Happy Mothers Day, Mums!

Mums hold a special place in God's heart.

A note from Monique:
Mothers are designed so preciously...
With an ability to love our offspring at first sight,
Desiring to nurture and grow them even at our own cost.
There’s a lion-like fierceness in our readiness to protect,
And in our willingness to love no matter what!

Coupled with a loving acceptance of who our children really are,
Is the gift of seeing them as fabulous, both with bumps and treasures.
Mother’s are part of a miracle:
Seeing pieces of our hearts given to each child,
Yet that heart still somehow, staying fully functional.

The bible says God created male and female in His image.
We tend to think of God with mainly masculine traits.
However, stop and consider all that he packed into a woman.
Strength, softness, unconditional love, delight, warmth...
All these parts of himself, he entwined together into a Mother.

If we, who are merely human, are able to feel all that towards our children,
Imagine the magnitude of what He feels for us!
Mothers hold a special place in God’s heart,
For He placed a special part of Himself into us...

A note from Jo: Thinking about what to write for Mothers day on our blog, I decided this post from Josh’s birth in my blog said it all really…

 At 5.40am on Sunday June 8th our sweet 7lb 8oz baby boy was born! As far as births go, Josh's was really good (but still flipping sore! And it was bit scary when he went blue twice and we had to go to Middlemore - but all was fine in the end) and ever since my whole world has changed! I'm so in love with my baby boy and so enjoying being his Mummy! I can't believe that I had lived 30 years of life without knowing this love I have for my son and not have felt more empty or something. I mean my life and my heart are just so much more full now! And it has made me love God even more now that I have a small inkling of how He must feel about all of us. Also it made me love Mike even more (if that's possible) because I see so much of him in our son and it's just added a whole new dimension to our marriage too. The only thing I can complain about is that it's going too fast!!!

Would You...?

One of the tasks I spend time on each morning is doing my hair. I know, it might not look it... ;O)  On occasion, when said hair is not conforming, I've fantasised about shaving it all off. I've gone very very short before, but never shaved. I even seriously considered doing this last year. But my vanity got in the way when I considered the photos taken during the first year of my son's life, would have me in them... bald. So I chickened out.

One of Nicol's friends has been through this awful battle of her baby daughter fighting Leukaemia. Nicol has witnessed the pain this disease causes. Have you ever considered doing the Shave for a Cure? But not quite gotten up the gumption to do it?

Lucky for us, we can live vicariously through Nicol. Who I consider to be ultra brave! She IS Shaving for a Cure... This sunday the 12th, at MBC. You can keep your locks, and donate your cash instead!  You won't regret making time in your Mother's Day schedule to come along to our 'Honour, High Tea & a Shave' event at church. This will be a very family friendly morning and very hands-on. Your kids will even get to decorate a few cupcakes for us all to eat. It's a really important thing to teach our kids to honour the big people in their life, and this time it's us Mum's turn. They'll get to see us honouring special women in our own lives, too.

Sunday, 12th May - 10am to 11am it's all being shaved off for Nicol - She would really appreciate the support!  

See you there! 
Monique

Links
Donate online here: http://www.shaveforacure.co.nz/view_event_profile/9425
Check out the event details for Sunday, here: https://www.facebook.com/events/164035243762147/
Nicol's Event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/155744927918169/

Mother's Day Mmmmnnn!

 

We had such a delicious morning!! You ladies turned it on!
Layered Butter Cake, Cupcakes, Macarons, Afgans, Choc & Lemon Tarts, Cheese & crackers,
Chocolate Cake, Belgium Biscuits, Sushi, Loafs & some cute as chicken eggs...

You name it, it was likely there.

Check out Mary's adorable Chicks!!

We have been looking forward to this week and the opportunity to do something a little bit special for you. You ladies do an awesome job of mothering, and we're proud to be on this journey with you. We hope you enjoy the little crocheted heart, and that it reminds you that you're loved...

Celebrating Easter!!

The Mummies Loot

At WonderMums, we love Easter! It's such a special time of year where we remember the greatest gift given to mankind: the real and accessible opportunity to have relationship with God. (See here for what Easter means to each of us on the team). So we celebrated with a bit of a party in The Gardens. The weather was amazing with a sunny, clear, warm day. The kids enjoyed tearing around following the trail to find the chocolate!

The Egg Hunt

Have you ever met a child who doesn't instinctively know that chocolate is awesome? Me either. Here's some evidence of pure enjoyment. :)

Enjoying the Loot

 We all sat on blankets to listen to Jayne tell our children a special story of new life using a ball of fabric (cacoon) in which was hidden a pretty butterfly. Everyone wanted a piece of the butterfly :)

Story Time!

 And we Mummies enjoyed some lemon cupcakes. We hope you really enjoyed Easter.

General Sweetness & Cuteness!

Happy Easter Mums!

We wanted to take this opportunity to share our hearts & faith a little bit with you...

A note from Jo: "I have always loved the chocolate side of Easter and still do! But it wasn't until I became a Christian as an adult that Easter really became special to me. I am loving seeing my boys, Josh in particular wrap his head around what it actually means that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. That God required a sacrifice for all the sins of all mankind, and so instead of taking the sacrifice from us bit by bit each and every time we do something wrong, he provided the sacrifice himself and came to earth in human form and took the ultimate punishment, the worst and most final punishment for any and every sin possible - death and in that death separation to God even, so that instead, not by anything we could possibly do except acknowledging what Jesus did on our behalf we get to live in right relationship with God on earth and spend all of eternity with him when our time on earth is over too!"

A note from Lisa: "My most memorable Easter was back in 1997 when I was fourteen, and I went along (reluctantly!) to an Easter Camp with friends from our youth group.  At that camp I experienced for the first time a loving God who died for me, through Jesus.  I was so overwhelmed that I decided to become a Christian that Easter.  It was a very meaningful time for me, it marked a massive change in my life, and it has shaped me into the person I am today as a follower of Jesus.  I find Easter to be such an amazing time to reflect and be SO grateful that Jesus did the hardest thing ever on our behalf - taking our mess upon himself and overcoming death.  I'm so glad he did!"

A note from Monique: "As a child, my family celebrated Easter each year by gathering round my father as he shared the story of Jesus' precious gift to us. I realise now as a Mum, that this is a challenging thing to help your kids to understand and relate to! That God, as a Father, sent His only son to take the punishment for my sin, so that I could go free. One of the ways I try to unpack this to my boys is along these lines: 'When you do something wrong... like... breaking another child's toy, something happens. The person who broke the toy needs to pay the consequences. We might have to buy another toy with all your pocket money to make it right, and you also might have to be in time-out to think about what you did... Imagine, if before you had to pay that price, your best friend offered to buy the new toy with his money, and go into time out for you so that you were free to play. That would be pretty special!' Even though they are not all old enough to understand it completely, I want to build on that foundation in their lives by giving them parallels they can latch onto. And the gem that they can catch, is that Easter is all about God's incredible, huge, amazing love for us! He delights in us, and we are all so very precious to Him...

We hope you all have a special Easter together with your families! From the WM Team x

Ardmore Airport Visit

 Each year that we visit this little cafe, it's a hit. They do lovely food, and the outdoor area is so child friendly. Our kiddies were fascinated watching the planes take off and land. Us Mummies were able to sit in the sun and enjoy an 'almost-quiet' coffee *wink*.

St Annes Reserve & Beach Visit

Our visit to the reserve was soo lovley! The tide was in so the kids were able to get in and have a little splash around (while we cooled off our tooties too!). We all kicked back and sat around chatting and watching our small darlings have some beach fun. There's a playground here too - you should definitely check it out! We have been so blessed with great weather this term, and our offsite weeks have felt a bit like a mini-holiday...

(P.S. Just email us if you would like a copy of any of our photos we post)