I posted a link to a song by a friend of mine a little while back…. now she has a facebook page, with her songs freely available –
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Journey-Of-My-Soul/181795638539864
Check it out!
Hearts From God
I believe God sends me hearts…
I know that probably sounds frivolous…. but He knows me 😀 He knows I love hearts (and flowers!)
Over the last six months or more, I’ve found little hearts in all sorts of odd places… my heart has been shattered and broken in that time, and He has let me know He loves me, at times I had almost lost sight of that….
The most recent was last week… I was sitting on my verandah, praying through some stuff…. I opened my eyes and looked up, to see a cloud, shaped like a perfect heart…. it disintegrated fairly quickly (no time for a photo!), but I caught the message 😀 Others would hear that message in other ways…. but this is a way for me… and it’s fun, as well!
Here are some photos I’ve taken over these last months…. (I know my close up photography’s not brilliant…)
The one above was taken a while back – it’s probably one of the first I documented. Most of them have been fleeting (often clouds), so I haven’t photographed a lot.
It’s Good Friday today….
I enjoy my “God hearts”…..
But here’s a more permanent, and effective reminder…
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” – Romans 5:8
I’m so glad God knows me enough to know what will lift my heart at those times when I really need it….
I’m even more glad we have Easter!
The rest of Romans 5 is pretty good, too – have a read!
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%205&version=MSG
Song From the Heart
Here’s a song written by a friend – I believe it needs a wide audience, so – have a listen…..
I Needed To Sing To You – Lyn Coultas
Her other songs are in the sidebar…..
“Come and meet Jesus”
Have just finished re-reading a book by Adrian Plass, called “The Unlocking (God’s Escape Plan for Frightened People)”. I highly recommend his books – you get to meet Jesus while alternately laughing and crying… This one is a book for Easter – a devotional from Shrove Tuesday to Easter Sunday. He calls it a “Let’s-look-honestly-at-where-we-are-now-and-talk-to-God-about-moving-to-somewhere-else” sort of book…..
It’s not a how-to, or deeply theological/Hebrew/Greek roots etc kind of book. Just God, really….
Here’s an excerpt I wanted to share…
Come and meet Jesus
You are standing alone outside the door of a huge, dark old traditional church, somewhere in the depths of East Anglia. It is a weekday evening in late autumn. Dusk has fallen and it seems most unlikely that the church will have been left unlocked and vulnerable in such a desolate area. But a cold November wind is whistling through the poorly tended graveyard, so you decide it might be worth a try. To your surprise, both the outer and inner doors are unlocked, and you are able to pass easily, if rather timidly, to the interior of the building, shutting the heavy old door carefully behind you as you go. You are a little worried that someone may be doing something important inside. They might be annoyed by your intrusion.
There is someone there. Behind the altar rail, far away at the opposite end of the church, lit by a large candle on either side of him, a man is facing you – waiting quietly. Somehow you know it’s Jesus, and that he wants to give communion to you with his own hands. You very nearly give in to the temptation to escape. It would be so easy to pull the studded oak door open and run through the porch into the cold night. Instead, you walk towards the altar with your head bowed, frightened to meet his steady gaze because – because. You kneel at the rail and wait, still looking at the floor. A moment later you become aware that he has knelt too. His hand is gently lifting your chin until you can’t help looking straight into his eyes. He speaks softly to you.
What does he say?
…………………………………………………………………………….
You can find more of his writing at adrianplass.com
In the meantime…. as we travel towards Easter….
What did he say to you? 😀
Brothers
Yesterday my littlest boy decided to write us all letters. Hubby and I each got an envelope saying “To Mum/Dad”, and inside it said “I love you, from (littlest boy)”. Big brother got an envelope saying “To (big brother), Have a good night at yf (youth) groop” and inside said, “I love you”…
I love how they love each other so much 😀 They have their little spats, but my heart just glows when they do little things like this….
I am a very blessed mummy!
Consider the Weeds
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” Matthew 6:28,29
I have been contemplating the weeds in our yard. They made me think of this verse…. quiet, unassuming, seemingly good for nothing….
… yet still beautiful, in their small, unobtrusive way.
Who decides what is a weed? I suppose the level of invasiveness has something to do with it. Perhaps what I am seeing as beautiful is also destructive in some way – I’m not a good enough gardener to know 😀
Here’s what I saw today –
These have tiny little flowers, a few mms across. They’re dotted about the place, looking happy.
This one has a tiny purple flower. I couldn’t find one open… it’s normally a similar size to the yellow one. They hide in amongst the grass, occasionally flashing a bit of colour.
I love the shape of these.
At least three different types – a mini garden!
So, what do I get from this? Maybe that I should shine.. sparkle with colour… even if no-one notices. That I should, like the weeds, or the lilies of the field, shine for my King, regardless! 😀
God is pretty cool… :)
Went to the healing meeting at church last night – wonderful! 😀
Hubby has had a bad arm for a while… a nerve (as far as we can tell) was causing pain, and making it hard to impossible to do some things…
He is now completely healed! No pain! He made an appointment a while ago to see someone about it; he’s supposed to go today… we’re not too sure what to do with that…. 😀
We took the boys, believing it was a good idea for them to see God at work….
Looking forward to hearing other testimonies…
The Not-So-Good Bits…
Yesterday’s musing about the boys doing their work before we get up has been answered… while the work is being “done”, the standard could be better, and would benefit from me being there to oversee… at least for the time being! One small(ish) boy will not be too happy with that… 😀
On the other hand, I bought him an old, second hand dictionary today – endless fun! (cue rolled eyes from long-suffering son.. 😉 ) I’ve found that the new dictionaries don’t include phonetics or etymology – both needed this year for biggest boy’s studies.
Littlest bean had a long, tiring and upsetting tantrum today…. all played out on Ellenborough Street, with concerned (or possibly just plain annoyed) citizens looking on. We’d just had a lovely time at the cafe… and then he took exception to something… ran off outside. We left him for a bit, but I became concerned with traffic outside… went out to get him…. and then spent the next unknown number of minutes (but felt like hours) trying to hold a squirming, kicking, yelling littlest boy. Thankfully he doesn’t do that much anymore… but today was, well, today 😀 . All turned out well in the end (the end being dinner time) but he and I were both exhausted by then.
Time was, I would have been horribly embarrassed knowing everyone was watching today… but, today at least, that didn’t matter…. what was most important today was one small boy’s spirit, and the opportunity to teach and strengthen that little spirit, to look at consequences and behaviour… to take the opportunity to build a Godly heart. That might not seem to make much sense… I can’t find the words to explain more fully… but I believe that was happening today….
vignette..
(passing moment, a few days ago…)
No 1 son – “I’ve had my devotions..”
Me – “What did God say to you today?”
Son – “God doesn’t really speak to me…..
(pause)
… but guess what I found in my Bible today!”
😀
