Tag Archives: God

People are Like Flowers, they will Blossom in the Right Conditions

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My husband and I love working in the garden.

We often pick up bargains of plants at markets at the end of the growing season. 
We look out for exotic plants at the local supermarket.
It is exciting when spring comes round, to see what appears in the pots from bulbs and dried up roots we planted in the late autumn.
Our last home had a big garden with hedges, walls and trees.
I could position plants that suited the different conditions.
When we moved house recently we could only bring our pot plants with us.
We now live near the sea, no trees for shade but it is warm and sunny.
Our new climate has advantages and disadvantages.
Strong, salty winds blow in the winter and hinder tree growth and plant life.
A neighbour said he spent a fortune on plants for his new house and they all died in the winter.
He warned me that “Nothing will grow here,” as I planted out my window boxes in spring after I moved here.

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Okay, I have not lived through a winter yet, but I am determined to make the most of the hot, sunny, long days of spring, summer and autumn.
 Lilies have blossomed a month early in the same pot, but in their new setting.  They never flourished like this before!

My roses are doing well in the sunshine and free flow of air. 
Before they were shadowed by trees.
Plants need good soil, water and light to grow.
Jesus told the parable of the farmer and the seed.
Where the seed fell on good soil the plants grew up and produced thirty, sixty and a hundred fold.
On the rocky stony soil the seed died soon after planting because of dryness and lack of nutrients for growth.
We can flourish in the right conditions to remain healthy, and grow.
Jesus is the Light of the world. 
When he shines on us he brings healing.
The Holy Spirit is symbolised as water.
The Word of God is symbolised as Bread.
Plants need light, water and good soil with nutrients to grow.
If we are nourished by the spiritual symbols light, water and nutrients, we will flourish body, soul and spirit.
Jesus is the Good Sheperd. Psalm 23 promises The Lord will lead us beside still waters and green pastures to restore our souls. 
I am being refreshed in body, soul and spirit in this new land.

A Horse needs a Bridle and Bit to Keep it under Control.

Posted in My thoughts, Nature by

 

I was talking to my neighbour recently.

He was telling me about his favourite hobby, horses.

John loves horses.
He learnt about horses from his father and other relatives who had been successful in breeding race horses that have won important events in world of horse racing.
He can tell me who was the mother and father of the recent winner of the Derby, “Australia.”
He is knowledgable about many horses that are winners.
He is hoping to have that big winner some day.
He owns five horses that graze in the field behind our home.
He rescued two of them from the “Knacker’s yard”.
That is where horses go that are no use any more.
They are rejects, too old, not profitable for their owners, or their owners cannot afford them in this climate of recession.

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The horses belonging to my neighbour are sleek, tall, colourful, bright eyed and beautiful.

John hopes to train his best horse which will cost him some money.

The horse will live in a stable, eat food that will strengthen him, let someone ride on his back, and will have to suffer a few lashes of a whip in the process.  Pain.
It will have to run miles every day to get used to running fast.
Not so pleasant as running free in a field, grazing grass.
It can no longer do its own will or want its own way.
It has to learn to obey its trainer and perhaps be successful in a race.
It can be of use to its master and win a race.

God likens one who is rebellious to an untrained horse, stubborn, self willed, running free, not under authority, not obedient, not knowing how to be useful or profitable.

The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. (Psalms 32:8 NLT)
Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.” (Psalms 32:9 NLT)
“But no, my people wouldn’t listen. So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. Oh, that my people would listen to me, walking in my paths! How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon my hands would be upon their foes! (Psalms 81:11-14 NLT)

God in his mercy longs for us to seek him.

We may not suffer the consequences of our wrong doing in our lifetime, but it will manifest in our children after us.
Discipline or pain is not a popular word in our culture.
The doctor prescribes tablets to ease pain of mind and body.
A child left up to its own devises will be unruly and unpleasant to be around.
How much more so a grown up person who is not self controlled and chooses to do whatever one feels like.
Such a person will not be useful.
God our creator has made us and knows what is good for us and how best we can live.
The self has to die and that is painful.

I have learnt obedience through the things in my life that caused pain; heartache, sickness, and mental anguish.

I don’t want to be self willed or rebellious.  I defer to others when making decisions.  To live with others I seek to live in peace and listen.  I have to put down that power in me that wants my own way.

Jesus was crucified.  We have to crucify our selfish nature and live according to God’s word.
Like the trained horse, we often suffer pain in our lives to help us to choose the right way to go.

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My Childhood Memory of Colourful Lupins Remembered

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It is very hot today.
I am reminded of summer days walking to school.
I lived in the country.
I walked three miles to school.
I passed houses, lanes, hedgerows and fields.
Some fields had black and white cows grazing.
All my surroundings looked big to a small girl as I rushed to get there on time.
For the first half of the journey I walked alone.
Other children would join me as I got nearer the school.
My return from school was more leisurely.
On the hot days the tar blistered on the road surface.
My fingers tips turned black as I burst the bubbles.
At a crossroads a single lady lived.
She was grey haired but remained the same age to me.
She would speak to me as I passed.
I remember a lilac bush that blossomed in her garden in May.
It always was in full bloom on my birthday.
I loved the smell of the lilac, cone shaped flowers.
She would cut off a few branches to give to my mother.
Further along beside a bridge over a small river was a gooseberry bush.
I would always check to see if there was any fruit on the thorny branches.
I picked the bitter goose “gabs” as we called them, before the birds finished them off.
Over the hill lived a family with four children.
I met one of those children recently and she said she always remembered me smiling.
I had no cares in the world then.
Just past their house was a short lane with a house at the end of it.
I never met who lived there but I remember the flowers in the garden.
It was ablaze with colour; yellow, pale pinks, dark pinks, plum, blue and white, and purple.
The lupin flowers stood tall outlined against the sky.
This is my favourite childhood memory.
Down through the years I had not seen such a display.
I tried unsuccessfully to grow some lupins in my garden.
The green fly ate the unfurling flowers.
My husband planted a lilac tree for me at my last home. It did grow.
I was visiting with my daughter and family in the Wicklow hills this week.
It was our 43rd wedding anniversary.
At the bottom of her garden is an abundance of lupins of all colours growing tall and beautiful.
I noticed little red insects, with black dots on the flowers.
They are called lady birds.
I remember picking them in my palm to inspect them as a child.
Aha I thought.
These little insects eat greenfly!
That is why my daughter’s lupins are not wasted away with greenfly.
My daughter lives in the heart of the Wicklow hills away from farms that are sprayed with insecticide.
These little lady birds survive in the habitat there.
I was able to relive a childhood memory on my 43rd wedding anniversary in my daughter’s garden.
The in between years have had their sorrows.

Isaiah 51 v 11 says,
“Therefore the redeemed of The Lord shall return and come singing unto Zion, 
and everlasting joy shall be upon their head.

I am being healed and restored by God.
Fifty years, on I am reminded of my walk to school on happy, sunny days.

 

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How Giving to the Poor Brought Healing to Me.

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My husband brought me to the accident and emergency department in my local hospital when I told him I was bleeding.
This is now four years ago.
I was examined there by a doctor from Kerela in India.
He asked my husband and daughter to come into the cubicle to talk to us all about the examination.
My daughter is a doctor herself and was very nervous about what he was about to say.
She feared the worst.
I was numb and was willing to go through the process the doctor advised.
Instead of talking about my condition the doctor addressed my husband and said, 
“Don’t I know you?”
“No I don’t think we have met before.” 
“Are you the man with the big family?”
“Yes I have a big family.”
Mary and I were perplexed.  “Why is he not getting on with talking about how he can help me?”
“Ah I know where I have seen you before.  My mother has a book written by you.  There is a picture of you and your family on the back page. That book is in my mother’s home, back in Kerala, India.”
My husband has written two books for a lady in India.  Her work reaches out to the poor.
Brendan and I looked at each other.
We knew God was with us in that hospital cubicle.
In our time of distress a doctor remembered Brendan.
That book has helped raise money for orphanages and poor people in India.
The doctor, a stranger remembered Brendan.  God remembered too.
He was reassuring us he was with us.
Psalm 41 says 

Blessed is he who has regard  for the poor and needy. I will be with him in trouble. The Lord will raise him up from his sick bed.  V 1 and 3

We were in trouble and I was on a sick bed.
We all smiled despite our present dilemma.
The doctor proceeded to tell us that he found a mass of tissue inside my back passage when he examined me.
My daughter quizzed him to get more information.
He answered, “It is a firm mass.”  My daughter knew it can only be cancer.  She did not voice what she thought.
“I will make an appointment to get a colonoscopy.  I will ask for you to be seen as soon as possible.”
We thanked the doctor and walked out of that cubicle, silent, anxious but comforted that God was with us in our trouble.
We would face the future together.
Four months later I knew I was healed from cancer.
God is faithful.  

We all need a Rescuer, Protector, Deliverer, Saviour, or Helper at Some Time.

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Statistics tell us there are 27 million people displaced in the world today.
These people through circumstances not of there own making, have to leave their family, culture and language to live somewhere else.
They are seeking help.
They need a leader, saviour, protector, deliverer, rescuer, liberator, helper, healer and provider.
Different factors cause this.
People from poor countries seek to move to a country where there is a better standard of living.
Internal wars, disasters,or famine cause people to flee their own country.
Forced exile through persecution often happens.
Many Jews fled from Hitler, but many did not get away.
Many Irish had to leave because of famine in the nineteenth century.
They had to leave by boat on a long journey by sea.
Some did not make it.
They found refuge in America.  They were welcomed.
In Europe there is much movement of peoples within the EEC countries with borders opening.
Poor people from the East are coming into Europe through Greece.
Sadly they are not welcomed.  The Western nations see them as a burden on their own economies.
Movement of nations is nothing new.
I read of examples from the bible of people leaving their own countries.
Abraham left his home in the land of the Chaldeans and went where God told him to go.
Joseph was persecuted and rejected by his brothers because they were jealous of him.
Jacob and his family moved to Egypt when there was a famine in Israel.
His son Joseph became a saviour for his family.
The Jewish people were exiled from their land to Babylon because of their disobedience to God.
Naomi and her family left Bethlehem because of famine in the land.
The early Christians were scattered throughout the nations because of persecution.
In all these circumstances people needed and still need a leader, a deliverer, a helper or a liberator.
The defination of Messiah is deliverer, liberator, leader or anointed one.

Acts  5 v 42 says
The Messiah you are looking for is Jesus.

New Living Translation

Feeling the Pain of Our Son Leaving Home to Go to Canada

Posted in Canada, Cancer, Family Friday, Healing, Ireland, My thoughts, Nations, Prayer, Travel by

We set off at four thirty am to go to Dulin airport.
The mist filled the low lying fields.
Sadness filled our hearts.
We drove along the windy road that passed the green fields, the blue sea and the Mourne Mountains, in silence.
David, our son was going to Canada with Jacquelyn to settle there.
He drank in the view.
We were travelling in our minibus.

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Usually it was filled with excited children, but today there were big suit cases in the back, with David and Jacquelyn’s belongings.
Another of our children leaving home and Ireland.
Patrick lives in Australia, Aaron in Slovakia, and Ruth in Scotland.
With the economic downturn, again many young people are leaving Ireland.
Through the decades people have left.
There are five million people in Ireland, but 60 million people in the world from Irish descent.
Dublin airport has become the scene of crying families hugging each other as a loved one leaves.
Today it was our turn.
My husband, my son and I are experiencing this pain of being separated.
David has been going through the process of leaving for four months now.
He successfully applied for a visa.  He came to terms with leaving family, friends and Ireland.
A new beginning.
My husband and I pray for our children and are there for them when they face crises.
We reassure them of our love and support, no matter what they do.
We tell them God loves them and forgives them when they regret and feel guilty for their wrong doings.
I have written before, that God is a god of second, third and many chances.
A God of Jubilee.
He knows that life can get unbearable with disappointment, hopelessness, making wrong decisions, breakup of relationships or loss of belongings.
There is a rise in Ireland of young people committing suicide.
Today I have hope.  David is having a new start in life.  He will prosper, have a wife and children and a home.  I will see him again.
His family, friends and Ireland cannot hold him.  God has good plans for him to give him a hope and a future.
Jesus proclaimed the scripture,

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
(Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV)

I know God’s redeeming power to forgive and heal.  I was facing death but God delivered me from my sins and death.  He has healed my broken heart and provided a new home for me. I am alive to tell others and give them courage to believe God and live.

As Brendan and I drive home, the sun has risen and it’s warmth has dispelled the mists.
May the sun of righteousness rise with healing in its wings to dispel our sadness.

But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. (Malachi 4:2 NIV)

Tonight I was in the grocery store.  There was a song playing and the lyrics were,
“I will see your face again.”  Yes I will see my son David’s face again!

Many songs have been written in Ireland that are laments, expressing the pain that our people have suffered.  May there be new songs of joy as God heals our pain and binds up our wounds not only of our hearts but of our nation.

I gave David a note which says,

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. (Psalm 126:5, 6 NIV)

I write to give others hope, just as this scripture says,

Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. (Psalm 130:7, 8 NIV)

 

How I got a Better Phone after Mine was Smashed.

Posted in My thoughts, Prayer, Provision, Travel by

 

On Tuesday my husband and I left our daughter and son to the airport.   They were travelling to The United States for work experience in a retreat centre.
The journey went smoothly with no traffic delays.  We arrived on time.

Brendan left us off in the carpark while he went to find a parking space.  I thought to myself “I will not need my handbag” so I left it safely in the van.  My mobile phone was inside.

The children pulled their big cases to the check in desk and went through all the paper work necessary to fly to The United States.
They were nearly finished when my husband arrived with a mobile phone which looked like mine, in his hand.
I did not take any notice as I knew my phone was safe in my bag back in the van.
My husband said he found this phone in the car park.  The glass front was smashed and only half of the screen worked.
I suggested to my husband that he could look up some number on it and ring in order to get in touch with the owner.  People have been kind to us when we have lost mobiles before.
He said to me “This looks like your phone.”  I said “No way, my phone is in the van.”  I did not like the idea of my phone being smashed up.
“Ring my number to see if it is mine.”  I knew this would satisfy my husband, confirming that it was not mine.
He dialled my number and immediately I recognised my dial tone.  What a shock.  How did my phone end up in the carpark and how did Brendan happen to be walking past where it was dropped.  This was a bit too weird for me.
We pray before we travel asking God to protect our vehicles and journey.
I thought to myself, “Everything went so well today getting to the airport, and our children being blessed going to America.”  Often some difficulty arises.  Perhaps a traffic holdup, or forgetting something or running late.  But not today.
I knew this was an enemy attacking me to rob my joy at my children’s opportunity to get blessed. How on earth did the phone fall out of my bag and out of the van?  I did not expect this to happen.
I did not get upset.  I said the enemy has to restore what he has stolen, just like our car.
The devil comes to rob, steal and destroy.  Jesus comes to restore, to give life and life abundantly.
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10 KJV)
I use my phone mainly for texting and receiving calls.  I like to be in touch with family.  I enquired in the O 2 shop how to get it repaired.  It would have to be sent away for a week.  They gave me an estimate of 150 pounds to replace it.
I did not want to pay that.
My husband offered to help.  He confirmed it would cost the amount quoted.  He suggested I should go for an upgrade to an iPhone if I was going to pay out that amount.  He priced some on line.

My son, Jacob is home from  university.  He suggested we go for a cycle.

When we returned, my husband surprised me with a new iPhone.  He had spent hours sorting my problem out.  He made sure my contacts were transferred and he showed me how to use it.  He ordered a cover to make sure the phone is protected from breaking again.  My communication is restored, thanks to My husband taking the time and sourcing a new phone for me.  He is so thoughtful helping me, knowing I would miss having a phone.

This afternoon I am the proud and happy owner of an iPhone!!!

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 NIV)
The enemy tried to strike my heel after our children’s success in going to America.  But Jesus restored a better phone to me after mine was smashed.  My phone is restored!

This is the my year of Jubilee.  In the Jubilee year the Israel people got back what was stolen, land, houses, property or family.  Whatever they lost by misfortune or robbery was to be restored to them.

 

 

Writing Challenge, Around My Block

Posted in Healing, Ireland, My thoughts by

Yesterday I decided I wanted to go for a cycle around the block.
That meant a visit to the cycle shop to get my bicycle tyres pumped up, a chain fixed and the purchase of a bicycle pump.
Not too much needed done after it’s wintering out in the shed.  My neighbour helped pump up my son’s bicycle’ tyres.
His bicycle is a different genere with thick frame and tyres.
While I was getting ready, the sky in the distance was very dark and I heard thunder.  I found out later that there were heavy thunder storms all around but it did not come our way.
We ventured out.  The block near where I live comprises farmland on three sides and the sea on the fourth.
I pass a few houses where families are resting before the week’s work ahead.
The locals that are enjoying the fresh air outdoors like us, are cows with their young, sheep with their lambs and seals reclining for the evening on the rocks, out of reach of harm.

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Weeds on the roadside are bursting into flower, reaching out for their share of the sunshine.
Green ferns unfurl on the bank that is shaded.
This is the season when birds are rearing their young.
Swallows, blackbirds, doves, starlings, crows and  sparrows sing, swoop and feed.
There is an atmosphere of peace in the country.
All the noise of the radio, television, traffic, pubs and factories are far away.
It is healing for one’s mind.
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46 v 10
Oh Lord, the earth is full of your unfailing love.  Psalm 119 v 64
This is where I live, in the Irish countryside.
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Following by example; How I Started Breast Feeding

Posted in Family Friday, My thoughts, Prayer by

 

I had my first child when I was twenty. I did not live near family.  I was still a student.  I had to attend lectures.  In those days there was no crèche for students’ children.  Few students were having children then.  I bottle fed my new baby.
I finished university.  We shared a house with another couple who had a new born baby.  The mum was breast feeding.  Brid took her baby into bed beside her at night.  The baby was snug and cosy.  After feeding, her mum put her back in the cot.  She was sound asleep.
There was none of the gadgets then to make up lots of bottles and save them in the fridge.  Brid did not have to get up in the middle of the night in the cold and make a bottle of milk.  She did not lose much sleep.
I thought to myself if I have another child I would like to breast feed him.
I did so and went on to breastfeed each of the rest of my thirteen children.
Each of them I fed for up to a year.  I was blessed to be able to feed my children without any trouble.
My grandchildren have all been breast fed.
Often this is how we learn about faith.  If we see someone doing what they believe is possible then one can learn and step out to try for oneself.
A little child steps out to walk because he is encouraged by his parents.  He sees them walk so he can do it too.
He trusts his parents.
This is how I grew in faith in many areas.
I saw how others prayed to God.  I tried it and God heard and answered my prayers.
Our children heard us pray so our children found it easy to pray without fear.
I desire to be an example so others.  What God has done for me He can do for you.

That Which is Stolen is Restored by God

Posted in My thoughts by

In my “About post,” I said I want to write about how God helps me in my life.

At the end of January I was preparing to go on a trip.
The morning before, a young man walked into my kitchen, found my husband’s car keys hanging beside the door.  He stole our Saab car.
My neighbour knocked on the door.  He told me “Someone has just taken your car!”  It was a big shock.  I was upstairs and had not realised someone had entered our home.  The neighbour had watched it all happen from where he lives.  I was gob smacked.
It was nine o’ clock in the morning.  Children were passing.  School traffic was heavy.  
What a nightmare.  The police called and took details.
The incident was so strange I just laughed.
I thought to myself, “My husband is going to get a car upgrade.”  
He did not find it funny.  The car had passed the MOT recently and quite a sum of money was spent on it.
Our cars have been attacked before.  It usually happens when we are going on a ministry trip.  We have got used to coming under attack from the enemy of our souls.
The devil comes to rob, steal and destroy, but Jesus comes to give us life and life abundantly.  John 10 v 10
We prayed that God would restore a car to us.  He did it before and we believed he would do it again.
The car was found later.  It was destroyed.  The police told us the driver has crashed into several vehicles on his ventures through town.
Our insurance company said we would be liable to pay the cost of damages if the driver was caught!  He has not been caught.  Trials come to test us!  
I believe all things work together for good.  Romans 8 v 28
Three months on I am settled in the country and it would be nice to have a car to get out and about.  My husband put his mind to looking for a car.  He was specific.  He wanted a black automatic car.  I wanted a Saab.  We now have a black, automatic Saab!  It did not cost the earth.  It was much reduced.  It is in great condition.  We have joy and thank God for his restoration.
He is the Living God and he restores our lives and our goods!  He cares for me.