Anyone going to the Willow Creek Leadership Conference this year?

If you are, why not come and visit the Newfrontiers church plant in Chicago, Destination Church? When you are a small plant, mature (ok that may rule some out) visitors from other churches in the Newfrontiers family can be a real encouragement. You never know, you might even benefit from some free accommodation and/or a home-cooked meal!

Go on, come and visit - you know you want to!

Check out the new church plant website at http://www.destinationchurch.org or contact me via this blog, Facebook, Twitter .....

A day in the life...

... my attempt at answering the much-levelled question, "So what do you do all day?"

5:55 am: Woken out of a deep sleep by a sharp kick from husband – turns out he was dreaming of playing football. Try unsuccessfully to fall back to sleep

7:00 am: Drag myself unwillingly out of bed, take hay fever medication and go through daily frustrations of coaching 3 children through breakfast, getting dressed, brushing teeth etc. etc.

7:50am Quick shower then try and get Drs appt for daughter no 1 who was sent home from school yesterday with a temperature. She is coughing, has a runny nose and a very red throat. Is this the dreaded Strep Throat or just a nasty cold?? We may never know as there were no appts available and then I got put on hold and the recorded message advised me the current hold-time was 21mins. Hung up.

8:15am Hurried family out of door. Son delivered to school; husband delivered to work. Daughter complaining that she is alternately well enough for school and feeling unwell in car after such a long journey to take dad to work. Does listening to worship music in the car count as a quiet time?

9:00 am Back home, loading dishwasher, making pancakes for daughter no 1 as she won’t eat anything else. Daughter no 2 polishes off 5 pancakes (on top of the bowl of cereal and half-bagel she’s already had for breakfast)

10:30 am Carrot cake for after-Sports day picnic tomorrow in oven. Wondering what to do about parents’ evening tonight…. The learning assistants look after the children in the classrooms, but is it fair to inflict Daughter 1’s germs on the others there? Resisting temptation to log onto Facebook as need to tidy up the basement in preparation for a visitor arriving Sat. Run upstairs to get bedding, get briefly distracted by a load of washing, only to be called back down to the basement by the familiar call, “I’ve done a poo”…

11:00 am Remove carrot cake from oven – slightly burned round edges (hopefully no one will notice). Run hoover round basement and make bed. Discipline Daughter 2 for hitting Daughter 1 over the head with a Barbie!

12:00pm Friend arrives for lunch with her 2 boys. Make salad and pretend I eat this healthily every day! Chat for 2 lovely hours while the children play (mostly) happily.

2:00pm Take Daughter 1’s temperature and she finally has a real, proper fever. She has spent the afternoon in bed reading and sleeping so hasn’t really been too much trouble but this means no parents’ eve and almost certainly no sports day tomorrow for her. Email teachers to say I won’t be coming. More tidying.

2:50pm Steal a few minutes away. Try to read a devotional book but it’s too intelligent and I find my mind wandering. Pick up my bible and read some truth, “The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (Ja 3v17). How I long to be wise….

3:00pm Back to reality – pick up son from school and break up fights in the car. Thankfully carrot cake is well-received by 2 out of 3 children despite burned bits!

4:00pm Listen to son read, admire various craft creations by daughters and head to the kitchen to make tea (after pressure from son to get off pc asap so he can go on the Star Wars website)

5:00 pm Keep running downstairs to do some more hoovering so tea taking longer to cook than usual. Plus have to help colour in R2-D2 online and print him out

5:30 pm Teatime – so thankful I’d decided to make a safe option – pasta Bolognese all round

6:00 pm Kids running around wiggling their bottoms and getting generally more and more hyper. I hate this last hour

6:10pm Daughter no 1 to bed after hitting her brother with a large mag-lite torch.

6:25 Son goes to bathroom to perform his business – the most terrible noises fill the upstairs and am v relieved when it turns out he’s blowing raspberries into his palms. Fold washing from tumble drier while younger 2 splash in the bath

7:00 pm Kids down, tidy away toys. Open beer. Would prefer wine but hubby is out with work colleagues and it’s probably not a good idea to open a bottle just for me. Finally log in to Facebook.

8:00pm Just settling in to ironing in front of the TV when hubby arrives so feed him then selflessly head out to Borders to buy him a copy of his fave magazine … only to return and discover I’ve bought him the issue he already has. Grrr! Icecream softens the blow.

9:15pm Cup of tea, magazine, hot bath then off to bed………

So there you go.

A belated tribute

As many will know, last weekend marked a significant milestone for the Hosier family as my father-in-law, John, preached his last sermon as an elder at Church of Christ the King (CCK) in Brighton. He officially retires next month but the church honoured him on Sunday as they looked back on 23 years as an elder there and almost 40 years of ministry.

Understandably, we couldn’t be there in person (though the Poole Hosiers did an excellent job of keeping up the family end, as it were) so we have been watching a video of the event. We did send a DVD message from Chicago but I confess I pretty much hid in the background letting my husband and children do the talking.

As I watched my sister-in-law and many others pay tribute to John & Sue, I felt a little embarrassed and saddened that I hadn’t risen to the opportunity to share my own reflections. To be perfectly honest, though I confess I am a fairly emotional person, I’m actually really bad at voicing my feelings about other people – so I thought I’d take the relatively safe option of writing about it here where I can safely hide my face behind my PC screen!!

It’s funny, really, because I came across John and Sue quite a few years before I ever met them – or David. Most people don’t know anything much about their prospective in-laws except via family reputation. So that was a good start, because I always respected and admired them from a distance. I started attending CCK (then Clarendon Church) as a first year student at Sussex Uni and didn’t start dating David until shortly after the end of my final (4th) year so I really only knew them as an elder and his wife but I always particularly admired John’s preaching and, when I lived in France for the 3rd year of my degree, my friend Hannah used to send me all of John’s sermons on tape. (Gosh that makes me feel old!!) I always wished that my father could have heard John preach as I thought that he would appreciate his intelligent, thoughtful and authoritative preaching style. One day, I will have the privilege of introducing them to each other.

My first meeting with the Hosiers senior was just after David and I started seeing each other (I think Sue remarked to Grace that she didn’t think it would last!!!) and really the rest is history as I very quickly became part of the family (well, aside from it taking David nearly 3 years to pop the question - but that's another story...). As Grace mentioned in her talk on Sunday, I have felt that both John and Sue completely took both of us on board as the daughters they never had. They have also been and continue to be the most doting and wonderful grandparents to our children, always making an effort to keep in contact despite first their travels and now ours. And I have seen modelled by them a godly marriage that is an inspiration to me.

I should probably mention that living up to Sue’s high standard of home-keeping has been an interesting challenge! Thanks to her example my house is far tidier and cleaner than it would have been left to my own devices. But, joking aside, I have seen in her an excellent example of a godly wife and mother who has faithfully served her husband, children and now grandchildren for many years. She has remained a faithful and committed church member and actively sought to disciple younger women, which is an area that I am now passionate about myself.

So, sorry not to be more vocal at the time – but I want everyone to know that I am very proud to be part of a very select group of Mrs Hosiers. And if you didn’t get a chance to catch any of John Hosier’s sermons in the flesh I would encourage you to look for them on the CCK website and see if they are not well worth a listen!!

10 reasons why I am now a 'mOm'

I'm not sure quite at what point it happened - it wasn't a deliberate choice on my part - but it has struck me in recent days that I have stepped over the threshold from 'mUm' to 'mOm'. It's not just what was written on my Mother's Day card and, thankfully, the children still use the 'U' form, but at some point I seem to have morphed. See what you think......

1. I drive an SUV (4x4) on mostly short journeys through the town and my cup holder is usually filled with a beverage from Starbucks or some other coffee or fast-food joint.
2. I can order a "fat-free chai tea latte (grande, hot) and a cinnamon bagel with reduced-fat cream cheese, to go" without pausing for breath.
3. Most days I use the 'drive thru' drop-off/pick-up option at school and only park the car or, even walk a couple of times a week. And I never go on foot to an ATM (cashpoint)
4. My kids (not children) go to soccer (not football) and swim (no 'ing') lessons when they don't have playdates.
5. Instead of dropping their 't's SE-London stylie, the children have replaced 't' for 'd'. Say compuder and wader.
6. I send SMS messages from my cell (oh, and it's a blackberry, natch)
7. I go to the grocery store
8. I used to make biscuits, now I bake cookies (usually from shop-bought dough)
9. I write checks for the rent
10. And worst of all, last week I actually bought a half dozen Dunkin' donuts

I rest my case............

The power of the cross for those who believe

Thanks to the girltalk blog, I've been reading 'Jesus, Keep me near the Cross' compiled by Nancy Guthrie in my devotional times. It's a collection of essays and sermons on the cross and I'm really enjoying meditating on the last few days' of Jesus' life and the resurrection.

As Easter is approaching, A friend and I responded to a request from school to help with some Easter assemblies for the children. This seemed an opportunity too good to miss - not least as American schools are so secular and opportunities to share openly what Christians believe are rare. We began by looking at a lot of modern Easter paraphernalia from eggs to bunnies and chicks and then focused on the cross and the resurrection and the new life we have as Christians. Although it was quite scary (we must have spoken to 200 children over the two assemblies), it was actually a real privilege to be able to share truth with them.

I was rather taken aback when the teacher opened it up for questions but we got some great ones from "Is the Easter Bunny real" (I think I managed to avoid answering that directly) to "How do we know Jesus is alive if we can't see him?" to " But if Jesus was innocent, why did God punish him and not those who were really guilty?" What an excellent question from a little girl who must have been around 7.

My answer was not as eloquent as this, but I loved this explanation from JC Ryle (in above-mentioned book)

"Was he flogged? It was done so that 'by his wounds we are healed' (Is 53:5). Was he condemned, though innocent? It was done so that we might be acquitted, though guilty. Did he wear a crown of thorns? It was done so that we might wear the crown of glory. Was he stripped of his clothes? It was done so that we might be clothed in everlasting righteousness. Was he mocked and reviled? It was done so that we might be honoured and blessed. Was he reckoned a criminal, and counted among those who have done wrong? It was done so that we might be reckoned innocent, and declared free from all sin. Was he declared unable to save himself? It was so that he might be able to save others to the uttermost. Did he die at last, and that the most painful and disgraceful death? It was done so that we might live forevermore, and be exalted to the highest glory"

Amen

Parenting reality check

So, I had a mountain of washing to do on Wednesday. My 3-year old is at home every day and mostly moans constantly while I do my chores until I agree to put the TV on ... This time was different, she was helping me and really getting involved telling me, "I need to learn how to do this, Mummy because when I grow up I want to be a Mummy and I want to be a great Mummy like you!". It really was very sweet, she helped me change the sheets then sat watching the clothes whirring around in the washing machine - toploaders are so much more fun! It was one of those days when you think, "Maybe I have done something right as a parent".

But then, reality hits..... I was relating the cute story to a new friend and when I'd finished, my son piped up, "But M, if you want to be a mummy when you grow up you have to get married first then have a baby.... or you could just have a baby and not get married..." to which my friend replied, "How very open-minded of you, Ethan!"


Grrrr!!!!

The Chicago Newfrontiers Church Plant needs YOU!!

We are really excited to be entering into the next phase of the church plant in Chicago which is building momentum as we await the Sweetmans' arrival next month. They were in town this weekend and have found an apartment in Lincoln Park and we are all very excited and raring to go!

Chicago is an enormous city and at the moment we are a small group or less than 20 adults so we need help!!! And this is where you come in.... Please will you consider joining with us as a prayer partner???? We have a goal of 200 prayer partners and you can find more information on what this involves (not much, just praying!) on the new website http://churchplantchicago.com Please sign up - we need your prayers!

On the website you will also find information on the summer evangelism internship programme which is running in June/July 2009. If you have 4 weeks to spare this summer, please consider coming to join us and help us reach more people across this great city. you are warned, though - you may not want to go home afterwards!!!