SALT – Imperfection

Today on the SALT blog it’s my turn to set the challenge.  It’s my first as a member of the design team and I chose to focus on the book of Jonah.  I like Jonah – he seems so human to me.  You can read more detail on the blog itself about why I chose the challenge.

My layout is using a pretty old photo (from the days of APS films if anyone knows what I mean?).  It’s of a beach in Tenerife where the sand is black rather than ’sand’ coloured.  The journalling reads,

“In Tenerife there are a few beaches where the sand is black due to the volcano at the centre of the island.  They’re a very odd sight – at the same time both beautiful and bizarre!  Unusual and intriguing (the beaches were on my ‘must see’ list) but they’re slightly disconcerting too.  When you paddle in the sea then walk back up the beach you find your feet covered in black sand which doesn’t feel ‘right’.  They’re often almost empty too.  Apparently they’re not as popular with tourists in the way the man-made beaches (with imported sand) are.  Personally I enjoyed the quietness and the imperfection.  Tenerife, July 1994″

The layout was prompted by the overall theme of my challenge – that God loves us and accepts us despite our imperfection.

Supplies used are: White Bazzil cardstock, Bo Bunny Press Summer Cottage Pottery patterned paper, pale blue ric rac, Making Memories tiny alphabet stickers and Heidi Swapp foam stamps.

 

SALT day

Today’s SALT challenge is set by Nikki.  We were challenged to reflect on Romans 8:28 and how God works for the good of those who love Him.  It is a challenging verse for me – while I really do believe that God works for good and that we are called for a purpose, I often find it difficult to see the good in every situation.  The example that I knew I had to use for my layout was of our youngest daughter, Iona.  She’s a gorgeous, fun-filled, cheeky girl but we’ve had behavioural issues almost since birth.  I have suspected ADHD for several years and we’ve been in the process of diagnosis for almost 2 years (waiting lists are a bug bear of mine!)  We have had a diagnosis from the paediatrician but now in order to put support structures into school for her we have to see the Child and Families team.  It was a difficult first meeting a couple of weeks ago so this was uppermost in my mind when I was reflecting on the verse.

Supplies used are: Bazzill Kraft cardstock, Making Memories patterned paper and Journalling pad, chipboard letters, stamps and butterfly embellishments from a swap a while back!

 

At the moment

I’m not doing well at staying updated on here, so here’s a potted look at what’s we’re up to at the moment!

• 3 weeks into the summer holidays, 4 weeks left
• Enjoying playing in the garden
• Meeting up with friends at the local soft play centre or one of the many garden centres we have locally
• Practising bike riding even when it’s drizzly
• Welcoming Gran and Grandpa back from their holiday in the US
• Loving the strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries that are in the shops in abundance
• Having some challenges with behaviour – routines aren’t nearly as structured as Iona seems to be need
• Getting some ‘admin’ type of tasks done – it’s the turn of the optician for Hayley tomorrow!

 

An insight?

I’ve been trawling the internet tonight to try to get some insight into ADHD diagnosis after a frustrating meeting last week with the clinical psychologist.  I’ve realised that I’m sometimes pretty bad at communicating things face to face so am putting together a letter with things that I think are significant but which I failed to get across in the meeting.  It’s hard.  It’s so demoralising to be negative about your child.  As I was looking at various websites I found the following insight which shows some of the way that ADHD affects peoples’ lives.  It’s from an adult’s perspective but does explain why things don’t necessarily get accomplised.

An insight

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the table that I collected from the letter box earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the rubbish bin under the table, and notice that it is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the rubbish first.

But then I think, since I’m going to be near the post-box when I take out the rubbish anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my cheque book off the table, and see that there is only 1 cheque left.

My extra cheques are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I’d been drinking.

I’m going to look for my cheques, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over.

The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the fridge to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the worktop catches my eye – they need water.

I put the Coke on the worktop and discover my reading glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the worktop, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote control.

Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realise that tonight when we watch TV, I’ll be looking for the remote control, but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the front room where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote control back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
- the car isn’t washed
- the bills aren’t paid
- there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the worktop
- the flowers don’t have enough water
- there is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book
- I can’t find the remote control
- I can’t find my glasses
- and I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I’m really tired.

 

Salt challenge – prayer

I’ve been truly dreadful at blogging recently, the school holidays are really knocking me off balance!  I think because the start of the holidays was the start of a new and temporary routine until I start working in August that it’s been harder to find my feet if that makes sense?!

Anyway, it’s SALT challenge day and this week we’ve been set a challenge on prayer by Mona.  I chose to focus on the verses from Psalm 116 which are the journalling on my layout, “I love the lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.  Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live”.  (Psalm 116:1-2)

I decided to use two images which immediately come to mind when I think about prayer, particularly if I’m praying at home.  The Willow Tree angel of prayer is one of a small collection of Willow Tree figures that I have in the house.  I love their simplicity and the meaning behind each of the figures.  The other image is of praying hands.  Bryan has one of these ornaments in his study, as do several of our friends.  I’ve kept the layout extremely simple (when do I not?!) and have tried to focus on the verse as much as the images which is why they are quite small.  Supplies used are: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey Periphery patterned papers, rub on from a Summer Survival Kit from last year so I’m not sure of the make, a Basic Grey chipboard swirl which I coloured with a gel pen to fit in the colourscheme and the same gel pen was then used to draw on the border.  Not sure about the border now it’s done but the layout was very very plain and looked like I had made virtually no effort!

As a family we’ve had a difficult week with an appointment with the local Child and Families team.  For about a year and a half we’ve been trying to access some support for behavioural difficulties that Iona has with the suspicion that she’s got ADHD.  This was confirmed by the paediatrician we saw in November but it’s taken until now to see the Child and Families team.  Unfortunately it was not the most productive of meetings and it left us all feeling very let down.  We’re not very sure what happens now because they’ve said they want to contact the nursery she’s just finished at and also the psychologist who visited Iona at nursery.  Of course the school holidays mean that there is yet another hold up!  It’s very frustrating when you want to do your best for your child but feel as though you’re shouting into the wind.  The prayer challenge was very timely because it helped me refocus on the fact that God does hear our cries for help and we can always call on him.  So thank you Mona for a thought provoking challenge.

Hopefully I will be updating the blog over the next few weeks – I’ve got layouts to add to the flickr gallery and various updates I should have added in before now!

 

Good news

It’s the last week of the school term so busy around here!  I’m pleased to report that the meeting last week went well and I was allocated a school which is about 10 minutes away from home.  I went to visit yesterday and enjoyed seeing round and finding out what my timetable will be.  I now have until the 13th August to relax before the onslaught begins!

It’s SALT day today.  On the blog, Melita shares her thoughts on the Fruits of the Spirit.  We were asked to choose one of them, reflect on it in our life and produce a layout or card.  I chose patience (everyone who knows me well is laughing at this point!)

Supplies used are: Bazzill white, Basic Grey Lime Rickey patterned papers, Making Memories letter stickers, BG buttons and Papermania gems.  It’s a very simple layout but I loved the photo so being able to use the BG papers was fun (they were a recent purchase but I hadn’t been inspired since buying them!)

Journalling reads, “My mum has always said that I was at the back of the queue when patience was being given out and that by the time I got to the front it had run out.  I have to be honest and say that I think she’s probably right!  Of all the Fruits of the Spirit, patience is the main stumbling block.  I have to work very hard not to get irritated by the little things that try my patience (the hesitant driver at the traffic lights/the one who is taking an age to park…)  It is a fast paced world we live in and I know I’m not the only one who has issues with waiting.  That being said, the Holy Spirit counsels patience so I know I have to work on it.  I’m definitely a work in progress!”

The traffic lights photo seemed the ideal one to use, especially considering the two examples I give are traffic related!

We’ve all interpreted the challenge differently which is one of the great things about the design team.  Make sure you take a look!

 

Very worried

There’s been a lack of blogging on my part recently – partly because I’m worried about tomorrow’s meeting about my placement for my Newly Qualified Teacher year and partly because we’ve got Hayley’s 7th birthday party on Saturday and I’ve been busy making cakes etc and filling party bags and a pinata.  Friday’s meeting is a significant one because although I know the local authority I’m going to be working in I don’t yet know the school.  I’m really hoping for our local secondary school because I’ve been there on placement and loved it and because it would mean that there is less impact on the girls over the year that I’d be working there.  I’m very worried about a long commute meaning that I have to leave early in the morning/be back later in the afternoon which as well as causing issues with the children also affects Bryan’s work.  Prayers would be very much appreciated.

As for the birthday party, it is a little early because Hayley’s birthday isn’t till 6th July, but with our schools finishing a week tomorrow we wanted to have it when the majority of her friends would be able to come.  Parties in the summer holidays tend to be hit and miss.  I would hate for her to be disappointed about her friends being away.  It’s a Hello Kitty theme that she’s chosen so I was busy yesterday and today making and icing the cake.  Typical that she chose a theme which didn’t have a ready-made cake available to buy!

Today is the in-between week on the SALT blog.  Tanis has posted a testimony and introduction.  Next Thursday is challenge day and I’m still thinking about what to do for it!  Hopefully my head will be clearer after tomorrow’s meeting.

 

Blog Candy Link

Being a returning to blogging person I haven’t hit any milestones in blogging and am unlikely to for a while!  However, Hazel from the SALT team is celebrating reaching 40,000 hits on her blog so is having a giveaway.   See her blog for more details of what’s on offer.

 

A Community of Faith

It’s SALT day and it was Lythan’s turn to set the challenge.  She chose the theme Community of Faith based on Acts 2:42-47.  I knew I had the perfect photo for this challenge – it’s of some of the congregation taken inside our church last year sometime.  The annual report was being put together and one of the groups involved in that decided that it would be good to try to get a congregational photograph to use in the report.  I felt it was a good example of people coming together as a community, not always agreeing but still able to worship and have fellowship together.  I think the photo was actually taken one Sunday the girls and I weren’t at church so we don’t appear in it!

Supplies used are: Bazzill cardstock, October Afternoon patterned paper, 7 Gypsies stickers, foam letters from Hobbycraft (I think they were actually from the children’s craft section!) and embroidery floss.

As always, the SALT team have interpreted the theme in our own very different ways so it’s worth having a look at the blog and then hopping over to the team’s personal blogs.

 

An extremely generous giveaway

Melissa has a truly amazing giveaway on her blog – pop over and have a look at her amazing cards too.  I wish I had even a smidgen of her flair for cardmaking – mine aren’t the best so I tend not to make many!  The next challenge is teacher cards so I think I’ll be blog-hopping for some inspiration!