I will praise you in this storm

Sunshiny days

Thankyou Lord for such a lovely weekend away ! Booked back in January, courtesy of the Plymouth Herald, taking pot luck with dates, location and weather - and we ended up going to Landscove Holiday park, near Brixham on the hottest, sunniest weekend of the year so far ! It was so lovely to be able to wear summer gear , feel warm all day and into the evening, enjoy the summery smells ( blossom, wild garlic ) hear the sweet sound of birds singing, and see the beautiful views overlooking St Mary's bay and views from Berry Head,. the rolling green hills, the trees in full bloom and the calm, blue sea. It could have been somewhere in Greece ! We ate out in the park restaurant each evening and had bacon baps for breakfast on Sunday morning, as well as Sunday lunch at Berry Head Gatehouse restaurant too. We relaxed in the chalet, watched TV, played crazy golf with Sam. He also played pirates on the play area pirate ship, and spent £1 of 2 pence pieces bit by bit in the little arcade ! He chased rabbits in the field and we walked along the coastal path to the beach at St Mary's bay, where Sam played with other children and made sand bombs, we paddled in the sea, and relaxed and sunbathed - I even wore my bikini !
I also managed to slip out alone on Sunday morning and find a secluded quiet spot just off the coastal path, where I spent time with God - a really precious time. I sang " Beyond these shores " by Iona ( remembered all the words too ) as I watched a small yacht glide across the water - for some reason this made me cry as I thought about the Tutes off to PNG soon - I will miss them , and maybe a part of me wants to be going too, across the sea.Felt a little frustrated with Ollie who has so many creative projects in mind ( book writing, performance poetry etc ect with Bible training demoted to a vague possibility again) I feel like he needs to focus more - much as I don't want to crush his creativity.
At college, during the week before, 4 out of 5 of my students in one class asked, one after the other, if they could come to my church ! One from Korea, a Christian looking for a lively church, the next a Brazilian, overhearing the conversation and saying he wants to come too, then later an Iranian asked about going to a church where he could meet some English people, and standing next to him , a man from Kuwait, who asked " Can I come too ? " Astounding ! I was going to be away for the weekend too, but I pray that they went along and were welcomed.

Joy !

I spent Friday morning in college preparing for next week then went to the Discovery cafe for a hot chocolate, then into the chapel to spend some time with God. It has been a week of prayer in Plymouth, so Joanne was in there, with soft music playing and various things to help people pray. I spent some time just in God's presence and praying for various things for quite a while, it was lovely to just rest in Him again, and just what I needed to be refreshed again.Towards the end of the time, I "saw" a picture in my mind of a harvest field ready for harvest and an old style cart ready to receive the bales of hay, as well as a strong man lifting the bales onto the cart. I asked God why is it an old-fashioned cart - then I got the sense of old-fashioned times and that everyone from the nearby community came to help with the harvest. I shared the picture with Joanne and she felt God was speaking about the church - that the harvest is coming and that we need to help each other to gather it in , she felt that meant the larger churches should help the smaller churches. We had a had a great Elders' meeting at Mutley the night before, where we had prayed and worshipped together, which was lovely , and Andy C had shared his vision for the future of the church which was exciting, and we had talked about our church being a resourcing church.

A strange kind of release on Saturday morning, a release of love and of Holy Spirit laughter, bubbling joy - not sure how it happened but it was lovely and I love God so much !

An exciting week !

An exciting week ! On Sunday the Spanish student came to church for the first time and enjoyed it, and 7 young men from Kerala were also there, and really enjoyed the service too.
I did book my ticket to Loughborough and had a very interesting 8 hour journey there on Tuesday. A young man from Egypt sat next to me from Plymouth to Bristol. His name is Assad and he and I had a very long chat about life and about God, I was able to talk a lot about Jesus , His grace and forgiveness, the peace that that brings, the relationship of love and not fear that I have with Him. Assad told me he sometimes goes to the Mosque in Plymouth, he also confessed a lot to me of the things he feels guilty about. In the end I gave him a Gideon's New Testament (which I had taken with me, instead of carrying my large Bible with me for 2 days) He may come back to Plymouth and may come to the church one day.

I listened to my MP3 player and read a few things for the rest of the journey and then finally arrived in Loughborough after an 8 hour journey. Jen was there waiting for me , it was lovely to see her. She was drinking a glass of red wine, we went into the bar and had a hot chocolate together and chatted lots which was nice.We then got a taxi to her student halls - a really nice campus, quite green with modern buildings. She showed me to her room, in a flat of a few rooms with a nice spacious kitchen. It is a lovely bedroom with en suite bathroom.
I met some of her friends, including Chris from Germany and Joey from Walsall( the latest boyfriend ). We spent the evening catching up with Britain's Got Talent on her computer, and chatting, which was good. She is coming to the end of her Art foundation course, and her bedroom was a bit of an art project - with lots of ladders made with string stuck on the walls and ceiling. She told me that she really isn't that passionate about her art , as others on her course are, and that she doesn't think it will lead to a job.
The next day we got up late ( it was quite quiet in the night - lots of students are revising for exams at the moment ) and chatted alot, especially about her future plans. She had a vague idea that she would like to be a primary school teacher, but wasn't sure how to go about it. So we looked together at courses especially BEd courses and narrowed it down to 3 or 4 possible places, including Wolverhampton, which specialised in early years, but gave a qualification for teaching 3 - 11 year olds. We thought it would be too late to apply for this September , so talked about earning some money back in Leicester, volunteering at her brother's school etc , maybe taking her driving test etc, but she has since discovered that it is still possible to apply for September 2010 - which is great news, as she won't be spending a year amongst all her old Muslim friends in Leicester, which I'm pleased about. That evening we ordered pizza and watched the Book of Eli on her computer - a good film. Hardly any sleep that night as the students were going wild, and the activity in the bedroom next door went on and on too ! The next morning, I left early for the bus back to Plymouth and spent the first two hours sitting next to Bedir from Turkey - having a similar conversation about God until he got off in Birmingham. I then felt tired and switched on my MP3 player, wondering whether I really ought to chat to the new man who had come to sit next to me. Eventually I realized that he was reading a book about prayer !
Back at home all was well, Ollie had done a good job of holding the fort and looking after Sam, and I am really glad I went on what turned out to be a really productive trip !

To book or not to book that is the question

Seven

In the doldrums

The Journey

A good mission prayer meeting this eve and great to hear about Deb and Dug's journey , how God led them to Himself, how He led them to each other and how He is now calling them to serve with BMS and go to work in Uganda from August. He is always faithful and He doesn't waste anything at all. Be with them, Father, as they continue to prepare to go, and with all the others at Mutley who are also planning to follow you in the same way.And help me to see that the journey is as important as the destination, help me to be patient and to trust you, because your timing is perfect.

A pure , clear stream

When Pastor Mophet and Mini came recently , Mophet prophesied whilst praying that God would remove the mud and leaves so that the stream would run pure and clean . I felt that he was directing this word towards me, then he spoke a word about getting more revelation which he directed at Ollie ( re the book he wants to write). In my pride and arrogance I felt annoyed. Why is it always MY stream that needs the mud and leaves removing ! So I didn't really receive the Word, and I'm sorry for that Lord. I do want you to do it.Please do it. I want your Holy Spirit to be able to flow through me unobstructed - real life in my life,life producing life through my life.I am thirsty for that Lord, I am thirsty for you.

" As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants after you "

To be in your presence,
to sit at your feet,
where your love surrounds me,
and makes me complete,
this is my desire, O Lord,
this is my desire,
this is my desire, O Lord,
this is my desire,

To rest in your presence,
not rushing away,
to cherish each moment,
here I would stay
this is my desire, O Lord,
this is my desire,
this is my desire, O Lord,
this is my desire.

Go to the ant, you sluggard !

Have been feeling a bit sluggish recently - eating too much of the wrong stuff, going to bed too late, not getting quality times in with God in the mornings - want to do that again more. Life sometimes takes over, but am determined to set apart time to be set apart more and more for Him. Have YOUR way Lord !I don't want to be in poverty spiritually and also don't want my need to come on me like an armed man(Prov 6 ). Want to be led by the Spirit more and more,after spending quality time with HIM. help me Lord. Amen.

Promises, promises

Let's reflect on life

So here I am in all my glory - now in my middle 40's and pondering on life.Have written diaries here and there in the past - but maybe need to update a bit to a blog now instead. Want to reflect really - on life, and particularly on life as a Christian and how being a Christian affects my day to day life. All the good stuff and all the things I want to improve on, the lessons learned, the frustrations , the joys. Well , we'll see how it pans out. Hopefully it will help me to learn and grow. The biggest challenge will be time , and prioritising - which is always a huge challenge for me anyway, as my life has always been such that I could have done with an extra day or two each week ! Take now for instance- got to get up my boy - feed him, help with homework , disciple a little, relate and encourage ( feed the cat before she chews the mouse cord again ) and get myself ready for a day at school - all in the next hour .... I read about learning from experience in my daily reading today and in Proverbs I read : "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths. His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of his sin. He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly , he shall go astray"
Lord help me to listen to your instructions so I don't go astray and help me to live this life to the full by the power of your Spirit, a life full of life. Amen !