Catching Up

Time really flies fast around this time of year!  Since I last posted many, many things have come and gone.  Things like graduation nights, a wedding anniversary, the end of Girls' Brigade, a community Carols night with our lower Primary families, the beginning of my summer Uni subject.  Tomorrow we celebrate Dh's birthday - I've already told him he needs to do a load of washing and watch TV.  Both recently-acquired items that were really for him.  I must confess to doing more washing than normal in the last two weeks, purely to watch the machine turn the clothes around and around.  It's such a novelty to be able to see into the washing machine and we're loving having a front-loader.

Christmas shopping has begun semi-earnestly.  A great dent was made with online shopping, which I very much preferred.  Next year perhaps I'll get organised early enough and do almost all of it online.  I really don't enjoy shopping, never mind the increased crowds and shopping mall rage impoliteness!

Overlaying all the craziness of the past weeks has been the delicate lesson of learning to listen and heed the Sovereign One whose will and timing are perfect.  These things often come with their share of anxiety and uncertainty and we find ourselves cautiously taking just one step at a time.

The week ahead, for us, brings the end of the school year.  We'll take a couple of days spending time with Dh's family and then finish our Christmas preparations.  The children are earnestly requesting the opportunity to shop for one another.  I think an early morning trip might work best for us all!  It is a tradition we began a few years ago with a $5/person budget to teach the children to consider the person they are giving to.  It is beautiful to watch them take on this challenge in more mature ways.