Hello London!

After a lovely week in Switzerland with my parents, brother and sister-in-law, Phil, Gracie and I arrived in London on Tuesday. We can’t really believe that we live here now! We are staying temporarily with the pastor and his family of the church that we joining. His name is Phil, his wife is Sarah and they have two great kids: Naomi (11) and Ben (9). They are a lovely family and we are really enjoying staying with them. They are good fun. We will hopefully be moving into our own home in a couple of weeks or so. There are tenants currently in the flat, but they plan to move out around the middle of the month. It is a really nice place: a 3 bedroom maisonette, with a communal garden outside too. We are really looking forward to moving in somewhere and making it home. During our time in Prague we lived in 4 different places (all very close together, but still!) and we are really excited about making a little space that is ours.

Gracie is doing well and getting used to life in London. She has many people to dote on her, so that helps. She is learning a few new tricks… she can sleep on her side and on her belly now… and she is grabbing and holding rattles and things like that. She is smiling loads, and giggling, but not very chatty yet. She is just brilliant, we are enjoying playing with her and spending time with her so much.

Well, not much else to say for now… although I want to give a mention to the ‘Family Services’ room in Zurich airport. They were brilliant! If you’re ever travelling through Zurich and you have babies or kids, you have to go through there. For babies, there are proper changing stations, wipes, basins and towels. Also facilities for warming up bottles etc. For toddlers and children, there are 2 rooms, one with toys, small tables and chairs for kids to sit and draw at, and in the second room there is a snooker table, board games, art stuff… just amazing! I was so impressed. It was just gorgeous! So, there you go… I never thought I’d blog about airport facilities!

Hello, hello..!

The last post that I wrote, although I didn’t know it at the time, was exactly one week before our beautiful baby girl, Gracie, was born. She was born on the 17 February at 13:00, weighing 3.2 kg. My labour was a bit long and had to be encouraged along quite a bit, which made it a little more complicated than I would have liked, but the hospital staff at Horovice Hospital were really brilliant, and I had a good experience there.

 This is Gracie just a few hours after being born.

Gracie is now just over 3 months old, and she is just amazing! Phil and I are having so much fun with her. The first 6-8 weeks were pretty tough sometimes, but we are getting the hang of this parenting lark and Gracie is so delightful!

 Gracie was being a bit grumpy, so we were trying to plicate her with her bunny on her head..! (Don’t know if it worked!)

I will put a few more recent photos of her here soon.

In other news, on Wednesday evening, I was called by E1 Community Church to work with them! Phil and I had been to visit the church and the area on two previous occassions, and on Wednesday the church had to decide whether they wanted to call me or not. And they unanimously decided that they did! I am so excited and really looking forward to working with the pastor, Phil (yeah, another Phil!) and the other people involved in leading the church. There are some great possibilities and also great challenges facing the church, but I am looking forward to learning, growing and contributing to the life of the church. I don’t know when I will start yet, or when Phil and I will be moving over to London, but it will be sometime in the summer.

I apologise for the long silence before this, but a baby is so demanding! I didn’t realise how much time the little things can take up! I hope to blog a bit more often now that Gracie is a little older. In the meantime, hugs and love from Phil, Gracie and I. xxx

I just finished reading this a moment ago, and I had to say something about it. (Although, being on the silence of God, and how we need to try to practice economy with our words in order for people who listen to us to hear God, or not hear God… I don’t want to say too much!) I don’t think that I have ever read a non-fiction book that was as beautifully written as this book by Barbara Brown Taylor. The book is mostly addressed towards those who have the frightening, awesome and beautiful privilege of preaching within their communities of faith. Taylor addresses the role of preachers in talking about, of, to, and with God. She talks about what has happened to language, what it means to try to stand before your community and speak truthfully, and how we try (unsuccesfully) to name God. The language that she uses is simply exquisite, I found myself reading and re-reading phrases that she wrote, just to enjoy again the way she expresses her thoughts. The words are so beautiful, its like they leave a sweet taste in your mouth: sweetness that is true, real and names the feelings and thoughts that you know but have not or cannot express with such eloquency. There are so many bits that I would like to share with you, but I just cannot here, but you should try to read this book if you can. I will leave you with the closing two paragraphs:

“Whatever preachers serve on Sunday, it must not blunt the appetite for this [God's] food. If people go away from us full, then we have done them a disservice. What we serve is not supposed to satisfy. It is food for the journey. It is meant to tantalize, to send people out our doors with a taste for what they cannot find in our kitchens. When they find it, they understand why we did not say more about it than we did. It was not that we didn’t. It was that we couldn’t.

Our words are too fragile. God’s silence is too deep. But oh, what gorgeous sounds our failures make: words flung again the silence like wine glasses pitched against a hearth. As lovely as they are, they were meant for smashing. For when they do, it is as if a little of God’s own music breaks through.”

The list shortens… :)

Well, the week before last week was due to be the week that things were going to get done. And actually, quite a few things did get done… I went shopping with a friend and we got the baby a cot, some sheets, a mattress (no expense spared!) and a really cool lamp. I’m sure the baby is especially going to appreciate the lamp! It is cylindrical shaped, with coloured stripes going horizontally down the length of it. And it has a dimmer switch. (Very important according to Gina Ford..!) I am definitely most excited about the lamp! Phil put the cot together the same day that I bought it, and its sitting waiting in the baby’s room. Actually, for the first few weeks my mom and dad bought us a Moses basket. We saw it when we were in Zurich for New Year, and they will bring it over when they get ‘the call’… but we don’t know how long baby will use the Moses basket… so we thought we’d have the cot ready too.

As well as bed-y type things, our amazing nappies arrived too. After baby-sitting a toddler who used cloth nappies and finding it not too bad at all, and for environmental reasons, we are going to use cloth nappies too. They are the cutest things too… in great colours and prints… so adorable! The make is called Wonderoos… so hopefully they will do the trick for our little monkey.

Apart from baby stuff, last week was my first week off work. It was good, although strange not to be going into the office. I will miss working at the EBF, it was a really great experience. I filled the time up with sorting out stuff for the house, visiting the hospital where I’ll have the baby, and having students and friends over, which was great. The coming week is looking a bit quieter, which is good, I’m feeling quite tired after the past week! I’m also really hoping that the baby might decide to arrive early… I’m pretty tired of being preggers now. I’d quite like to have ankles again… this past week my calves have eaten my ankles… resulting in fat, pretty uncomfortable feet! I mean, I haven’t had too bad a time being pregnant, but I’m really ready to have this baby now.

Anyway, this weekend Phil, a friend called Suzannah, and myself went to see Burn after Reading… a Coen brother’s film. The most recent film before this that they did was No Country for Old Men. Burn after Reading was completely different… for starters it is a comedy… as the Coen brothers do comedy: so very random, quirky, odd, and left me wondering at the end what I had just been watching. I mean, it wasn’t bad, it was just quite odd. I did laugh quite a fair bit, but I also found myself thinking what on earth was going on. I’d give it a 6.5 out of 10.

Well, I’m heading to bed, or I might try to google ‘huge fat swollen feet remedies for heavily pregnant women’…

… night.

The Week that Things will Get Done

I think that I have been slightly in denial about the impending birth of our first child… I mean, I am nearly 36 weeks pregnant now, but I still don’t know if I believe that the baby is ever going to come out. I’m praying that it will, as its getting a tad uncomfortable carrying another person around like this, but at the same time, I just can’t imagine it… and I can’t imagine being a mother. Mothers are grown-ups and I certainly don’t feel like one of those. As a result of my disbelief of the whole scenario, Phil and I haven’t completely finished or organised everything that we might need for when Baby A makes his or her appearance. But that is going to change this week… because this is going to be the week that things get done… or, at least the beginning of said time! I need to make a couple of lists: things that I need for going to the hospital, things that the baby will need, and things that we still need for the baby when we get home. Sadly, I love making lists… so it won’t be too much of a trial. It might be a bit harder on the debit or credit card though… hmmm.

Anyway, I must be off, Phil needs the laptop to work. Have a fun Monday!

Back to snowy Prague

Phil and I got back to lovely Prague on Saturday evening. Its great to be back, 3 weeks of holiday is good but its nice being home too. On Sunday, with the help of some very sweet friends, we moved into a bigger apartment (just down the hallway!) due to our expanding family… it is a lovely apartment: we have two bedrooms now, and the living area is also bigger… its really class. We’re still sorting out where everything goes, there is a bit of tidying to do, but the bulk of the work is done. I think we’ll probably have to have a flat warming once we’re all sorted out.

Term started again today, and so far it looks like everything is going OK. Unfortunately I caught a cold from my mom while we were in Zurich, so I feel pretty miserable. Phil is being pretty sympathetic, so that helps. I just want to curl up under my duvet, but the problem is that I don’t know how well I’ll actually be able to sleep. Last night I only managed to fall asleep after 4am… not great.

This afternoon we went to our doctor for a regular check-up. The baby is about 2.5kg now, which seems huge..! S/he is moving around loads at the moment, maybe getting impatient. We’re still sorting out where exactly the baby is going to be born, this has not been an easy process, things are a bit more complicated when you are not a native speaker in the country that you are living in. Our doctor is putting quite a bit of pressure on us to pay her a hefty sum to have her attending the birth, but we’re not convinced that its value for money! Today we tried to tell her that we don’t need or want to pay her to attend the birth, but she wasn’t really having any of it. I felt a bit bullied to be honest, which is a surefire way of ensuring that she doesn’t get her way and that we won’t let her push us around. She was saying that we will not manage without her, that we won’t find anyone who speaks English in the hospital etc etc etc. From what I’ve heard these things are simply untrue, and its feels like she’s scaring us into paying her. We actually do have other options, but we don’t feel like we can talk about them with her as she doesn’t seem to open-minded about other ideas. Anyway, we’ll just have to be firm with her. Actually, she’s been a great doctor, and we’ve been really happy with her care over the past months, we just wish that she wasn’t being so forceful about the actual birth part..! Oh well, we’ll work it out.

OK, its to bed with me, Vicks and NightNurse at the ready!

Abandoned…

Well, my whole family: mom and dad, Matt and Bethan, and Phil, just headed off to the ski slopes and left the pregnant lady behind. So its me and the cat hanging out together today… some quality bonding time! Although she seems more interested in sleeping than me. I have quite a few books that I can read, but its so quiet without anyone else around. Its just not fair that they can go and have snowy fun and I can’t! Humpf.

Oh well… one thing that I can do is catch up on my Bible reading too. My mom is following Holy Trinity Brompton’s “Bible in a Year”  initiative, and I thought that I would do the same. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to keep up with the reading program because unlike other attempts that I’ve made to systematically read through the Bible, I’m not doing this alone… on the HTB website there is an introductory thought about the day’s readings, and then opportunity for people to discuss the passages and talk through any interesting or difficult parts. I only decided that I would join in the program yesterday, so I’m a few days behind (hmm, bad start!) but I’m going to give it a shot nonetheless. What I also like about it, is that its not just HTB people taking the challenge, or people from any one denomination, instead it is open to anyone, from anywhere. I like the idea of reading the daily passages with people from all over the world, of different denomination backgrounds, who will all hopefully share their thoughts and ideas as we go through the year. It could be exciting stuff!

Enjoy your day! Love from me, the cat (Brinny) and all my books.

Happy New Year!

All the best for 2009! Sending you love and best wishes for the new year from Thalwil, Switzerland. Phil and I are visiting my parents at the moment, and we had our New Year celebrations here, which involved opening Christmas presents with Matt and Bethan and my mom and dad, eating a delicious dinner and then going up the local mountain to watch fireworks. In the hours before the clock struck twelve, a gorgeous amount of snow fell, so we enjoyed welcoming in a very snowy new year.

Before getting to Switzerland, Phil and I were with Phil’s mom in Belfast. We always enjoy seeing all of Phil’s extended family and this time was no different, we even managed to squeeze in seeing some of our friends from Edinburgh who were over visiting their families in Northern Ireland too. Phil’s wee bro was also at home, which was great. We had a really good time with our Northern Irish family.

All is well in baby-bump land so far. I’m just over 33 weeks pregnant… so not long to go now. I’m not feeling too nervous, more excited, but maybe that will change over the coming weeks! Phil is getting really excited too, we can’t believe how fast the weeks have gone by. I’m feeling like I’m getting ready to not be pregnant anymore! I haven’t had too bad a pregnancy, apart from the first 18 weeks I’ve felt OK. But I’m getting a little less fast on my feet, and not feeling quite as light and flexible as usual! While we were in the UK we bought a few essential baby-items, which we then had to leave behind to be brought by Phil’s mom at a later date because we were worried about our luggage being over-weight! Tomorrow my mom and I are going to have a looky around some shops in Zurich, but things seem pretty pricey here, so unless we find some bargains its going to be more a looking than buying expedition.

I hope that the holidays have been a fun and relaxing time for you too! Love and hugs from Switzerland. xx

Back to old clothes and porridge

Home sweet home. I have been back from South Africa for a week now, and feeling happy to be home. Phil and I had a great time in London, and then I went on to South Africa for a week, which was wonderful. Although it was only a week and we didn’t get outside of Johannesburg, it was a special time with family and friends. I think my mom has now truly and fully celebrated her 50th birthday!

Things are busy as usual in Prague, we are mid-semester, so loads of things happening. This week is our final week of our Environmental Month, a month in the first semester during which we focus on a different topic each week relating to the environment. This week is about sustainable development, and we will also be doing some extra work around campus to raise money for Christian Aid’s ‘Present Aid’. We haven’t decided exactly what we’ll be sending and to where, I guess it depends on how much work we do and how much money we raise!

This past Sunday the sermon by Greg Nichols at Sarka Valley Community Church was on the parable of the talents from the Gospel of Matthew. This is a difficult passage, and Greg did a good job of unravelling some of the questions and challenges of the passage, but I still have so many questions. If the ‘Master’ is not Jesus or God, and if the ‘talents’ are not spiritual gifts, then the passage leaves us with a few problems. Not least of which is the closing verse of this parable: “For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” (Matt 25:29, NIV) I don’t actually know what I think this parable is about, but because I don’t know if I like the idea of Jesus/God as the ‘Master’ from this parable, I think that I still have some researching, thinking and discussing to do! Any ideas very welcome!

This Sunday I am leading church. I find this a challenge every time I have the privilege to do it, because I always want to try to do something a little bit different, to make the experience of coming together to worship God and being equipped to be his disciples something fresh and perhaps unexpected. I think that this is because so many times I feel that when we Christians go to church we go through the motions of ‘church’… we sing songs, we hear a sermon, if we’re lucky we might hear the Scriptures being read (but this should not be taken for granted, I have been to a number of churches that only hear the Scripture that is to be preached on). Not that church can always be new, dynamic and exciting… but I feel that we need to at least have the expectation that something different might happen. Or rather, that we won’t just hear, feel, see, sing and do the same things. Its a difficult balance to strike though… to keep the general structure and elements as part of the service, but to also try new things. One of the things that I like about SVCC is that we have a different person leading and preaching each week, but that can also mean that we don’t consistently engage with the same things, we don’t perhaps experiment as we could, and there is no consistent way of developing ideas or new practices. I think that this is a real challenge to us, and its something that I feel each time that I come to lead. I want to try new ways to worship together, but I don’t want to make people feel uncomfortable. Its something that I’ll be thinking and working on this week, and I’m always up for suggestions!

The celebrations continue…

Good evening from sunny South Africa! I’m in Johannesburg with my brother, mom and dad to celebrate (or rather, continue celebrating!) my mom’s 50th birthday! It started on the 23rd October, which is my mom’s actual birthday, when Phil and I flew from Prague to the UK for the first part of my mom’s birthday… the English celebration, which was really great. Now we are in South Africa to have part 2, the South African celebration. In between the two, my dad also took my mom on holiday to two Mozambiquan islands, which I heard was amazing… Matt and I are feeling very envious!

Matt and I arrived on Monday morning to lovely sunny Johannesburg, and we’ve been enjoying the good food and good weather since then.  My dad’s sister, Lesley, also is here, which is wonderful as its been ages since I saw her. She is great, so chilled out and great fun to be around. We’re having a pretty relaxing time… enjoying long chats over tea, lunch by the pool, afternoon strolls to the shops. Yesterday was Matt’s birthday, so we had a family ‘tea party’ at my grandad’s house, which was good fun. My aunty (Mom’s sister) turned up with her 3 babies… her golden retriever, little pavement special, and golden retriever pup. It was kinda chaotic, but the doggies are soo cute! Especially the puppy… he was all fur and fluff… just a little cuddly ball! It was class to catch up with my cousins Jess and Dave, its always nice seeing them again. Matt turned the grand age of 25… he’s getting on now!

Today I had coffee with my oldest friend, Pam (as in, the friend that I’ve had for the longest… we have known each other since we were babies, our mom’s are friends) and then I went back with her to her and her husband’s apartment to have dinner. It was so nice catching up with her and then seeing her husband, Russell too. We had a great time chatting about everything under the sun, and it was just really special to see her and Russell again. It is a special kind of friendship that can last over many many years and many many miles.

Tomorrow will probably be another day of strenous relaxation… Well, I think that my bed is calling me… good night all!