Down time

I have had a fairly good weekend even though Ian was away for most of it and I was wondering how I was going to fill my time without him around to give me jobs and generally make sure i don't lie around reading books the whole time. I really enjoyed pottering around our little courtyard sorting out our pots of plants and little flower bed. I love planting bulbs and watching them come up months later when you've forgotten what you planted.

I also really enjoyed a swim at the Uni pool. I find that can be a bit hit and miss as if I go too late it is too crowded. I keep thinking I am going to drown when I get mown down by out of control backstrokers or get cramp when stuck behind slow moving old ladies.

Mostly though, I slept. I had a quick kip after work on Friday followed by an early night. Then I slept for an hour and a half on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. I have a good excuse for such lassitude. I am now 12 weeks pregnant! Very hard to believe. Something is going on with my body but it doesn't yet feel like there is a tiny person growing in there. I watched a documentary called "Life Before Birth". It was on Channel 4 last week and had lots of pictures from ultrasounds and computerised images showing the development of the fetus from day 1 when the first cell divides, right up to delivery. Amazing creation! It is so wonderful to think that God is knitting together a little person in my womb and He knows everything there is to know about him/her and has plans and purposes for him/her already. I wasn't so sure about the footage of labour though. I can't even bear the thought of getting my legs waxed at the moment as apparently it can hurt more when pregnant and hyper-senstive.

I was reflecting on my blog from a couple of months ago when i was complaining about being grouchy for three weeks solid for no apparent reason. Little did I know it wasn't a bad case of PMT but the first reaction to all these new hormones.

I will blog soon about some tapes I am listening to which were recorded in 1995 at a conference entitled "Releasing Women into Ministry" given by Eleanor Mumford and Penny Fulton. The first tape has been great. It did make me laough. Ellie was talking about how she was shocked to hear that in some churches women were encouraged not to get together to minister or serve together as the temptation to gossip would be too great! If they are going to get together, the male leadership would say, let it be to do crafts - weave a basket or stitch a quilt! That's the environment in which I grew up. I still struggle a bit to embrace the role that God has for His women in His kingdom - a role based on men and women as He intended them to be. After all why should we model our roles in church on the consequences of the fall when His Kingdom is at hand to restore all things to how they were meant to be.