'The God-Father'

This is a mobile upload of Little Miss O and her God-Father. Now, I am joining the club - woo hoo, I'm a God-Mummy!

When my cousin first announced that she had 'something to ask me', I couldn't imagine what it could be...she is intelligent, loving and an amazing Mum to 3 gorgeous kiddies... what could she POSSIBLY have to ask me?

Yep - she asked me to be a God-Mummy! It came as a complete surprise....she was still pregnant at the time!!!

I was over the moon, jumping for joy and have slowly, but surely, told everyone I know - and a few strangers too.

The christening is on Sunday and I am really REALLY excited...more than thinking about what I will wear, I've been thinking about what kind of God-Mummy I want to be. When I was first asked to be God-Mummy, I asked my cousin why she chose me and she said 'cos you'll be a good role model for her' - that was good enough for me, and I can do 'me', so I thought it couldn't be that hard - right?

Recently though I was asked, 'how are you enjoying your duties as a God-Mother?'. I didn't quite know what she meant? Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of 'duties', 'musts' and 'shoulds', so, as I just avoided the question.

I guess it's a bit like asking, 'how are you enjoying your duties as a Mummy?' - surely the only real duties of a Mum are to keep your child safe, healthy and attend to their needs and wants without spoiling them too much? Isn't anything else a bonus? But what are the 'duties' of a God-Parent? I was really grateful that she asked the question though, as it did leave me thinking, what could I do as a God-Mummy?

I thought about my own God-Parents. One has always remembered my birthdays/Christmas, helped with planning our wedding and is always a source of the brutal truth - gotta love her! She has also ALWAYS been there to support my parents. As for my other two God-parents, I have had little to do with them since about age 9 or so... sad really, given that my parents probably thought long and hard over selecting them too.

In thinking about what kind of God-Mummy I am going to be, I also thought about Little Miss O's God-Parents. We chose loved ones who (outside of our immediate family) we would want to be a key part of our childrens' lives if the worst were to happen to us. The three of them are equally fabulous and appear to enjoy their 'status' as God-parents. We also chose them for their kind hearts, good nature and because we thought they were strong in their faith and great role models for our little cutie.

I have to say though, the male God-parent, who Little Miss O calls 'The God-Father', hasn't bought a single present for our daughter. What he does do, is teach her to dance, make her smile and best of all, sends daily scripture readings to inspire both Mr O and I - and this, I absolutely LOVE! It's the biggest gift that money can't buy and amazingly, is worth more than all the clothes in Mothercare plus all the toys in toys 'r' us! Don't get us wrong, we LOVE receiving gifts for our daughter and are always very grateful (as of course is she) - but fortunately for everyone else's wallets, we're simple people and don't, even for a moment expect gifts! For Mr O and I, there is no better way to nurture a child than to support their parents in their spiritual growth and personal development.

You've gotta love The God-Father!

If I could be anywhere near as good a God-parent as our daughter's God-parents, then I'll be one happy God-Mummy!

Have a great weekend...

Mrs O
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'I wanted to change the world, but I couldn't find a babysitter'

I've just got back from my first work trip - in Bordeaux! Unfortunately, I can't really speak French! Learning French was at the top of my 'to-do-list' a few years ago...but I traded my time at French language evening classes for night-nursing!


It got me thinking about the sacrifices I am making for the sake of our family... not having time to learn French (at the moment) is very minor really. I felt really lucky this week, blessed in fact, that the job I have at the moment will give me the (odd) opportunities to travel abroad. Ultimately though, I would LOVE to have the kind of job that allows me to spend longer stretches of time, exploring the world and it's people, the cultures, the food - the weather!


For now though, I have a young family - so 'galavanting', as my Mum calls it, is kind of out of the question - and I'm OK with that. I believe that families need stability...not mundaneness (is that a word?!), not perfection, not a white picket fence, but having a sense of knowing where you're at, what you'd like to happen next, and the faith to deal with things if they don't go according to plan. I don't really know how to articulate it better than that...but I know what I mean...


So for the next 18+ years, stability is our goal. Some of the happiest people I know are 'stable' - emotionally, financially, socially, professionally - they're stable. They have the capacity to cope when God throws them a curve-ball!


In the beautiful home of a woman who I would describe as VERY stable, I saw a framed quote:


'I wanted to change the world, but I couldn't find a babysitter'


To me, this woman is very well accomplished, has a doting husband, has four high-achieving (grown up) kids, has written books, has travelled the world over and owns homes in multiple countries. I wondered what more she would want to do! She is happy, she is stable...and I actually was intrigued that at some point in the past, she had felt that she wanted to change the world but she couldn't because she couldn't find a babysitter! Even more than that, I loved that this woman HAD gone on to change the world. How amazing!


Simply, I loved it... I related to it and it meant something. 


I could relate because, my to-do-list still has things on it - there's more I want to achieve, more to see, more to do, more to taste...more to experience...and I like that. How sad it must be to have nothing on your to-do-list... I always want to do more, to learn more, to be more... But for now, a lot of things on my 'original'  to-do-list have been replaced with other things...I have new priorities and actually I prefer many of these new priorities. 


I wonder what other people have on their to-do-list - has it changed from being single to married, childless to mother, young adult to fully-pledged member?!


Mrs O
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My life is like a movie...

So, I'm still on my mission to (seriously) surrender EVERYTHING to God. Having just watched Sex and the City2 (I know, I know - I’m late!), I realised that I’m kind of like Carrie - kind of! My life is just one movie scene after the other!

You see, Carrie plays the starring role in SATC, but really her character is just a small part of something bigger.

In likening myself to Carrie, I considered that actually, Ms Bradshaw Mrs Preston, didn’t write SATC – Candace Bushell and Michael Patrick King did. Sarah Jessica Parker didn’t make Carrie’s character up, Candace did! Carrie didn’t even film it – someone else did!


Carrie is just in the middle of it all. Carrie isn’t even the only person in the movie….what about all the other strategic characters….? They’re important too right? Without them, who would Carrie lunch with? Who would she have fun with? Who would she cry to? Without the other characters, the movie would just be Carrie – talking to her laptop. So, like Carrie in SATC – in my movie life, I’m supported by a fantastic ‘cast’ – of friends, family and random strangers who seem to say or do the right thing at the right time!


Like Carrie…I’m not the only one here (duh!) I didn’t make myself and I didn’t write my life so far…and actually, I’m not really directing the future either… Sure every now and again, I’m afforded some leeway to improvise, to make it up on the spot, to do what I want to do BUT when it boils down to it, I simply am not running this show – God is.


Not the most profound analogy…but it works for me.

So now all I need is a set of practical tips for remembering that I am just Mrs O and that I am not the director! It’s such an easy thing to say, but how do you actually do that?!






Mrs O
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