is good to have somewhere where you can close the door. Also I have a chair that isn't too comfortable! Praying in a cosy chair will put me to sleep in an instant! At the moment I pray at my desk. This is where I conduct the business of life, so I pray surrounded by photos of people, reminders of chores to be done, and all the issues I am dealing with. It helps me to pray for people and about events that are happening.

This is my new favourite cosy chair. It is in the office near the desk, and it beckons me to sit in it at prayer time. I resist the temptation knowing it is very comfortable!

I read the Bible before praying. This isn't Bible study, just a few verses to help me to focus on God. I find if I don't start with this, my prayers are very selfish. At the moment I am reading Hebrews and loving the focus on who Jesus is.

Lastly I have a simple plan. It is really basic.

Adoration

Thanksgiving

Repentance

Requests.

This is my blue print, and while I have presented it to you, I by no means am achieving this regularly in my life, but I am trying to take ownership of my prayer life.

So dear readers, that is some of what I presented on Sunday morning. Many of you I know talk regularly with God. Some of you might never have done so. He is waiting for you. Why not find out more about Jesus and start to talk to Him. Oh yes, and if you want to know more about my church our website is

www.trinitymountbarker.org.au

Taking on new jobs

It has amazed me over the past six months, the number of "jobs" that were Waymans.

Like mowing the lawns, and opening wine bottles with corks, towing the trailer, and cleaning the gutters. He wasn't a real out doors man, and he didn't really understand cars, but he knew when the wheels needed to be balanced, [he always noticed that it needed doing after I had tried to park somewhere and had run into the kerb! I never seemed to get away with it!] He always kept our cars beautifully clean, inside and out. He used to clean my shoes for me, and he would do the small painting jobs on the house. It was Waymans job to pack the dishwasher. Lindy did it when the family came for a BBQ on Friday, and she has her Fathers ability to stack the maximum amount of dishes in.

I miss him terribly, and while some jobs are easy for me take on, I am learning to do others for the first time. My boys are wonderful, and they are helping me too.

I am sure that most people in the western world know what 2 stroke fuel is, but it is new knowledge to me. Cam showed me last week how to make it, when he was teaching me how to use the leaf blower.

Even my American stockbroker knows the formula, "lube and gas"

I have mastered the art of the pull start 2 stroke engine on the leaf blower, but I find the mulching machine a bit of challenge. Steph and I tried it some months ago, and we both are a bit frightened of it, so we are leaving that one for now.

But the leaf blower is a friendly little machine, and on my property is a very useful tool.

I used it on the driveway this week, as the gum trees are dropping leaves at the moment, and it was beautifully clean on 20 minutes!

I then decided to try the tennis court, that is a bit more of a challenge, as the leaves kept swirling up and over my head. I decided that it is a bit like herding sheep, it works better with less noise and bluster, and more gentle coaxing.

I also discovered that even a gentle breeze is your enemy if you are trying to do this job.

I had just finished and the wind gave a couple little puffs and this was the result!

So the week begins, and my list of jobs is

plant some lawn runners in a bare spot

stake the tomato plants

mow the lawns

harvest the duck weed off the dam [apparently it makes very good compost]

make the compost

spread some mulch on the garden beds

plant lettuces and a watermelon plant [the pumpkins are already in]

do some painting touch-ups around the house

.......and perhaps I might try to blow the leaves off the tennis court again!

Grandmas day

Today I had my first ever Grandparents day at school.

C has chosen to call it Grandmas day, and that's fine with me.

It is a bit daunting to arrive at a day like this on your own, but I was cared for immediately by friends who I don't know very well, but who took me under their wing compassionately.

We started in chapel, this is the view I had of C sitting with his teacher and friends.

We then had time in his class room looking at his work, he showed me around the school, and I enjoyed morning tea with other GPs. this was followed by a school presentation. All is well in the world when primary school students are given a clarinet and put in the school band to entertain us with songs arranged to include the few notes that they can play.

I remember that stage all to clearly!

The highlight of the day was at the end.

We were meant to bring lunch to have with the children.

I had stayed a little longer in the concert hall than many others talking to an old friend, and I thought rather than eating my lunch with C, I would just quickly visit him in his area, and say goodbye.

Cs teacher saw me coming across the yard, and I heard her say, "Here she is Charlie!"

He had worried that I wasn't coming. He had saved half his lunch for me,

two rather battered triangles of vegemite sandwich and the left over crumbs from his muffin.

He shared his drink bottle with me, I am glad his Mum has provided the type that does not allow any "backwash"!

I felt very loved as I sat awkwardly on the common area floor.

Gods plan to put us into families is pretty good, don't you think?