Category Archives: Nature

A Place of Space, Peace and Quiet.

Posted in Dreams, Holiday, Ireland, My thoughts, Nature, Restoration, Travel by

I was reading from 1 Chronicles this morning.

The men listed above by name were leaders of their clans. Their families increased greatly, and they went to the outskirts of Gedor to the east of the valley in search of pasture for their flocks. They found rich, good pasture, and the land was spacious, peaceful and quiet. (‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭4‬:‭38-40‬ NIV)

This passage reminded me of the South West of Ireland where The Lord led us to go on holiday for the first time thirty years ago with our “flock.”   Brendan had bought our first car and we were thinking of going on holiday together.  Brendan asked me, “Where would you like to go on holiday?”  I immediately thought of Kerry, in the south west of Ireland.  The best way to accommodate  our growing family was to rent a holiday home.

We felt the Holy Spirit was telling us to get in touch with someone in Kerry, who was in the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship.  This turned out to be George Mc Auliffe.  Brendan rang him and asked him if he would locate a house to rent suitable to our needs.  He had never heard tell of us before,  but he kindly responded and found us a holiday home.  The two weeks it was available was at the beginning of August when my eighth child was due.  I wasn’t afraid of travelling there, because my children never arrived on the date the doctors suggested.

i believe holidays are not a luxury they are a necessity.  Family life, being together, can get neglected when work and other pressures put demands on the dad and mum.  Being together on holiday helps everyone unwind.

The day to travel arrived.  We were so excited to be setting out on an adventure that would take us 600 miles away.  The Peugot 505 was filled with children and provisions for our stay for two weeks.  We invited another family to stay in our home when we were away.  We believed in sharing with others.

As we got nearer Kerry we’d looked at the colourful houses with gardens full of roses.  Would that be the one we will be staying in, or that one?  I would like that one.  We dreamed on.  The one we finally arrived at was beyond our expectations.  There were five bedrooms and two big living rooms.   Mary even had a room of her own!  It seemed like heaven for the children.  Plenty of space inside and outside the house.

Our children poured out of the car, stretched their legs and arms like cattle released from the stall.  There was plenty of space to run and chase each other.  There were cows in the green fields over the fence.  Good pasture lands.  There were rainbows in the sky.  It was near the beach.  The journey was worth it.

Back then there was war in Northern Ireland.  There was pressure in the atmosphere.  Everyone was under a cloud.  Kerry was so different.  There was no oppression, people welcomed us with their soft arms, hearts and voices.  George introduced us to other families who welcomed us into their homes, even though we had a big family.  Thus began our visits to the Kerry and Limerick area.  From that year on we went for two weeks holiday there during the troubles in the north.  We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and warm welcome wherever we travelled.  We always returned refreshed.

In more recent years,  Brendan and I have been on a holiday to Greece in May to recharge our batteries after winter and work schedules, take in the sun and good food.  Our children have left home.  We had not planned anything this year.  There was no time free in May.    My body was weary and needing some attention.  I dreamed of travelling west in Ireland to be refreshed seeing the mountains and green valleys.  I decided to help Brendan continue prepare for people who were coming to stay with us.

June was busy with guests from Alabama and India.  The day before guests arrived another friend called to offer us his home in Adare at the end of June.  When Brendan told me I was delighted.  God is faithful.  He knew my need of rest and he provided.   As we shared our home with others, God inspired another person to share his home with us.  He had let us and our family stay in his home many times over the last years.  Not everyone wants to let a big family have the run of their home.

A man reaps what he sows.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (‭Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭7, 9‬ NIV)

On our holiday in Adare, we slept, worked in the garden, ate and slept again, a bit like hobbits.  One of the evenings we ventured out to visit a friend.  We travelled along the coast of the Shannon estuary through Ballybunion and on to Tralee.  I remember stopping at a viewing point overlooking Tralee sometime before when our children were with us.  The blue of the river and ocean framed the hills of Clare to our right and the stronger mountains of the Dingle peninsula to our left. Tralee was nestled in the green valley below.  The big sky had plenty of room for darks clouds carrying rain in the midst of clear parts where the sun shone through. There was always a cloud dropping rain somewhere.  I could spend hours on that spot letting this beauty wash over my soul.  I drank in the beauty again that evening.

The glory of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.

I now realise why we came on summer holidays with our children to this part of the world so many times down through the years.  It was a place of quiet, peace and space, with lush pastures to restore our souls.

Testimony Tuesday. Something Broken Made Into Something Beautiful

Posted in My thoughts, Nature, Restoration, Testimony Tuesday by

I have taken up a hobby of making mosaics from broken pieces of glass and pottery.

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One sunny morning in Springtime I went for a walk along the foreshore.  It is a stony beach.  I noticed pieces of green glass glistening among the pebbles.  They were looking at me inviting me to pick them up.  I picked one up, then another, and another until my pocket was full.  I felt like I was panning for gold in the stones of the shoreline.   Brendan joined me is my treasure hunt and he collected a pocket full too.  We collected other species, shades of blue, white, and brown.

I inspected them all when I returned home.  I asked myself what can I do with these colourful but broken pieces of glass.  The edges weren’t sharp any more and their colours were cloudy from the years of being broken and worn with the sea storms.  They had lost their shine.  Circumstances in life bring troubles, disappointments, lose or rejection leaving one worn down with the storms of life or relegated to the ash heap.

When washed and grim removed, my pieces of glass were ready to be positioned into something beautiful.

As I looked at the different shapes of green pieces I was inspired to make a mosaic of my country, Ireland, which has thirty two counties. I would use a piece of glass for each county.  I found a piece of wood and a tube full of tile filler.  So started my hobby of making mosaics.  I tried out putting other colours of glass together.  I find I relax as I work.

On Saturday I discovered a new site along the shoreline to build up my supply of broken pieces. I added to my collection, pieces of pottery.  I was excited to see how these pieces would clean up.  Some had blue willow patterns, some had plain colours.  How would they fit in to a mosaic?

As I worked I reminded myself how glass is made.  It is made from the common material, sand.  The sand is heated to 1700 degrees. Through the fire sand changes to become glass.  Pottery is made from clay, a common material.  The clay is treated in high temperatures to turn it to pottery.

The Word of God tells us that we were created by God.

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬ NIV)

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭64‬:‭8‬ NIV)

Sometimes when I go through difficult times I wonder what is happening to me.  This passage from Peter explains,

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. (‭1 Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬ NIV)

When I go though the fires of difficulty I am being transformed to be a useful vessel for The Lord, like the sand being transformed to glass or the clay to pottery.

The pieces of glass and pottery on the beach are all that remain of useful vessels.  Perhaps the blue glass was a beautiful perfume bottle or the piece of pottery, a treasured piece of willow patterned delph on a bride’s dresser.

But even after many years Our Creator God can reach down and touch all that remains of a broken vessel and make something new.  My mosaics speak to me of hope.  There is life after brokenness.  They can be displayed on a dresser again or adorn a bathroom wall and be a thing of beauty again.  God will restore lives again.

Sanguine Sunday. An Earthquake hit our Family in 2010

Posted in Cancer, Family Friday, Healing, My thoughts, Nations, Nature, Prayer by

When I received the news that I had Malignant Fourth Stage Bowel Cancer it was like an earthquake hitting our family. We were shaken and the after effects nearly overwhelmed us.

“Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them.”psalm 32 v 6

In our generation because of good communications we hear news of worldwide events very soon after they happen.  There are wars, persecutions, earthquakes, tsunamis and signs in the sun and moon.  Many people have died in these disasters.  Jesus predicted these events would happen.

 “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things.”
“And there will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars.  And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides.  People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken. (‭Luke‬ ‭21‬:‭10-11, 25-26‬ NLT)

People feel helpless and  experience fear and distress as they watch these events unfold on their television screens.  Jesus gave us an antidote in a few verses later, by advising us to keep alert and pray.

“Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware,
Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.” (‭Luke‬ ‭21‬:‭34, 36‬ NLT)

I faced death myself in 2010 when I was diagnosed with Malignant Bowel Cancer, fourth stage.  A different Earthquake hit our home.  Death came to our door.  I faced death.  My family faced death of a loved one.  We all experienced the feelings that come along with helplessness, fear, distress and looming death.  We were weak.  Unless something changed the prognosis for me was death.  Man has no power over death.  I realised I was dying.  I had no desire for anything in this world.  I was prepared to leave my husband and family behind.  

But there is one who has the power over death.  It is Jesus.  He died on the cross and took the keys of death and hell off Satan.  

In the previous years of my life I had tried to pray and read the Word of God each day.  We prayed together as a family.  I tried to obey him God as far I knew how to.  In my hour of need God turned up.  God made my husband and family strong.  They prayed for me.  My husband and I had taught our children how to pray. God heard their prayer. Psalm 102 describes what happened.

“LORD, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea! Don’t turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly when I call to you.

My heart is sick, withered like grass, and I have lost my appetite. Because of my groaning, I am reduced to skin and bones.

My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering away like grass. But you, O LORD, will sit on your throne forever. Your fame will endure to every generation. You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem — and now is the time to pity her, now is the time you promised to help.
He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas. 
Let this be recorded for future generations, so that a people not yet born will praise the LORD. 
Tell them the LORD looked down from his heavenly sanctuary. He looked down to earth from heaven to hear the groans of the prisoners, to release those condemned to die. 
And so the LORD’s fame will be celebrated in Zion, his praises in Jerusalem, when multitudes gather together and kingdoms come to worship the LORD. 
He broke my strength in midlife, cutting short my days. But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever, don’t take my life while I am so young! 
Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing. 
You will change them like a garment and discard them. But you are always the same; you will live forever. 
The children of your people will live in security. Their children’s children will thrive in your presence.” (‭Psalms‬ ‭102‬:‭1-2, 4-5, 11-13, 17-28‬ NLT)

I am recording this today to tell you and the children yet unborn that God in heaven, who made the earth and heavens reached down from his throne and delivered me from death.  He did not turn away from me as it says in verse one. “Don’t turn away in my hour of distress.”

You may be at home reading this, you may have never heard that God answers prayer today.  He does.  He is interested in you.  He loves you.  Are you distressed about what you see coming on the earth, troubles within and without.  Begin to pray and and talk to God as you would a friend.  Begin to read the scriptures.  I am telling you this is the best medicine you could take.  It will make you strong.  It is guaranteed to bring healing.  What God did for me he will do for you.

It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.  Revelation 22 v 2

May the words I share with you today bring healing from fear, distress and anxiety.   As Jesus said “Look up.” 

So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!” (‭Luke‬ ‭21‬:‭28‬ NLT)

Family Friday. Sea Birds Thirst for Fresh Water

Posted in Birds, Canada, My thoughts, Nature, Restoration by

A few weeks ago I awoke to the call of Canadian Brent Geese that were along the water’s edge below our home.  I looked out to see half a dozen pairs swimming in the shallow water.    They love to eat Eel Grass.  It grows along the shoreline where fresh water flows into the sea.  There is a small stream that enters the sea below.  

I fetched a pair of binoculars to take a closer look.  The brown colour of their body feathers are a good camouflage against the brown, grey, seaweed covered stones. They have a white feathers on their lower bodies. They swim about on the edge of the water avoiding other gulls that are there.  

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When the gulls fly off, the geese come up out of the sea and begin to drink from a small stream that flows across the stones.  They come to get a drink of fresh water!  They wait for each other to get their thirst quenched.  Then the whole group fly off, their outstretched wings, with white V markings on the tail, blend with the colour of the moving water and disappear into the distance.  

A couple of Great Black Backed Gulls come for a drink later.  There are a few pairs of them along this part of the bay.  A couple of Herring gulls rest nearby.

It never occurred to me that these birds needed fresh water.  I would have thought they would have got water from the food they ate in the sea.  When we went for walks along Tyrella beach I remember flocks of different sea birds gathered at the end of the beach.  A river flowed into the sea there.  The wildlife rested there in the sunshine for a while.

I believe God our creator wants us to drink from the flowing river of the Holy Spirit and rest a while.   Jesus told us to look to the birds of the air.  They don’t sow nor reap, yet their Heavenly Father cares for them.  I am taking a lesson from the birds of the air this morning.

As I watched the wildlife from my window, I was reminded of the Holy Spirit.  Very often life makes us weary, tired, dry and barren.   Our lives seem staved of life with nothing new happening.   But God invites us to come to him to get a drink of refreshing water to nourish our thirsty souls.

Jesus said to the woman at the well he would give her water and she would not thirst again.
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

The Holy Spirit is the Living water that Jesus promised.  He is described as the river that flows from the throne of God.  We are invited in Isaiah to come to the water.

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.  (‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭1, 3‬ NIV)
As we drink in the Holy Spirit life flows again.

As I spend time praying in the Holy Spirit I get refreshed and have new strength.  No matter what age we are, we still run out of strength if we are too busy.  We need life from God to renew our energy.

Tableau Thursday. The Season of Singing of Birds has Come

Posted in Canada, Ireland, My thoughts, Nations, Nature, Provision, Travel by

“The season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. (‭Song of Solomon‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬ NIV)

It is the 29 th April today in Co Down, Ireland.  I was pleasantly surprised to see a swallow swoop towards my window this morning.  Hooray the swallows have arrived. It is a new season. There is a different song outside.  Robins thrill, doves coo, chaffinches chirrup as they call to their mates in the warm mornings.  It will be safe to start building nests to prepare for having their young.

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The migrant birds are on the move.  The Brent Geese that had visited with us since September left the shore below while I was away in Scotland.  When they arrive in September they look like ducks.  They have shed weight while rearing their young in the Tundra in Northern Canada and have used up energy flying thousands of miles to our shores.  The Brent Geese come to the shores of Strangford Lough to feed on Eel grass. By April they have grown and fattened up.  They look like geese.  When the new season comes they fly away.  I miss  them.  Some geese came to feed and drink each morning below at a spring of water that joins the sea water lough.  I would hear their throaty calls from my room.

Jesus tells us to take the birds as our example and not to worry but seek first his kingdom.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body.  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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭25-27‬ NIV)

I was shaken from my melancholy when I noticed the swallow this morning.  I went to share with my husband , “The swallows have arrived”.  It was an unexpected visitor.  He has flown here thousands of miles from South Africa.  He has made it as his family before him did.  What a feat.  Such a small bird can fly such a long way.

He had no luggage with him.  No belongings.  No passport. He has no purse.  He is free to fly over borders and nations.  He is no threat to anyone.  God had prepared a place for him in the barn behind our house. He will eat the food and drink the water here. He is welcome. He has brought joy to me. The singing has come to our land.

I watched a nature program about the flights of migrant birds.  On the swallows’ journey up North they stop off at different points to feed and rest for the next stage.  One stopover is by a lake.  The swallows arrive there just when millions of flies hatch out.  The air is dark with the flies.  The swallows swoop in and out of the cloud of flies and have a feast.  This is another example of God providing for the birds of the air.  I rejoice to see God’s timing and provision for the birds of the air.  Our Creator and Father looks after all his Creation.  I marvel in his Glory. I see his Glory in Creation.

The swallows song will join with the resident birds in the dawn chorus.  They will build their nests and rear their young in the barns behind where we live.

Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God. (‭Psalm‬ ‭84‬:‭3‬ NIV)

I will hear a different sound in the morning.  Instead of the Brent Geese’s call, there will be the chirping of the swallows on the wire.

Family Friday. Mother Duck said Quack Quack Come Back

Posted in Birds, Family Friday, Motherhood, My thoughts, Nature, Provision by

In my blogs recently I have been talking about birds. I get inspiration from them. Jesus told us to look at the Birds.  A good plug for going bird watching. I know a friend who was heart broken after her husband left her.  Part of her therapy to recover was to go bird watching.  She joined a local Bird Watching Club.

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  Matthew 6 v 25-27 NLT
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭33‬ NLT)

One of my sons has finished his training in Law.  He is home for the holidays.  I was urging him to return to Scotland after the holidays and apply for trainee jobs to get him to the next stage.  Getting a job is so competitive.  In my mother role I was getting annoyed and worried.  Scriptures say worry is a sin and I don’t want to sin.  So I have to stop worrying and pray.

After a good nights sleep my mind is changed.  I have to let my son decide for himself and not conimagetrol him.  I have to let him go.  I can advise but it is up to him what he does.  It was by making mistakes and suffering I learned about life and the right choices to make.  I cannot go back to seven years ago when I developed cancer.  I have to stay alive.

Part of the role of parents is to look after the children but then to let them go to start their own lives.  Around the time I developed  cancer,  I was finding it hard to cope with the lose in my life of children leaving home.  My heart was breaking.  I was suffering in silence.

My daughter shared a post with me. She is in Kenya at the moment. It is about a little girl singing the nursery rhyme,
Mother Duck and her little ones. As she finishes the rhyme she starts to cry. She must have been sad for the mother duck left alone.

Five little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
But only four little ducks came back.

Until
One little duck went out one day…
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
But none of the five little ducks came back

The internet says it is a nursery rhyme that teaches children to count backwards.  That may be so but the writer of this work had something else in mind I believe.

As children leave home one by one a mother feels the pain of her lose.  The mother and children spend time together when the children are young.  They go out to play together.  Then a day comes when one grows up and has to leave to go over the hills and far away.  Nowadays hills don’t just separate us . Oceans wide and deep separate us.

One by one the ducks go far away.  This has been so for me and my children.  My last little duck left two years ago.  My heart would have been broken if The Lord has not comforted me and healed me.  He has given me other work to do after rearing my children.

There is hope.  The last verse of the nursery rhyme goes,

Sad mother duck went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said “QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!”
And all of the five little ducks came back.

I think of a verse from the scriptures often.

This is what The Lord says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” This is what the Lord says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord. “They will return.” (‭Jeremiah‬ ‭31‬:‭15-16‬ NIV)

Don’t cry mothers out there.  The Lord will reward your work. Like mother duck the young will return.

Marvelous Monday. Fly like an Eagle

Posted in Canada, My thoughts, Nature by

On our recent visit to British Columbia, a friend of ours brought us to an area where eagles gathered.  It was marvelous to watch the magnificent birds close up as thimageey perched in the trees or flew overhead.  We spent the whole afternoon with our heads looking up and taking pictures of eagles.  I took this photo with my humble i Pad.

Recently my husband was telling a story to his grandchildren, just as he told his children in the past.

He was telling about the farmer who found an egg in the farmyard.  He put it under one of his hens who was brooding over her eggs.  Eventually the egg hatched and the bird grew.  It became bigger than the other chicks.  It had gangly legs, a big beak and sharp claws.  It had only one friend in the farmyard.

It looked up in the sky one day and saw a beautiful bird soaring high.  He asked his friend what kind of a bird is that.  He told him that is an eagle.  It flies all over the sky travelling miles and miles.  It is the king of the birds.  We are not like that.  The awkward bird was a young eagle.  It lived and died as a chicken.  It never got to fly with the eagles.

Brendan encouraged us to fly high like the eagle and do not be limited to the farmyard.  A friend who is staying with us at the moment explained the wings of an eagle represent praise and prayer in a believer’s life.  When we praise God and pray we rise above our circumstances and get free to soar on the wind wherever it takes us.

If you are in a difficult place right now, start praising God for his goodness and mercy.  Pray about whatever is troubling you and leave it with The Lord.  In no time you will feel lighter and not burdened by your impossible circumstances.  Trust God and fly high.  The answer will come.

“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”(‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭31‬ NIV)

Family Friday. We Move to A New Town

Posted in Family Friday, My thoughts, Nature, Prayer by

 

Brendan and I moved back to Ballynahinch, Co Down where I was born.  Nine children moved with us.  Four other children were at university.  One was married.  Friends were perplexed at us moving away from Coleraine with your big family.  “How were we going to manage?” they asked.  “You will never get good schools like here.  Where will you live? Your children will miss their friends.”

I had been praying for five years that God would provide a bigger home for us.  I knew these young children would turn into teenagers and would need more space.  I believed that God would provide for me.  He gave me my children, and I believed he would help me.  When the children of Israel went into the promised land they were given land according to the size of their tribe.  I had a big family and I hoped that God who helped the children of Israel would do the same for me.

You must distribute the land among the clans by sacred lot and in proportion to their size. A larger portion of land will be allotted to each of the larger clans, and a smaller portion will be allotted to each of the smaller clans. The decision of the sacred lot is final.  (‭Numbers‬ ‭33‬:‭54‬ NLT)

We moved to a modern, warm bungalow.  There was plenty of room for us all.  My son John loved his new home and town.  He made friends easily at his new school.  He loved getting outdoors.  He would spend a Saturday with his new friends walking along the river behind our house or wandering over fields and forests beyond.  There was a corn mill nearby that was still working.  The boys went down there and looked at the large wheel turning with the water flowing over it.  I remember going there when I was a child with my father.  He was getting bags of corn bruised into oats.  The river behind our house fed the wheel that turned the grinding stone in the mill.

John’s adventures reminded me of Robert Louis Stevenson’ poem,

Keepsake Mill.

Over the borders, a sin without pardon,
Breaking the branches and crawling below,
Out through the breach in the wall of the garden,
Down by the banks of the river, we go.

Here is the mill with the humming of thunder,
Here is the weir with the wonder of foam,
Here is the sluice with the race running under
Marvellous places, though handy to home!

He would head off down the back of our garden, through a hole in the hedge to meet his friends.  They went fishing and swimming in the river behind the garden.  He would not return till late.

John started a new school, and travelled nine miles by bus to it.  His older sister went to the same school.  Settling into a new area and a new school can be daunting for any child.  John looked on his experience as an adventure and was enjoying a whole new world, new countryside, meeting my extended family, and making new friends.  He never looked back.

I later found out that our new neighbours’ son was bullied on the bus and at the school John went to.  He left and went to another school.  My daughter and son did not face any trouble on the bus or at school.  Because they had each other, no one dared pick on John because his big sister would soon respond and not take any hastle.  She was used to dealing with her siblings.  On any bus full of teenagers there will always be banter.  John and his sister took it all in their stride and didn’t make any enemies.

We all had a family holiday to Spain in the year 2000.  On the flight over to Spain John met a girl who went to his old school.  She was telling him that many of the children in his old class were using drugs.  I was so glad we moved when we did.  It was good for my daughter as well.  She was getting to the age where she was being influenced by friends to rebel.  She was made head girl in her new school.  Both my children found favour when they moved to a new town and new school.  I knew God was with us and he would look after us just as this scripture says.

And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child.  Now he has brought you to this place.’ (‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭1‬:‭31‬ NLT)

Hunting for Bear or Moose in Dawson Creek

Posted in Canada, Cancer, Healing, My thoughts, Nature, Travel by

Some men in Canada take a weekend off to go Moose hunting.  They travel miles, take camping gear and whatever is needed, in their four by four vehicles.  I did not have to travel far to go hunting.  Moose live wild in Northern Canada.  They normally live in the mountains and forage on food they dig out of the snow.  They come near towns in the winter when they are short of food.

I looked out the back window of the home in which we are staying.  I noticed big footprints in the snow.  Would it be the footprints of a Bear or Moose?  I wanted to take a closer look.  We are in Dawson Creek right now, enjoying the bright sunshine and the snow.  This afternoon I decided to go bear or moose hunting on my own.  I thought I was safe enough.  I didn’t stray far from the house.  I walked along the field at the back of the house.  Yes I found a large footprint.  I followed the tracks up the back .  There were fresh animal droppings, more evidence.  I was excited.  Here I was in the snow up in the North of Canada far from the green grass of home.  I took photos for my investigations.

I was wearing grips on my boots, but they came off in the snow.  I had to go back to find them, alas for they were borrowed.  I found the grips and returned to the house, thankful there was no bear or moose lurking.

image

I looked up the internet using my evidence of footprint and droppings to find out what animal had passed by.  I was very happy with the result of my search for large footprints in the snow.  My investigations told me there were Moose about.

I heard a call from downstairs.   Our host told us some Moose were spotted a block away.  We pulled on our warm jackets and got in the vehicle.  We didn’t have to drive far.  There is the bushes was a mamma Moose and a calf.  I had never seen this animal before.  The Moose was well camouflaged in the brown bushes and grass.  When it stood up I couldn’t believe how tall it was.  It looked like a horse, had a hump like a bison and fur like a bear. The young one stood behind in the bushes.  The animals were not startled.  They did not run away.  They just keep a close eye on us.

We stood watching for twenty minutes, face to face with Moose.  Another once in a lifetime event in Canada.  We have had good days in Canada.  God is good.  I am alive.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (‭Psalm‬ ‭27‬:‭13‬ NIV)

I knitted My Children School Sweaters

Posted in Ireland, My thoughts, Nature by

I lived in the country and as I walked to school it was a familiar sight to see sheep grazing in the fields.  I looked out for the lambs playing in spring.  Their long tails would wriggle as they fed from their mothers.

Outside my home in Bright a number of sheep grazed.  They would be feeding just before dawn when it was cool and the dew was still on the grass.  They rested in the warm morning sun.  I thought to myself if I had any land I would keep sheep.  They did not need much attention.  Each sheep may have two lambs a year.
God promises to bless our herds if we obey him.
Our sheep will increimagease by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields; (‭Psalm‬ ‭144‬:‭13‬ NIV)
You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. (‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭28‬:‭3-4‬ NIV)

My father kept some sheep.  In late spring the sheep’s woollen coat would be sheared.  I remember a man who was hired for the day would skilfully cut the wool off the animal.  The sheep would scurry away when the workman was finished, free from being held down but a little lighter from his coat of wool.

When I was at primary school, I learnt about the wool industry in Ireland.  The wool produced in Ireland supported the Irish cottage industry of knitting Aran sweaters and making tweed.  The women of the house would spend the winter evenings knitting. The woollen Aran sweaters were used by fishermen.  The sweater would keep them warm and dry in the cold Atlantic weather.  Each family made up their own pattern of chains and cable twists.  The picture of a mother sitting by her fire knitting a garment speaks to me of peace, love and serenity.  She was not wasting time.  Even in rest her hands were working.  Her mind was active to work out the complicated patterns. She would not let depression or idleness take hold.

These women reminded me of the words in proverbs 31

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household; they are clothed in scarlet. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭31‬:‭13, 21‬ NIV)
She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭31‬:‭17, 27‬ NIV)

I love browsing in shops selling Irish woollen goods when I go on holiday to Donegal.  I remember my human geography lessons about the Irish wool industry.  The memory comes alive when I see the beautiful products, knitted scarfs, hats and jumpers for sale. I love to touch the garments that have been created by hand, rather than in some factory.

In Ireland it is the rules of the school that the children attending wear a uniform, a jumper, trousers or tunic in the colour decided by the school authorities.  I believe this is a good thing. The jumpers or cardigans that were sold in the store were made of acrylic yarn.  This material was easy to wash and dry but not to keep you warm.  I wanted my children to have woollen jumpers to keep them warm on cold winter days when they had to play outside in the playground.

I decided to knit each one a sweater for school.  I sourced pure wool in the colour of the school  and a knitting pattern that was easy to follow.  I put my knitting skills, that I had learnt at school, to use.   I was like the women in the cottages, knitting a garment in the long winter nights.   Each jumper was knitted with love.  I imagined my daughter or son wrapped in the warmth of the wool but also the warmth of my love as he played outside in the school play ground.  It also kept them protected from colds and flus.  Each child’s jumper lasted for a couple of years.

They never seemed to wear out.  It was money and time well spent.