Pots of Promise, delivered

Look at these beauties! No longer just a pot full of promise, these bulbs are delivering glorious fragrance and beauty now. After months of apparently slow growth, weeks of watching the buds appear and fill out, today these lilies are trumpeting forth into the sunshine! A gift from dear children for Mother’s Day, every time I look at them I trumpet forth praise to the Lord for the amazing family with which I’ve been blessed. A wonderful family which I don’t deserve. 

Some things take time to incubate, and they seem like they’ll never mature. We wait, and watch, and pray for things like a longed-for baby. And then, suddenly, the day comes and wow! Takes your breath away.

Our God is so good. May you find blessings in the big, and in the insignificant, today. Everything is a gift.

Sunflowers

It’s as though the world has been wrapped in cling film (Saran wrap), as an unbroken film of cloud cossets the world beneath. Barley stands ripe in the field round us, awaiting the combine harvester. The cows seem to be corralled in the correct field this morning, so all’s well, and quiet, in this corner of the world.

Maybe today I’m hunkering down in ‘Time Out’. It’s been busy, and sometimes these old bones and joints let me know it’s been a bit busier than usual. So I have hopes today of spending some time writing. 

And the sunflowers? Aren’t they glorious? Our neighbouring farmer has grown a field of them again and to give him a plug – he’s selling them for 50p a bloom, from the farm. 

There is a connection between a time out, and sunflowers. Thinking of the way the sunflowers keep their happy faces turned towards the sun as it traces its path through the sky, today I plan to keep my face towards the Son in every job I have to do, and in every word I write.

Blessings.

Friday's Feast

With a tsunami of bad news from the newspapers, radios and TVs, threatening to drown all hope, I thought it would be good to focus Friday’s thinking on feeding my spirit (and hopefully stimulating you to feed yours) by remembering some of the great things God has done this week.

There are the two ladies faithfully picking up my mother’s paper and putting it on her porch, one lady who Mom has never met. Thank you God, for the gentle touch, reminding Mom that you see, and you care.

There was the sale of a car which didn’t pass its MOT last week, and now the provision of possibly two replacement cars. Thank you, Lord, that you meet all our needs.

Improving health round here – praise the Lord!

News of something which I am not yet free to share but which is awesome, truly awesome. Praise God.

Inspiration for writing the children’s talk for church this week – extolling the faithfulness of God who always keeps his promises. Couldn’t have done it without you, Lord.

Daily encouragements from God’s word. A lamp to my feet. Thank you.

The promise of something else which is wonderful which requires more prayer before it can be shared. I’m on it, God!

Time to share with Don. Thank you, Jesus.

A return to the Bible study which I’ve missed so much over the past few weeks. Thank you for every friend there, Lord, and bless them today.

Every day I draw near to God through nature, which is such a blessing. Every day God provides food for our table and fuel for the fire and warm clothes. Every day God blesses us with good contacts with friends and family, deepening relationships. Every day I can connect with my mother via Skype and be sure all is well with her. Every day my legs have been strong enough and my health good enough to wrap up warm and head out with Dusty. Into a peaceful country, free from fear of attack.

Thank you, Lord, for all my blessings.

Tangled Locks

One of the lovely things about Dusty is her long hair. When groomed, the long black curls look very attractive.

Unfortunately, though, she is one of those rare dogs which hates to be brushed. She moves off as quickly as she can when the brush comes out. So I don’t do it very often, and by the time I do, the dreadlocks have formed behind her ears, clumped into matted twists of hair pressed hard to her skin. They form in other places, too, and are equally challenging to deal with.

Eventually, I will take her to the groomers, though that in itself is a huge challenge because she becomes so agitated she needs sedating, and even then is not easy. Once or twice they’ve shaved the knots off while she was knocked out by the vet for other reasons. 

Sometimes that which is most attractive in us can turn ugly. Power – when used for good, it can be so beautiful, but how often it gets hold of the powerful and corrupts them completely. Wealth – money can be such a blessing to others when it is used generously by those who have plenty of it, but how often it gets hold of the rich and makes them mean and greedy.

Blessings from God are to be sought, but so, too, is wisdom from him as to how to use those blessings, be they temporal or spiritual. 

Help me, Lord, not to let your blessings become a tangled dreadlock pressing hard on my heart. May your blessings to me today flow through me and out into this world in which I live.

A Bucketful of Water

This morning I received the sad, though expected, news that another of my cousins passed away last night. I didn’t know him well but he was younger than me and somehow it has made me feel sad and slightly world-weary. It is what happens, I know, but he is the second of my cousins to pass away within the last few months, and it feels achingly poignant and sad.

So I spent time with God, thinking through a couple of the more well-known of the stories of Jesus. First, his walking on the water episode on the Sea of Galilee, when Peter asked if he could join Jesus and Jesus replied, ‘Come!’ Which was all very well until Peter lost his nerve, lost his focus, and started to sink. 

OK, I got the point. Hold my nerve, keep focused on Jesus, and don’t let the buffeting winds and choppy waves scare me. Easier said than done, but with God’s help, possible.

Then, as I prayed and thought through next week’s healing service which we call The Well, the Lord blessed me with a very vivid prayer picture. I ‘saw’ Jesus and myself standing by a well, peering down into its depths. As I watched, Jesus began drawing the bucket up, which banged from side to side, spilling and splashing cold, refreshing water everywhere. As it neared the top of the well, I expected Jesus to carefully fill a cup and hand it to me, thirsty and weary as I felt.

Instead, he took hold of the bucket and splashed its contents right in my face, laughing as he did so. I thought I was responding with how fun that was when I recognised that actually, I hate having water thrown in my face and so in the picture, I was recoiling and turning aside to avoid it hitting me. I wasn’t laughing.

How often do I miss the joy and fun that Jesus wants me to share in, because of fear, of dislike, of grumpiness? How often do I remain unrefreshed in his presence because I fail to allow him to splash me with his reviving water?

My prayer today is that I will remain focused and turned to Jesus and not turn away when he surprises me with blessings in ways I don’t expect. That’s my prayer for you, too.