THROUGH THE RAIN TO THE RAINBOW

Sitting having coffee in a Christian Café one afternoon, I was taken by a childs picture stuck to the counter.  There were flowers and grass and a rainbow, and the caption said.  You cant get to the rainbow but through the rain.  It is so true of life, often when things are going wrong one thing after another, we can slump into the pits, wondering where  God is and if he really has our best interest at heart.  But, for anything to grow it needs balance, water, sun, fertilizer.  However, it is the fertilizer part that most of us don’t like, when really if our life was all sunshine and lollipops, we would become a bit soft like Marie Antoinette.  When the Queen was told that the people had no bread, she responded with the famous line ‘Let them eat cake’.  When things are easy all the time, we lose touch with the real world, we would have no empathy for people that are going through difficulties.  Jesus himself went through everything himself, so that we couldn’t say, ‘well He has no idea what it is like to be going through what I am going through’.  Jesus knew what it was like to have what we call good days.  People shouting Hosanna! And throwing palms in His path as He rode through the street, Hailing Him as a King.  Then bad days, when he was abused, beaten, rejected, gossiped about, wrongly accused and denied by friends he had cooked breakfast for on the beach.  2 Corinthians 2:14 says that God always leads us in triumph, that what we go through will, if we don’t turn bitter but draw closer to God, cause us to give off more of the fragrance of Christ.  Like pressing a rose the more we press in to Christ the more of His fragrance we will carry with us into our work place, our Church, our family, our World.

Spencer Strikes Again

Spencer's mum had just purchased a beautiul new iPhone and was thinking she would sell her Nokia that is still in perfect condition.  She hadn't allowed for the Spencer factor.  Spencer is always opening the door of their freezer which is at the bottom of their fridge and sorting through the contents, obviously another Jamie Oliver in the making.  Apparently Spencer thought that phones like vegetables need to be frozen while at peak condition and popped the Nokia into the freezer, which was found by his Dad while fetching the ice-cream.

Needless to say, phones unlike vegetables do not appreciate being frozen they prefer Australian sunshine.  His parents debated on whether to dock his pocket money but he is only 18 months so it might take some time to recoup their loses.  Toddlers, you have to love them!!

command presence

I really need to get that whole command presence thing going, you know the way people in authority are taught to walk, as if they have a stick stuck up their bottom, while at the same time scanning the rest of us as if we were just scrapped off the sole of their shoe.  I just cant seem act sensibly if I am packed to go anywhere at all.  Airports in particular bring out the Billy Connolly in me, as I get far too excited for my own good, and all of a sudden the Village Comedian in me takes over. Am I the only one that always beeps when I go through the scanner.  Oops! I forgot to take my mobile phone out of my pocket, beep beep!, oops! my shoes have metal in the arches, beep, beep!  Presumably, they interpret my giggling and loud friendly banter as a person who is definitely on something dodgy, or they need to frisk their quota for the day, and I look like a good sport.  Either way I always get a quick up and down with their little machine and get my bag checked for explosives or drugs.

Why are us noisy ones always picked on, I thought it was the quiet ones we were meant to watch!

Teaching Grandma New Tricks

I came into the dining room the other day and found Spencer perched on the table sitting on my lap top, making a pretzel out of his granddad's reading glasses.  He was obviously trying to send an email and probably would have succeeded if only he could have worked out how to get the glasses on........ I have always been gobsmacked at the grandchildren's gadget savvy, from very young ages they have had great technological skills.  They could l take photos with their phones, put them up on Facebook, bluetooth them to friends, when me, their extremely intelligent grandmother had trouble getting a call through.  Josh is only in preschool but is on the genius level of the computer game he is obsessed with.  We should have realised he had a knack with devices, when his mum gave birth to his baby sister seven weeks early, I got a text saying 'baby in distress, emergency c section' I wasn't able to text back as the boy genius who was then only two, had changed the language on my phone to Danish the night before.  I couldn't change it back as the only Danish I knew had pastry at the end of it.  Eventually, we heard all was well, mum and baby were fine and though her birth weight was only 1.6 kg you would never know it to see her now.

I do however, draw the line at being shown up by toddlers.  The grandees and I were dancing around the kitchen one night when the music suddenly stopped.  No amount of button pressing, thumping or bashing buttons on the machine by me would bring it back to life. I hadn't gone two paces from the room when music once again blared out into the kitchen.  Our little red head Jordy, three at the time had stopped at the stereo, pressed the magic button the music started and the dancing could resume. I consoled myself by assuming it was beginners luck and anyway, although I am ashamed to admit it, I feel smugly superior to Spencer, cos at least I can send and email!

Who told you you were naked

At a women’s retreat the speaker was telling us about her son who was quite small, who had been teased at school about his size, they had always tried to make him feel good about himself, no matter what his size.  She said to us, I asked Him “who told you you were naked” “who made you doubt yourself”.  It made me think that most of us are succeptible to the enemies attempts to make us ineffective.  We come into the Kingdom of God often from horrendous backgrounds,  filled with self doubt, low self esteem from growing up with out ever being encouraged.   The enemy knows what buttons to press, to drag up some of that old low self esteem.  The only way to overcome the doubt is to renew our minds, with God’s word, till we come to the place where we believe we are new creatures, that all things are new, that we can do all things through Christ, and see God work in our lives to the point where the Voice of the Holy Spirit is louder that any other in our life.

For some of us that journey takes longer than for others and most of us could write a book about the trip, maybe I will as soon as I believe I can do it.

Spencer's Eating Skills

I was feeding my little grandson some mashed banana and custard last night, he is 17 months.  I thought I was skilled at eating having been at it for 60 years, but he took the cake. After demolishing nearly all the bowl full I was about to shovel the last bit into his mouth when I thought I  saw something white inside his cheek.  Bravely I shoved my finger in and scooped, scoring a hard bite from his razor sharp baby teeth, I nearly gave up but, had one more go.  This time out came a lego block.  I couldn't believe he had eaten all that food without choking.

Life is what happens while you wait for something better to come along

LIFE HAPPENS WHILE YOU WAIT FOR SOMETHING BETTER

WILLIAM WALLACE IS QUOTED WITH THE SAYING “every man dies, not every man really lives”    I ALWAYS PRIDED MYSELF ON MY TENANCITY.  IT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS I LIKED BEST ABOUT MYSELF, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED IN MY LIFE I ALWAYS MADE THE BEST OF IT, DIDN’T LET IT SQUASH ME DOWN.  IF I GOT PUT IN A CORNER AS A CHILD I WOULD FIND SOMETHING TO DO, TRACE THE WALLPAPER WITH MY FINGER, DAY DREAM THAT MY MOTHER WAS RUN OVER BY A BUS, NEVER GOT BORED.  NOW AT NEARLY SIXTY I AM READY TO SAY WHEN, BUT, NO ONE IS LISTENING.  MY DAUGHTER AND SON IN LAW MOVED IN SO THAT THEY CAN BUILD THEIR NEW HOUSE.  I REMEMBER DISTINCTLY SAYING NO, YET BEFORE I KNEW IT, WE WERE TURNING OUR DOUBLE GARAGE COME GAMES ROOM AT THE BACK OF THE HOUSE INTO A GRANNY FLAT, WITH ONE BIG BEDROOM.  THEY HAD TWO SMALL CHILDREN AT THE TIME, A THREE YEAR OLD AND A ONE YEAR OLD, AND IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOR ABOUT EIGHT MONTHS.  HERE IT IS FIFTEEN MONTHS PLUS ANOTHER SON LATER, AND THE PAD FOR THE HOUSE IS MEANT TO BE LAYED ANY DAY NOW.

GOD PROMISES NOT TO GIVE US MORE THAT WE ARE ABLE TO BEAR, SO I MUST BE ABLE TO BEAR LOTS.  IT’S A BIT LIKE THE OPENING OF A TALE OF TWO CITIES, “IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES”, BECAUSE LIFE IS LIKE THAT.  THERE ARE ALWAYS SOME GOOD AND SOME BAD POINTS TO EVERYTHING WE DO.  WHILE IT HAS BEEN A REAL JOY TO HAVE GRANDCHILDREN LIVING WITH US, SEEING THEM EVERYDAY, THEIR CHEERY LITTLE HELLOS SHATTERING THE MORNING SILENCE AS THEY THUNDER INTO THE KITCHEN, THERE ARE REGULAR BOUTS OF DESPAIR THAT CAN OVERWHELM YOU AND THE ACCOMPANYING PANIC, THAT YOU AT NEARLY RETIREMENT AGE, NEVER HAVE A PEACEFUL MOMENT, OR VERY FEW IN ANY CASE, AND THAT THIS IS GOING TO BE YOUR LIFE FOR EVER. 

EVENTUALLY YOU HAVE A TALK TO YOURSELF, THE STUFF YOU PREACH TO OTHER PEOPLE SURFACES: THIS IS JUST A SEASON, THIS TWO WILL PASS, GOD WILL DEVELOP CHARACTER IN YOU THROUGH THIS, I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME.  I FINALLY DO GET UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND SPEND A FEW MINUTES JUST SITTING WHILE I POUR OUT ALL MY TALES OF WOE TO GOD AND BEFORE I KNOW IT I FEEL PEACEFUL AND READY TO ATTACK THE NEXT DAY, WITH A NEW SENSE OF SURVIVAL AND A BETTER ATTITUDE.

I AM NOT TRYING TO BLAME MY ENGLISH ANCESTRY (YOU KNOW WHINGEING POM) BUT I DO SEE A PATTERN OF COMPLAINING AS I READ BACK OVER MY JOURNALS AND SCRIBBLES FROM EARLIER YEARS, SO I CANT REALLY BLAME OLD AGE OR SHOULD I SAY MIDDLE OLD AGE ON MY TIREDNESS, IT MAY JUST BE THAT I AM EXTREMELY LAZY OR JUST TRY TO DO TOO MUCH AND ALWAYS HAVE.  I REMEMBER FEELING TIRED IN MY TWENTIES, THIRTIES, FORTIES AND FIFTYS SO WHEN I AM REALLY OLD I WILL STILL JUST THINK I AM TIRED FROM DOING TOO MUCH AND KEEL OVER DEAD … ANYWAY, I HAVE HAD AN EPIPHONY…..LIFE SEEMS TO BE BUSY FOR EVERYONE AND IT ISNT LIKELY TO CHANGE ANYTIME SOON, SO WE JUST NEED TO ENJOY EACH DAY AND MAKE THE MOST OF THOSE LITTLE SNIPPETS OF FUN IN AMONGST THE RUSHING, BECAUSE THE TRUTH IS THIS MOMENT IS YOUR LIFE, AND IT ISNT A REHEARSAL, THIS IS IT, SO DON’T WASTE A MOMENT.