It seems that Footprints now has a mascot – introducing Sophie de la Snuggles (pronounced Snoo- gals). She’s one snuggly puppy!

There is a bit of a story behind how Sophie joined my family. My husband was studying part-time a few years ago in addition to working fulltime, so I often went to bed while he hit the books. It was a trying time – both of us resented being separated by his studies. So he bought me this beautiful toy puppy for me to cuddle in bed when I was missing him … and somehow she has become a part of the family, with a real personality and her own trademark sayings.

Sophie loves sitting on people’s heads and pretending that she is a hat (as you can see in the photo). I can often be found at the computer with her peering at the screen from her favourite perch, or else she sits on the desk to keep me company while I type.

I’ve brought Sophie with me to Footprints Team retreats so that I don’t miss out on cuddles in bed (no boys allowed!), so most of the Team have met her and are very familiar with Sophie-isms. Somehow Sophie has won all their hearts, and now it seems her charm is extending to our readers -  so it seems only natural to make her our mascot! 

Sometimes I think I’ve missed my calling, I’m so good at doing voices and creating characters for the kids’ stuffed toys (when they were younger) and now Sophie – maybe I should have become a puppeteer! Nah, I think I’ll stick with Footprints …

- I hate being bored!

- drivers who do the wrong thing on the road (especially at roundabouts) and then beep ME!

- being interrupted when I am in the writing “zone”.

- running out of milk or bread.

- having nothing decent to read.

- waiting in the queue at the Cleveland Post Office – it doesn’t matter WHEN you go, the queue always snakes out to the door! They have at least six counters – why oh why don’t they employ more staff so that someone is serving at each of them?!

- people who aren’t friendly. ESPECIALLY Christians who aren’t friendly. We are family, for goodness’ sake!!!! And limp fish handshakes – ewwww.

- grotty floors. When I was a fulltime mum, and was down about the state of the house, my hubby always knew that all it took to cheer me up was to sweep or vaccuum and voila! A sparkling house once more!

- people who don’t like / subscribe to Footprints. I mean, what’s THAT about?! Especially if they are Christian women! Even if they don’t read, or don’t have time to read. THAT’S NO EXCUSE! They should get Footprints a. to support an independent Aussie Christian ministry (and it’s cheap as chips); and b. if they seriously don’t/won’t read it, give it away – surely someone they know would enjoy it?!

- people who say “I’ve always wanted to write” or “I’m going to write a book one day” and then do NOTHING about it. If you really seriously want to write, you will. End of story.

- I get cranky if I have to go too long without a decent home cooked meal, including LOTS of vegetables!

- Not getting enough sleep … this includes enjoying a Saturday morning sleep in, and the odd nanna nap …

- Making the once a week trek to the Footprints PO Box only to find *NOTHING* inside. Oh sob, oh weep, oh gnashing of teeth!

- Aniseed lollies. Every time we buy a packet of jellies or jubes, I avoid those dratted black lollies. So I can never watch a movie in the dark and just grab any old lolly from the pack – I always have to check the colour first! Luckily my hubby loves them!

- I really, really, REALLY don’t like making phone calls. Maybe it’s a phobia. I mean, I make them when I have to but … I dread it.

- Self-published books that aren’t properly edited … especially Christian self-published books … we serve the King of Kings and we should strive for excellence in all we do! (Note I said excellence, not perfection, which is impossible …).

- People who say, “We must get-together sometime!” but never follow it up (and yes I am guilty of this myself sometimes), but in particular I’m thinking of those I try to actually arrange a date with but are never, ever free … hey I can take a hint peoples!

My list could go on forever I suppose! But then I got to thinking, what cheeses God off? What are his pet peeves??? Proverbs 6:16 -19 tells us the answer, here is Janet’s paraphrase:

God has six pet peeves, actually seven that really cheese Him off:
- snobby people who look down their nose at others, 
- liars, 
- those who harm the innocent,
- self-centred people who think only of themselves,
- those who turn their backs on Him,
- two-faced people who are nice to your face, but stab you in the back; 
- and people who stir up trouble (especially in the body of Christ).

Yep, I’d have to agree with Him on all of these!

So this post might be a day late, but it’s NEVER too late to be thankful! Here’s my list of five things that made me smile this week …

1. I finished the new edition of Footprints (#51) and sent it to the printer … here’s a sneak peek at the cover (see you get special treatment because you read this blog!):

2. I enjoyed a fun night out for dinner with my workmates on Tuesday night.

3. Praise God for ibuprofen tablets – conquering the menstrual migraine so I could smile again!

4. A husband who loves me and gives me lots of cuddles even when I have my cranky pants on.

5. Not having to go to work yesterday when it was raining and miserable, and I was feeling decidedly down in the dumps - instead I got to snuggle under my doona with a new book, “The Significant You … and Me”. Even more exciting, it was written by a Footprints reader and contributor, Dianne Riley. Thanks Dianne!

Now over to you! What five things made YOU smile this week?

“It could be a heart attack!” 

That was the terrifying thought that woke me in the wee small hours a couple of nights ago.

I’d been a bit sore in my left arm, shoulder and shoulder blade area for over a week, and thought I must have pulled a muscle or something … taking the odd paracetamol, making sure I had a hot wheat pack at bedtime, and begging the family for shoulder rubs.

I’d also booked an appointment with a physio for this week, as I thought it was most likely due to too much computer work, getting the new issue of Footprints ready. Other than that, I hadn’t really thought about it or lost sleep over it. Until this thought gripped me with terror in the middle of the night.

You see, heart disease runs in my family. My paternal grandmother died of a heart attack at 45 (I’m 43).  My father, one of the fittest, healthiest men you could ever meet, had his first heart attack at 60. And I suddenly remembered that he’d had a sore left arm and shoulder for a week before the heart attack, which he also just put down to being a pulled muscle but in hindsight, realised was a warning sign.

As I lay in bed with these thoughts flooding my mind, my stomach churned. Oh no! Another sign! Dad had thrown up several times with his heart attack. My pulse raced. I was terrified!!!

I cannot explain the immense fear that possessed me …  Lord help!!! I cried out silently. Straight away a Scripture came to mind … for God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind. Thank you Lord! Help me put this fear aside, unless I really “do” need to do something about it. If it is an attack of the enemy, give me peace!

My GP knows my family history and my health is being monitored, so I really shouldn’t be worried. I thought about waking my husband and telling him, but realised it all sounded pretty silly. Gradually, my breathing slowed and I dropped off back to sleep.

How thankful I am that I have Scripture stored in my memory, that God can bring it to my mind just when I need it most. God’s Word is a sword – but you’ve got to read it, familiarise yourself with it, practise using it (by memorising it) so that when the battles come (and they will!) you will be ready.

En garde!

1. That my darling husband and I had the day off together. It was like our second honeymoon back in May (for our 20th wedding annivesary) – we just enjoyed each other’s company all day and ignored the washing, the cleaning, the hundreds of other little things that demand our time and energy. We watched a good DVD together and went to Sizzler for lunch – the day just flew by. Our love tanks are full now!

2. Went shopping with Miss 13 last Saturday, as she desperately needed new jeans. We had a credit note for $30 (after returning THAT dress) – the exact price of the jeans we picked. We also found 4 tops from the “2 for $20″ rack. By anyone’s calculations, that means after handing over the credit note, I needed to pay $40. NOPE! The assistant must have done something wrong when she keyed it into the register, because “the computer” said I only had to pay $8! Even though I spoke up and tried to do the right thing, handing over a $50 note, the two girls behind the counter insisted on giving me $42 change. I left my phone number in case they got in trouble or they couldn’t balance at the end of the day – but never heard anything further. Thank you God for bargains! (Jesus saves!!! The story of a divine discount!!!)

3. Footprints was the subject of a feature interview on Girl with a Satchel’s blog. Yeah!

4. Noticing that Mr 16 needs to shave. He is growing up so fast but still loves to give him mum cuddles (especially if nobody else is around LOL).

5. Fun times at work hanging out with my friend Mel. Sadly she finishes up next week but I thank God for the good times we have had together over the past twelve months, and how she has rediscovered the Lord!

How about you? Care to share your “5 for Friday” – things that made you smile?

1. An appointment with the school guidance counsellor, where we were reassured that our 16 year old son is on track for his dream of going to Uni to do IT studies in 18 months time. My baby is going to Uni!

2. Read a really great book ”Australian Women of Grace” by Robyn Hipkiss, and got a lovely message back after I contacted the author to tell her how much her book inspired me … feel like I’ve made a new friend!

3. Collecting the Footprints mail this morning (had to squeeze Footprints in here somewhere LOL … see previous post!) and received  a cheque from a new reader who not only wants to subscribe for three years, but  has also ordered a copy of both of our books, “Clues to your Calling” and “Decadence”!

4. My 13 year old daughter cooked dinner last night, and had her Dad as the “kitchen helper” (check out the original kitchen helper post here). She made something which was new to our family – butter chicken – which she served with rice and frozen vegetables. Apparently she had it at my sister’s house and thought it was so good, she wanted to introduce us to her new favourite dish. It was a bit spicier than what I normally like but it was still yummy, and I was just so proud!

5. The fact that we have a long weekend – here in Redlands Monday is a public holiday for the Ekka (Brisbane Exhibition) Show Day!

Now, I’m going to follow in Deb at Aspiring Mum’s footsteps oops footprints of course!  If you would like to join in Five For Friday – simply leave a comment with a link to your blog post, letting us know all about your Five For Friday. Have fun! 

… that is the question! Actually, that’s not quite true. The question is really what to blog about.

Here on the Footprints blog, my ramblings tend to be focused on a couple of themes: Footprints Women’s Ministries Inc; reading; writing; parenting teens; with the occasional forays into fashion, church life, or anything else that happens to take my fancy at the time.

The Footprints blog is not your everyday, garden variety blog, because it’s NOT just about my thoughts and experiences. It actually started as a mechanism to let our friends and supporters know what’s going on in the world of Footprints. But where does the world of Footprints end, and my world begin? They’re not that easy to separate!

I have sometimes worried that I should stick to Footprints matters on this blog, and start another blog for more personal writing. But there’s a few reasons that I haven’t. I was going to say that I’m lazy, and one blog is quite enough but I realised that would be lying … the reality is I’m just so busy that taking on another blog would probably be foolish. And then I would have the dilemma of writing something, and then trying to decide the best place to put it (it’s bad enough now - should my latest piece go on the blog, in the FOCUS ezine, or on the pages of the Footprints magazine itself?!).

I reassure myself by remembering that editors are people too, and that’s okay! Think of the editor’s column in any glossy magazine. Yes, they tell you about the magazine but they often share about their own lives … and these are the bits I probably love the best, because it helps me identify and relate to them.

From the feedback and comments gathered on this blog over the past year or two, I suspect my readers here are much the same. Because it’s my personal anecdotes and reflections which seem to receive the biggest response (judging my your comments anyway).

So forgive me if this blog continues to be a bit of this, and a bit of that; in fact, I hope you’ll enjoy it. Because that’s what life is like. You just can’t compartmentalise one part of it and keep it separate from another – they are all inextricably entwined, joined together, to become one beautiful whole. And all for the glory of Jesus!

A friend of mine who is not a Christian loves attending her MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. Recently the discussion turned to their aspirations for their tots. There were the usual dreams of doing well at school, finding a suitable career, just being happy and healthy … but what really shocked my friend was when one of the  Mums mentioned that she hoped that her child would be “18, drug free and a virgin”.

It’s exactly what my husband and I encourage and hope for, with our own two teens (now 16 and 13), but my friend thought that it was a very strange and unrealistic goal to have. As she honestly shared, she wasn’t either of those things at 18! How could she expect her children to be any different?

I couldn’t help feeling saddened by this discussion. I know that kids are getting involved in alcohol, drugs and sex at increasingly earlier ages, and that there are many temptations out there. But shouldn’t we at least aim high?

What’s that saying … reach for the sky because even if you miss, you’ll still reach the stars!

She proudly brought home two items – neither of which we felt was appropriate for the wardrobe of a school girl – let alone to wear out!

Up until now her style has mostly consisted of skinny leg jeans and tops, which she wears with high heels. There’s no doubt it makes her look older than her tender years but at least we felt she was suitably attired.

As for the dress she brought home on Friday … well … imagine the following dress in tight black lycra with gold panels of ruching … needless to say her Dad and I told her that while she looked beautiful (but then, she would look beautiful in a sack), it was going straight back to the shop! What message does a dress like that send, especially to members of the opposite sex? Where would she wear it anyway? Clubbing (she’s 13)? Church? I think not!

She also brought home a pair of hot pink satin ultra-high heels. But as part of a compromise, she is allowed to keep these as long as the dress is returned. To be honest, she looks like a giraffe in her new shoes … and they must be hard to walk in … hopefully she will quickly get tired of towering over everyone and they won’t be her first choice in footwear.

*Sigh* the battles we face as our children get older.

Meanwhile I am flat out getting her older brother, Mr 16, to brush his hair or teeth in the mornings … some things never change LOL because I think we’ve been having this battle for about ten years now!

He also doesn’t approve of his sister’s latest purchases, making up tunes to spell out s*k*a*n*k*y* so we have our work cut out with him too, to educate him that this is not something he should be saying about girls, particularly his sister!

Toddler tantrums seem a walk in the park after this lot …

I’ve been meaning tell you all about it for ages – it would be a great activity to do with your women’s group too! Lo and behold, somebody beat me to it at www.realmagazine.net.au’s blog – although it’s not quite the same. In our workshop, we shared our stories (past) whereas they call it a “vision board” (future). Take your pick – I reckon either of them would be fun to create and share with your small group!

For this fun activity, you will need stacks of old magazines, scissors, butchers paper, glue, nikko pens/felt pens. Then it’s as simple as cutting out any words or images that appeal to you or have special meaning to you. Once you feel you have enough, play around with the layout and then glue into place. Feel free to draw or write or embellish with pens if you want!

Then, take turns in your group sharing your pictures and why you chose the items in your collage.

So below is my story in pictures – well, sort of. Although I intended to use pictures, somehow I ended up with this amazing collection of words instead that just really seemed spot on! I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised – I just love words! I love writing them, reading them, playing with them (Scramble & Wordtwist on Facebook are particularly addictive), re-arranging them, thinking about them, dreaming them, singing them, speaking them … well you get the idea!

Hope you enjoy my collage. I’m sure you’ll find out some interesting things about me!