New Beginnings

Well, it has been a while since I posted here - longer than I thought, actually. My return to work is imminent- Monday!- and Daniel starts playgroup on the same day. It feels like another milestone in his life and a step towards his independence, which is wonderful, but tinged with a tiny drop of sadness. Sophia is 6 months old on Monday as well, and is embracing the world of solid food with great vigour. Neil's post as part-time children's worker came to an end on 31 August. I was looking back at our review of the year and I had written about this, and said that we weren't worried about it as we knew God had everything in hand. My mind has been whirring during the maternity leave, and I have been thinking about many, many things, and I have been wondering about the future. I haven't been worried at all, but just pondering I suppose. Anyway, it has been wonderful to see that God's hand is very much on our family, as I said at the start of the year. Although I work part-time, I work strange, youth worker type hours and it would be very hard for Neil to find a job that fits around my work, as well as fitting in with the care of our lovely children. But it has all worked out perfectly as a wonderful arrangement has fallen into his lap, where he works for a few hours a week looking after a little boy. The whole thing fits perfectly with our situation at the moment and Neil's gift of working with children. It is a timely reminder that God hems us in behind and before, and in gentle ways is guiding us a family. I will carry this with me as I return to work and as a family we face a number of new beginnigs.