What to do??

There is much excitement here at Rectory Towers today. The sky is looking very grey and heavy and the children keep wandering outside to see if any snow has fallen. The Lady of the house (that's me) is getting slightly narked at the back door being constantly left open, mud being trodden in, and is filled with dread that if it does snow will the schools be closed and the dear children be at home for several more days after already being off for three weeks??? It is all too much to contemplate really........

I have the opportunity to be a grown up. I have long desired to be a stylish, feminine woman of taste but to be honest that is nothing like the person I am. A couple of years ago I saw and instantly had to buy the world's tackiest kettle...but it is fun. It is painted in the pattern of a cow, has a cow head perched on the top and moos when it boils!! It is quite a talking point and there is something strangely thrilling about hearing it moo and knowing that it means a cup of tea is immanent. However my beloved cow is sometimes not mooing which means we have suffered a couple of luke-warm cups of tea....very unpleasant. Its moo is weakening and I fear its demise is nigh.

So, what to do????? Do I finally realise my stylish dream and buy a glorious kettle of taste or look for something fun and funky and different. This may all seem a tad tedious to you, the reader, but to me it is something much bigger than the presenting issue.. it is about who I am and who I long to be. Sad, I know but there you go.

It is always a big thing to look at your life, measure it against what your dreams and ambitions once were and where you are now. I always remember as a child hearing a lady say that the only time she got to say her prayers was when she went to the loo as it was the only place where her children weren't.
I remember thinking how awful this sounded but now....I just think "Wow, she went to the loo on her own??!!" Funny how our dreams change and are shaped by the things life puts our way and yet how God shapes us through all that goes on in and around us and the wonderful truth that "in all things God works for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."

On the radio the other day I heard a hymn that I have sung so many times during my life,
"Just as I am without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me
And that thou bids't me come to Thee
O Lamb of God, I come"

It is the most wonderful hymn and as I heard it the other day I was reduced to tears. How utterly,utterly amazing that God, the Lord of Heaven and earth bids us to come, just as we are, whether ratty with the children, whether we want to be someone we really aren't and whatever our kettles are like and whatever the insecurities tied up with all that are He bids us come so that He can change us and make us the people He made us to be and to fill us with Himself. WOW!!

O LAMB OF GOD, I COME. Amen

Rachel