There are definitely some perks to slower Sunday mornings. We enjoyed our croissant and coffee before moving to the lounge for virtual church. This week Maddie especially loved seeing one of her favourite Sunday school teacher’s doing the lesson, but as with all these virtual interactions, they bring mixed feelings with reminders of what you’re missing. So there were lots of cuddles through it too.

The story was about God’s love being a free gift to us, and the craft was to make something to give or send to a friend. So they busily set about doing it, Maddie choosing two friends but then getting too ‘tired’ (meaning too emotionally worn out) to finish them both.

Theo busily started one for his friend which he then gave to Micah. So he did another for his friend but liked that one too much to give away. So on the third one I wrote his friend’s name first, just to ensure we were clear about the intended recipient.

Micah, Maisie, and Megan busily drew a picture for Grandma, who we later had to FaceTime to show her before he was willing to go to bed.

And Toby took his t shirt off to copy the logo for a card to send to his friend.

After lunch I decided to use up the chocolate oranges we still had lurking from Christmas, along with the orange smartie eggs from Easter, and make a cheesecake. I enjoyed watching a bit more of the conference I’d missed whilst whipping and stirring in the kitchen, and the kids played outside.

The children are still very much enthralled with burying their feet in sand, although the swing seats are a mixed blessing in the garden. They provide a lot of happiness in soothing troubled minds and bodies, but we could do with six really, given the number of arguments over who’s been in there for ages and who feels hard done by in the shortness of their turn.

The old orbeez beads had also proven popular but there weren’t many left, so I ordered some more which arrived today. These water beads arrived in a tiny pot but had to be soaked in water to do their job. This turned out to be a benefit to the process, as the little ones spent a lot of the day running back and forth checking on the growth of the beads in the tray.

Once the Cheesecake was completed, I joined the kids in the garden whilst they pottered around, and I attempted multitasking crochet and starting a new book at the same time, whilst dodging the leaves and bugs that were falling on me from the tree I’d sat myself under. Liam opted for the fall asleep in the hammock version of Sunday afternoon rest.

I spent a lot of today pensively pondering different things on my mind. Not stressed, but thoughtful and the kind of day where I dream of sitting with endless cups of tea and books and journals and soaking it all in. But right now that isn’t where I’m at, and I’m still learning to find ways to find soul stillness in the busyness. To find rest in the moments of teaching my six year old to cross stitch because she needs the reassurance of me being next to her. To find joy in the 10pm enthusiasm over watching a programme with the older kids because they really want us to sit down with them and laugh at the bits they find funny. To find peace in peeling vegetables and melting chocolate for a Sunday dinner.

Today I found hope in the reminder from the kids Sunday school lesson, in our noisy lounge, played over the computer. The reminder that:

‘No matter how clever you are, or how good you are, or how important you are – none of it makes any difference. Because God’s love is a gift, and as anyone will tell you, the whole thing about a gift is, it’s free. All you have to do is reach out your hands and take it.’ (Jesus Storybook Bible, S Lloyd Jones)

Alongside that story was the line of a song playing over in my head:

‘Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine,
And I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away.’ (Bethel music)

God pours out Himself and His love as a free gift to me. That’s where I can find the rest and the strength to keep loving and pouring myself out to those I’ve been given. All I have to do is reach out my hands, my mind, my soul, and accept the gift.