When your best isn't good enough

This morning Valerie Adams stepped out into the Olympic Stadium in London, half a world away from home. In front of a crowd of thousands, she put her heart, body and soul on the line, knowing millions of Kiwi’s were cheering her on.

She won a silver medal. A silver Olympic medal.

That is no small achievement and is something that most of us can only ever dream of achieving.

She didn’t think it was her best, she was disappointed that she hadn’t won the gold, sad that she thought she had let down her country.

And New Zealand’s media agreed with her. On the radio this afternoon instead of celebrating Valerie’s achievement the radio presenter announced her result as “Valerie lost the gold medal in the shot put this morning.”

Pardon?

Valerie didn’t lose the gold, it wasn’t hers to begin with. Yes, she won a gold medal in the Beijing games and I’m sure she really would have liked to have won it again.

But beating her down, when she’s already beating herself up? No. We should be celebrating the fact that she is number two in the world, and not far behind the world number one.

What she achieved is awesome. The time, the dedication, the blood, sweat and tears that it takes to get to an international level is huge. To qualify for the Olympics is something to be proud of by itself. To have won a medal - fantastically, awesomely wonderful. And Valerie did.

Let’s celebrate!!

Brr! It's cold out there!!

If your town or city is anything like mine, the last couple of days have been pretty chilly.

Winter, it seems, has arrived with a cold, icy, snowy vengeance. If you have photos of snow – send them in!! We’d love to see them :-)

But despite the cold there are many reasons to rejoice that winter is here…

• You have a legitimate excuse to wear onesies. ALL DAY.
• You can finally use your ugg boots, hot water bottle and electric blanket at the same time!
• It snows which makes everything look pretty.
• You can throw things, namely snowballs, at people.
• The skifields will open which means you can snowboard, whoohoo!! Or ski, if that is your preference.
• Hot chocolate becomes the drink of choice which means you can drink marshmallows.
• Snow forts, snow men and ice sculptures are all worthy construction efforts.
• Snow days mean you don’t have to go to work or school.
• Fashion becomes less about how good you look and more about how warm you can stay.
• Your pets will want more cuddles because they want to steal your body warmth.
• If you have a fire, you can roast marshmallows.
• The other side of the world gets to have summer.
• The further through winter we get, the closer to summer we are.
• If you’re Jamaican, your bobsled team can practice!

So what are your favourite things about winter? How do you like to stay warm?

That's not exactly what I asked for...

Think about the last time you asked God for something. How did God answer you? Just as you had asked or not exactly how you thought he would?

A few weeks ago I was lying in bed late at night and I started to hear strange noises coming from within my bedroom. What was worse was that I could hear something moving! Eeekkkk!

My first thought was that it was a mouse. Now I realise that mice are God’s creatures, just as I am. That does not mean I have to like them! I did not want a mouse in my house. *shudder*

So I prayed. I prayed that the noises would go away. I prayed that the noises were not a mouse. I prayed that if it was a mouse that God would make the mouse leave! Really quite a trivial thing to pray about, but I really do not like mice. Or rats while we’re talking about small rodents.

I eventually went to sleep, continuing to ignore the strange noises. BUT as soon as I got up the next morning, the noises started again! I decided to be brave and track down the source of the noises. They seemed to be coming from the shelves by my window. So I opened the curtain to get a bit more light in my bedroom and sitting on my windowsill was a cat.

Now this is odd for two reasons. One - the cat was sitting INSIDE my bedroom. Two - I don’t OWN a cat!

I had to laugh. It seemed that God had answered my prayers! It definitely wasn’t a mouse! Sometimes God may not answer our prayers with exactly what we want, but he will answer.

My (almost) cat!

Welcome back 4th Tawa

At the start of the year the hard decision was made to put 4th Tawa into recess for a term. But the start of Term 2 saw the 4th Tawa Company back with a brand new leadership team, 3 young leaders and 8 girls, including one new girl.

The girls made scones, iced biscuits and played games before their parents joined them for supper.

The Minister of their church is very keen for the company to continue and is rallying the church behind them. As Fay from Wellington Area put it “It was super to see them all getting on so well and having such a fun night.”

Check out these photos of 4th Tawa.

Lest we forget

Today is Anzac Day.

Five years ago today I was at Gallipoli to commerate Anzac Day. The main New Zealand memorial site on the Gallipoli peninsula is called Chunuk Bair, and is essentially a massive hill that the New Zealand forces had to take.

I sat on the top of the hill, looking down into the deep valley below and tried to imagine what it would have been like for the young New Zealand soliders tasked with climbing this hill. It's covered in trees, scrub and rocks. The Turkish Army was at the top firing down on the soldiers as they tried to advance. And it is STEEP.

These young men, many the same age as I was then, fighting in a county half a world away from their home.

The harder I tried to imagine what it would have been like for them, the more I realised that I had no idea. Hopefully I will never have any idea of what those men went through.

They fought so I would not have to. We would not have to.

364 days of the year, we don't really think about war. It's not a nice thing to think about so why would we? But Anzac Day is the one day of the year that we stop and say "thank you". Thank you to those who fought, thank you to those who gave their lives, thank you to those who never came home.

Take time to say thank you. After everything the veterans went through, it is the very least we can do.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

I don't know about you but for me at the moment it's hard not to see poppies almost everywhere. They are the visual reminder that we will soon be commerating Anzac day.

Have you ever wondered why it is that poppies have become so connected with a day that commerates war? Seems an odd occasion to be connected with something as delicate as a flower.

The words of the poem above were written by a medical doctor during the First World War in Ypres, Belgium. Like many soldiers he had noticed that after battles had finished, often the first plants to grow back were wild flowers, particularly poppies. For the soldiers the flowers were a welcome reminder that beauty can come from the most ugly of places.

The poppy was adopted in the 1920's by the New Zealand Returned Services Association (RSA), and has been a proud part of Anzac day ever since.The poppies became a symbol of many things. Of beauty and hope, of rememberance and friends lost.

So this Anzac Day if you're wearing a poppy, take a moment to think about what it represents. And wear it proudly.

Why I remember

Everyone has their own reasons for commerating Anzac Day, or to not commerate the day in some cases. I have always attended Anzac Day services - when I was younger it was because I was in the Girls' Brigade group and now because I feel it is important to.

As a child I had no real connection with the veterans I saw each Anzac Day, proudly marching with their medals pinned to their chests. War was not something that was discussed with my Grandpa, and I never got the chance to meet my Grandad.

It was not until I was older and understood what my grandfathers went through in World War Two that I had a personal reason to commerate Anzac Day, and now I do proudly.

So why do I remember?

My Grandpa was a young man when he enlisted with the Royal Navy. He was sent to Canada to train as a fighter pilot, and very nearly qualified. I think it was very fortunate that he didn't - fighter pilots didn't have a good survival rate. So he became an engineer on an Aircraft carrier and spent a lot of the war in the Pacific. He had his 21st birthday while he was overseas, away from his fiancee and away from his family.

My Grandad was enlisted in the British Army. He fought in many of the major battles that the British Army engaged in Africa and Europe. He was one of the last men off the beaches at Dunkirk, he fought at El Alamein and Monte Cassino, eventually ending up in Austria as the war ended. He was captured by German forces twice, away for a total of 7 years. When he left his family his daughters were toddlers of 1 and 3, by the time he returned they were girls of 8 and 10, he had missed their childhood.

My Grandfathers. Both good honourable men who fought for their country.

They are why I remember.