A couple of weekends ago, Bike Days, was held in our little town of Solothurn, Switzerland. The Swiss are so big on biking that there is a national festival for it and amazingly, our small baroque town hosts this apparently large event. We had never gone and would not have gone this year if not for the fact that Tobias needed a new bike helmet (it is obligatory to wear one when riding here).
It was a 3-day event. We paid CHF10/. per adult to get in – children under 10 did not pay. There were bike races; cross-country and a few others. There were trick bike displays and jumping competitions. You could also test-ride some bikes. Everyone involved in the bike industry seemed to be there; people dealing with the body of the bike, makers of wheels, companies which provide spare parts, others in the sports-clothing industry and of course shops selling helmets. i never expected it to be such a big thing.
i saw competitors come from as far as Russia. Even a small thing (for me it was a small matter) such as cleaning products for your bike was on display. We are not really all that big on biking, at least i’m not. The man and the boy like it well enough. So we didn’t stay long and i can’t tell you too much, as such i will leave you with a picture summary of our visit.
Left: A place for competitors to wash their bikes, Right: Crowds lining to get inBikes and Helmets Galore!Left: Solothurner Biker making her last turn, Right: Future Competitor?Left: Tricks Display, Right: The Russian Team Van
Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful women who work tirelessly to provide a safe, loving, supportive environment for their children. This day highlights the 24/7, 365 days a year, no pay, no holiday work which many women gladly do so that they can see smiles on their kids’ faces. This day is about thanking The Woman who kissed all those cuts and bruises, who sat up nights when you were sick, who cried with pride when you graduated from school (even from primary/grade school), who will continue to be there for you for as many years as you will let her and even more.
To my MUMMY – words can not express what gratitude i feel towards you, for everything you have done for me, for being the mother i have always needed, for being MY mummy! Thank you from the depths of my heart.
My wonderful boy and the lovely gifts he made for me on Mother’s Day 2012.
This year my little boy had a lovely little parcel for me. Everything in it he made himself, at school. i’m so very happy and proud! Can you see what effort he put in?
He decorated the paper-bag with lots of green grass and flowers. Inside are lots of little paper hearts with drawings and little handwritten notes, such as “I Love Mummy.”, “For Mummy” (in German and English). There was some chocolate hearts. But my favourite thing are those test-tube bottles you see at the front of the picture. They are filled with different flavoured salts – one for salads, one for meats, one with Italian herbs. The kids actually got to pound the herbs and mix the salts themselves. Then they were packed into the test-tubes. My personal handmade spices by my son 😀
Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mummies of the world.
A rainbow always reminds me of how much God loves us.
i wondered about this question a fairly bit – at least when i was a child growing up, even more as a teenager trying to define herself. i have not asked this question of myself for quite a while now but the other day, it popped into my mind again. It caused me to look at myself today and myself maybe 20 years earlier (showing my age, huh?)
So who am i? i am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, a sister, a godmother, a sister-in-christ, a writer, a blogger (yes there is a difference between the two), a photographer (not professionally, but passionately), and most importantly, i am a child of God.
Does any one role define me? Can any one role tell you about the whole me? No, i believe i am all of that and, prayerfully, i hope i am also much more than my roles.
i love being a wife and a mother – a home manager in essence. i enjoy being a friend and a sister-in-christ. i wish i could be a better daughter and godmother. i hope that my passion in life would be revealed through my writing and blogging. i want to be a professional photographer (maybe some time in the future i will be).
But the one role that possibly tells you more about me than any of the others is – i am a child of God. i believe, 100 and 1 percent, that i am God’s creation and i am here to fulfill His purposes.
Is that too simplistic a way to think? Maybe. But life is complicate enough as it is, i don’t need to make it even harder.
However, being God’s child does not mean that all my other roles take a backseat. In fact, it gives them more direction. When i am with my son, i am a mother to him and i pray i will be able to mirror God to him. Love him as God loves me. When i am with my husband, i am a wife and again God speaks very clearly about this in the Bible (see here). When i am with my parents/parents-in-law, i aim to be as loving and filial a daughter/daughter-in-law as i can be because God says to honour my parents.
You see there is no question as to what i should be doing in each situation because if you look at the Bible, truly look at God’s word, it is all there.
Now TODAY, right now, i want to bring my role as a prayer warrior and advocate of special needs orphans to the forefront. Most of you would know that i have been a prayer warrior with Reece’s Rainbow for more than 2 months now. You have read about my little Heath and my lovely Heather. And i thank you for your kind attention.
10 year old Heather, is a healthy sweetie who needs a family asap.
i still pray for them both but TODAY i want to highlight Heather. She is an adorable little girl who has Down Syndrome. But because of that one little extra chromosome, she is an orphan. She will be turning 11 in a few months and have had no one care about that for all those long years. We have very little information about her and that does not bear well, because we have no real knowledge of her actual condition and the circumstances she lives in. What we do know is that she is a child who needs a loving family to care for her, to choose her to be part of their family so that she can excel in life. Could you be her family? Would you join me in prayer for her?
i feel that Heather seems to be overlooked and the reason being there is so little known about her. But as i have said before, this does not make her need less, it makes her need more. The way i see it, she is more neglected in a way than little Heath who has had a little bit more exposure (this is only because a family managed to spot him – no interaction was allowed – when they went to pick up their adopted son from the same institute).
So please don’t let her be pushed to the side any longer. Share her story, donate to her adoption grant (click here) – a large increase in her grant would get her more notice and make it easier for a family to reach her, pray that her family comes for her. Thank you.
trippingdifferently 