Making Time For God

First of all, before I talk about today's service, I want to mention what turned up on Thursday ...

C.S. Lewis' Surprised by Joy; Lucas Unleashed, by Jeff Lucas; and a beautiful Holding Cross

And I was only expecting one of those things to turn up. Surprised by Joy. Because I ordered it with some of my birthday money. But when it turned up, I was also surprised by Kate, who is more well known in our house for sending the kids lovely cards and bits and bobs through Post Pals, but this time, the surprise was for me!

The book by Jeff Lucas looks fantastic, and I can't wait to read it! I'm getting a little queue of Christian books waiting for me now! :o) And the holding cross is just beautiful. Inside the blue leaflet which came with the cross (pictured above), it explains that the cross is made with olive wood from the Holy Land, and it is deliberately made uneven, to fit in the palm of the hand ...

Perfect fit!

It also explains that I can either just hold the cross, as a form of prayer, if I don't have the words to convey what I want to say, or I can hold the cross and pray for myself or for others. The leaflet is also filled with lots of beautiful verses, and the ones which spoke to me the most, I am including here:

In times of distress: As I hang on to the cross, Lord, hang on to me.

Our need of Christ's love and mercy: As I hold this cross, Lord, fill me with your strength and peace.

Resurrection hope: As I hold this cross, Lord, I rejoice in the knowledge that our evil and sin do not have the last word, and that your love is indestructible.

Lord, however fearful I may be,
I know that nothing can separate me from your love;
neither death, nor life,
angels nor principalities,
things present, nor things to come,
evil powers, heights, depths,
or anything else in all creation - nothing at all!
Based on Romans 8:31-39

I LOVE how just holding this cross in my hand can be enough to make contact with God. I'm sure there will be times ahead where I struggle to find the words to know how to pray effectively, and in those times, it will be such a comfort to know that I can just hold my cross, open my heart, and talk to God without words.

Thank you very much, Kate!

I would love to be able to track one down for my mother-in-law, because after speaking to her on Friday evening, I know that she is struggling with the burden of responsibility and worry over her mother, Marge. She can't sleep properly for worrying, and I was so sad when she said to me that she feels that she is praying, but that Jesus isn't listening. I tried to reassure her as best I could with my clumsy words, but I think if she could have a holding cross, and read the leaflet and the incredibly relevant verses, I think it would help her a lot. The cross leaflet has a website link, so I'm going to start there.

Okay, so onto today's Church service. Despite setting TWO (count em, one, TWO!) alarms last night, I still overslept this morning, so we had a mad dash to get to the Church on time, but we JUST made it! Phew!

Today's service focused on 1) Argentina, and the missionary work being done there; 2) Making Time for God.

We sang some more beautiful hymns today, and after starting us off with some prayers, the missionaries gave their talk to the congregation. As I understand it, the English speaker, Paul, is a local man, but I don't think the Spanish speaker, his wife Norma, is. They work together in an area of Argentina called Corrientes, spreading the word of Jesus to the local children. They run a Christian school, above a Baptist Church, and they also go out into the community, and they encourage the older children they work with to help spread God's word themselves.

It was a very interesting talk, especially as it was led by the Spanish speaker, Norma, and then translated immediately, phrase by phrase, by Paul. Seren was a bit thrown by that, but I think it gave their talk an extra flavour, hearing about their work in Argentina, and seeing their photos, while hearing the local language as well.

And I think that this hymn was particularly suited to their talk:


Here I Am Lord

They obviously heard God's call to spread His word in Argentina, and are bringing so many children to know Jesus. Thank you Lord for Paul and Norma!

But the chorus also resonated especially strongly in me, as well:

Here I am, Lord, It is I Lord.
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, If You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.

I loved standing in God's Church and singing out loud Here I am, Lord! And yes, I did hear Him calling, calling me back to His Church. And now I'm back on my journey, I WILL go Lord, if He leads me.

But that wasn't the end of the service, oh no, that was just the family section! Once the children had finished colouring in their Argentinian flags, it was time for Seren to go to KatCh, and then Paul got up to speak again, to preach about Making Time for God.

We read from Ephesians, and the message today was that although we all have busy, stressful, manic lives, we have to remember to make time for God. He gave the example of Daniel (you know, as in Daniel in the Lion's Den?), who although he was in a position of great responsibility, one of three administrators for an entire kingdom, still found time to pray to God three times a day. And received God's power because of his devotion.

I was really pleased to think that since I got my Bible, I have been reading it every day before I go to sleep, and I've finished Genesis and last night, I just finished Exodus. So each night, I go to sleep with God's word in my heart and mind. I also find that I am praying at various times during the day, just short bursts, maybe like the equivalent of sending God a text message; and then at other times, I feel the need to sit quietly and say a longer prayer. And I love it! I love making time for God.

Maybe today's sermon was God's way of acknowledging my efforts to make time for Him.

After the service today, I had to stay behind to talk with the minister about starting the Alpha Course! Yay! There will probably be eight of us doing the course together, and I met four of them today when we got together to discuss when would be the best night of the week to hold our classes.

The plan is to start the classes on a Thursday evening, with the first class being held on 25th February, at a Church member's house. We'll have a meal first (I owned up to being vegetarian and wheat intolerant, with a blush or two, but the Church member said that's fine, and one of my course-mates said that her husband is wheat-intolerant too, so she knows a little about it. Phew!), and then we'll get down to studying.

Today's sermon theme was very appropriate when we were trying to settle on a time that was relatively suitable for all of us, as we all have many other commitments, and a lot of us had to re-jig things to get to the class on the one day we could all manage it.

Adrian wasn't overly happy when I told him that the class would be held from 7 pm to 9.30 pm on a Thursday night, because Thursdays are already our busiest nights, what with Seren going to her dance class from 5.30 to 6.30 pm, and then me going to Slimming World from 7 pm to 8 pm. Adrian spends most of the evening in the car as it is, bless him.

So I've had to re-jig things a bit, like a lot of my fellow course-mates, and I think the plan now will be to drop Seren off at dancing at 5.30 pm, then me to dash to Slimming World and weigh and go, and then go back and pick Seren up from dancing, and then Adrian can drop me off at the Church member's house for 7 pm. Phew! I said I'd get a taxi back home afterwards though, because bringing the kids out at 9.30 pm to pick me up, especially on a school night, isn't really very good for them.

So again, I was making time for God.

And, I just have to tell you that I am so proud of Seren for what she said in KatCh this morning! They were talking about people praying to God when they need help, specifically using the example of Paul and Silas's imprisonment, and the KatCh leader told me that Seren shared with everyone about how she prayed to Jesus to help her when she was so ill during December! Everyone was very interested to hear her story, and the KatCh leader was very pleased! :o) My little girl was just made to love God!

I'll leave you today with the Text for the Week (taken from the Church pamphlet):

Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. Psalm 86 v 11-13

The Journey

On Saturday night, before I went to sleep, I prayed specifically that God would make His message for me clear this week at Church, and that I would learn from it, and be uplifted.

So you can imagine the jolt it gave me when we got into Church, and the first thing the lady who was taking the service did was to pray that everyone in the congregation would hear God speaking to them, and would hear His message. Wow! Talk about getting that prayer answered!

One of the main focuses of the service today was worship, and lots of it! We sang so so many hymns, about 9 I think! And I loved it. This was by far my favourite of them, and I'm glad I found it on Youtube, so I can share it with you ...


Beautiful One, By The Tree

Today the sermons (they have two, one for all the family, and then a more 'grown-up' one once the kids have gone to KatCh), were all talking about The Journey. And even that title spoke to me, having just found my way back onto my Journey with God.

The family sermon started with everyone being asked to write down on a piece of paper the shortest journey they'd made this week, and the longest one they'd made in the past year. For us, Seren wrote the shortest journey as being her weekly trip to Brownies, and our longest journey being to Cardigan, West Wales, last August. And then we talked about the most important journey of all, our journey with God.

Once Seren had gone through to KatCh, the 'grown-up' service started, and was led by a man. He read from Exodus 33, and he talked about journeys he has been on, like when he walked from Lowestoft to Southwold and back. Now THAT was a long way! And he said that even though the walk left him with a dodgy hip, he was still glad he did it, because it was the last time he was able to spend quality time with his friend who passed away some time later.

And he compared our physical journeys with our spiritual journey. For physical journeys, we have maps, compasses, familiar sights, or SatNavs to guide our way, and without them, we are lost. On our spiritual journey, the Bible is our map, and Jesus is our SatNav, and without Him, we are truly lost.

And just like our physical journeys, where we might experience delays, problems, take wrong turns, get lost, get stuck in traffic, etc; that also holds true for our spiritual journey. I certainly took a wrong turn in trying to cope with my father's battle with cancer, and to an extent, in trying to cope with the kids having CF too. I didn't read my map, and I didn't pray, which to me, is the equivalent of not even turning on the SatNav. So I got lost. Until God stepped in, turned on the SatNav for me, and told me, in no uncertain terms, to turn around and get back on the right road.

And now I feel that I'm back on track, with Jesus as my journey's destination.

He also said that everyone starts their journeys at different points, giving the example of C.S. Lewis, the author of the Chronicles of Narnia ... "I was driven to Whipsnade one sunny morning. When we set out I did not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did." [C.S. Lewis]

Now that must have been some journey! To go from an athiest to a Christian in one short car trip. God did some serious talking to C.S. Lewis that day! I found out that I can read about C.S. Lewis' journey within a journey in his book Surprised by Joy, which I definitely want to track down and read.

So for me, the messages I got from the service were: 1) I'm on the right path, with Jesus as my journey destination; 2) There may well be bumps in the road (like with the kids' CF, and my Dad's cancer battle, and now Adrian's Nan being so very poorly), but as long as I keep reading my 'map' (Bible) and keep my 'SatNav' on (ie keep praying to Jesus), then I won't lose my way again; and 3) The destination (Heaven) will be more than worth the arduous journey.

I'll leave you with the Church's Text for the Week:

I will praise you O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Psalm 108 v 3-4

Surprise!

Wow!

I had a surprise when the postman turned up on my doorstep this morning!

Look what he brought me ...



A fabulous triple CD box-set of 'The Best Worship Songs ... Ever!' and that cool 'Spread The Word' book!

Yeah, and the CF Trust's 'CF Today' magazine. I put that in the photo too because I thought it sort of illustrated the two main themes of my life, God and CF. Normally, when I get that magazine, I force myself to read it from cover to cover, getting more and more emotional and I can't get CF out of my head for the rest of the day. Even though the publication itself tries to be as positive as possible, I always feel very low after reading it.

But not today!

Today I have three new CDs of inspirational worship songs to listen to, and a new book to read, which I'm hoping will bring me closer to God. The book is a compilation of sample chapters from 19 Christian books, and as the foreword says, the hope is that it will inspire the reader to go out and buy one or more of the books, read it/them, and "nurture your faith".

I can't wait to read it! I've been reading my Bible every night before bed, and I'm really enjoying it, so to have this book to read as well is fabulous!

And so I'd like to say a huge

T H A N K Y O U

to Kim for sending it to me, I really appreciate it!

Now, if I just knew who sent me the CDs, I would be able to thank them too ...

God is at Work in Seren's Life!

This is going to be short, as it's bedtime, but I just had to share this ...

I was sat on the bed, drying Seren's long hair after her shower tonight, and she said in a small voice, "Mummy, I felt a bit weird at Church today ..."

I asked her what she meant, expecting her to elaborate on feeling wheezy, or nauseous or something, but no ...

"I don't know, I just ... felt really weird when we were hearing about how Jesus is my friend, and how I can speak to him whenever I like and know that he hears me. I felt ... like ... different. Do you ever feel like that?"

My heart soared as I finally understood what she meant.

"Why yes, Seren, I feel like that every single time I go to our new Church."

"How do you feel?"

"I can feel Jesus in my heart."

"Yes! That's it! That's how I felt! I feel like ... like God is transforming me." Those are the exact words she used!

I agreed, saying that God is transforming both of us right now, and after a big hug, she said "We were meant to go to our new Church, God meant for us to go there."

WOW!

The font just doesn't go big enough for how big I want my WOW to be!

I am so happy for my little girl, to see how God is at work in her life, right now!

Thank you Lord!!!

Re-Learning and Moving Forward

I had a bit of a shock when my alarm woke me up this morning, as the clock said 10.03 am! So it was action stations, and we just made it to the Church on time! And I'm so glad we did, because today's service was just as inspirational as the previous ones.

First of all, we watched a short video on the Haiti earthquake and how to pray about the disaster. Here are the main prayer points we were given, which I've taken directly from the Tearfund website:

Pray for the people of Haiti as they deal with the aftermath of the earthquake, ask the Lord to comfort those who are injured and mourning.

Pray for rescue efforts to find survivors trapped in destroyed buildings and for communication links and power supplies to be restored quickly.

Pray for a swift and generous response from the international community to help this disaster-prone poor country.

Pray for the safety and protection of Tearfund staff and partners based in Haiti and that they will be able to respond as effectively as possible.

We then moved on to the child-friendly part of today's service, which focused on Jesus healing the blind man, Bartimaeus (which can be found in Mark 10 v 46-52). We sang some beautiful hymns, and then the children were invited to go and sit at the front of the Church, while the leader told them the story of Bartimaeus being healed, holding up pictures to show the children.

And at the end, the leader said to the children how amazing it was that Jesus had heard Bartimaeus calling to Him, above all the other noises and chattering of the crowd, and He had answered him. And the leader said that if the children call on Jesus, He will hear them as well. He also said that once, we were all blind, unable to see Jesus, but once we ask Jesus to heal us, we will be able to see so much more clearly.

A short while later, the children went through to their 'Kids at Church' (KatCh for short) group, and the service continued for the adults, with communion. The leader spoke about the Last Supper, and about how Jesus died on the cross so that our sins would be forgiven. The words today really spoke to me, and the weight of Jesus' actions really sank in - he died so that when I die, my many sins will be forgiven, and I will have eternal life. That is just ENORMOUS. Jesus did that for me, because He loves me!

Wow!

And so when the man brought round the bread and I took my piece, I prayed quietly and thanked Jesus for dying for me on the cross, and asked him to forgive the sins I have committed since my first communion last month.

Then the man brought round the wine, and we had to keep it until everyone else had their wine and we all drank together. And then we sang the most amazing hymn afterwards! I've found it on the internet, which I'm so pleased about, because I wanted to share it with you ...


Amazing Love, by Graham Kendrick

I was close to tears when I sang it at Church, but having sung along to it twice since finding it on the internet now I'm at home, I have shed many tears at the words of this hymn.

Amazing love, O what sacrifice,
The Son of God, Given for me,
My debt He pays, And my death He dies,
That I might live.

As I said,

WOW!

Of course, I have known that Jesus died for my sins for years, because I grew up in the Church, but today, it really sank in all over again.

Thank you Jesus!

After communion, the service moved on to today's theme, 'Run the Race'. We read from Hebrews 12 v 1-2.

My Good News Bible version is slightly different, but the message is the same:

"As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses round us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right-hand side of God's throne."

The message from the sermon was that we have to run the race towards God, keeping our eyes on Jesus the whole time. Jesus is our goal, and the race is our lives here on earth. And although there are many things in life which make the race harder, Jesus is there to help us at every step, and when we cross the finish line, the rewards will be incredible.

And so, wanting to continue my race, I spoke to the KatCh leader after the service, and briefly explained my history, saying that I want to move forward as a Christian, but am not too sure how to do that. I know that Baptism is my goal, but I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet, I mean, I DO believe in Jesus, and that He IS my Saviour, but I don't think I know enough about God yet, I want to learn more.

And so, the KatCh leader brought over the deacon who gave today's service, who took my number, and is going to get the Reverend (who was away preaching at the nearby prison today) to phone me about starting The Alpha Course!

The KatCh leader said that she has done the course several times, and said that it is great for going 'back to the basics' and is a great foundation to build upon. Then I can look towards studying for baptism. The Alpha Course will be held at the Church, in the evenings, for ten weeks, and will help me to get to know fellow churchgoers, and to make friends within the Church, which will be a great way to get involved and feel more part of the family.

I can't wait!!!

Seeking Help From The Bible

My new Bible arrived yesterday! Yay!

And so, yesterday afternoon, forsaking the washing up (what a sacrifice!) I started reading my Bible. I want to slowly read the Bible from cover to cover, but to start off, I wanted to look at the 'Where To Find Help' section, which covers things like sadness, fear, illness and anger. I wanted to find some messages for me, directly applicable to the journey my family is on, especially at the moment with Adrian's Nan being so very poorly, and with the battles my Dad, Seren and Dylan fight every day.

So I started with the recommended verses on illness, and these ones in particular jumped out at me:

"I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us." Romans 8 v 18.

"For this reason we never become discouraged. Even though our physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual being is renewed day after day. And this small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble." 2 Corinthians 4 v 16-18.

"So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of it's own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings." Matthew 6 v 34.

"Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart." Philippians 4 v 6.

"Since Christ suffered physically, you too must strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking that he had; because whoever suffers physically is no longer involved with sin." 1 Peter 4 v 1.

After writing those verses down in my notebook, in order to focus on them when I am struggling in the future ...





... I received the phone call from Adrian's Mum to say that Marge was being taken into hospital, and that things weren't looking good for her. Seren was very concerned to hear that, as was I, and I had promised to contact Adrian's Dad to let him know what was happening, and of course, when Adrian got home from work, I would have to tell him too. So I decided to look for further help from my Bible ...

Lots more verses jumped out at me ...

"We who have the Spirit as the first of God's gifts also groan within ourselves, as we wait for God to make us his children and set our whole being free." Romans 8 v 23.

"For we know that when this tent we live in - our body here on earth - is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live in, a home he himself has made, which will last forever." 2 Corinthians 5 v 1.

[Jesus said] "Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11 v 28.

These verses definitely helped me a lot, and so when Seren and I were talking later that evening, while Adrian was picking his mother up from the hospital, and I said to her "Seren, there's something we need to talk about now," and she said "Is it that Nanny Marge might die?", I drew on the wisdom in those verses.

That wasn't actually what I was going to say to her, by the way, I was going to say that we need to take extra special care of Daddy at the moment, and not shout at him (Seren) or ask him for things all the time (both of us) or be too grumpy with him (Seren ... mostly), because he will be very worried about his Nanny.

But once we'd discussed that, we came back to what Seren had said. I said that Nanny Marge has been alive for a very long time, almost 90 years, and so now, her body is getting old and tired, and so even if she does recover from this current episode, then at some point in the not too distant future, because her heart is getting very tired, Marge is likely to be going to see Jesus. And Seren's not silly, she already knew that herself, of course, and I think Adrian's Mum has broached the topic with her briefly as well.

But I stressed that for Marge, going to see Jesus will be a very good thing. She is a strong Christian, who has stayed a strong Christian through the many trials she has endured in her life, and has, I'm sure, more than earned her place in Heaven. And waiting for her in Heaven, will be her parents, her brother, and her husband, whose loss she has mourned for almost nine years.

We, her family, left here on earth, will of course be sad to see her go, because we will miss having her here with us, but once Marge goes to Jesus, she will be healed - healthy, young and strong, and she definitely won't be missing her 89 year old, tired body. She will be happy, and she will be with all those who have gone before her.

We also said a prayer together, to ask God to look after Nanny Marge, and to help the doctors to look after her and help her, and to make sure that Nanny Marge knows that we love her. And it really seemed to help Seren, she got her worries out, and was able to talk about them, and I was able to try and reassure her.

I hope I said the right thing. I couldn't lie to Seren about Marge's precarious health, because she would eventually resent that, but I could try to help her to see that although we will be sad, and will naturally miss Nanny Marge, Nanny Marge herself will be just fine in Heaven.

I'm glad that I have my renewed faith to help myself and Seren through these tough times, and I have been praying that God will help me to support Seren properly through our faith.

I think my new Bible arrived in the nick of time.

A Prayer Request

I'd like to ask you to lift Adrian and his family up in prayer at the moment, as his grandmother, Marge, is very poorly.

This was Marge on Seren's birthday last July

She is 89 years old and has an enlarged heart, which they can't really treat, but since Christmas, she has been going quickly downhill and has started sleeping almost all day, and just sitting up in bed gives her breathing problems. She has also started bleeding. Today the GP got the results of her blood test. She is very low on platelets, which needs to be 'rectified' in his words, so Marge was admitted to hospital this evening.

Things are not looking good for her at the moment, she seems to be getting more and more unwell very quickly, and so I am requesting that you ask God to keep her close, to 'carry her', as the Footprints poem says.

Marge is a devout Christian and is pretty ready to go to Jesus, and to be reunited with her dear husband and much-loved family members who are waiting for her, but whether He calls her to be with Him in the near future, or some time from now, Marge's family (particularly Adrian's mother, Adrian himself, and Seren) are going to struggle with having to say goodbye, and so I'm also asking you to pray that God will give strength and peace to Adrian's mother, Adrian and Seren.

I am also praying that I will be able to do my bit to support everyone through this time.

My Dad is also really struggling with his Ankylosing Spondylitis at the moment, and is in serious amounts of pain all the time. I was hoping that he would be well enough to join us here in Suffolk for my birthday, but unfortunately he won't be. Please could you pray that his doctors will be able to get moving with the next step in his treatment, so that the chemo will knock out his AS for a while, or, if he does have a long wait for treatment ahead of him, that the doctors can find a better way than the current morphine to ease his pain.

Thank you xx