Gooooood

I am not going to apologise for my lack of blogging, there were other priorities and especially as I am feeling very anti legalism, I am not that bothered. I am sitting today, looking after my 2 girls, with a ladies group going on in the living room and me the girls in the conservatory, with Monsters Inc on in the backround and trying to stop Vitoria from eating everything she touches.

I finally feel, over my last period of time off, that some freedom and relaxation is finally returning to the heasley household. Having an extra teenager and all the change that involves of just having someone new in the house, having a teething baby, being tired and many other, quite positive things, have calmed down, or we have got use to them. The children are all well.

I spoke the other week and thoroughly enjoyed it and I have also absolutely loved street pastoring in a really fresh way. Work is good, it can be tiring, but it is good.

One of the biggest things for Tanya and I, is to spend time together and to spend time together, with God, something we are really pushing forward in, something that helps us all.

We really want to be used by God and desperately want to know where He wants us to step next, we won't find that out, unless we know more of Him and His heart.

Update over.

The nature of Faith

I was driving home from work on Saturday morning, when getting about 25miles from home, my petrol light came on, telling me I was getting very low on petrol, I was just coming up to a petrol station, but I thought, thats alright, there is one I use usually about 7 miles further on, I'll stop at that one, it was closed. It was opening in about half an hour, but I had been on nights and wanted to get home, the needle was on empty, but I thought, it can make it.

I drove for the next 18miles, with my eyes going between the needle and the odometer and praying that I was going to make it and wouldn't have to phone Tanya to come and get me with a petrol can. It was a bit of a silly thing to do for the sake of half hour, but I made it, fortunately probably down to the fact the lights on vehicles come on to give you plenty of time to get fuel into them.

It got me thinking about faith though, about taking a step and not really knowing if you are going to make it, but taking the step anyway and hoping and praying and hardly daring to believe that it is going to be ok and God is with you and is going to come through for you and all the while we look about at the signs of the world, like the odometer and needle, we look at our wallets, or our cupboards, or whatever it is and try to guess if we are going to make it, yet still pushing on. It is scary and difficult to be optimstic when the needle says empty and yet we continue to make it and God continues to provide and we will be refuelled.

Elected

I am a big fan of Alice Cooper and the Alice Cooper Band, the track Elected was one of the first to have a promotional video, I have a great live version and I am told that Alice Cooper is a Christian.
When I say this to people they usually say 'really?' 'But is he really?' It always amazes me when people say this, Bono; 'But is he really?' Kaka; 'But is he really?' John Heasley 'But is he really?' Wonderful bit of judgement going on, people that inspire and are out there in the glare of the world and the first thing we do is question whether they have a genuine faith!!!!

I digress and have now finished my little rant, it is election day, I am hoping for change, real change, I think we need it, I really want to see a big kick up the back side of the big 2, bring on a hung parliament and voting reform.

My brother Evan is standing locally for UKIP, I am hoping he does well, I have voted for him, I am not that sure about his party, but I trust him.

I also get very boring on nights like this, I am so glad I am at work all night, that means I get to go over all the results and analysis and figures and swingometers like a child in a toy shop, live. I am a bore, an excited bore, is that an oxymoron? Or just a moron.

Vote with your heart.

Turn Around

There is a new advert on the telly featuring Bonnie Tyler and the song with changed lyrics to 'total eclipse of the heart', with inserted line 'turn around Neville' , great advert, I just thought of it as I sat down to write about how God turns things around.

I do not have a lot of time on my hands right now, but I think a lot of that is down to being organised with the time I have, the diary needs to come back out, there are things that need doing. It is nice to get up from just finishing my nights at work and have a few hours now, I can write this blog and make a list of things to do. I am quite happy keeping my blogging to a minimum, until I can do it more, then I will. There are exciting times ahead this year and loads of things coming up, that will not happen unless they are planned, so being on top of things is going to be important in a freeish way, I have also decided to take up exercising and lose a bit of weight, we will see.

I have a few people I know right now, who are in dark situations, I think they need to listen to God singing ' turn around Neville' or whatever their name is. God will turn things around, He has a big plan, which is so hard to see sometimes, so hard to see the bigger picture, sometimes pausing and thinking where God might be taking you or saying to you is a challenge but one that might help, turning around and looking at what is really going on and getting the bigger perspective can be the key to moving forward. also it is great to remember that however dark the situation, God can turn it around and make something beautiful out of it. There are plenty of examples in the bible, I know plenty of people whose lives have been changed absolutely miraculously from darkness to light, from empty to full, from nowhere to somewhere, including mine.

In Freedom

For a while now I have been a right grump, not all the time, but grumpy all the same, thinking too much, trying to achieve, aiming high, pressure. Being a bit judgemental and self righteous and not really acting out Love. I suppose I have lived behind a wall of trying to be 'good' or 'right', believing this is the way to closeness with God, scurging my life of impurities, which just leads to further rules and pressure and religiosity and churchianity and away from love, relationship and the thing I am seeking more, growth.

I believe the reality is about living in the freedom and relationship that I have been given with God and allowing the Holy Spirit to continue to work in me, guide me and grow in me, not putting myself under pressure and then having to deal again with shame and guilt and fear. It has been dealt with, the continuing challenge, is to live in that freedom, and every time, shame, fear, guilt or things that are not from God come at me, deny them the right to live in me, because of the victory Jesus has won over it all.

I continue to learn and grow, sometimes the basics are the hardest to hold on to, living in salvation and freedom everyday is a choice.

News

About 3 weeks ago Tanya's sister came to live with us, which of course has made our house busier and more community minded than ever and of course has taken some getting use to, mainly on my part, as I am not very good at dealing with change.

Anyway, I once again have digressed, Cheree, my sister in law, has jumped into her new environment, getting involved with everything around her, the youth from church, meetings, sporting activities, the home and her and her sister have been talking alot. This culminated in her giving her life to follow Jesus on Easter Sunday.

Good news and encouraging as we grow as a family in our relationships where God can be brought into everything. This house belongs to God.

Dentists

I am not good with dentists, a mixture of bad experiences when I was younger, bad teeth and the fact that in general it is not a very nice experience. I had not been to the dentists in about 5 years, up until last month. Everything was fine, up until the xray, which found damage and an absyss to a tooth, meaning, my worst fear, a tooth extraction.

Last Wednesday I went along to my new dentist to have my tooth out, not looking forward to it, yet intent on being brave and praying throughout and letting the dentist know I was going to be praying throughout. Which I did.

It was painless and very smooth and I prayed and as far as I am concerned, it worked.

It is my belief that prayer works, that God was with me in something as simple as a tooth extraction, walking through everything with me. It is also my belief that not only is He with me, prayer changes things and helps. I am well encouraged and feel well inspired to battle on in prayer for the more supposedly impossible situations.
God is big and with me.