Seven Quick Takes: The Still Catching Up edition!

Except this week we are at Christy's blog because Kelly is busy sending out lots of messages asking us to look at her sexay photos (she said her site was hacked, or something) travelling!

1.

I realise, woefully, that in my last Quick Takes I was so out of the loop that I didn't even use the current, competition-winning Quick Takes logo which is certainly not that new. At least I realised we are at Christy's this week. Hi, Christy!

2.

I am also - spoiler alert - trying to get past the fact that I have only just learned the real understanding of the Biblical use of the phrase 'apple of my eye'. This phrase crops up in Shakespeare, and much earlier, but its use in the Bible is to translate a Hebrew phrase. Which doesn't so much mean apple, but "aperture at the centre of the eye", or pupil - so, to God, we are like the tiny reflected self we see in someone's pupil. I think. Except in Zechariah, where it means something else. Who knew? Obviously I'm relying on Wikipedia for my info, but when I conduct deep theological research, who knows, we may have a HIGHLY FASCINATING BLOG POST or even a sermon on our hands!

3.

Yes, you read that correctly, SERMON. (You did read the previous take, didn't you?) I have now preached two sermons at my beloved home church as part of testing my vocation to ordained ministry in the Church of England. The last one was on the devil, despite sensible people trying to dissuade me from the topic, the one before that, I can't even remember, but I hope someone in the congregation does, vaguely, in the back of their mind. Again, there is much more about me testing my vocation to tell....too much to report here.

4.

4thSister. Not yet able to sit still on trains or planes.

I also realised I completely forgot to publish my post about how all caught up I was in a post-survival mode, and now we've had 6 weeks off for the summer and I'm all running about frustrated and overwhemed again. I am still celebrating that my 2 year old no longer pulls at my dress and screams for "Wheels on Bus!". My dress still gets pulled though.

5.

Weighing heavily on the hearts and minds of many of us in the UK is the plight of refugees trying to escape diabolical circumstances. One of our newspapers, The Independent, posted the image of a young, dead, Syrian boy washed up on the seashore, and people have been shocked by this photo. I heard on late-night radio last night that the people who live in the area where the boy drowned are past being shocked, as this type of death is not an unusual occurrence for refugees trying to flee. A bit of a serious take this one, but please just pray about it if you would.

6.

Nowhere near as important but nevertheless causing me consternation is the fact that the new school shoes we bought for 1stSister, who is still ten, did not fit, and they were the same size as mine (UK size 5 - which is average for a female, miniscule if you are a Jennifer Fulwiler), So now her feet are LARGER than mine, as well as being so narrow the customer service team on the shoe website I use told me it's a physical impossibility that her feet measure that long and that narrow.

7.

Toothbrushes, I know you're in there!

To be fair, it's possible I didn't measure correctly, as there are many mistakes I carelessly make as I try to remain organised. I try not to get too fazed by them. Even when 3 electric toothbrushes get abandoned in our French holiday home. In this current back-to-school madness, I find myself frequently apologising for infractions and trying to bear the weight of all the things I have to do. Sometimes, like today, when saying Celtic Daily Prayer, a snippet of scripture with which I'm unfamiliar leaps out at me. So if, like me, it's a minor set of struggles or one of epic proportions, just remember, as 2 Timothy 2 reminded me today, that you don't need to worry about the boss having everything sorted out, because He's the big boss of everything, so neither do you need to worry about you yourself having everything sorted.

Next Steps

I'm not going to post trite metaphors here, but I read the Very Hungry Caterpillar enough times still to perceive this as a butterfly moment.

And not to devalue the vocation of motherhood and marriage, either....

But I feel like I'm currently flying after a very long crawl...a very long haul!

It wasn't long ago I was posting about how I still felt in survival mode with a toddler. I couldn't get anything done, even regular housework. There felt like no way forward, even though I had committed to going through the process to have my vocation to ordained ministry tested,  which took a lot of time and energy.

But somehow, in amongst ensuring I spent special time with all of the girls, especially 4thSister, and carved out rest time and work time and husband time, and no one suffered too badly....

I made it through!

I made it through the first stage of ordination testing, and after a new round of church hopping, which I aim to blog about, I'm on to the final interview.

I made it through life with a toddler holding onto my leg while I made hot dinners.

I turned around and suddenly this girl, in all likelihood the last girl, the last child, was in a big girl bed, and toilet trained, and I was passing the baby stuff on at last.

And it wasn't as bittersweet as I imagined.

I think whatever was ahead, it would feel like a new phase. Whatever came next would be me building up the kingdom, I would hope. It just happens, we think, for me, to be ordained ministry.

As the four sisters play together these school holidays, sometimes four, sometimes two, three in different combinations, I get this wonderful sibling thing, and embrace it. I sometimes wish there were more but it feels right that there are four, and I can go on mothering without feeling like I'm in the trenches forever. I'm forty, so I've pretty much accepted that this is the bend in the road; I hope if there were other plans, I'd be happy with those, too.

I feel that in the newborn times, and in the two-under-two times, and the how-can-I-cope times, I never saw this day coming, and it's quite a surprise. The girls have high-maintenance emotional needs (they are girls!!! and this) although they are very independent in practical terms. I have a little freedom to try a new rice salad recipe or read a book - or blog, even!

I'm not here to gloat, of course. It makes me realise that we do all survive young children, though, and I don't think I will ever forget the struggles, and I hope to NEVER tell anyone "enjoy while you're able/you're tired/you're at the end of your tether as this soon shall pass".

7 Quick Takes: The "My Standards Are Slipping" Edition

1) I know my standards are slipping because this is the first Quick Takes I have posted at Kelly's rather than Jen's. Obviously I don't mean I'm slumming it at Kelly's (feel I am about to dig an even deeper hole), but that it's been SO LONG since I wrote a blog post, let alone a Quick Take, that their home has since moved. And I haven't overly worried....so there. Standards lowered!

2) I just ordered a Tankini for my 10 year old rather than a cover-your-entire-body bathing costume. And I didn't bat an eyelid.  Because it was easier just to say yes. A Tankini, people. Standards... [edited to add that she didn't like it, and wants a regular swimsuit. See, she gets taken care of with or without my help or hindrance!]

3) When I microwaved coffee that had been left in the jug yesterday, I didn't know whether it had been freshly made that day, the day before, or the time before that....

4) My daughter has 3 school dresses which have ripped pockets, well not so much ripped pockets, but the pockets have ripped off the dresses, creating holes. And I haven't had, I mean MADE time to sew them. So she went in a dress that she'd previously worn. Which, because she'd actually listened to me about shoving it in the washbasket to wash, was completely ever so slightly creased.

5) To be honest, the one above isn't about standards slipping. I have always put off sewing. Although, the day before the May dance show 2nd and 3rdSister did, was literally the only 7 hours I had to do 7 hours worth of sewing, so the girls got their own breakfast, lunch and snacks while I LITERALLY just sat and sewed.

6) As you might imagine, that was not my favourite day ever. My favourite day ever was the time I took this morning to listen to the mix CD my husband made for me. And, God forgive me, one of the tracks I had to know what the song was, so I Googled it, and found the lyrics and who the song was by. True mix tape sacrilege. Couldn't wait til he gave me the track listing after I'd listened to the CD. Standards, Standen! (ooh that sounds interesting.) Damn you, internets!

7) However, I'm happy with slipping standards, as my post here will testify. Yesterday morning I gave pastoral care in the classroom to a parent of several children. I washed towels. I put away milk (finally). I was only two minutes late to go and collect the Sisters from school. And I'm happy with that, because I can only do what I can do. With God's grace of course - dreading to think where my standards would be without it!

Feel free to tell me how your standards have slipped in the comments section, and/or find more Quick Takes at This Ain't the Lyceum !