Where have you been?!

It's been just over six months since I've blogged or posted a video on YouTube and quite frankly.....I'm ashamed!

It has been a hectic year and I haven't been keeping you guys up to date.  So here we go.....

The last time I posted was in February so I'll pick up from March.

March

In March I started a new role at work.  It was a busy time as I adjusted to the new responsibilities and tried to get my head around new ways of doing things but it was good.  God has blessed me with an amazing team who have made it so much easier to transition.  However, I found my time becoming increasingly busy as I tried to juggle a range of demanding areas in my life!

April

By the start of this month, I was exhausted.  The transition into the role was full on and in hindsight, I wish I had taken a week off before moving into my new role.  I took a week of during this month just to try and have a break but in some ways it made the work more intense on my return as I returned on the same day that a new member of my team began.

May

This month was awesome! It brought the Sanctuary Retreat.  This was well attended and I felt great!  I was obviously tired after the whole weekend but I was so moved by how God used a few days away with a small group of women to impact their lives.  It also brought the Colour Conference in London!  For those of you who don't know - this is a women's conference that is organised by Hillsong.  It was another life changing experience for me.  One of the most special parts of the conference was worshipping with 11,000 other women - sometimes, I would just stop to listen to all those voices worshipping God and couldn't help but think "this must be what heaven is like!"  It was also at this event that God started to stir new ideas and directions for the Sanctuary.  Watch out for some them in the new year!

June

By this month, I was fully focussed on the big project I had planned for the following month.  My brain was full of plans, prayer lists and packing lists.  It was quite a blur and to be honest, I can't quite remember what I did through this month!  I do remember that there were further changes at work as one member left, another returned and a member who had only started a few months prior submitted their resignation.  Just call me HR queen - I learnt a lot about HR procedures this month at work!

July

This month was the month I had been anticipating all year.  At the end of July, I led a group of 4 women on a mission trip to St Kitts.  We went to work with a local group to impact the lives of women in St Kitts.  It was an amazing experience which cannot be covered in just a paragraph.  If you are interested, I would like to post a series of blogs about preparing, leading and recovering from a mission trip. Let me know in the comments if you would like me to do this.

This was also the month that I went  to Legoland with Babygirl.  We went with a good friend of mine and her daughter.  It was so nice to spend a day doing all things childlike and Babygirl had a fantastic time!

August

The first two weeks of this month were spent in St Kitts.  The remainder of the month was a time of recovery for me as I tried to assimilate all that had happened in St Kitts and adjusted to being back in the UK.

And now we are in September, so far it has been focussed on helping Babygirl adjust to school life, and preparing for the remaining events in the Sanctuary calendar!

So that's me!  It's been a while but I'm back.

Let me know in the comments what has been the highlight for you in the last 6 months!

Until next time,
Cece xxx

New beginnings, new challenges?

After an amazing time at the Sanctuary Writers' Brunch last weekend, I was ready to face a week with new beginnings!

This past week has been a significant one as Babygirl began her first complete week at school.  On Sunday evening, I laid out her uniform for the week.  As I ironed her school shirts, I found myself reminiscing of my school days.  The new Sunday evening routine felt familiar and in many ways helped me to feel more organised and focussed for the week myself.

Babygirl handled her first week well.  There were points where she seemed a bit withdrawn, but by the end of the week she came out of school with a big smile and declared that she liked school.

On my part, the week started out a little stressful, I felt under pressure at work with impending deadlines and the feeling that I was falling behind.  However, by the middle of the week, I had implemented some strategies and I was feeling much more positive!

On Thursday, I spent the day on a workshop which is part of a women's leadership development programme that I have been enrolled onto which is run by the organisation I work for.  It was lovely to have the "head space" to reflect on my personal and professional development and what struck me was how much I had grown but also how much of that had been due to what I had learnt in church.  As I listened to various women talking about building self esteem and self awareness, I realised that the years of repeatedly hearing that I am made in the likeness and image of God had gradually built up my confidence and for the first time, I felt ready to start talking real steps towards my next goal rather than just talk about it.  I briefly spoke to the facilitator of the course who confirmed what I had already been thinking - it's time to start moving forward!

So it felt apt that in the evening I was heading to the launch of Christian Business Networking Group called "Training Kings".  The host of the group had spoken at the Sanctuary Brunch last weekend and I was heading down to show some support.  What took place was a phenomenal evening of networking, motivational talking and a series of divine connections - I was blown away!  It was evident to me that I had come to this event for something that I had not expected but as usual, God knew what He was doing!

Me with the host of Croydon Training Kings, Alison Johnson

I left the event pumped!  Full of energy and ready to take on the world!!!  I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

The next morning I was tired.  Not surprising as it had been a busy week. As I got Babygirl ready for school, I thanked God that it was Friday and then headed out in a rush to get her to school on time. As we walked up the school path, I chatted with Babygirl and noticed her delight in stamping her feet and kicking the small stones on the path.  I pointed out that her lovely school shoes (which had cost me a fortune! - who knew that tiny feet could cost so much?!) were getting covered in dust.  She looked down at her shoes and then glanced over at my feet and said, "Well, your shoes don't match". I chuckled at her ridiculous remark that she had made and was confronted with this.....

A new level of confusion for me!

Yep!  I had walked out of my house, driven across town and headed into school with odd shoes.  I WAS MORTIFIED!!!!  How had I got here?  This mighty woman of God who is getting ready to conquer the world - couldn't even manage to dress herself in the morning!  I hurried her into school and headed home to rectify the situation.  As I drove home, I laughed at myself and just knew that I had to share this with you guys!  It's amazing how you can be brought back to earth with a thump - LOL!

So after this comical moment, I prepared for a weekend of relaxation and family time.  As I sit here writing, I am enjoying the delights of staying home with Babygirl and DH.  This is something that I have missed for a long time due to booking so many commitments on the weekends but one of my goals for the year was to have habits that will sustain me.  I have been working on this.

We did however fit in one activity this Saturday - Babygirl's ballet lesson followed by a home cooked brunch to celebrate her first complete week in school!

Babygirl's ballet feet!

I am aware that I have been missing in action for quite a while this year.  My next couple of posts will seek to address some of what has been going on!

Until next time, 

Cece xx

Writers' Brunch 2016

This weekend, we hosted our first ever writers' brunch.  It was truly a privilege to hear from published authors as they tackled questions like "what inspires you to write? what do you want your readers to get out of your writing?" and "what do you get out of your writing?"

The panel featured a group of people with a wealth of wisdom and it was so inspiring to hear from their personal experiences!

Sonia Pemberton, author of "The Email" shared her motivation for writing a novel about domestic violence.
Neala Okuromade, author of "What's your financial gameplan?" shared the technicalities of finding an editor to work with and the impact it had on her book.
Alison Johnson, author of "Understanding Your Value is priceless" gave us tips on overcoming writers' block.
Tunji Ogunjimi, book author coach and author of "Glory Realm Worshipper" and "How to write your book fast" told us about the importance of writing a plan and outline for your book.

Check out what happened at the brunch in this video:

Keep an eye out for our upcoming events!