How Did We Make It To Twenty?

"Looks like we made it, look how far we've come my baby!" Or something like that! 

We've just passed our 20th Wedding Anniversary and I think it's fair to say that for the last few years every time it's come around I have thought 'didn't think we'd make it to this one'. But we made it to 20, so we felt that deserved a reward of a little break away.

My parents came up to look after the children, and as they went on their way this morning my Dad said "I can assure you the second 20 years is easier than the first" which we both heaved a huge sigh of relief at!

And I think now we're back in the place where I pray I won't be surprised next year to make it to 21! We're working hard at it and I'm sure if you're married you know what I'm talking about.  I'm not naive enough to think no-one else has faced struggles like us.  We got married young, I probably did it for the wrong reasons, I didn't envisage marriage was going to include loss, betrayal, anger, deceit and not only one way - we have both experienced this.

But it has also included blessings, happiness, laughter and commitment, and I have come to realise over the last few months, I think we can do this, I think we can learn, I think we can forgive and say sorry; and what's more important than thinking we can do it, is I think we should do it.

There have always been three people in our marriage, and I don't mean in a Charles, Diana, Camilla way. God has been with us and in the last few years He has been very much invited into our marriage by both of us, we depend on each other, but we depend on Him even more and I think we both feel that God has been the third strand in the rope keeping us together.

"Though one may be overpowered,

two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Eccl 4:12

What Will Be Your Next Facebook Status?

Disclaimer: "The following status' are not necessarily about me or my family. If they bare any resemblance to you or your family this was not intended to cause harm or embarrassment"

True Status: "My kids are annoying little brats who constantly wind me up."
Actual Status: "Just had a lovely family afternoon with my wonderful children."


True Status: "My husband & I barely talk and certainly don't have regular sex."
Actual Status: "Can't wait for my lovely husband to come home from work, 8 hours is too long to be parted from him."

If you use Facebook, which I suspect if you read blogs you do; you have probably read status' similar to the 'actual' ones above, when we all know the reality is probably nearer the 'true' status. You have probably even posted a status in order to show to everyone else that you have a near perfect marriage and children - I know I have.

When things are going good we want everyone to know what a wonderful time we've had, how little Jonny is just such a darling and loves his sister so much and nothing is too much trouble for our spouse. And d'you know what? There's nothing wrong with that, we should celebrate our ability to have raised half decent kids and stayed married for x no. of years. But when does it lose it's reality or interest to others?

I have written many status' and then deleted them straight away, after thinking, why do I want to air that? What is my motive? Am I looking for sympathy, attention, help.......

Then there are the 'awareness' status' which finishes with "99% of people won't re-post this, but I know my true friends who care about people dying from in-growing toenails will"

Well sorry, but no, I won't re-post that.  Not because I don't care about dangerous fungal toe growth, but because you have insinuated I may not care when I do, I really do.

Here comes the God angle. Are we trying to only show God our best bits, do we think we can hide the harsh words, the wrong thoughts, the bad behaviour from Him? I think in truth we all know that we can't. God has seen every snapshot of our lives from every angle. He knows every thought we have tried to delete. And when we have assured ourselves and our friends our life is perfect, He can see beyond that and knows the reality of every situation.

This shouldn't make us feel scared or worthless, on the contrary we should be thankful for the fact that our God knows every inch of our lives and still loves us. He has forgiven us for the times we have lied to cover up the mess we've made, and He loves us for times we have forgiven others for doing the same thing.

So next time you talk to God, be honest. Let Him know the true 'status' of your situation.

Praying For Fabrice Muamba

Why are our tabloid papers urging the nation to pray? Is it because of poverty, abuse, crime etc? No.  It is because a young footballer collapsed from a cardiac arrest during a match on Saturday.

Fabrice Muamba a 23 year old footballer is in a critical condition in hospital and the football fans want him to pull through and their first thoughts are prayer!

I don't follow football; I have an idea that two teams attempt to get a ball in a goal and whichever  team gets the most goals wins the game - that is the extent of my football knowledge!

I was shocked to see a young sports person - a fit and healthy young person being stretchered off a sports pitch with a heart attack! I didn't pray for him initially, I don't know if I should feel bad about that or not, I found the story interesting but I wasn't initially moved to pray.  Until I started to notice his family requesting prayer on twitter, and not in a desperate way, but in a faithful way, then my twitter time line seemed to be full of nothing but requests for prayer for Muamba.

The tabloids had headlines like "God is in control" and "Praying for Muamba".  In times of fear and crisis, most people's first thought is God, and it seems for now God is answering those prayers; Muamba is now breathing on his own and has spoken a few words.

I don't know if Muamba is a Christian, I suspect many of the fans that prayed for him may not be Christians, but my prayer is that God's truth is revealed to the people that wrote the headlines, the players that were on the pitch, the fans in the stadium.  Every single one of them is a child of God and loved by Him, and if last weekend's events brings even one of them into a place where they truly find God as their Father, then that will make headline news in Heaven!

Hope Comes Full Circle

At the beginning of the week you might have picked up I was feeling really down, I don't like to talk about it much, but yes, I am happy to announce it over the world wide web!

Anyway, I had thought there is no way I will be going to Church on Sunday morning, I do not want to sit through another service with tears in my eyes feeling like crap, so I had no intention of going.

As the week went on I opened up to my friend and we went out on Friday night for a drink and it was great; I talked, she listened, she joked, I laughed, we ordered, the bar delivered, you know how it works. 

Saturday I knew I could call on her if I needed, but I was glad to be feeling a lot better so I got on with the day (there were a few tears in the morning  because I hadn't managed to get all the laundry done, that wouldn't usually bother me, but I felt I'd let the kids down).

Later in the afternoon I was 'playing' my guitar and decided to look up some worship songs, I have to say I'm not a big fan of worship music other than in a Church setting, it just seems kind of cheesy, but I wanted to try and lift my spirits and practise my guitar at the same time so I came across this song To You O Lord which I really enjoyed and wasn't too difficult to play........

All this leads to today, where God (as if I should have expected anything less) fitted the pieces all together.

So, I did go to Church because I was feeling a little better and thought it would be good to go; right choice.  The visiting Preacher who had been given no subject to speak on stood up after our leader had done an introduction on hope and was pleased that it tied in entirely with what he wanted to talk about, so he really felt he had picked the right subject for this morning - so do I. 

In part of his message he spoke of Psalm 25;3 "No-one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame" This was so good to hear and be reminded of because a lot of my mindset has been to feel shame and guilt.  I was hooked on every word he said and was so glad I had not kept to my decision to stay home.

I realise this probably seems a bit of a rambley post, but remember the worship song I said I had found on Saturday?  Well it wasn't until I got home I realised that I had been singing the very Psalm that was given to me this morning....things were starting to click into place, I could see God moving through my very day, the hope was starting to shine through.

For the rest of the day today I slept.  In the evening I sometimes help out with our youth group, which is on at the same time as our evening service, which I never go to.  So I went up to the youth group, it started off fine, we were watching a DVD, then the projector packed up & after a few minutes of faffing around it was decided we would finish watching the film at the leaders house.  I didn't really want to do that and there were loads of us to try and fit in his lounge, so I said I would just go home.  As I went to leave church, I realised the evening service was going on, I was going to leave but then I went back and decided to take the opportunity to go to the evening service; right choice - again.

The preacher spoke from 1 Samuel about how the Israelites had had years of trouble with the Philistines but God eventually rescued them.  Samuel had taught them to put God first and get rid of anything getting in the way of worshipping only Him.  He set up the stone of Ebenezer as a memorial to show that even in their times of great trouble God had been with them and he said "thus far has the Lord helped us" 1 Samuel 7:12

So in my long-winded post what I am trying to say is God put me where I needed to hear his word today and there were many connections along the way.

From this morning, I take away a message of hope.  And this evening a message to remember the times that God has already helped me so far.  Both from services I didn't intend to go to!

And the icing on the cake? Because I didn't have to stay for the youth group I was home in time to watch Sherlock!

Nothing Is Impossible With God

We have just come back from our Church Carol Service. I have only been once before, that was last year.

I immediately started to fill up with tears as the thoughts of the last year came flooding back to me.

This time last year I had just started to get the help I needed from the people around me, who loved and cared for me. 

As 2011 started I was still unsure of what was happening for me and how the future would turn out. I remember our Pastor saying to me, "maybe this year will be the year that works out OK. 2011 could be the year where things start to change for the better".  I'm sure he probably finished the sentence with a disclaimer in case the year did turn out to go belly up.

But......he was right, I started a proper relationship with God in January, was baptised in July and overcome many personal obstacles. It has definately been one of my better years!

As with everyone, there has and will be times that trip me up and set me down, but I have a hope for the future, as was read tonight in our service:

Luke 1:37 (NLT) For nothing is impossible with God.

Christmas Round Robins continued......

God's Round Robin (not only to be read at Christmas).

Dear Child

I know you have had difficult times this year, you will always face trials, but sometimes it is possible to profit and learn from them.  I was with you every time you cried out to me, I answered you, but sometimes you didn't listen.  I held you close to me and protected you from the earthly dangers around you, knowing that all would be well in your eternal life.

When you celebrated and had fun this year, I was with you too.  It made me so happy to see the joy and laughter in your life, and it pleased me that you thanked me for it constantly.  You are my child and I love you and want you to have peace.

I know some of your friends and family who you love dearly do not yet know me, but I know them, and I hear your prayers for them, continue to show them through your life who I am.

My gift to you this year is still the same as it was last year, and will be forever.  It is the gift of eternal life, through my Son Jesus Christ.

Please accept it.

My love to you always

Your Heavenly Father

All The World's A Stage

Welcome to the show, in which I have just arrived at my walk-on part.

I didn’t know until recently what my part was and I had been ad-libbing.  I had heard lots of times that I did have a part and it was a very important part, in fact I was created for this particular part.  This part is actually so specific that it was written for me even before I was born!

When I say I had been ad-libbing, I hadn’t been listening carefully enough to the director.  He was there all along with his megaphone, calling out to me, telling where he wanted me to be and what he wanted me to say, and sometimes I think I pleased him and said the right things at the right times to the right people.  Other times it was a case of ‘exit, stage left, and hurry’!

The great thing about this show is, everybody gets a part, and even the person who paints the scenery is as important as the person with the leading role!

I used to think my part was so unimportant, that it wouldn’t even notice if I didn’t turn up, I had nothing to offer the show, no-one would care if I was in it or not. 

Then the director started talking to me, he told me not to be frightened of my part, he would always be there if it went wrong, sometimes I believed Him, sometimes I didn’t. 

My close friends who knew the director well said, “listen to the director, he knows everything about you and he loves you so much, you are so special to him”

My part in the show got worse and I felt like I’d been given the crappy part to play and I didn’t think others in the show were that special either – I wanted out.

I told the director this, I wanted to leave the show and not be in it anymore.

But the director had other plans, he brought me in close and he told me “not now” I couldn’t leave the show yet.  It was hard, because I realised I had to listen to him and that meant I had to play my part and somehow carry on.

Eventually, I had the overwhelming realisation that not only did I have a part to play, but I was actually the director’s daughter!  How could I have missed this for all these years, I began to feel filled with his love and knew I could attempt to play the part he wanted me to play. With Him directing me anything is possible.

In case you missed it, the show is 'life', the director is 'God' and we ALL have a part to play.

The Father, Son And The Holy Go-between.........

We can all understand and identify with the Father & Son characters in the trinity, we all have a parent and we are all someones child, regardless of how that relationship has been for you, I think it is reasonable to say we can draw a parallel from our experiences to understand the identities of God and Jesus.

So The Holy Spirit, ever known one of those? Is the Holy Spirit there just to translate messages to and fro between us and God? When we finally 'get' a piece of scripture we've read a dozen times, is that the sum of the Holy Spirits role?

You could look at Him like that, but He is so much more.

Last night we read John 16, a passage I have heard many times, but for some reason last night it really moved me.  Probably just the Holy Spirit giving me a dig.

⁷ But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
⁸ When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
⁹ in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;
¹⁰ in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;
¹¹ and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Jesus is telling His disciples He has to leave them and go to Heaven to be with God, but instead another person will be with them in His place, the Holy Spirit.

Jesus sees that as a good thing, as a progression in the plan.  The Holy Spirit will highlight to us what is going on in the world. He will bring to our attention the sin in our lives and the need to make it right.

So, how to identify with the Holy Spirit? Ever watched the news and been enraged at injustice? Seen a charity fundraiser with images of starving children and cried in despair? Watched a country get torn apart by war and prayed desperately for peace?

If there were no God, you wouldn't feel emotion at such things, the Holy Spirit is God and we do all feel there are terrible injustices, that is the Holy Spirit opening our eyes to the truth around us.

Jesus took the form of man, so when He was on earth He could only talk to the people who were with and around Him, He couldn't be all over the world at once.  God is in Heaven and we are on earth,  the Holy Spirit is on earth so that God and Jesus can be with us whoever or wherever we are at all times.

What has the Holy Spirit revealed to you lately?

Puzzling Questions What Is God Like?

Someone so filled with love, you could never end up in Hell?  Someone with so much hatred for sinners?

These are two views from mega-pastors that have appeared on the blogosphere etc. The latter one within the last 24 hours!

I am now sure that God is filled with love for us, I feel His love for me. Someone asked last night "could God really forgive every sin he's ever done?"  The answer was a resounding "YES!" God loves and will forgive each one of us, if we only ask Him. 

What if we don't ask Him for forgiveness?  What if we simply don't believe He can do anything for us? What if we decide to take our chances and live our lives for ourselves?  Well, I don't think we will be spared an eternity in Hell, no matter how loving He is. There will be a price to pay and the Bible says the wages of sin is death. 

But does God really hate us because we have all let Him down and fallen short of His glory? I don't think so.  When you hate someone, you lose interest in them, you give up on them, you don't want to spend time with them.  God will never give up on us.  We can anger Him and do things that dis-please Him, but cause Him to hate us? I don't buy that.

So, what is God like?

God's house, God's rules.

Why can't 'good' people get themselves to Heaven?

God is a loving God, surely he wouldn’t see someone who has been kind to their neighbours, brought up polite children and dunna lotta work for charidee sent to Hell?

Heaven is God’s home, and just like your home, there are rules. Love his son Jesus, repent of your sins, live your life as best you can to honour Him. Not too hard is it, even if you screw up the living to homour Him bit, he will forgive you!  And you may enter His house.

But what about the type of ‘good’ person I mentioned earlier?  I have a friend who won’t let anybody enter her house with their shoes on, (She’s a clean freak).  I love her dearly but, her house, her rules.  Think of the ‘nicest, goodest, sqeakiest, cleanest’ person you know, who you suspect may not be a Christian yet – if they went to the door of my friends house, they would have to remove their shoes, a really simple rule to enter her house.

Same person almost perfect, but as far as you’re aware they haven’t yet accepted Christ as their personal Saviour.  They get to the door of Heaven, is God going to let them in?  That will depend on their heart. God’s house, God’s rules.   You say “oh they’ve definitely got a good heart, remember they do all the charidee work etc.”

Oh yes, who’s that glorifying? God? Or perhaps it is for their own glory, or for their organisation, or the charity they work for.

We are clearly told in Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.

Seems unfair doesn’t it.  God may turn you away from His house, because you didn’t accept His gift to you, you didn’t accept his grace and forgiveness.  The easiest thing in the world for anybody to do, you were such a ‘good guy’ as well, what a waste.

If you agree it seems unfair, think about your own house, your own life, your own rules.  It’s up to you who enters, and guaranteed there will be someone, somewhere, you wouldn’t admit to your house, so why should it be a free for all in God’s?

Of course it is free………… for all who are prepared to accept Him in their lives.

The Original Blog

I love going to blogs and podcasts as a source of teaching and faith building and encouragement, and they provide all that, but a couple of posts I read recently really reminded of the original source of our teaching and faith building and encouragement – The Bible.

God also revealed this to me recently when I decided I wanted to find out more about the women in the Bible, of course my first call was the internet, but when I actually just sat down and read Eve’s story for myself in the Bible (which of course I thought I was completely familiar with) it really spoke to me.

I really believe the Holy Spirit was guiding me to read that passage for myself and not just look at others views of it.

Eve gets a really bad wrap, but would any of us behaved any differently?  Do we sometimes not listen to the lies of the Evil one telling us if something seems good, surely God won’t mind us going after it?  After all we deserve it, right? Wrong.  We deserve nothing, but by God’s grace we are free to make right and wrong choices.

But look at what Eve achieved!  Without her you would not exist!  She was created by God to be a ‘suitable helper for Adam’ Genesis 2:18 She was his equal, She laid down the outlines for marital commitment, coming from Adam’s flesh to unite them as one being.  If man and woman in marriage become one person, that means man and woman must be equal.  You wouldn’t think your left side of your body was not as important as your right side would you?

God created a world that needed populating and Eve bore many children in pain to accomplish God’s plan.

If when the Serpent tempted Eve she had gone straight to God and said ”what should I do?”  God may well have said ”the choice is yours” or maybe he would have said “let me refer you back to our conversation where I said you could eat any fruit, but not from the tree in the middle of the garden or you will die” Genesis 3:3

What are you going to do?  God has already told us what to do in our lives, if we are not sure it’s ok to check with Him through his word.  Generations upon generations of people didn’t pass these scriptures down to be mass produced in every language conceivable for us to go, ‘hmmm, wonder what I should do, there’s got to be a blog or podcast on that somewhere’ Go to your Bible the answers are all there!

Don’t get me wrong, I am a massive fan of the #digidisciple and some of the blogs and podcasts I’ve come across have been phenomenally helpful, and I wouldn’t be writing this if I didn’t think someone somewhere would get something from it, just a warning that nothing can replace the Holy inspired word of God, The Bible.  The original blog.

He Loves It When You Call

Out in the car today, doing my usual long chat to God as I drove, I probably found myself rambling a bit, I was going over the things that had happened over the last week that I needed strength for and then was distracted by the awsome scenery and just had to give thanks for the incredibly beautiful world we live in, and then I didn't really know where else I wanted the prayer to go so I gave in and turned the radio on.........that was when God spoke to me. 

No, he's not moonlighting as a DJ, he's got enough on his plate at the moment.  It was the song that came on, that for me immediately was God saying 'thanks for the chat'.

The Feeling I Love It When You Call Years ago when this song first came out, our Pastor used it as an illustration in her sermon.  I know, imagine that, pop music in a place of God.  Well I'm still here and we weren't all turned to stone. (Don't even go there on the fact our Pastor at that time was a She)!

Anyway her point was God loves it when we call.  He is our Father, if we can't go to Him who can we go to?

Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. Jam 5.13

Pray for one another, that you may be healed. Jam 5.16b

Therefore, I desire that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 1Ti 2:8

The line in the song 'what's the complication, it's only conversation' couldn't be more true about the way we communicate with God.  Just talk to Him!  He loves it when you call!

Keep, Bin, Give Away

We've all done it.  Attempted to have a mass clearout, either of a child's bedroom, the kitchen cupboards or the garage.  You don't really know where to start, you know it's a terrible mess and has to be dealt with, but how to tackle it?

While doing this with my kids the other week, I realised I usually tackle this job with 3 boxes 'keep' 'bin' and 'give away'.

I have tried to apply the same logic to my personal thinking. Am I 'keeping' the right things in my mind?  Am I able to 'bin' the lies of the Enemy?  And am I able to 'give away' to God the things I need help with? 

If I don't apply this logic to myself I run the risk of ending up in a terrible mess just like the rooms of our house! (Thank goodness no-one can visit my brain unannounced!)

A thought to 'keep'. God loves you and is pleased with you, and if He thinks you are special, why would you doubt that? He tells us in

Zephaniah 3:17 
The LORD your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”

For the 'bin'. "I'm worthless, I'm useless, I can't do it",  I have said, and sometimes still do find myself saying those things, it's a hard one to get away from and the more the Enemy realises we're believing it, the tighter his grip on our mind will get. They are lies that we should not believe. We should remember Jesus' warning to the religious leaders about Satan.

John 8:44
He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Finally, don't try to solve your own problems, turn to God, He continually asks us to do this.  He is our Father, of course we should go to Him 'give away' your problems to Him today.

Psalm 55:22

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

This is not an easy excercise to do but neither is tackling cleaning a room, unless you have an o.c.d. condition in which case you need a whole other website.

Coming Back To Life

I was driving a familiar route today through lovely countryside which takes about an hour.  On long journey's on my own I usually take time to turn the radio off and ask God to be present with me and talk to me.

The scenery as I have shared before is magnificent, and I have travelled this road through the seasons as they change ever so slightly every two to three weeks.

Today the fields that once were the brightest yellow, were golden brown, with rolled bales dotted around them - beautiful!

It was then I really felt like I had come back to life, almost as if I had been in a dormant state, like a coma and now I was awakening from it.  The last few years I've had, I guess I had been slightly comatose!

I really do believe my life is about to turn around, God has good things in store for me and my family, I do not doubt His plans for me.

He has already shown me restoration in so many ways personally, I feel excited about what the future holds Jeremiah 29:11-12.

God is not responsible

It really frustrates me that the main argument that comes up to dis-prove God's existence is the suffering in the world.

I kicked back a few comments to an atheist on Twitter recently (follow me @talk_c) who seemed to think it was an abomination that the privileged should pray to their God, yet the God of the starving and war-stricken does nothing to intervene!

Firstly there is only one God, God of Heaven and Earth, creator of all things.  He is not 'good God' to one and 'Bad God' to another, how could that work?

The last act God did that He knew would cause suffering, was to send His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in our place.  He knew then exactly the suffering that was about to be inflicted, yet He went ahead and allowed it to happen because of His overwhelming love for us.

He created a perfect world for us to live in, but we, Humankind, ruined that world through our own choices - as we still do today.  One day it will come full circle and we will be able to live in that perfect world as He had envisaged it Isiah 65:17.

God knew how the world would pan out from start to finish, if we chose from the very beginning to only ever follow Him, it would still be perfect.  However, we chose not too, so the world is not perfect, it will suffer from natural disasters, people will be cruel to each other and babies will die - because the world is not perfect.

Does this mean He shouldn't have gone through with His plan for creation?  Just carried on about His business floating around in nothingness, because He saw the possibility for Human failure?

Not at all.  If you are a parent did you think, well one day they might disappoint me so I won't bother having children, or have they brought you far more joy than you could ever know that outweighs the bad times?

I leave you with this thought taken from 'The Life Application Study Bible'.  In John 9:3 Jesus talks to his disciples about how a man was blind in order to display the works of God through his life.

Good behaviour is not always rewarded and bad behaviour is not always punished.  Innocent people suffer, if God removed suffering every time we asked, we would follow Him for comfort and convenience, not out of love and devotion for Him.

Regardless of the reasons for our suffering, Jesus has the power to help us deal with it, whatever it is.  Try not to ask "why did this happen?" or "what did I do wrong?"  Instead ask God to give you strength for the trial and a clearer perspective on what is happening.

God Bless you all!

My Baptism. Oh, Happy Day!

Well I have finally been dunked!  My old life buried and my new one walking with Jesus just begining!  I am still on a high!

The day went perfectly, as if it had been planned down to the last detail, of course God had it planned!  I didn't even know who was speaking at the service or what I was going to say myself!  The music was great, I had all 3 of my song choices plus a couple of others! 

After the service we were walking home when I got a text from my friend who had 'dunked' me.  We had both got changed afterwards in our Pastor Paul's office. 

The text said "Did you leave wet knickers/bra under Pauls desk? Check! Mine checked and confirmed back into house inventory!"

You have never seen me unpack a bag so quickly, I was on the pavement pulling out wet clothes desparately hoping to see my underwear - which I did!

With friends like that.......I am blessed!

My family came and spent the day with us and so did my wonderful friends.  I was given many wonderful scriptures to encourage me and I am so pleased I have done the right thing!

A friend from Church captured the whole thing on video so if you would like to see it click here !  The dunk is about 9 mins in!

Thank you to everyone who is/has been reading this, I hope I can do nothing more than encourage you in your life with God, by sharing about mine.

God Bless You

Credit The Creator

On our holiday there was lots of wildlife that came up close to our villa, they obviously know where the food can be found and aren't scared by people.

Although my friend wasn't very impressed with the squirrels, or rats with fluffy tails, as she affectionately calls them! We were all really please to see a deer, especially so close.             

I can sometimes irritate my family with wanting to record every beautiful thing I see in a picture.  I am not a photographer by any stretch, but the outdoors excites me so much I would love to be able to do it proper justice with decent pictures!                

My husband really liked this picture, I didn't think it was that great and I knew all I had done was point and shoot, but he really complimented me on it.

I then realised even if I was a proffesional photographer who took amzing wildlife shots, there is only one person who can take credit for the shots - God!  The Creator of all things.

Without God there would be no beautiful flowers, majestic scenery, breathtaking landscapes and cute rats with fluffy tails!  All credit to the Creator!

Why am I being baptised again?

For the purposes of understanding, whenever I use the word 'baptism' I am talking about a full immersion baptism.

With my baptism coming up next month, I felt I wanted to write this post to help anyone else out there who is searching for the answers I was searching for over the last few months.  Obviously the place to look for any of these answers is The Bible, but it helped me a great deal to read of people's personal experiences of why they were being baptised for a second time.

I’ve always known that God exists and that Jesus died on the cross, you hear something enough times and it sinks in, but for me it was just blank facts, did I believe in God? Yes. Did I believe Jesus died on the cross? Yes.

So......at age 12, I knew baptism was the step that was expected of me.  Coming from a family of believers in a strong brethren church, the minute you say you know Jesus died on the cross, you keep getting the vibe of 'when are you going to be baptised'  I am sure it is subconcious, but I have even seen my Mum direct this vibe to her grandchildren.

The problem is, as I have said in a couple of my previous posts, we cannot save anyone, and I think my parents mission was, make sure the kids get saved and then baptised as soon as possible after that. 

What everyone failed to miss was, that I had a head knowledge of God, not a heart knowledge.  So, I could answer correctly when questioned by the elders of the church and was accepted for Baptism.

I can remember having regrets about what I had done almost immediately.  Not least because I was constantly reminded of 'Christian's don't do this' and 'Christian's shouldn't do that'.  I don't think I can ever recall a phrase that went 'God loves it when we...' or 'God rejoices over....' It was hard.  I now had to try to live to the expectations of my parents Christian view without really 'getting it'.

After being married for a few years and having young children ourselves and being in a similar kind of church, I decided my family life was not going to pan out the same way it had been as a child.  Despite not really having any interest in God and definately no relationship with him of sorts, I still wanted to attend a church, so we changed to a different one that had a lot of young families with children our ages.

Over the years we would make our best friends in this church.  I started to see in the Christians around me they didn't just believe something, they were living with something, they knew God loved them, they knew Jesus had borne their sins on the cross and that made them so different to me, I didn't understand what it was, I believed in God, Jesus died etc.etc.

A few years ago I thought I want some of those feelings and experiences, so I was thrilled one day to have the picture from God “When you fall, I will catch you” That was exciting for me to have that revelation and I felt really blessed to have had that communication from God.

Over the next period of my life there were many times when I felt I was falling, and my faith that God was catching me wasn’t always strong enough, and I probably pushed Him away more than I let Him in, but I have some unbelievably good faithful friends, who refused to let me slip away and did everything they could to bring me into God’s presence again.

My next experience with God was when I was being prayed over and was delivered from a spirit of ‘Restraint’, that thing had had me tied up so much, I just wouldn’t let anyone in, least of all God, who I had never believed Loved me, the times I sat in the services, were spent wondering about why I still felt on the edge of what was going on, I wanted to be there but hadn’t quite got the connections right, God could not love me.

Eventually, earlier this year I fell my lowest, and true to His word God most definitely caught me!  I had the experience of being covered with God’s love for me and it was a few days after that I accepted I was His daughter and that He accepted me just as I was.

So, am I being baptised again? I don't think so, I see the first one as a false testimony, so I didn't really symbolically bury my sins.  Or as an infant christening in which the adults are in control of the decisions, the child cannot confess to be a follower of Jesus.

I have had a personal realisation of the truth.

I was more concerned with the possibility of ‘dying’ without God, that I hadn’t accepted I could ‘live’ with God.

Now that I know Jesus as my personal saviour, I want to let people know how important he is in my life, I know he listens to my prayers and I know I am important to him!

The difference for me now and the reason I’m being baptised next month, is because I believe God loves ME and that Jesus died to save ME!

God Is The Keystone

A couple of weeks ago my husband bumped into an old 'school friend'.  This guy had always been pretty much known as trouble.  He was asking my husband how things were going, and knowing he was a Christian started asking questions about God. 

My husband came away from the conversation knowing that he had to understand there were reasons behind people's behaviours.  This guy opened up to him a little and shared some quite terrible things he experienced as a child, he was really feeling now an emptiness in his life, which he thought may mean he needed God.

Around the same time I met a lady who decided to come and find out what was going on at Church and came to our ladies that lunch meeting.  I recognised her as being local and it was nice to get to know her, I was impressed by the courage shown to just arrive on your own, without being dragged along by a friend.

A few days later whilst in prayer for these two people, God showed me a picture of a bridge starting at one side of a stream.  It was incomplete, piece by piece it was reaching across to the other side.  I think I take it to  mean we can reach out and pray for our unsaved friends and family on the other side of the stream, but we cannot complete the spiritual journey for them.  We cannot build it all the way across or it would not be strong enough.  It would collapse.

They also have to build their side of the bridge and come towards, what we through the Holy Spirit, are praying for them and teaching them.  As we pray and they come, we reach the centre where God becomes the most important central piece, the 'keystone'.

We can pray all we like for the unsaved and it is a good thing to do, and they can reach out towards what they feel is missing from their lives, but without God as the central point our bridge will collapse, we will not save them and they will not find piece.

So, keep building your bridges towards the unsaved, but don't take it as a personal failure or rejection if they don't respond and build their side back towards you and find God.

Weekly Song Round Up

Music is a huge part of my life, there is always an ipod or a radio playing somewhere, and I have been known to attempt to play the guitar - I need a lot of practice with that.

Anyway, I thought it might be a fun idea to round up the end of each week with a song selection, because I will usually start singing any random song to accompany my daily activities or emotions.

Hope the links work!

A favourite worship song we sing at our Church This Is Our God  The thing I love about the Church we attend now is the worship is incredible, it is clearly directed towards God with happy and hungry hearts.  Unlike the Church I grew up in which used to sing 'Happy Day' without so much as cracking a smile.

Friends Will Be Friends I posted about friendship earlier in the week and they were really there for me yesterday, they gave me the space I needed, but kept checking in with me to make sure I was alright.

Hmm, marriage course communication She Said, She Said I'm thinking sometimes I think I prefer When You Say Nothing At All

Gotta love a bit of mid-week zumba Evacuate The Dance Floor I hasten to add this is not a clip from the group I attend........Our routine is much better!

Trust And Obey worship songs aren't just for Sunday you know!  My sister posted this on her facebook, with the reminder we sang the original hymn version at her baptism.  I am getting baptised in July, so need to start thinking of a couple of songs.

A difficult day yesterday, lots of tears Stop Your Sobbing feeling a lot better today!

Now a favourite to lead us into the weekend.  I have been listening all week to a podcast on Song Of Songs it has been incredible, and really revealed to me not only, the love that Christ has for us his Church, but also, the love God intended us to show to each other as husband and wife.  With that in mind there can only be one song really.....................Feel Like Making Love!

Have a good weekend everybody, and if Harold Camping is right.........hallelujah, I think.


































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