Living in the moment

So this is the blog I promised you last weekend. Better late than never! I forgot my motto of “Promise less – Deliver more” for a moment.

Did you know there’s a book in heaven called “The God and Kate Adventure”. We’re writing it together. I ask him “What shall we do today?’ then we do things and he writes it down. Some days he asks “What do you want to do, Kate?” We do all of it together.

Just lately,  God’s had to write nearly every day because he taught me a new thing – living in the moment. Before then he would suggest lots of things but we would rarely get round to doing them. I thought I would do them when the house was totally clean and tidy, when the “to do” list was all ticked off and complete, when…………..you get the idea! Those things are never ending.

Now, it’s different. We do the God and Kate things first, then the other things  just fall into place or don’t get done but it doesn’t seem to matter so much. Not only that, but the God and Kate things are such an adventure and they make a really good book.

When I was a child, one of my favourite books was a thin hardback book that had belonged to my Aunty Wendy. I still have the book somewhere in the loft. It is the story of a big bird and a little girl who rides on his back as he flies around the world visiting different countries. Each page has a picture showing a  country visited and its people dressed in their national costume going about their daily life.  In those days, I would often dream of flying out of my window on my bed and visiting other places – adventure dreams. When I grew up I still remembered the dream and wrote a poem about it.

Dream Counterpane

Soaring out of my bedroom window

Beneath

Dream counterpane.

Exotic sultans,

Jewel encrusted lands.

Brass bedstead

spells security

But give me dreams

Every time.

God wants us to experience adventures even as adults, the whole of our lives in fact.

It’s important to write things down so we can see over the years how God unfolds and directs our lives.

Recently, God has been speaking to our church through prophecy and dreams, about  being prepared and positioned for a year where we do the will of God. This brings glory to God and always seems to entail adveture of one sort or another. Here’s some of the things God has said:

“There is clear air in front of us, space to step into and occupy.” – I intend to do that this year.

“What we decide this year will determine what and where we are in 10 years time” – so I’m gladly submitting to his purposes.

“God remembers his promises and is bringing things to birth.”

“It’s a year to complete things which have lain dormant” – those things which have lain in our hearts since childhood – for me,  things like writing travelling – are meant to be brought to completion. what things are lying dormant in your heart? Let them rise up and be brought to completion this year.

“The plough is ready for us to put our hand to it, but we mustn’t look back.” – there’s lots of things waiting for me if I don’t look back to what’s past.

“We are at a time of surrendering to God where we enter the holy place” – God told me that laying down my life down his way (rather than in an ‘ought to’ slavish way) brings life, like sowing a seed in the ground grows into new life. I’ve been released from bondage to “ought to’s” into ability to live in the moment, not locked in the past or worrying about tomorrow. The joy of the Lord is my strength and it comes as I  live moment by moment walking and talking with God.

I pray you will find the joy of the Lord and have adventures with him this year.

x

Sea fishing, frost and lemon cake

Hello everyone – it’s been a while so I have 2 new blog posts for you this weekend 🙂 Watch our for number 2 tomorrow!

Today was impromptu – earlier this week  friends asked if we would like to join them sea fishing in Barmouth on Saturday. I love a day at the seaside so spent the week in anticipation. Barmouth was a childhood holiday location.  It was there that I discovered I loved Portmeirion pottery as we stayed in a house one year which had a kitchen full of it. I spent my 18th birthday there too.

I didn’t plan much because no young children = less bags and planning doesn’t it??  Or does it! We were to set off at 7 am to catch high tide. At 6.45 am I couldn’t decide on dress code. I wouldn’t be fishing (I only know fly fishing and didn’t fancy getting blown off the harbour wall today learning any other kind) but would still be out in the same weather conditions as the others. Thick frost carpeted the street outside at 6.50 am. In a moment of random indecision,I grabbed 2 coats, 3 pairs of gloves with varying degrees of coverage from wrist warmers to special self heating thermal ones, a pair of spare leggings and socks and 1 scarf.  Add to this the hair brush and grips for the inevitable bad hair day in the winter sea air, the emergency banana in case we can’t stop for breakfast due to catching the tide and the notebook for making blog notes of course!

Filling the boot of our friends car with my “carefully planned” stuff, off we go. As dawn breaks the countryside sparkles with white frost – so beautiful. We decide to stop later for bacon sandwiches at our favourite roadside “shack”. The emergency banana is no longer needed and so is eaten early into the journey. Washed down with little espressos made of Rob’s home roasted Kenya AA coffee and a very civilised wafer biscuit and chocolate covered coffee bean.

Welshpool and onwards is lost in a mist of frozen air but we emerge from the other side and start to plan lunch and tea shops for later. Then the picturesque Barmouth bridge comes into view and the lone gothic house set on the side of the estuary and I know we’re near!

The harbour road is blocked off due to sand drifts from some previous desert like sand storm. Leaving the warm car for the cold sunny car park, I opt for both coats, all the gloves, the scarf and a borrowed pair of overtrousers. Realising I have no hat, Tina lends me her best pair of ear muffs from New York:) Looking like the Michelin man but sporting very stylish plaid and fur ear muffs, I waddle along the harbour wall.

The view in the winter sun against the blue sky is stunning but the wind is bitterly cold. We opt for the lower part of the wall where it’s relatively sheltered. Tina and I take a seat and drink Rooibois tea while providing encouraging comments to our menfolk such as “How many lures have you lost so far?” ” So your aim is to catch 10 different varieties of seaweed?” and “Shall we go and fetch that bag of lures that just blew away?”

After disentangling much seaweed from fishing lines with not a fish in sight, we decide it’s time for a fish and chips lunch. To be honest, Lyndon had mentioned fish and chips in a wistful tone since about 10.30 am. However, it was when we became concerned that we had destroyed a whole underwater seaweed habitat that we thought it best to leave…………

Lunch is good sitting outside on a bench watched by a vigilant lone seagull (Mine!  mine! mine!……quote for Finding Nemo lovers). Back in the car heading for Dolgellau and tea shops we stop off at a river fished many times by our friend. It used to be full of salmon and seatrout until poachers poisoned the water a couple of times and numbers dropped dramatically. It was good to hear his fishing tales, some very funny.

We arrive at a great tea and coffee house in Dolgellau at Parliament House, originally an old hardware store. The owners have retained the old shop fittings with wonderful wooden pigeon holes from counter to ceiling filled with cups, pots and tearoom paraphernalia. Ornate light fittings and glass fronted wooden cabinets are all utilised. The home made cakes are of the highest quality, including hazelnut and coffee cake. The counter is filled with a large range of loose teas with bohemian sounding names such as Russian Caravan tea.

Sitting back at home with slices of crusty toast and Primula cheese spread we agree it’s been a most enjoyable day 🙂

“Lit fuse” – poetry at the MAC

During our recent stay in Birmingham, we went alomg to a poetry evening at the Midlands Art Centre (locally known as “the MAC”).

MAC has been host to many of my happy memories. I first discovered it in the late 70’s as I made a hesitant emergence from a very shy childhood and teenage years into my 20’s, with the help of some brave people. A shy, slightly aggressive, sometimes embarrassing and (so I’m told) attractive butterfly, who was determined  to engage with and make it through this scary but wonderful thing called life, with or without other people. Several decades later, I’m happy to report that I am making it through life with increasing  joy and excitement thanks to God and some great people. (So glad it wasn’t without people……..I can’t imagine life now without relationships).

It was probably the MAC cinema or the art exhibitions that I first discovered (I don’t exactly remember). Then, the bookshop and contemporary dance classes (lots of leaping across the room in Ballet Rambert style). I loved it but only did a term as I got distracted with wedding preparations so don’t ask me to demonstrate any routines! At the first dance class, I recognised one of the other students as a new girl at my work place, a physiotherapist. A friendship grew over coffees and Cadbury creme eggs in the cafe after the class  and my shy ” hang around the edge of the group listening rather than joining in” approach to the work staff room changed a little for the better 🙂

Later on, I would take my 3 preschool children to MAC and the park – puppetry shows and childrens activities. We would walk in the park, feed the ducks and visit the playground. Returning to the cafe, I would buy drinks and occasionally a doughnut (cut into 3 pieces, one for each of the children – thrifty times!) or 3 mini milk ice lollies – do they still make those?? I’d joined the local La Leche League group (birth, breastfeeding and child raising) and on one occasion we descended upon the MAC and the park with all our babies, our friends and their babies, our bags and picnics and had such a good time. Not sure if the MAC ever recovered from so many radical mums breastfeeding our children in public, offering freshly prepared wholefood snacks to toddlers and wiping runny noses on our long patchwork ‘earth mother’ skirts! But at least we didn’t churn up the grass with pushchairs, being totally committed to baby carriers, swaddling and Welsh shawls! I’m not sure how much our baby raising concepts produced different or better outcomes for the children than any other methods but it was a very rewarding, fascinating and (mostly) fun time 🙂

(Excuse me while I pause blogging to congratulate husband on finally getting the karaoke machine to work ready for tonight’s New Year party…. “Yes R – marvellous job! The flashing lights are lovely and thanks for singing ‘I will survive’ to me so early in the day – I’m sure we will survive and even make it to church on time at 10.30 tomorrow =)

Eighteen years ago, R and I joined a writing group at the local library. With other members of the group, we visited the MAC for a poetry evening. Later, we adjourned to the bar area, (contemporary art work on the walls and not many seats so you could wander and browse in sophisticated fashion as you drank your tipple).  One of our older group members, P entertained us with glorious stories of her younger years spent in Berlin, recounted as she leaned on the wall, wine glass in one hand and an elegant little hand rolled cigarette in the other. We all sat on the floor and laughed a lot together. P moved away from the area some time later and gave us her amazing old travel chest which now houses a huge amount of Hot wheels track and cars in our box room!

On another occasion, we saw the poet Micheal Rosen perform his poetry there and he signed a copy of his latest book for us before we left. Then there was the warm summer evening when they had dragon boats on the lake in the park. They were lit with lanterns and moved around the lake as night fell to a backdrop of music and, if I remember correctly, fireworks. Magical!

The MAC has always had an array of music for all tastes on offer. They began a series of free live music evenings outdoors in the courtyard on a weekly basis through the summer. I remember taking my teenage son to a few of them. He’s a talented drummer and was doing a college course related to the music industry at the time.

So, just before Christmas, we returned to the MAC again, this time for another poetry reading. Four up and coming young poets (so tickets were very cheap) performed their work one by one in a small theatre on a tiny wooden stage set at the base of our ramped seating. Their poetry was themed around traumatic events – difficult relationships, addiction and a neglected child. The last poet was so convincing that I left under the impression that he had personally experienced the trauma he had just spoken of – that is, until R asked me if I’d realised each poet had performed poetry about the same scenario but just written from the different perspectives of the four individuals involved, baby, the father, the neighbour etc. Doh! I’d wondered why they all seemed to have similar themes! So well done last poet – you’re obviously a very convincing actor!

And that’s the beauty of the MAC – full of surprises, encouraging new talent, showcasing more established performers, broadening your heart and mind and set in a beautiful park! And I haven’t even told you about the hot houses and the recently refurbished building with it’s new cafe serving tasty soups and savouries, proper coffee and cup cakes!

Why don’t you give it a try sometime and let me know what you think? Google MAC and Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston for lots more info.

Enjoy 🙂