A New Year - A New Start.

I don’t know about you, but New Year’s Eve is often a time of reflections and goal setting. What have I / we achieved in the last year, what was good, what was bad, what can I change and where would I like to be this time next year?

My “Thought for the Day” email of the 29^th take it one step further and encourages us to examine the motives behind our goals.

VERSE

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.     -- James 3:16

THOUGHT:

 So, what are your goals and plans for the New Year? Do you have great dreams and laudable goals? I hope so. But, please join me as I seriously look at why I set the goals I do and make the plans I make. In the afterglow of Christmas, that great season of giving, let's make sure our plans for the future are not selfish or based on envy, lust, or greed. Instead, let's set our hearts to reach great heights for God's glory and to do great things to be a blessing to others. Otherwise, all our attempts to reach great things ultimately will end in chaos, heartbreak, and destruction.

As we’re currently visiting friends in Bristol, I’ll write more in a few days’ time. I’m still working on my 10 goals, rather too slowly, but better slow than not at all.

“What’s wrong with your wife? She’s always smiling!”

I've just got back from a trip to Bristol, where Matt and I stayed with our good friends Andrew & Rebecca and their 4 kids. Mungo, their oldest is my Godson and just turned 9. It was great to see how he, his brothers and sister are growing and developing.

Returning home to Old Blighty is always fun and this time was no different. We had some beautiful weather, stayed just a few short steps away from Clifton Downs in one of the many beautiful houses there, got to rest up as well as spending time with each of the kids and even managed to pop over to Wales to visit other friends there.

Apart from family and friends, one of the things I love about Britain is the friendliness of strangers. Just walking around people will smile and greet you, it’s all too easy to have a short conversation with a shop assistant and I always stop to chat with the Big Issues sellers when I buy one. Don’t get me wrong, I love living in Germany but I do wonder it the Germans don't know what they’re missing in their shyness to engage in little interpersonal exchanges throughout the day. Not long after we moved to Germany, one of Matt’s colleagues asked him “What’s wrong with your wife? She’s always smiling!”  !!!!  Also, both times that Kate has been over to visit she’s commented on the lack of smiles when out and about. You’ll be lucky to get a passerby to catch your eye, let alone smile.

Another thing I love is the numerous bookshops, new but most especially secondhand. As I mentioned before, reading is as essential as breathing to me and I wanted to seriously stock up on this trip. If I’m going to read 40 books, then I need 40 books to read, simple! So between raiding my friends’ bookshelves, charity shops and Wesley Owen, I returned with 22 books! 

The visit to Wesley Owen was a joy, not least because I got to take Mungo, he is a young man after my own heart when it comes to reading. After telling me he had either read or been read all the children’s books in the house, I promised to buy him a new book and gave him a budget of £10. He chose 2 books totaling £9.98 (he endeavoured to assure me) and then found another in the reduced section for just £3. “Please Aunty Kathy!” Well how could I refuse? After all, I had 7 books in my hand.

Here he is, pleased as punch with one of his new books.

Anyhow, my challenge for you today; smile at a stranger and get your nose in a book.

"Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence." - Horace Mann

Surely it’s not Christmas-time already?

September heralds the end of summer, apple harvest, shorter evenings, golden leaves and Christmas. Yes, Christmas! The first leaves have only just started to fall and already the shops are putting out displays of Christmas biscuits. It just seems so wrong when it’s still 24°C (75°F) outside.

Although I’m not ready to pack away my sandals and sunglasses quite yet, there are 2 presents I need to prepare long before December, the first for my friends in Mexico (snail-mail takes FOREVER to get there) and the second for an unknown child via Samaritan’s Purse “Christmas Child” action. With only 2 months before the deadline on 15^th November when these shoebox presents have to be at your local collection point, it’s definitely time to get started.

The last couple of years I’ve started buying things throughout the year, partially to spread the cost but mainly to snap up bargains and make my money go further. Spending around about 10€ a month I can keep a look out in the sales etc, for example, last month I picked up 7 cute T-shirts for just 12€! I’ve now got a whole Curver© box full of cloths, toys and school supplies ready to be sorted and packed. I’m going to make up 2 shoe boxes this year and all the “left-overs” from my collecting goes to the main collection point where the volunteers make up Christmas Boxes from all the different donations that come in, from companies and private people as well as checking all the boxes that come in already packed.

So I’d like to encourage you to make your own shoe-box present, or if you can’t afford to pack a whole box for a child, then think about adding just 1 extra thing to your basket each time you shop, some soap, toothpaste or a colouring book, over the next 8 weeks and help bring a smile to a child’s face this Christmas.

New Glasses

Yesterday was glasses buying day in the Harrison household, 3 pairs in all. Poor Matt’s been suffering headaches for the last few weeks and eventually got his eyes checked. Yep, he needs a new prescription for his glasses AND has reached that dreaded middle age marker of needing reading glasses (he’s been doing the “stretched-arm” reading pose for a while now). So off we tootled to check out the heart-stopping costs of German opticians, 2 hours later, a large gulp when signing the credit card payment and Matt gets his new glasses in 24 hours.

I also ordered my new glasses yesterday. I chose an online company in the States – Warby Parker. Now, in many ways I’m very particular about my eyecare. Unfortunately I have a bad genetic heritage where eyes are concerned, glaucoma, macular degeneration and early onset cataracts in my immediate family but my contact lens specialist and ophthalmologist look after me really well in that department and I only want glasses for the early morning/late night anyhow so decided to try a little online bargain hunting to balance out the costs.

That’s rather a long winded way of telling you about the company Warby Parker and a part of their business philosophy that I like. Not only do they want to be able to supply glasses at a reasonable cost, they also promise to donate a pair of glasses to a person in need through their Buy a Pair Give a Pair program.

Over 2 billion people in the world don’t have access to glasses, that’s 15% of the world’s population who are unable to effectively learn or work because they can’t see clearly! A simple pair of glasses can increase their earning potential by 20% so it a very effective tool in helping lift people out of poverty. I think all of us would like a 20% increase in our income but can you imagine what a difference that would make to the 3 billion + people who live on less than US $2 per day?

I can’t imagine how I would manage without contacts or glasses, can you? I certainly couldn’t do the work I do, could not drive, even cooking would be a problem, quite a scary thought! However, just by changing where you shop you can make a significant difference to another person’s life. So if you live in the States (or like me can get a friend to bring them over), next time you need new specs check out Warby Parker : http://www.warbyparker.com/Buy-A-Pair-Give-A-Pair

How do you measure significant?

N° 7 on my goal list: Make a significant (positive) difference in 40 people’s lives.

This sounds great and a very noble goal but I’m struggling with a unit of measurement. I mean how DO you measure significance? Centimetres and metres? Pounds and ounces? Speed or strength? None fit the bill, and then you add culture in to the mix, it plays huge part, something I would never have thought. For example, I just recently did “meals on wheels” and stocked up the freezers for 2 different friends with home cooked meals, one who’s poorly and the other who was having a tough old time of it. That makes a difference, but it hardly seems significant (a couple of hours and a few Euros) however 3 people have told me that it is a big thing here!

My direct neighbour, Kathrin, and I have a great relationship, she borrows my baking equipment or comes round to watch football occasionally with Matt, pizza and movies with me, we do the “post/plants/pets” thing for each other when we’re on holiday, I took ice-cream to the hospital when the doctors stole her tonsils and am currently helping her write her CV in English. Coming from NW England/SW Scotland this is so normal it’s not even noteworthy, but here it’s so exceptional her parents even sent me a small present for being so neighbourly.

A couple of months ago I came home Saturday afternoon and whilst parking the car noticed and heard an older man (German) talking loudly to an elderly Turkish lady. After turning the engine off it became apparent that he was actually mocking her for being poor and using a rollator!!!! I got out of the car and (with a friends’ warning ringing in my ears) chickened out of shouting him down so just gave him The Stare. As he walked away I turned to the lady and apologized that she had to experience that, asked if she was ok and wished her a nice day as she shuffled away. Since then, whenever I see her pass by I greet her and now she smiles back, I hope over time she will eventually talk to me, which I would consider significant even if she doesn’t. Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident, many of my female African and Asian language school colleagues experienced verbal abuse when out alone :(

I recently watched the film Pay it Forward (thanks for the tip Kathrin). Basic synopsis; a class of 12 year olds are given the assignment “Think of something to change the world and put it into action” and Trevor comes up with the idea of paying it forward. Do 3 good deeds to 3 different people, it doesn't have to be a big thing. It can just seem that way, depending who you do it for. Then, instead of paying it back they are then to pay it forward to 3 other people. The film is based on a book by Catherine Ryan Hyde and along with a few others, she started the Pay it Forward Foundation which has spread across the US and into other countries as well. http://www.payitforwardfoundation.org/

So, I’m back to the question, how do you measure significant? To some people, hours of hard work giving your best hardly makes an impression, yet for others a couple of minutes of your time and a friendly smile can make a huge impact. I would love to hear your comments and experiences. AND if I do you a good turn, don’t pay me back, please pay it forward.

Last but not least, think you’re too old or too young to make a difference? Have a look at these 2 links:


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/20/huffpost-greatest-person-kristal-burns-superheroes_n_864784.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmZtoEMiMpk&feature=player_embedded

Still proud to be British!

This last week of riots, triggered by the police shooting of an innocent man (wrong place, wrong time) has created lots of media outrage, condemnation from politicians and celebs and many a dramatic photo opportunity. However there is one aspect that isn’t reaching the front pages and relegated to the “Magazine” page of bbc.co.uk etc etc. The Broom Army!

The morning after the riots, crowds gather wearing washing-up gloves and carrying brooms. Once the crime-scene investigators have finished they wade in to clean up the mess. All volunteers, mostly locals, all ages including children and when the Mayor of London turned up they started chanting “Where’s your broom”

This is British tenacity and community spirit that always rises up in the face of adversity  and makes me proud to be able to say I am British J

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14475741

When I am old I shall wear purple!

As you know, we love having visitors and meeting new people. Today Vivien and Rebecca came to stay with us, 2 students giving their weekend to help out at Extreme Day, our church’s youth event.  Rebecca comes from Florida and was obviously brought up to be very polite “Yes, sir.” “Yes Ma’am” etc etc so she started off calling me Miss Kathy.

Aaargh! I feel so old.

As the saying goes, growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional. My mother only stopped saying she was APPROACHING middle age shortly before her 60^th birthday, yet my mother-in-law tells me that each new decade is better than the last.  If I can’t fight it, I might as well enjoy it. Jenny Joseph said it so well:

When I am old I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple. 

Genesis – Revelation

At the age of 13 I made a commitment to Christ as my Lord and Saviour, although at the time I didn’t fully understand all that it would mean, it has proved to be the best decision I ever made. As the Bible is the Word of God what better way to get to know Him than to read it! So over the years I have regularly and irregularly read my Bible but *hangs head in shame* I have never read through every single book of the Bible. I love reading the New Testament, Proverbs and Psalms, but Chronicles, Numbers? I write enough lists of my own without reading anyone else’s!!

But actually that attitude is rather skew-wiff. If I believe that the Bible is wholly inspired by God (which I do) then it stands to reason that Numbers, Chronicles, Ezekiel and the like are included for a reason and therefore I'm missing something quite important if I ignore them. There are many reading plans for reading through the Bible in a year but I decided just to start at the beginning a work through.

For those of you who have dismissed the idea of God just because some Christians or some Churches aren’t living or acting or loving the way Jesus instructs them to in the Bible I would challenge you to do your own research. Are you really going to make such a big decision based on someone else’s opinion? People don’t reject marriage just because 45% end in divorce.  

Anyhow, here’s what a few other people have said about the Bible:

Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. - Horace Mann

Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. - St. Jerome

I believe that the existence of the Bible is the greatest benefit to the human race. Any attempt to belittle it, I believe, is a crime against humanity. - Immanuel Kant, German idealist philosopher, 1724-1804
A thorough understanding of the Bible is better than a college education. - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, 1858-1919

The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world. - Charles Dickens

Reading the Bible without meditating on it is like trying to eat without swallowing. – Anonymous

ps: I’m not a perfect Christian, I know that all too well, in fact there is no such thing! However, with God's help, I aim to improve, little by little, day be day. 

Sail the 7 seas, tickle the ivories and throw myself off a cliff!

These three are purely fun personal goals. Although I was born and breed less than 2 miles from the shore I never learned to sail. Paddling about in an inflatable dingy on holiday doesn’t count! I have no intention of following Tracy Edwards or Ellen MacArther in circumnavigating the globe, but to jibe and tack across a lake or round a Greek island in the summer sounds like fun don’t you think! One of my best friends offered her husband to teach me to sail but that would be in the Celtic Sea/ Severn Estuary so unless I can find a heated wet suit………..Nnnnoooooooooo! Don’t, do, cold :/

One of the things I love about visiting my in-laws is that my father-in-law is hardly ever off the piano. Having a musical accompaniment to everyday life is rather lovely, cooking with Chopin, reading with Rossini and chatting to Tchaikovsky. I started learning the piano as a child but was very shy and would only practice with the door tightly shut or preferably when no one was home, eventually I gave up. I now regret that decision but have never done anything about it. So it’s time for action. Just this week a friend told me she is moving and offered me first refusal on her piano once she’s had it valued, Matt’s comment was “Well I’m not being involved with carrying it up 4 flights of stairs!!!” 

Staying on the subject of Mr H, this last fun goal will give him scary tingly feelings in his feet just at the thought. Paragliding!

There is a school at the Achensee –Tirol, so Matt can keep his feet firmly on the ground (under the kitchen table) drinking coffee at the Plattner house whilst I jump off the top of a mountain. J

This is what my next birthday present should look like Matt!

http://www.gleitschirmschule-achensee.at/Download/tandemgutschein_muster.pdf

The man who does not read is no better than the man who can't. - Mark Twain

Thanks to my parents’ influence I grew up with a love of reading, wet Sunday afternoons (of which there are many in England) were spent either reading or playing Monopoly and even now part of my bedtime routine is reading. N°4 on my list is to read 40 books over the next 18 months. To some people it may seem a lot but as I’m already halfway through my second book, this will probably be the easiest goal to complete. For me reading is almost as essential as breathing and I like to alternate between reading fiction and non-fiction, one for one. In the same way as I am with music, I don’t get bound up by genre. So Austin and Dickens stand along-side Val McDermid, le Carré and Salman Rushdie on my fiction bookcase (there are even a couple of trashy romances by Rosamunde Pilcher) and my other bookcase is even more varied!

My list starts off with books I’m currently reading (or have read)

1.            Pathway to Purpose - Katie Brazelton

2.            Captivating – Stacy Eldredge

3.            The Mark of the Assassin – Daniel Silva

Part 2 are books I already own but haven’t read yet:

4.            The Grace Awakening – Charles Swindoll

5.            Hope Again – Charles Swindoll

6.            Simple Faith – Charles Swindoll

7.            Living your strengths – Winseman/Clifton/ Liesveld

8.            Love and War – John & Stasi Eldredge

9.            Twelve Extraodinary Women –John MacArthur

10.         O2 – Richard Dahlstrom

11.         My Donkey Body – Michael Wenham

12.         God’s Call – Brother Andrew

13.         Wilberforce, God’s Statesman – Biography by John Pollock

14.         Crazy Love – Francis Chan

15.         Having a Mary heart in a Martha World – Joanna Weaver

Part 3 of my list is books I want to read, some taken from other “books to read before you die” lists and are all on my Amazon wish list (hint hint).

16.         A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipaul

17.         A Long Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela

18.         Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Márquez

19.         I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou

20.         Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerney

21.         The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle - Tobias Smollett

22.         The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

23.         The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy

24.         Running with Giants – John Maxwell

And that leaves 16 empty spaces, so I’m looking for your recommendations, plus, if you can loan me the book, even better J  

Fibromyalgia really sucks at times!

I woke up this morning with ½ an ounce of energy, not feeling like I need to sleep another 12 hours and not wanting to scream at everyone and everything “Don’t touch me!” 

This is the first time all week I’ve felt this good!

Fibromyalgia is a real pain (excuse the pun); it’s an invisible illness with a multitude of symptoms, many different triggers, limited treatments and no cure. Unlike a broken leg or wound, people can’t see it and have no idea that, at times, their hug or pat on the back will cause me pain for hours afterwards. Lack of energy means I can appear lazy, life limitations and the frustration that brings often causes depression or at the very least a case of being "down in the dumps". It’s also hard to describe in a short sentence and most people tune out when an explanation lasts longer.

Getting diagnosed was a major plus for me. OK so it’s incurable but it now has a name and I can learn about it and work with it. A couple of doctors had told me “it’s all in your head” and of course there was always that niggling worry that something dreadful was wrong and going undiagnosed. For me one of the biggest benefits of moving to Germany is the health care. Don’t get me wrong, Britain has a good health care system, with some of the best trained doctors in the world, there’s just not enough money in the system to cover non-essentials, as one British doctor told me “Pain is not an emergency”!!!!!! 

I am blessed to have private health cover here and so have access to virtually any specialist and treatment option available. Having a GP who understands is enormously beneficial, medication helps a lot but until they find a cure, the greatest impact I can have is dealing with the psychosomatic element which is a component of every chronic illness. My attitude has a huge impact on how I cope; ok, so it limits my life choices and is incurable but it won’t kill me. It is NOT cancer, MS, motor-neuron disease or the like. I live in the developed world with good medical-care, I have a very understanding and supportive husband who earns enough to support us both. I’m able to work part-time, have an understanding boss and God is my sustainer and provider of all these things.  Do I focus on the good things in my life or the bad things? It’s my choice.

Identifying stress as one of my triggers and what causes me stress helped a lot. Deal with the past – dragging all that baggage, hurt and pain around really inhibits anybody’s ability to live in freedom and to the full, so screw up your courage and start dealing with it. Seriously, it’s not as bad as your worst imaginings!

Pacing is another thing (and one I struggle with). Like this week, I’ve spend the vast majority of it in bed. After 2 lots of visitors and travels in 3 weeks I was exhausted, I could either fight it or take the time I needed to recoup. They say life is like running a marathon not a hundred metre sprint. In the same way I think that learning to live with Fibro is like training for a marathon, training plans start out with short walks and daily/gently progress to slow jogging, adding distance and speed over the weeks and months until 26.2 miles becomes an attainable goal, plus accepting that there will be set backs and adjusting things accordingly. Will I ever run a marathon? Errrrrr, NO! A half-marathon? Also doubtful. But am I content to only ever be a spectator? Most definitely not!  That’s why a 5K is on my list of goals.

Balancing the necessary and the nice, 4 days in bed does not a tidy house make. Today, laundry is fluttering on the balcony and the bathroom is clean but as for the rest, well the dust bunnies can wait! I’m going for a walk along the river with Mr H :o)

“Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” – Phil 4:8 The Message

Lose 30 kg & run a 5k

No-one could say I’m malnourished but just dieting without doing a little sport will only get me so far. In any case I need to work on my overall health so these 2 goals will work well together.

I do have a couple of health issues that are going to make this more difficult but I’m not going to use them as an excuse for laziness any more. A lingering (grumbling) back injury from a car accident as well as fibromyalgia (a chronic pain illness) are rather limiting and frustrating. Progress is often 2 steps forward, 1 step back. In addition - perhaps because of - depression snaps at my heels and then life can be like walking through mud for days.

My pain doctor recommended power walking, which I do occasionally. Now I need to turn that occasionally into regularly and I’ll be on my way to running that 5k. 

The joy of giving!

Number 1 on my list of goals is to raise as much money as possible and give it all away. Setting the target of 40,000€ ties in with the ‘40’ theme and is quite a huge project, if fact I’m even wondering if it’s too much. Anyway even if I only manage 39,500€ it’d better than nothing right?. LOL! Whatever sum is raised will be split 50/50 with half going to a local charity and half going to children’s’ charities in the developing world.

It’s not an original idea by any means (in fact none of them are). For their millennium project, the village where we lived in Scotland, Dunscore, raised over £15000. £11000 was given to Water Aid in Ethiopia and the rest used for local projects and I recently read about a lady who decided to use her 40^th year to do 40 charitable acts and raised over $60,000!!!!!  http://immd.icanhascheezburger.com/2011/05/24/funny-win-story-immd-news-of-the-day-59/ 

So, now just I need to find creative a fun ways to reach that target. One thing I am a little concerned about is not getting in a muddle with the German tax office etc etc. I’m not looking forward to having to get my head around the joys of charity bureaucracy :/ Neija , it can’t all be fun and games!

Today is 7th June 2011. In exactly 18 months’ time (82 weeks or 580 days) I will hit that landmark 40th birthday. Many things come to mind when I think of this; the big 4 0, life begins at 40, over the hill etc etc.  This looming date has caused me to stop and take stock of my life so far and what I’ve achieved.

My life has taken a VERY different route than the one I had planned out in my 20’s: married, living in a rambling farmhouse in south-west Scotland with a bunch of kids (min 3) and a couple of fields for a hodge-podge of animals including goats and ponies. Yet here I am in central Germany, happily married, living in a small flat with no garden, no kids and just 1 cat. However, I am very happy as this is exactly where God wants me (us) to be right now.

Do you remember the film “The Bucket List”? 2 old geezers (played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson) both receive the news that they have terminal cancer with only months to live, so they set out on a whirlwind adventure to work through their “Bucket List”.

I guess we all have a bucket list but most of us put off fulfilling our dreams for another day. A couple of friends have just celebrate their 40^th birthdays and it got me thinking. Life begins at 40 so they say but why wait til then? So I’ve put together a list (in no particular order) of 10 goals that I’d like to achieve over the course of the next 18 months.  Some are “just for fun” and purely personal, others are focused outwards for the benefit of others, and that’s where you come in. To achieve some of these goals I will need the help and support of my friends. Over the coming days I’ll write about each goal in more detail.

1. Raise as much money as possible (ideally 40,000€) and give it all away.
2. Lose 30kg
3. Run a  5k (maybe even a 10k Race)
4. Read 40 books
5. Learn how to sail (somewhere in warm seas)
6. Read through the whole Bible
7. Make a significant (positive) difference in 40 people’s lives
8. Spend one month @ the door of hope, children’s mission, South Africa http://www.doorofhope.co.za/
9. Learn to play the piano
10. Go paragliding  

Thanks for joining me on this journey.

Kathy