More hanging chavs

Still considering those hanging chavs. I think it’s going to become a shorthand expression in my home as I recognise that there are recurring things all the way through life which need reviewing and resolving. It really is part of living in the real world. 

The garden keeps needing weeded. The roses need dead-heading. The carpets need vacuuming. Windows need washing. Walls need repainting. Bills need paying and direct debits need monitoring. These things are normal and not worrying, just tiring and sometimes tedious. 

Occasionally, however, one of the recurring things is worrying because it’s not quite right and needs investigating. An invoice that doesn’t tally. A bank transaction that doesn’t seem right. An online scam. Those, for me, are the hanging chavs which I need to learn to take in my stride and not let any anxiety creep in. So, this morning I have swept away one of the hanging chavs which was exercising my brain the other night. There remain a few more but because I’ve had success with the one, I feel encouraged.

Remember. God reminds us throughout the Bible to remember the good things he’s done for us in the past, so that when we are faced with a new challenge we can take heart, reassured that he is always with us and ready to help. Stronger together.

Sometimes people say with a sigh, ‘All you can do is pray.’ ‘All’? That is such a powerful ally in our walk through life, even as we negotiate the annoying hanging chavs. 

I am so grateful to God. Life must be a real lonely battlefield if you aren’t aware of the powerful ally standing shoulder to shoulder with you.

I am giving thanks for the hanging chavs in my life today, as I feel God’s breath on my face and his Spirit within, empowering me to understand, to sort, and to be encouraged.

Hanging Chavs

A few American elections ago, claims and counterclaims swirled round the issue of the hanging chavs: those little slivers of card which required complete removal by the voter through the use of a pin. Sometimes the perforations were not so effective and the voter perhaps did not realise that a sliver of card clung on – a hanging chav. The Florida count was close and it was asserted that Al Gore would have carried the state if the ballot papers which were rejected because the hanging chavs could not be processed by the computer had, in fact, been counted. 

The allegations continued but the decision was final. George W moved into the White House, but perhaps his presidency got off to a shaky start because the issue of the hanging chavs was not quite resolved.

Resolution. It seems that in life, most of us crave resolution of problems and issues when in fact, we have to live with hanging chavs. There are problems which crop up for which there seems to be no clear cut solution. There are recurring issues which seem to be sorted and then, just aren’t. Hanging chavs.

I don’t know about you but I know that I often cry out to God to sweep away the hanging chavs. I want things to be neat and tidy with no uncertainties and plain sailing ahead. But life is not like that. To wish for there to be no more hanging chavs is to wish life itself away. 

I’m not too good at dealing with the hanging chavs, though. They are what keep me awake some nights – like tonight, when I’ve been wrestling with a couple of unforeseen problems. 

Someone had a prayer picture for me the other night, in which I was struggling to carry a huge heavy weight. God invited me to cut the rope by which I was carrying it, and leave it with him.

I find I need his help to even do that. But I’m asking and expecting his help in doing just that, so that I can live light in life, full of joy and anticipation, regardless of any hanging chavs. I pray the same blessing for you.

Thirsty Dog

A dog, especially a dog with a heavy fur coat, knows when she’s thirsty. She can smell that drink a mile away and makes a bee-line to dip her feet in as well as her thirsty mouth.

The pure joy of it makes me smile. Makes me laugh.

Sometimes I am thirsty and I don’t even recognise it. My thinking short-circuits and my energy levels drop as dehydration steals my potential. 

All I need to do is come to the water and drink. Jesus invites us to approach him for that water that wells up to eternal life. Can’t you just smell the refreshing water?

Fragrance of Friendship

Our world bubbles over with diversity, each unique individual exuding a beautiful fragrance all her own. Just like these gorgeous flowers, different colours, shapes and fragrances ... every one a delight to know. 

What a gift when friends arrive to share time together, and they are bearing such lovely, living presents. 

One of God’s greatest gifts is the gift of hospitality, which opens the heart and home and deepens the joy and laughter and forges steely bonds of love. Every one is blessed: the person fortunate enough to have something to share and the person included in the sharing. 

Huge gratitude to God for all our friends and family. We are truly blessed and enveloped in the sweet aroma of Jesus himself.

God's hands

Until I was in my twenties, I retained a memory of strong hands on my infant body. I believed they were God’s hands creating me in the womb. Perhaps they were.

At my birth, my arm was wrongly positioned and, had things proceeded, I might have been left with a withered right arm. The doctor skilfully intervened and I wonder if it is the touch of his hands that left that indelible impression on me. Perhaps it was.

Either way, I believe they were God’s hands guiding my formative months, whether directly or through the doctor. 

I thank God that he uses the bodies of humble humans to effect miracles in this world every day. What a privilege – what a responsibility.

May I be so used at every opportunity. That is my fervent desire.

Flotation

Don sells wonderful flotation suits for fishermen and water sports enthusiasts. The jackets and bib and braces suits all contain static flotation aids which don’t depend on being inflated in a crisis. They just work to keep you afloat and warm(ish) while awaiting rescue or indeed swimming to safety. 

Many lives have been saved through this apparel. Fishermen traditionally resist wearing inflatable life jackets because of their tendency to inflate when wet (stormy seas with water splashing all around) and they are easily nicked with sharp filleting knives, rendering them useless. 

I can see an analogy with faith. Faith in Jesus Christ is like a flotation suit which keeps me afloat in all kinds of inclement ‘weather’. As the storms rage, Jesus maintains hope and faith in him for a future which is good. 

I don’t have to fumble my way through FB looking for an upbeat poster or encouraging platitude to keep me going. As I read my Bible, my foothold on the Rock is firmed up and I know that the God of love is sovereign and all is well, whatever happens.