Photo Hunters - New

My sister and I have been learning a new skill this week and having lots of fun.

I hope you are impressed with my amazing knitting!

Great Christmas TV

Do you love Christmas TV? Yesterday was a good evening, the long awaited Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing and the Vicar of Dibley! Long live the BBC! What was your favourite? I'm a big Doctor Who fan but I think the Vicar of Dibley might have been the best show, I was crying with laughter.

Wishing everyone ...

8 Years Old Today!

Wordless Wednesday - All Wrapped Up!

O Holy Night

I found this on Lisa's blog. If you really want to get into the the christmas spirit listen to this version of "O Holy Night", I guarantee you'll be feeling good afterwards! (Keep listening to the end, that's the best bit!)

Christmas Prayer

Dear Lord,

At this Christmas time we thank you for sending your son into this world for us. You could have sent Jesus in a blaze of publicity into a rich and powerful family to be a mighty king, but instead he was born into an ordinary family and into the most humble of circumstances. We thank you for Mary and Joseph and their willingness to be part of your plan for your son. Help us to remember that you are interested in the ordinary people, that we all have a part to play in your kingdom and that we can all be used to bring glory to your name, no matter who we are or what we have.

Mary and Joseph found themselves in difficult circumstances, having to make the long journey to Bethlehem and then finding nowhere to stay. We bring before you now the difficulties and trials in our lives and we pray for your strength. Help us to remember that in all things you work for the good of those who love you and that you will bring us through our problems. We thank you for your faithfulness to us.

As they looked at their newborn baby it must have been hard for Mary and Joseph to grasp the impact their son was going to have on the world and people’s lives. We think of their joy and happiness and their simple faith in you. We thank you now for all the good things in our lives, our families and friends, we thank you for the time we can spend with them at this time of year and for the joy they bring us. We don’t know what the future holds but we pray that we will trust in you and your unfailing love for us. Even when we can’t see how things will turn out we can know that you have a plan and purpose for our lives.

Help us not to forget that the little baby in the manger grew up to die upon the cross, to be our saviour and Messiah, a light to the world, so that we would no longer walk in darkness and sin but would have the light of God’s love in our lives, the hope of eternity spent with you and the joy of knowing our sins are forgiven. We thank you and worship you for your wonderful love to us all.

Amen

What kind of reader are you?

I saw this on Teena's blog.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader ! You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen	!
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm	!
Book Snob	!
Fad Reader	!
Non-Reader	!
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

The bars don't seem to be working in Firefox, but are working ok in IE, can anybody shed any wisdom?
Thanks sis, they seem to be working ok now.

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - Annoying

Isn't it annoying when people refuse to have their photo taken?
It just makes me want to embarrass them on my blog!

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Dramatic end of term!

I made it to the end of term! I know it says 365 days left on my ticker but honestly today was the last day of term. It has been a dramatic end of term in two ways; firstly lets just say we had news of lots of changes coming up at school that I don't think I should really talk about here, I think its going to be a hard year but we will get through it. Secondly we have "play-in-a-day" on the last day, no details are given out until the morning and then each of the houses has to perform a play, a dance and a song in the afternoon. This year the plays were based on Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes which meant it was very funny, if you have never read them I recommend them. My house got Cinderella, it wasn't quite the disney version though, Cinderella and Prince Charming don't end up together in Roald Dahl's story! Sadly my house didn't win but we did get a prize for the best costume. Anyway the girls were great and we managed to have a fun end of term.

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - Red

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Wordless Wednesday - Summer Memories

This links to my sister's post - we had a great day on this beach!

Busy Days

Just realised how long it has been since I last posted anything. A couple of days after the last post I succumbed to a horrible flu type bug and got sent home from school and took to my bed for a while. People who know me will know I never take time off ill but I guess we all have to give in sometimes and accept that you can't keep going all the time. I ended up missing the staff karaoke final, which was a big disappointment (I would have won!), but at least we managed to raise over £600 for Children in Need. Since then we have had the mock GCSE exams, which I was in charge of, so I have been kept really busy, but only a few days until the end of term!

Singing Star!?!

No one mentions in teacher training one of the requirements of a teacher is to be willing to make a fool of yourself in order to entertain the students or to raise money for charity. Over the years I have been involved in various quizzes, competitions and plays. I try to organise something for Children in Need each year and this week we are having a staff karaoke competition! We are using the SingStar game for the PS2 and at break time each day this week 3 duos or groups get to sing the song of their choice, in front of a crowd of eager pupils, trying to earn the highest score. So far it has been great fun (possibly helped by the fact that I am leading at the moment!) and we should raise a high total for a very good cause. We have the final on Friday, when the top 3 scorers will battle it out to be SingStar Champion! It has been interesting to see the competitive spirit of some of the staff and the ones that, although usually willing to do silly things for charity, won't do singing (no matter how hard I try to persuade them!). I'll let you know how the final goes, but it has been suggested I shouldn't be allowed to win because I've organised the competition. :-(

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - Growth

Here are my gorgeous niece and nephew (and sister). There is 4 years between the two photos, aren't they looking grown up now? A lot of growth has happened between these two photos, I can hardly believe they are both at school and Ben will be 8 at Christmas!

How to waste time!

What a great way to waste a couple of hours, change the look of your blog. Then realise it doesn't look like you planned and have to try to sort it out. Then, just when you think you have it sorted, you have a look at it in internet explorer and its all over the place. Then blogger decides it doesn't want to save ... Fun fun fun!! Hope you think it looks ok! :>

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - Window

This is the view through the window in the floor at the top of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. If you look closely you can see past my feet to the people below!

Song Title Tag

I got this from Barbara at Writing From the Inside Out.

How does the world see you?
Birds Without Wings (David Gray)

What do my friends really think of me?
The Jean Genie (David Bowie)

What do people secretly think of me?
Sulky Girl (Elvis Costello)

How can I be happy?
Fortunate Fool (Jack Johnson)

What should I do with my life?
Hey Manhattan! (Prefab Sprout)

What is some good advice for me?
Deep Forbidden Lake (Neil Young)

How will I be remembered?
Tokyo Girl (Ace of Base)

What is my signature dancing song?
All For The Love (Beth Nielson Chapman)

What do I think my current theme song is?
Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick)

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (Coldplay)

What song will play at my funeral?
All Mine (Tom Jones with the Divine Comedy)

What type of men/women do you like?
I Need To Be In Love (The Carpenters)

What is my day going to be like?
Blues Before Sunrise (Eric Clapton)

Some of these seem remarkably apt, but others are downright bizarre! If you have some sort of an MP3 player and want to play along, consider yourself tagged. Put your player on random and keep hitting “next” to get the answer to each question.

Robber of the Cruel Streets

I just watched this dvd about the life of George Muller. I grew up in Bristol so I knew something of his story of living by faith alone, never asking anyone for money or support for the orphanages he founded, but it was interesting to find out some more about him. Its well worth watching and certainly challenges the way you think, its very easy to say that God will supply your needs but another matter to live by that principle. Its partly dramatised and partly documentary, narrated by Russell Boulter (I think he's been in a few things, but primarily recognisable as being in The Bill and Casualty). Go out and buy it now, or borrow my copy in the case of any family or friends reading this!

A Prayer

Dear Lord

The bread and wine remind me of the great love you showed for me when you died on the cross. I thank you that you loved me enough to allow your son to die such a terrible death.

Lord, I want to say how sorry I am for doing those things I know I should not have done and for those things I know I should have made the effort to do.

I thank you for the love and strength you have given me through the difficult times and that I have been able to share the good times with you.

Lord, I don’t know what the future holds, anything could happen to me tomorrow, next week, next year. Help me to make the most of every moment and to live for you whether I have months, years or decades left to serve you.

May I be able to say with Hezekiah “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.”

Amen

Pink Day

My sister decided to raise money for Cancer Research UK by dressing up in a pink fairy outfit today. Doesn't she look stunning!?!?! I hope she didn't embarass the children too much!

Congratulations Suzy on being brave enough to look a bit silly in order to raise a lot of money. If you haven't sponsored her yet I'm sure its not to late!

Knickers!

Saw a link to this on Calia77's blog, have a look at how one vicar is serving his community!

This Is Cool!

http://snowflakes.lookandfeel.com/

What's your theological worldview?

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 75% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 68% Neo orthodox 57% Modern Liberal 50% Classical Liberal 46% Reformed Evangelical 46% Charismatic/Pentecostal 43% Roman Catholic 39% Fundamentalist 32% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Weekend Away!

Just got back from a weekend away with a group from church. We had a great time but I'm shattered and will be pleased to sleep in my own bed. I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I went but I think tomorrow at school will be hard work!

Don't Worry

The reading this morning was from Matthew 5, the passage entitled "Do not Worry" in the NIV.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 5 v 25-34(NIV)

Now I have to say of course I agree with the sentiments of this passage but the logic of the passage sometimes grates on me a bit - not worrying about what I wear because the flowers don't worry! Surely that suggests I should go out in all the natural beauty God has given me, why worry about clothes!! (Don't be scared, I don't plan to do this!) However I now have a parallel TNIV and The Message Bible so I was able to read the version of this passage in the message and it made much more sense to me and has made a passage I have heard many times before more alive to me.

"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. " Matthew 5 v 25-34 (The Message)

Another Night Out!

Last night I went to see Thea Gilmore (I know, my life is sounding a bit too interesting, out 2 saturday nights running!) and she was great. So was her support act Dan Arborise, who I've never heard of before but is a very good guitarist and singer. Much quieter and more reflective than most of Thea's songs, which to be honest is more my usual sort of music. I have to say I preferred Thea's quieter songs, the best were just her and her guitar, but her band were good too (but I'm getting old, they were too loud!). Considering she is 35 weeks pregnant she coped very well, only nipping to the loo once in her set!

Looking forward to a powerful October!

Your Birthdate: July 19

You are resilient, and no doubt your resilience has already been tested. You've had some difficult experiences in your life, but you are wise from them. Having had to grow up quickly, you tend to discount the advice of others. You tend to be a loner, having learned that the only person you can depend on is yourself. Your strength: Well developed stability and confidence Your weakness: Suspicion of others Your power color: Eggplant Your power symbol: Spade Your power month: October

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Not quite that boring!

Actually I'm not quite that boring, I did go and see The Poozies on Saturday night. I bet no one has heard of them! They were fantastic, well worth seeing if you get the chance.

How about a question to my readers (just to prove that I have readers!), who's the best group or singer you have seen live?

Nothing much to say!

I realise I haven't been writing much in my blog lately, I'm not sure how some people manage to blog every day, or even several times a day. Not much of any interest actually happens in my life! Got up, went to school, taught lessons, came home, marked, watched tv, went to bed - doesn't really make exciting reading does it? I guess I could write something deep and meaningful but to be honest I don't feel too deep after a day at school! Maybe I'm just too boring to blog!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Pleased with myself

I mentioned in my blog in the summer sitting for hours in the exam hall watching the girls taking A levels and GCSEs had made me think about doing further study. I did look at the Open University but its a lot of money and a big commitment so I decided to go for an A level and am now studying Accounting by distance learning. I'm enjoying it so far, its nice to study something different instead of the same maths topics that I teach day after day. I had my first assignment back today and I got 95% so I'm feeling rather pleased with myself!

Back to school!

I'm exhausted, but I made it through the first week back at school. We had to be in on Tuesday and Wednesday for INSET, meetings and induction for the new pupils. I don't enjoy these sorts of days, usually we are being told about some new directive we should be implementing, some new policy decision for how we should conduct our lessons or a different way we should be teaching our lessons. I come away wondering why I bother as I'm obviously doing it all wrong! The girls were back on Thursday but no lessons, we had form time and individual interviews. Today we actually started teaching, which is far better - although I had to prepare lessons its good to be back in the classroom. When I'm in a lesson it feels right, I am a teacher and the girls are learning and for the most part enjoying it, though obviously most of them would never admit to enjoying a maths lesson! For many of them I feel good if I get "It was ok" or "It wasn't as bad as I thought"! It was a bit of a struggle today because the whole structure of the day has changed so I had to keep an eye on the clock all the time to make sure I got the lessons the right length, I'm so used to the old timings they have become automatic. Even though its only been a four day week, I'm tired out, I'd got used to the holidays and I'm not used to getting up early. The sad thing is I know within a few days the holidays will be a distant memory and it will be as if we had never been away. Still its only 6 weeks to half term!!!

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt Blogroll

More Silly Tests!

You Are Strawberry Ice Cream

A bit shy and sensitive, you are sweet to the core. You often find yourself on the outside looking in. Insightful and pensive, you really understand how the world works. You are most compatible with chocolate chip ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

You Are a Centaur

In general, you are a very cautious and reserved person. However, you are also warm hearted, and you enjoy helping others in practical ways. You are a great teacher, and you are really good at helping people get their lives in order. You are very intuitive, and you go with your gut. You make good decisions easily.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

In Other Words 2

“Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear,
but it does not cease to exist.
We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water.
Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen,
will be made evident to others from the
love which He imparts to us.”
~ Sadhu Sundar Singh ~

We all have different aspects to our characters, we don't need to tell someone about them, they will be obvious as people get to know us. You can't keep your short-temperedness a secret for too long or the fact that you are grumpy in the mornings or that you are hopeless at time keeping or ... As people spend time with you they come to realise these things about you, hopefully they also realise your good qualities too! That you are a good listener or that you are patient with children or that you are great at encouraging people or ... I'm sure you can think of your own good or bad character traits. In the same way as people get to know us they should come to see Christ's love in us. I'm not too good at telling strangers about my faith but I hope that my friends can see that Christ is in me, even if imperfectly, as I struggle with God's help to develop the better aspects of my character.

"It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.

But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely."

Galatians 5 v19-23 (The Message)

Tom and Jerry Censorship!

I just heard about this story on the Radio 2 news, apparently Tom and Jerry are going to be censored for smoking! Forget all the violence in the programmes, Tom is injured in horrendous ways in every episode, but you have to censor smoking!!! I couldn't believe it, so I had to look it up and here it is in black and white from the BBC website:

Smoke's no joke for Tom and Jerry

Children's TV channel Boomerang are to edit scenes from Tom and Jerry cartoons where characters are shown smoking.

The move follows an investigation by media watchdog Ofcom into a viewer's complaint that the vintage animations were not appropriate for young viewers.

The watchdog recognised the "historic" cartoons were made at a time "when smoking was more generally accepted".

However, Boomerang will only edit those cartoons where smoking appears to be "condoned, acceptable or glamorised".

Two such cartoons include Texas Tom from 1950 and Tennis Chumps from 1949.

'Stylised manner'

In the former Tom is shown trying to impress a female cat by rolling a cigarette, lighting it and smoking it with one hand. In the latter, Tom's tennis opponent is seen smoking a large cigar.

"We note that in Tom and Jerry smoking usually appears in a stylised manner," said Ofcom.

However, it said that "the level of editorial justification required for the inclusion of smoking in such cartoons is necessarily high".

"Depictions of smoking may not be problematic given the context," it continued.

"But broadcasters need to make a judgement about the extent to which a particular scene may or may not genuinely influence children."

Take my life

We sang this hymn at church tonight, I've sung it loads of times over the years but this evening I was really thinking about the words. It would be great to say that this is my attitude but I think I fail in just about every area!

Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move
at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use
every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
it shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour
at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for Thee.

by Frances Ridley Havergal

I've just looked up Frances Havergal and it seems she had "delicate health" and died aged 42. Yet in her life she wrote 71 hymns, several of which I have been singing since I was a child!

13 Choices Meme

13 Choices meme (from my sister at Touching Heaven)

1. Tea or coffee? tea
2. Read a book or watch TV? read a book
3. Morning or evening? evening
4. Laptop or desktop? desktop
5. Country or town? country
6. Wild rollercoaster or gentle merry-go-round? gentle merry-go-round
7. Crochet or knit? crochet
8. Listen quietly or sing along? sing along
9. Action movie or romantic comedy? romantic comedy
10. Phone or email? email
11. Cat or dog? cat
12. Cake shop or bake? cake shop
13. Milk or plain chocolate? milk chocolate

Please join in and let my sister know if you do!

What planet should you rule?

You Should Rule Saturn

Saturn is a mysterious planet that can rarely be seen with the naked eye. You are perfect to rule Saturn because like its rings, you don't always follow the rules of nature. And like Saturn, to really be able to understand you, someone delve beyond your appearance. You are not an easy person to befriend. However, once you enter a friendship, you'll be a friend for life. You think slowly but deeply. You only gain great understanding after a situation has past.

What Planet Should You Rule?

Back Home

I'm back home after spending 2 weeks with my sister and its nice to be home. Although I love my sister and her family dearly and will miss them, its just so good to be back with all my things. It will be great to sleep in my own bed (and I am sure that Ben will be pleased to sleep in his bed again too!). Its also good to be in charge of the remote!!! No more Dora the Explorer, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry or Brainiac! I didn't write about what we were up to because my sister wrote all about it in her blog complete with photos. Briefly, we went to Fantasy Farm, the river, the beach, the playground, to visit Grandma (and her hot tub!), shopping and relaxed at home. I will miss my sister, I had to cook my own dinner tonight and there's no one to bring me a cup of tea in bed in the morning! (Sorry sis, I will miss more than that, honestly!) Of course, I will miss these two little angels too :>

Which disney character are you?

You scored as Goofy. Your alter ego is Goofy! You are fun and great to be around, and you are always willing to help others. You aren't worried about embarrassing yourself, so you are one who is more willing to try new things. Goofy 69% Sleeping Beauty 56% Pinocchio 50% Cinderella 50% The Beast 44% Peter Pan 38% Ariel 31% Donald Duck 19% Cruella De Ville 19% Snow White 19% Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com

Predestined?

I'm back to reading Ephesians and am now thinking about chapter 1. Chapter 4 was about what we should be doing for God but the beginning of the letter is more about what God has done for us. Some of chapter 1 deals with issues that cause some debate - predestination for one thing.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." v3-6

I have to confess that I'm not too good at remembering my blessings and tend to take all the good things God has given me for granted. Rereading this it says spiritual blessings rather than physical blessings, but I know I should be thanking God each day for every blessing of all types, its so easy to dwell on the things that don't seem so good in my life.

I like the thought that I was chosen before the creation of the world, its great to think that God knew all about me even then, it reminds me of Psalm 139, a favourite of mine.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." v13-16

When I think about how amazing that is I should be praising God for his blessings all the time, he made me just the way I am. When I am moaning about something in me or my life that I wish was different I'm really suggesting that he got it wrong, but sometimes its hard to accept that I am who I am because that is just the person God needed for his plan, no one else could take my place, he has a role just for me. That's pretty awesome!

I know that some people struggle with the concept of being "predestined" as its seems to clash with the idea of God giving us free will, but the way I see it is that God is not bound by time, we are because we are living in this universe which has to obey certain rules, but God is beyond all that. He has seen our past, our present and our future so he knows the decisions we will make and the way we will go, also he knows us so well he knows what we can and cannot do and he works all these to his purpose. I'm sure I haven't got the concept completely, but it works in my head! Please feel free to correct me or give your views if I've got a bit wrong! Predestined is mentioned again in verse 11.

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory." v11-12

I think that goes with what I was thinking before he "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will". I think that the message puts it beautifully, avoiding the word predestined!

"How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son." v3-6

"It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone." v11-12

In Other Words

"Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.
That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand."
~ Emily Kimbrough ~

This quote reminded me of a day spent with my sister and her family. We visited Eastnor Castle where, amongst other attractions, they have an assault course. My nephew at 7 1/2 was off and over the obstacles with ease but my almost 4 year old niece found it a bit trickier. She was determined to complete the course but she wasn't going to make it on her own. However if she held on to my hand she could tackle them all; balancing on the beam, crossing the bridge, over the stepping stones, over the climbing nets, ... So all should be well, she'd make it round the course in no time at all. But, of course, its not that simple, she's almost 4, she wants to try out her independence, so although the hand was there to hold, she wanted to try some by herself. All I could do was be there ready to catch her if it went wrong, be prepared to support her if she lost her balance, give her advice on the best way to tackle the obstacle and ultimately to pick her up and put her back on track if she fell.

Thinking about it this seems to be a lot like life, sometimes things are smooth and easy and then we come across an obstacle. If we held on tight to God's hand we would cope with the obstacles, they might still be hard but we'd make it safely to the other side. But we all have a tendency to think we can do it on our own, we take our eyes off Jesus, we let go of God's hand, think we don't need help and that's when we stumble or fall. Thankfully, God doesn't leave us to it, he's there to catch us, guide us back to the right path or pick us back up and put our feet back on the solid ground. Next time I come to an obstacle I'm going to try to remember to keep hold on his hand and go the way he leads, but I can also rest assured that he will be there to help me up when inevitably I lose my way and stumble.

A life worthy of the calling?

This Sunday morning the message was from Ephesians chapter 4 and it made me think, so I have been rereading the passage. I'm pretty sure I don't live up to v1-3:

"I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of Spirit through the bond of peace."

I do try to be humble, gentle and patient but I don't always succeed. I'm trying to love others but I'm finding it tough with some! The bit that struck me is to "live a live worthy of the calling you have received", what if you are not sure of your calling? In many ways I have felt teaching to be my calling, but then when you are caught up in the detail and bureaucracy of school life, you tend to lose your enthusiasm. Maybe there is some other calling that I haven't realised yet or should I be praying to regain my enthusiasm?

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ." v11-13

If my calling is to teaching, should I be thinking on the lines of these verses "to prepare God's people for works of service", is my teaching preparing anyone for God's work? I'm not sure that teaching maths is achieving much for God, its not that a non-christian would teach it any differently. I suppose its not just the teaching but the whole contribution to school life, I am a fair trade rep, I organise various charity events and I try to encourage the girls to think of others and how they can help, but I don't think I'm really making much of an impact. What can I do "so that the body of Christ may be built up"? Maybe I' m looking at this all wrong, its not just about some big thing I can do, but about us all doing our bit, our calling, so that together we make a big impact, "we all reach unity in the faith".

"From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." ch4 v16

This verse reinforces what I was thinking about it being about all the little things we do according to our calling that together make the whole body, like the passage in 1 Corinthians 12 v12:

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ."

My mind is full of all sorts of thoughts and ideas, but maybe I should save some for another day, I need to reread the rest of Ephesians and get it all in context.

Am I Getting addicted to these quizzes?

Am I Nerdy?

Photo Friday - "Abigail"

Wet Wales

It seems like the hot spell is over, or is it just Wales??? I left the hot sunny midlands and now I'm staying with my sister and its all rainy. My sister has assured me it was hot and sunny here, but I don't know, everyone knows it rains all the time in Wales!!! I'd better be careful what I say or I'll be getting abusive comments from welsh readers (and my sister might send me home!). Sorry, I love Wales really! :)

Happy Birthday Abi - 4 today!