Revitalised

So far, the only downside I can see to being a Gramma is that my energy levels, flexibility, and back are not what they used to be! Having spent a terrific two hours-ish in the park with Flick, stopping on the way back at Tesco and Costco, I’ve just poured myself a cup of some sort of organic tea I found in the cupboard called Revitalise. Yup, that’s for me.

What a privilege it is to have time to goof around in the park with a 2-year-old whose imagination is exploding. We role-played shops and then doctors and hospitals without the aid of any toys. Just our imaginations. When she wanted me to lift her high to come down the tube slide, though, I had to say, no, my back is too sore. I hate that limitation, but as it’s true I know it’s the only intelligent thing to do.

So, frustrated but grateful. I’m so aware that around the world millions of women don’t live long enough to be a gramma. Others have stepped in as surrogate parents as the in-between generation has been wiped out by the Aids epidemic, or conflict or some other catastrophe. Those saintly grammas won’t have the time or energy to play shops in the park. They’ll be grafting at something to bring enough food into the house to feed the orphans.

Feeling pretty pathetic at voicing any kind of complaint then. Full of gratitude that the boundaries for me have fallen in pleasant places, not because I deserve what I have but for some reason it is what I’ve been blessed with. Responsibility to make the most of all that I have, relationship wise and materially. 

Responsibility to grasp Life firmly and use what I have to leave this world somehow a bit better for something I may have said or done.

And now, when is that Revitalise tea going to live up to its name?

Harmony

How pleasant it is when sisters live together in harmony...

Usually these two felines hiss and scrap with each other, sometimes quite viciously. Normally they doze the day away in different rooms. But when the sun is out and the conservatory is toasty, they bury their animosity and tolerate closer proximity.

It’s easier to get along with others when conditions are pleasant, and when there is enough sunshine in the room to share! Easier to be tolerant when everything is hunky dory.

When the pressure is on, how easy it is fall out with one another! Or at least that’s true in my experience. When stresses ease and loads lighten, understanding and tolerance increase and personality differences become positives and not reasons for aggression or snappiness.

When my sister Judy and I hitched around Europe for three months in 1970, we laughed and joked and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There was one time, though, which I remember, as we arrived on the outskirts of Marseille and had to walk into town to find accommodation. We were weary and had different opinions of which direction to take. That is the only time I remember us snapping in anger, and once we found a cheap hotel, I could forgive her for prevailing...and we could laugh about it again.

‘How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!...It’s like costly anointing oil flowing...it’s like the dew...flowing...Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing...’ Psalm 133

May your day...your weekend...your life (why not?) be harmonious and pleasant and filled with blessing.

Be a blessing

A wise woman told me recently that when she’d suffered a terrible bereavement, the thing that kept her going and sane was to share with her husband each night, two blessings she’d had that day. I remember once being humbled by a group of Ghanaian orphans who, during a time of open prayer, kept jumping in with gratitude to God for the basics of life – the air, the sun, their bodies – which was all they had.

I’ve just returned from the annual Thanksgiving celebration with family in the States. The political mood there is odd, almost funereal, as shock waves from the election continue to hit. It seemed appropriate to be deliberate in thanksgiving because despite barrelling full-speed ahead into an uncertain future, we know that God is still God. One morning I felt guided to read Psalm 93, a good one when life seems in turmoil.

The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty...and is armed with strength. ... The seas have lifted up their voice...their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters...than the breakers of the sea – the Lord on high is mighty.

Whatever wild waves are pounding on you just now, whether personal or national, God is still on his throne, reigning over all, able and mighty and strong to save. Take shelter in him.

Tonight I give thanks for every breath I take. I give thanks for modern communications which help me help my elderly mother from thousands of miles away. I give thanks for loving family and friends, for the home that keeps me warm and dry. I give thanks that because I have been so blessed, I have the opportunity to bless others.

May you be blessed, and be a blessing, always.

Bowled Over.

Our God is a God of bounty and blessing. There is a description of him in the OT where he opens the gates of heaven and scoops out the blessings. I have just been bathed in those blessings.

Of course we are blessed each and every day, but occasionally we become aware that we are in an outpouring of blessing which drenches us and leaves us amazed and grateful. His grace and bounty, his love and attention to detail, are perfect.

We have had a holiday of a lifetime in Russia, and we will be digesting the beauty, the challenge, the moments, the history, the friendships, the love and laughter, for a long time. Being a child of the Cold War, remembering the Cuban Missile Crisis, identifying Russia as the enemy...and yet at the same time always sensing a deep longing to visit Russia, recognising the deep Russian soul and appreciating the literature and music in particular of that vast country...and now to have visited a tiny part of it with amazing Russian friends who shared insights and ten days of their lives with us...a dream come true. A dream I didn’t ever actively dream, and yet it resonated in my heart and God gave me its fulfilment.

I am just full of gratitude to the God of grace and love. Bowled over.