Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!
He is Risen indeed!It is such a beautiful day here! I thought I would share it with you.Spring really seems to be finally here!I have been out for a walk today, enjoying being refreshed in the sunshine and fresh air, whilst discovering such beautiful and vibrant colours all around me.Happy Easter!

Week 11 for Project 365

Week 11 in project 365 has,among some other things, seen beautiful things springing to life in my garden! Yippee for Spring!
I love my little garden but every year I seem to forget when I am supposed to plant bulbs. Hmpff. Every year in January it seems, I say to my big sister "Can I plant bulbs now?" She just laughs and says Nooo, silly. You have to do it in the Autumn. So this year, as promised, she reminded me. In September - October time, off we went to the garden centre and chose a selection and bargain bulbs together. Of course I wanted everything but she is very sensible and practical and wise. We decided against crocus and snowdrops as the bulbs were soo tiddly small and she said they are awkward and often don't grow. We settled on mini iris, mini dark red tulips and mini daffodils. I feel like I have waited ages and ages for them to begin to appear!
Saturday day 72/365
My last few loaves have been a disaster. I think I must have got into a bad habit of shaking the cups of flour resulting in the flour becoming packed. The mixture then has too much flour and it doesnt mix well.Yuk. Problem solved. Welcome back lovely bread!I missed you!

Sunday - Mother's Day - 73/365
I was just delighted to discover this beautiful surprise!

Monday 74/365
Beautiful morning sunshine bursting through this window at the Cathedral we went to visit on a school trip!

Tuesday 75/365
Coffee and friends.

Wednesday 76/365
So exciting!

Thursday 77/365
Banners with the girls! Nearly there. Lots still to do but progress is being made!

Friday 78/365
Friday morning Glory!

Hope your week in project 365 has been good.
Happy weekend.
It is raining here now.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day here in the UK.
Happy mother's Day!

I love this photo!
It was taken of me and my Mum in the garden in the summer with our family dog, Sue, all in the hammock when I was 20 months old. It has always been one of my favourite photos. I don't know if it just seemed to be a happy day memory or that I remember the hammock being such fun swinging in between the 2 pear trees in the back garden or quite what evokes such a happy smiley memory of me and my Mum and the dog.
I remember choosing this photo to stick on my first book I did when I first went to school when I was 5.
I dug out this first prized and still treasured wallpaper covered book this morning from my memory box and took a photo of the photo stuck on the front for you all to see. It's a bit gubbed and gnarled now but precious all the same.

I also found this picture I coloured in for Mum in my memory box. No idea how old I was when I did this, but I guess older than 5 as I almost managed to stay within the lines! Presumably, I decided that yellow was more joyful than purple for these "violets". Either that, or I had no purple! From a young age I have always tended to think out of the box and break the moulds and constraints that said rules like violets should be only coloured purple.

Thank you Mum for choosing me to be part of such an amazing family with you and Dad and my brother and sister. Thank you for accepting me and loving me despite what the authorities and powers that be wrote and said about me when I was first born and when you first met me as a baby. Thank you for loving care and for nurturing and teaching me in all the ways I could go. You have been an incredible influence and role model that has shaped me into the woman I am today. I know I wasn't always soft play dough to mould and shape but at times a bit like concrete needing a chisel, but your love and perseverance seems to have paid off. I loved making and racing those funky turtles from walnut shells with you, by the way. Good times!

I got these flowers today for Mother's Day at church.
Can't help but think about the 2 Mother's I have had in my life.
My first Mother, who carried me, secret and hidden and bravely chose to have me, probably surrounded in shame, choosing to give me life and to bring me into the world. I have always known about you and how special I am to my family, I just never knew you.I recently discovered that you named me when I was 3 days old, tiny and premature. Thank you for wishing me to be in a family. Your wishes came true, against the odds.
I am very blessed to have had 2 amazing Mothers in my life.

Happy Mother's Day.
xxx

My Ode to Autumn: Golden Moments.

Golden moments, for His Glory.
Letting go.
Doing less and enjoying more. It is amazing what space and freedom brings.
It hasn't all been easy though,this letting go of ministry stuff this last year for this season combined with having post viral fatigue. Wondering who am I and where am I going, what shall I do next, what is on His heart for me? physical challenges of needing sleep, flu like achy legs, constant tiredness. Needing to try and learn to pace myself, saying no, pushing myself to do some walking every day, meeting with friends each day, drink lots of water, eat healthy,get back to work, begin to increase my capacity for "stuff". A season of things being stripped away, vulnerability, the here I am, just me, Luci. Meanwhile, It has been a time of re-discovery, inner beauty, affirmation of firm foundations, a desire to go deeper, for roots to grow and to drink deeply in Him. A season of really enjoying walks, fresh air and my friends and family.
A beautiful park nearby that sometimes has taken me 10 minutes to walk there and gradually, over months to increase it to an hour a day +.Mini milestones. Lovely friends and family to see, when I would have normally been at work and friends to maintain contact with since returning to work. They have encouraged and supported and helped me through this physically and also as I walk through the questions of what is next, Lord?




My golden moments are:
Time and space to enjoy being and doing nothing.
The gift of laughter and friendship.
Learning to take time to look at the flowers, trees and wondeful colours.
Time to enjoy learning and re-discovering.
Learning new skills and nurturing and developing hidden ones.
Time to think and pray. Time to enjoy. Enjoying the wonder in the small things, the beauty in His creation.
For His glory.
In all this: that God might be Glorified.

wedding colours and creations revealed

So yesterday was the lovely Emily and Jamie's wedding.I am now able to share with you some of the creative things we have been planning and doing this last week, as in true traditional fashion, emily wanted the bridal colours to remain a secret!
I had lots of fun helping Emily's Mum do the flowers in the church and wanted to share with you the arrangemnets I made for each of the windows and the front porch.


Emily made the cake and asked me and my friend abbie to help decorate it. We had fun making the deep purple (we used a grape violet colouring) and of course dyed our hands in the process!