Treasure Hunting

Having been asked to lead the children and youth sessions at a planned camp, I was pondering on afternoon activities and decided that a treasure hunt with a difference was in order.

The camp was no ordinary camp - for one thing there were no tents to sleep in. When I say camp I mean that there were several large meeting tents for various groups of people to meet in. People could decide if they wanted to stay in local camp sites, B&B's or hotels. My family informed me early on that they had no intention of coming if we planned to actually camp. The B& B was consequently booked asap!

We had spent some time teaching and helping the children and youth to listen prayerfully to God. Prayer being a two way conversation we felt it was important that children learn how to recognise God's voice and hear what He may be saying to them.  It becomes an adventure for children when they realise they can hear God for themselves.The idea of treasure hunt  is that children listen for clues from God and ask Him to show them where the treasure is. On the first afternoon we had sevearl clues between us all. A clock tower,  fish and chip shop and post office seemed to point to a town. Not knowing the area, we asked around where there might be a clock tower. No one seemed to know but it was suggested we head for a specific town nearby.

There were 5 adults and 5 children and we were all astounded when we arrived at the town and saw a clock tower, fish shop and post office on each side of us! We realised we were in the right spot and started looking for the other clues which we now trusted would lead us to the people who we believed God would want us to encourage with His love...the real treasure!

Other clues included - a lady with bangles on her right arrm, a man with a green top, teenagers, soemone with a headache and many more. We spotted a lady with bangles on her arm, a man  with a green top and teenagers. We  were able to confidently approach various people and ask if they would like prayer for anything. Eveyone was pleased to receive prayer and the children were able to pray with confidence knowing that God had led them very specifically to these people.

Time off to smell the roses.....

Having hardly seen each other the month of May, Briza and I managed to get a few days short break this last week. We were really blessed to get an upgrade on the room we had booked in a lovely hotel in Cheltenham. The deal was for bed breakfast and evening meal and the room we ended up staying in was a special treat. The bathroom alone was luxury enough to spend a week in! We made use of the flat screen TV at the end of the bath a couple of times and I was particularily taken with the multi colour light which illuminated the loo roll,  making a trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night quite an adventure. 

It was great to have the time together! We had almost forgotten what it was like to be away together without the children. I'm happy to say they were being well looked after by Briza'a sister and hubby who had kindly offered to come and 'babysit'. 

    

For me, the sign of a good break is the number of sketches and paintings one manages to do. There was not much opportunity the first day as we braved the weather which continuously threatened rain - Briza looked quite hunky in the bright yellow rain poncho I had been carrying around with me for months in anticipation of such an occasion! The second day promised much better weather and we set off on a longer walk. Having the luxury of time I actually managed three sketches and various water colour washes as we paused and admired the views over Cheltenham from our vantage point high up the mountain.

One of our stopping points was at 'devils chimney' a natural stone structure which history records was for many years a challenge to climbers. Now cordoned off due to erosion, it was fascinating to learn that at one time 13 people had actually climbed up and perched on top.

It was especially pleasing to have the time to stop and ponder and soak in the land. Briza and I are opposite types of people and it was good to be reminded that when we do take the time to walk together we are enriched to appreciate the view from each others different perspectives. Our lives have been enhanced these last few days and I'm hoping it won't be too long before we have time to do it all again.

Mad month of travel

On return from Israel at the beginning of this month, hubby met me at the airport and handed over the girls. He flew straight off to Uganda for the week and I tried to catch up work, washing, mothering and life in general. Hubby returned the following Sunday and we had exactly one day together before I headed back to the airport to catch a flight to....Uganda!  Same place exactly...our dear friend and work colleague Isobel had made space in her home to accomodate both of us... only separartely!

The time in Uganda was precious and I believe that much was achieved for the networks in East Africa working with children at risk. The cockroaches, slow trickle of water in the shower and the power cuts were a reminder that I should be more appreciative of the standard of living we have here in the UK.
Following hot on the heels of Uganda I travelled to Cape Town, South Africa where I was able to connect with 'CONNECT' the network working with children at risk. This coincided with a Global Day of Prayer summit that was happening in celenbration of 10 years of GDoP.

The time was full and punctuated with wonderful connections with old friends from around the globe. It was a priviledge to be part of this global gathering and I had the added blessing of sharing a room with an Australian friend and her daughter who previously were only skype connections! I did manage a trip to the top of table mountain thanks to two more of my friends inviting me to skive off one of the plenary sessions.....I guess one can always hear Ed Silvosa another time!

The final day was spent networking with new friends around the 'World Weekend of Prayer' for children at risk - This year falling on 5-6th June. God was in the house and we all felt a sense of divine connection especially regarding raising children as 'Child Ambassadors' - something I was championing in Africa and have a vision to see expand across Viva's networks globally. Children being raised to hear God's voice in prayer and to be a voice on behalf of their peers who suffer so much in the earth.

On hindsight the month could have been planned a little better - regardless - I now find myself back home 2 weeks later having to catch up on hubby, children, work , washing and life in general. I came back to discover my neighbour has had a baby....that's how long it seems. (Last time I saw her it was a small bump.)

The trip has saturated me for travel- my only desire right now is to be home based for a good length of time. Maybe until October when there's something else brewing on the horizon.....

Car park fiasco

Since the beginning of the year we have been on a mission to help sort out and update my mum's kitchen. My Mr Fixit husband was on hand and we set aside a weekend to complete the job. All I had to do was take mum to a local DIY store, choose a paint colour,some tiles and a border.Easier said then done. The plethora of paints, tiles and border tiles left us with too many decisions to make in a short period of time. When we finally got out of the shop the car park was full with people queing to find a space.

We were delayed leaving the car park because a lady had driven the wrong way to reverse into a space and was then pipped at the post by another impatient driver resulting in the lady stuck in a tight spot. The queue forming behind us grew as she laboriously reversed back out of the car park into oncoming traffic! We breathed as sigh of relief when we arrived home!

Thinking that was the end of it and pleased with the results of our labours and the final colour  and tile decisions I was somewhat dismayed to recieve a letter the following week, It was from some company acting on behalf of the DIY store threatening debt colletion of I didn't pay up a parking fine. To my amazement there was a picture of my car entering and exiting the car park.Apparently there were signs everywhere which were totally lost on me, my mum, and my 12 year old daughter, saying you had only one hour free stay as a customer. In the small print it said you could appeal and appeal I most certainly did. Horrified at the idea of debt collectors turning up at my house - yet having no intention of paying what I percieved to be the most ridiculously unfair car park fine. I composed a letter stating three VERY good reaons why I felt it unreasonable to expect payment and tried to remain logical despite my inner fury at at the injustice.

The letter worked! I had listed the fact I was with my elderly mother and to expect decisions to be made in an hour when purchasing the items we did was unreasonable, I listed the fact that we had NOT seen any signs warning us of the hour limit, and my final reasoning was the fact we had been severely delayed exiting the car park taking us well over the allocated hour.

The fact my mother is a sprightly and tenacious 77 year old who, on hearing about the fine had insisted on speaking with the manager if the DIY store is neither here nor there....my letter had apparently done the job.

Power to the people!