Day 5: The Path of Life isn't always straight

The Picture

The Verse Psalm 25: 4-5

Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
                                                                                 - Proverbs 3:5,6

The Thought

Have you ever been for a walk and noticed how paths change?  This is typical in a walk through the English countryside.  Some have been clearly defined – very easy to see and with clear markers.  Some are more difficult and have been covered in debris.  Some once were tracks but have grown over and are difficult to follow.

We somehow always expect to be able to follow a straight path when we become Christians, We imagine life will be easy and things will be set out in front of us.  But life is full of curves with sharp bends and the mystery of what is around the corner.  

I can't read maps and somehow am always in charge of the route when we go out.  So we often take wrong turns and it all ends in growling!  I bought David a SatNav a couple of years ago and our journeys are much more peaceful, straightforward and we get to our destination a whole lot quicker!  Every now and again a mad moment comes over me and I challenge the SatNav and persuade David to follow my directions.  We quickly revert to the old  arguments and getting lost!  We need to ensure that we have God set as our SatNav and trust that He will lead us to our destination on the best route!

Do you sometimes feel that God’s paths are not always clear?  You don’t always know where you are going?  Trust in God’s guidance- even when you can’t see it.

The Prayer

 Father God, help us to set you as our guide through life and to trust in the route you have set for us.  Sometimes we feel we know better and stray from the path, which always leads to trouble.

Give me the discipline to listen to and to follow you

Day 4: Are you ready for pruning?

The Picture

The Verse John 15: 1-2

I am the vine and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

The Thought

At this time of year, gardeners are starting to clear up all the dead winter wood and plants out of their gardens to make room for new growth. Plants and gardens need a lot of care and attention, and need to be tended to regularly by a gardener so that they don’t become unruly and tangled.  At different stages of growth, they need to be pruned.  Pruning is the removal of unwanted growth from a plant.  The most common reason for pruning is to give the plant shape and structure which keeps the healthy and ensure a good crop of fruit or flowers.

 My little garden is looking pretty shabby at the moment and I have asked a friend who is a gardener by profession to come and give me a hand clearing it up and preparing it for the summer.

So it is with our faith.  Sometimes we neglect it or we go through a dark, wintery patch and we need some serious pruning and clearing.   We have to remember God has planned our lives and can see the way we will look and the fruit we will bear, so while we feel stripped bare, it is all for the good.  He shapes us so we can grow towards our full potential and bear the fruit of our faith.  He can see what needs to be cut out of our life, what branches are weighing us down and stunting our growth.

It can be painful and we need the support, prayers and love of fellow Christians to help us through. 

How is God shaping you for His service?

The Prayer
Father, we recognise that we sometimes need to be pruned and have parts of our lives cut out because it is preventing us from growing into the shape You want us to be.  Lord, help us accept that You know us and can see our full potential.  Let us trust your pruning and to grow towards Your light.  May we support our friends going through this process as well as accept their love and prayers. Shape me as You would have me grow.

Day 3: Even the spiders!

The Pictures

The Verse Psalm 104:24

How many are your works, O Lord!  In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 

Job 12:10

"In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind."

The Thought

Allow yourself to be amazed at all that God has created.

Mighty lions, gentle springbok, beautiful birds and tiny spiders.  God created each of these and their individual beauty.  Animals can teach us how to live.  They don't hoard material things, they hunt what they need.  They sleep easily every night and wake rested.  They aren't malicious and scheming.  They don't pick fights for no reason.  They live their lives trusting that things will be OK, not fretting about what tomorrow will bring. 
They all have a role and live within that role without trying to be what they aren't.
And when they have babies, they teach those cubs/kittens/puppies the life skills they will need when they grow up to be independent.

I have a real fear of spiders.  I'm not sure what initiated it or where it comes from.  But spiders make me want to cry out and run away.  My heart races and I begin to breathe fast.  It is irrational and silly, but I can't help it.  I am horrified to find that Joe has picked up on this and exhibits the same fear as me.  I am trying to put a stop to this, both in him and me.  We go outside and examine spider webs, and take photos of spiders and catch them in his nature pot so we can have a good look at them.  And they are amazing. 
But having passed this phobia to Joe makes me realise how much he copies me.  I hope that I will set good examples in my life - the way I speak to people, the way I behave, my relationship with God.  
Look around and let the creatures of the earth teach us to live by their example.  

The Prayer
Lord and creator of all thing, we thank you for the animals, insects and birds you have put on this earth.  Lord, each of these is precious to You.  How much more so are we precious to You.  Let us learn from an animals simple faith in life and provision.  You have promised to care for me, help me to put that trust in You.

Day 2: Face the Storms

The Picture

By Joe Holmes

The Verse: Job 37:14-18

Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God's wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge? You who swelter in your clothes when the land lies hushed under the south wind, can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?

The Thought

 When I was a little girl, I used to be terrified of thunder storms.  When I was about 5 or 6, I remember my my dad picking me up and carrying me outside during a typical African summer storm.  As I sat with my arms tight around his neck and with him holding me equally tightly, we watched the lightning and listened to the thunder.

He said to me "You are safe, the storm is quite far away.  Just be brave and look at the lightning, listen to the thunder, smell the air and feel the storm."  I was terrified, but did as he told me.  When my head eventually came out from his neck, I really saw how beautiful the purple clouds were, how stunning the lightning was, and although very loud, how thrilling the thunder was.  We stood for ages as it rumbled away and as the storm passed, the sun came out and it grew peaceful.

Dad then said, "Always remember this, and you won't be scared of storms again."  And he was absolutely right.  I love storms now and relish in their power.  When we get a storm over Bristol, which isn't often enough for me, I take Joe out and show him the wonder of the storm too.  I hope that he will have the same love of storms that I have.

But when we face the turmoil and storms of life, we are often scared and run and hide under the bed!  I have to remember, God is holding me as my dad held me all those years ago.  He carries us through difficult and scary times.  The thunder doesn't get quieter, the lightning isn't less dangerous or powerful, but we can sit close in God's arms and he will hold us while the storm passes over.  I have to remember to rest there, have faith in Him and trust Him.  He has control over the elements.  His power is greater than that of earth.  He is more powerful than any crisis I might face!  How boring would our lives be if we never had storms, never had rain or wonderful cloud formations.  David once remarked that the sky was always too blue during a holiday in Cape Town and I know what he means.  We need the rain and storms to blow away the smog and wash away the dust and dirt.  Life can get too complacent and lazy if we aren't made to shiver once in a while.

The Prayer

Father, help me rest in your arms when facing storms.  I try too often to run things my own way instead of trusting in you.  Help me to face life's storms in the knowledge that they are strengthening me for my walk with you, stopping me from being to comfortable in an easy life.

Day: 1 And God created the world

The Picture

The Verse:  Genesis 1:31

"God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good."

The Thought

We all know the story of Genesis and the creation of the world.   Whether you believe that God created the world in 7 days or whether you believe in the Big Bang and evolution theory, the outcome as a Christian is the same.  The world is undeniably beautiful and God is evident in every aspect of His perfect creation.  The raw power of the sea, the mind-blowing vastness of the night sky or the gentleness of a butterfly.  These things never cease to astonish me and leave me breathless in awe.

I want to spend this Lent looking at God’s awesome creation and the promises He gives to me through His Word.  My particular focus is to be creation and nature.  If God gives so much beauty to each element of his creation, He has given it to me equally.  I need to look at all the ways He speaks to me through what He has made, all the reminders of His love, His power and His awesomeness.  He speaks in a still voice or a giant roar.  I need to stop and listen
I started off with this verse, because it reminds me that God created the perfect world and put man in it as a perfect being.   The rest of it is history.  We went bad and we seem to be doing our darndest to make the world go bad too.  Yet every day, some little thing, like a crocus, or great big thing like an earthquake, reminds me of His great power.  Who am I not to sit up and take note?
The photo above is from NASA and the world from space is a sight I would love to see.  I think it is the most gorgeous thing.  When we were in Namibia last year, we stopped in the middle of the desert one night and looked at the stars.  Joseph was amazed and stared for ages until suddenly getting uncomfortable and asking to get back into the car.  I asked him why and he said, "I feel a little small."  I feel a little small when faced with creation.  And yet I feel precious and loved.

The Prayer
Father God I thank you for your creation.  Thank you for the perfection of your world.  Let me hear your voice in the songs of birds or the gurgle of a stream.  Let me savour your power shown through the sea.  I recognise that I am tiny, but am precious to You.
I also pray that You would use these thoughts of mine to reach out and touch another person, somewhere in the world, that they may just stop and look around them and be amazed.  Let them see You in the beauty of nature and listen to what You have to say.
I love you Lord.

Shrove Tuesday - It's Pancake time!!

Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent starts: the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It's a day of penitence, to clean the soul, and a day of celebration as the last chance to feast before Lent begins.
Shrove Tuesday is sometimes called Pancake Day after the fried batter recipe traditionally eaten on this day.
But there's more to Shrove Tuesday than pigging out on pancakes or taking part in a public pancake race. The pancakes themselves are part of an ancient custom with deeply religious roots.

Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving that Christians used to undergo in the past. In shriving, a person confesses their sins and receives absolution for them.
When a person receives absolution for their sins, they are forgiven for them and released from the guilt and pain that they have caused them.
In the Catholic or Orthodox context, the absolution is pronounced by a priest.
This tradition is very old. Over 1000 years ago a monk wrote in the Anglo-Saxon Ecclesiastical Institutes:

In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor shall so shrive him.
Anglo-Saxon Ecclesiastical Institutes

Shrove Tuesday celebrations

Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent.
Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent.

During Lent there are many foods that some Christians - historically and today - would not eat: foods such as meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods.
So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without going off.
The need to eat up the fats gave rise to the French name Mardi Gras ('fat Tuesday'). Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour.

The origin of pancake racing

Pancake races are thought to have begun in 1445. A woman had lost track of the time on Shrove Tuesday, and was busy cooking pancakes in her kitchen.
Suddenly she heard the church bell ringing to call the faithful to church for confession. The woman raced out of her house and ran all the way to church; still holding her frying pan and wearing her apron.

But we are happy to just eat the pancakes!!! Without racing down the road with them... 
What is your favourite filling?  I love caramel and ice-cream!

Tomorrow I will start my Lent series on My Natural Faith.  If you do stumble across this page (or if you have followed my link here) please join in.  I would love to hear your comments and thoughts as I share mine.  Please don't expect anything too fancy - this will just be me thinking out loud

Hmm - not God's most rapid response member.....

I am horrified to see that it is a year since I started this blog.  That was after my return from our church's ladies weekend last year and now I have just returned from this years.
I felt so inspired and so excited about starting this but was daunted by it, hence the long pause while I tried to be brave enough to start.  But I felt a real sense of peace about this, and I hope I can do it justice.
Next week is the start of Lent and I feel I would like to do a study on God in nature.  I'm going to call it my Natural Faith series for Lent 2011.
While we were on the week-end away, one of the ministry assistants, Michelle, had created a wonderful prayer walk around the grounds of the house we were staying in.  It was while I was doing this walk that I got the idea for this series.  I felt that this could be a good kick off point.  I would love it if people shared this journey, but equally, I am happy to do it alone.   
Watch this space - you never know, I may actually listen to God this year!