new stock.............

i love the arrival of new stock. friday late afternoon saw the arrival of 9 HUGE boxes from the USA. i was like a child. i only left the shop at 11pm, and this is the view of the table Saturday morning. i had tried to organise it a bit, papers with papers, stamps with stamps etc, but i just LOVE the whole mess!!! over 40 different punches, over 200 new range papers, more than 150 new stamps - including UNITY ( i am so excited about those!!!) etc etc. but now the work begins. there are over 700 items that need to be captured. more than 5000 individual pieces of paper that need to be priced by hand, and over 2000 other items in total that need to be priced. so, i was thinking. sometimes we are so excited about a change or something new, that we forget that there is ALWAYS tedium involved as well as excitement. the arduous task of taking the new puppy out for its wee, the mowing of the lawn at the new house with the big garden, the brushing of the Persian cat, listening to your other half tell you about an incident at work, when all you want to do is sleep, etc. the fun things all have the hard-work side as well. some people forget that. they only focus on the FUN and forget that FUN is not automatic or magic. it is something that also requires some work sometimes, or maintenance and upkeep. it would be great if that lawn would just be mowed when i drive through the gate, but it is not going to happen. how many times do i dread the mundane tasks? far too often. and i am ashamed to think sometimes that it filters through to my relationship with God. when i am in a tight spot and need some help, i reach out to Him. when i am a-ok, He is the furthest thing from my mind. my days are so "full" - i don't have time to spend with Him, just talking to Him, basking in His presence, but when my world crashes in, i ask where is He? why is God not listening? we spend hours with our friends, having coffee, catching up, building the relationship. when we need help and we call them, they know us and most likely will help without batting an eyelid. do we have the same relationship with God? when we "call" God to help us, do we know Him? or will He have to say that He does not know me? i am so ashamed to say that although i spend some time with Him every day, it is really negligible in the grand scheme of things. 15 or 20 minutes in the morning, and then i expect God to be oh, so thankful for the few minutes of my time i give Him? i am sorry for that. i know that He wants nothing more than to have a proper relationship with all His children. and most of us have REAL relationships with our kids and parents. we tell them our triumphs and failures. we cry on their shoulders and we share our joys. yes, when we need advice or help, we ask, but it is not all we do. we share. i will try to share more and take less. ask less. i hope you have a stunning week! xxx