A little thought

I only have time for a small post, as always, when coming back from a break, there are one hundred and one things to catch up with. I have loads to say, loads of ideas and will shortly be starting some new challenges. I have just decided today to share a small picture I have had.

Have you ever sat round a fire and you can see everyone else round the fire, but you can't see very far away, or like when you look out of a window at night when you have the light on and you can't see very far? There is a darkness you cannot see into, but you can see where you are, because you are standing in the light ( you can probably see where I am going with this), it isn't that the darkness is stronger, because as soon as you are there with a light, you can see all around. The problem is that the dark places have not got any light, and the dark places will remain dark, if no light is taken there.

It is how I have to be, taking pieces of light, like matches or torches into dark places, not being afraid of the dark, the dark will only remain where the light is not shining and we only burn the fires until the sun comes up.

A Little Story

I have been away, had a great rest, at last, more on that another day. I just wanted to share a story with you, that I heard at a church I was visiting on Sunday.

One Sunday a tramp walked into a church, he was dirty, scruffy and stank, no one would sit near him, in fact at the end of the service, everyone complained to the pastor, and the pastor was forced to have a word.
He asked the man if he had enjoyed the service, the tramp had, he then asked him if he would be coming back, the tramp said he would be, the pastor then suggested to the tramp that he speaks to Jesus about about how to appear and be dressed appropriately at church. The tramp said He would.

The next week, in walks the tramp, dressed and smelling exactly the same, everyone shys away from him, no one sits near him and at the end of the service everyone complains to the pastor. Once again the pastor has to have a word.

The pastor asks the tramp " Did you speak to Jesus about how to dress and appear at church?"
"Yes I did." Said the tramp.
"Well, what did He say?" Asked the pastor.
" He said He doesn't know how I should dress, He has never been to your church."

Enough said. Hope I got the telling of it right. Thanks to Eddie.

IT IS EASY NOT TO

I keep on writing things this morning and missing out letters, I apologise for any mistakes I make, my brain does not seem to want to work, or I find I write the beginning of the word and the end but not the middle, very strange, battle on.

I had a great time of prayer this morning at the church, really felt like battle, one of the things that came up, was about making an effort.

I always notice that it is easy not to do anything, but takes effort to do something. It does not take any effort to sit in front of the tv, there are even remote controls and hundreds of channels just in case we get tempted to move. It takes more effort to eat healthily than to eat the same old crap, as I am finding at the moment, it is certainly easier not to exercise and to think of excuses why not to exercise. It is easier to lay in bed, instead of getting up early, even if, like me, you have no job at the moment and you don't know what you are going to do for the rest of the day. It is easier to ignore someone elses need and think someone else will do it, or you don't want to get involved, or you haven't got the time. It is easier to not have those conversations with family and friends, it is easier not to say the things that need said. It is easier not to stand up for what is right wherever and whatever we are doing, it is easy to keep quiet, when your faith is being derided. I could go on.

All of the above, I am guilty of, this is not a preach, it can be a rally call. It may be easy not to, but I was not called to the easy life, I was asked to pick up a cross and follow, it may be easy not to, but it is right to do. Respond, react, reach out, live.

Had to let that out, thanks.

prayer room

In our house we call this 'spare oom', the boys like to sleep in there sometimes, there is no tv, which is good, I don't use it enough. This was set up by me as a prayer room, a space in our home which if any of us wanted to spend time with God, there is a nice area to step into,which is away from the hustle and bustle of life, put on a cd, sleep, pray, be artistic and creative, well this room is just a place where we can just express ourselves with God. I find myself being very careful what I am writing, I am not setting up a shrine or temple, just an area of focus.

The prayers on the walls have been written mainly by the young people from church, it is great I can keep there stuff alive on my walls. When anyone stays this is where they stay, which has already had an impact, a young friend of ours was really touched by it all and another asked if he was meant to add something. I admit I am well pleased with the room, I hope it fulfills its purpose, I hope I use it more.

Just in case anyone gets inspired and wants some ideas, we have prayer slips, large bits of paper to draw or write on, there is a little stereo, loads of books and some bibles, some stones to write names on, pieces of scripture on the walls and scripture in a bowl with different descriptions of God and His nature on them, eg shepherd, redeemer..... and a spare oom.

I have just realised Tanya is going to be angry with me for taking the pictures, with the bed not made right, sorry.

Update

Okay, I am back from camping and socialising, I now have a spare few days, to catch up again before going off and relaxing a bit more, its a hard life.

Well, my father in law and his wife came down last week, which to be perfectly honest, I did not want to happen, due to it upsetting my planning. I find that is something in my life I have to deal with and I find there are certain things that I get all touchy and defensive about, but when they actually happen, it all turns out ok. Like when someone turns up, when I am planning a quiet night in, who needs a quiet night in???? But someone may need fellowship, friendship or maybe just someone to listen to. So my father in law turning up, ended up being a good day, good for all of the family.

The next day, instead of 2, only 1 of my mates came down to visit me, we played a nice game of golf, I played quite badly, but enjoyed myself anyway and we chatted openly about where we both are in our lives, we went out in the evening and he asked me to share my testimony with him, which it was an honour to do and I thank God for the oppurtunity.

Finally, as I said, I have been camping with the young people from my church, to be honest, I have not really been camping as an adult and now I had to plan and organise this whole trip. I am knackered. We had a great night Friday, with a creepy walk and lots of very funny games, I have not laughed so hard for ages. I argued with my oldest son, which has upset me, I think it was a mix of things, my responsibility and him being bored. Saturday was my birthday, I got lots of nice pressies, I am blessed, and the day started great, with more games, etc. Then the rain came, and to be perfectly honest, the reat of the day wa wet and cold and involved all of us huddling together and trying to play the odd game, we were all tired as well and ended up in bed early. Sunday was bright and with the sun, all our moods lifted and we had a lovely little service, I spoke about how the Israelites had the festival of shelters, when everyone stayed in a tent and remembered that God had dwelt with them, then I compared that to Jesus, who also came down to dwell with us, and how we mean so much to God, that He condescends to be with us, He wants to know us and have a relationship with us so much.

It has been a busy week, I feel very tired, and I know I didn't get it all right, but I am learning, I do want to try to blog more this week, we'll see.

Walking

I am dieting and exercising more at the moment, purely health reasons , as I am very comfortable in my own skin, probably too much, I personally think I look great, but I have always felt, that if you cannot love yourself, you can't love others. Jesus is part of that, he has accepted me, no matter how I look, which is probably a good thing, because I'm probably not all that. Anyway....

I was walking, with my daughter in her bright pink pram the other day ( that breaks down barriers) when I noticed a young man walking towards me, with a strut, I mean this guy had a walk, a walk to say, look at me, don't mess, I'm hard. I thought about this front, this young guy was putting on, this defence mechanism. I know I have a walk, I know I put on a face like thunder and look unapproachable, especially when I'm walking down the street and see someone with a clipboard looming. Why?

I know I come from an area where everyone acts like that, it is like we have gone back to cavemen or tribal life, I have to look like the alpha male, be threatening so you will not be threatened. I don't like seeing the strut, I don't want to strut, no one should need to strut, is it only because we feel threatened, or is it about barriers.

It is like what I was saying in my last post, we think of things to put in front of ourselves, to stop people getting close, we put up barriers, when Jesus wants all the barriers knocked down, I have so many different barriers in my life, pride, manliness( if there is such a word), privacy, selfishness, I could easily go on. These barriers stop us going forward, stop the deeper relationships, sometimes stop relationships from occuring at all, stop us from being approached or approaching. They have to be knocked down.

I have some friends coming to visit this week, they are good friends, who I have known for most of my life, my life is very different to the last time we spent time together, their live are very different to mine, I am looking forward to seeing them, I also want to be open with them and show them how my life has changed, I pray I can be.

Lastly, I am taking the youth from church camping on Friday, woohoo, very new experience for me, I also really need a toilet, a camping toilet, I really need to get organiseed this week, we will see how I go, toilets anyone???