RSVP?!?!?!!!?!
This is one thing which drives me absolutely bonkers! I love organising things and inviting people and getting everyone together for some fun and laughing and, unless a lot of my wonderful friends are fibbing (!!) I'm rather good at it.....So......It drives me to distraction when people simply don't respond.....No matter how busy I am or how many balls I'm juggling (which, on average, it around 47!) I ALWAYS reply and I'm ALWAYS honest.....So, if I simply don't fancy doing something or I'm broke, I'll say just that. I find it extremely frustrating when people can't be honest and say "I don't fancy that but thanks for the invite" some people feel obliged to make up a see through excuse which I actually find quite insulting! I can totally understand if you're, simply, 'not in the mood'! By the same token though, I would go to many things and step out of my comfort zone for my friends because, well, to me, that's one of the essences of friendship?! So if a friend says, "It's my birthday, would you like to come to my evening going through slides of different types of leaf" I would sign inwardly perhaps but then I'd say "Sure, I'll be there" Because they're my friend and they've invited me. Basic 'friendship rules' surely?! It takes VERY little time out of a day to respond to someone to I'm always quite confused when people can't simply reply to a text or email.....And, to be totally honest, I take it quite personally and, because of the leapfrog thinking/depression by the time a response has not been forthcoming for any length of time, I've usually decided that it MUST mean they hate me and would rather set their hair on fire that talk to me or spend the evening with me! Rational I know!

I currently have many friends going through some horrible horrible periods in their life and, coincidentally, this verse has popped up and spoken to me:

Help carry one anothers burdens and in this way you will obey the law of Christ. Galatians, 6:2.

As a Christian and as a friend this is SO important. What exactly is the point of false/see-through/paper-thin friendships which involve a lot of nodding and "Mmm...Yah Yah......I'm fine, totally fine"?! If I'm friends with someone then, that's it, we're friends and when my friends hurt, I hurt, when they cry, I cry and if they want to drink wine and be silly then I'm also there for that bit too..!! I would move heaven and earth to help a friend or family member, it's my duty as their friend or family member, it's JUST the way it is in my world....Again, a 'no brainer'!
Jesus turned NO-ONE away - NO-ONE! and THAT is AMAZING and so challenging sometimes, I meet people and instantly think - "We're not going to get on" and then have a bit of an internal struggle because I feel like I should be more 'forgiving' to people who perhaps aren't my 'cup of tea' and I think on the whole I don't do too badly but nonetheless - The eyes do roll and I do avoid people sometimes if I really struggle with things to say to them and don't like to make that awkward conversation..... So it's something I feel I really need to work on actually...


It's my Birthday soon and, as usual, I like to make a wee bit of a song and a dance about these things so am off out for some laughs, dancing and a few drinks! Laughing warms my soul and I do rather a lot of it! I was watching a highly intellectual programme on the telebox the other day (Cough Cough - Big Brother) and they had a task to NOT LAUGH FOR 48 HOURS!!!!! OH MY WORD! That is simply not possible!!! I would struggle with an hour!! Cripes!

Randomly, quite a few people recently have asked me how I have faith and how I remain confident in what I refer to as 'The Plan' (Gods that is, not mine!) even when everything appears to be going against me and the 'chips are down' - I'm going to have a proper think about this as my response, basically, is: "God has a plan, it's going to be AWESOME and AMAZING and, as I learnt at Cherish, a Christian women's conference I recently attended - I have accepted there is a calling on MY life! and I'm clinging on to this ride and really trying to let my talents guide me in the right direction and use my experiences in life to help other people - Whether it's my experiences as a single parents or my experience through the divorce process or my honest experiences I've had with friends or at school with peer pressure / paranoia...Everything that's happened in my life, good or bad, is God-Given and, as such, it's my JOB to share them and to help people and, as I've written above, share friends burdens....
As usually, I've rambled rather a lot and, on the "How do I have faith" topic, I'm going to think about it more actually and perhaps devote another blog to a slightly more articulate answer!!!

Laters!!!!