Tag Archives: home

I Hear the Brent Geese Honking.

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

My front door is one hundred and ten steps away from the sea shore.  This morning I can hear the honks of Canadian Brent geese that graze along the waters edge.  The sun is coming up over the hill to the left.  It will melt the crisp frost that has whitened the grass overnight.  It’s a new day dawning.

image

I think of the song by Matt Redman

The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

The Brent geese come to this area of Strangford Lough for the winter.  I always think of our friends from Canada when I see them.  They remind me of the blessing Canadians have been to my husband and family.  Canadians have visited us and we have visited Canada.

There are four aeroplane trails going west to east as I look up in the sky.  Flight paths pass over Ireland from Canada to London.  After the Christmas festivities with friends and family my heart is being drawn to travel and the nations beyond to tell my story of God healing me from cancer.

I was reading from the scriptures this morning.

This message is from the LORD, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. (‭Zechariah‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬ NLT)

How good it is to sing praises to our God.
He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.
He counts the stars and calls them all by name.
How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!
His understanding is beyond comprehension! (‭Psalm 147 v 1 to 4

These scriptures remind me that the God who made the heavens, made me, and he healed my broken heart and healed my wounds and is restoring my life from sadness and sorrow.

I want to sing Bless The Lord Oh my soul.  I am alive to praise The Lord.  Psalm 88 says the dead cannot praise God.  It is good to be alive to hear and see the Brent Geese.

My sons, daughters and grand children were strumming on their guitars, playing a tin whistle and singing last night as we gathered together.  Songs of joy are filling our home and hearts.

One of my grand daughters gets up early to play her guitar and write songs.  She has to rush when her mum calls her for school.

He awakens me morning by morning and fills me with joy.

A Bird Built His Nest

Posted in Family Friday, Ireland, My thoughts, Nature, Provision by

 

Recently I was thinking of the blackbirds in the garden of the our Saul St home. There were so many blackbirds that I wanted to call it “Blackbird Garden”.  Every spring they would be competing for the best territory to build a nest. The hedge rows, the ivy covering the walls, the holy bushes, the undergrowth of briars, all offered a safe place to build a nest. In the big garden the birds could forage for food to feed their hungry chicks.

The male blackbird has black feathers and a bight orange beak.  He was distinctive with his shiny coat as he sat on a branch surveying the area he was planning to build his nest and singing to attract his female.  She was close by, proud of her mate who was going to prepare a home for her and her young.

The birds began to build the nest.  They flew in through a hole in the hedge with beaks full of small twigs, moss or wool.  They built their nest with the twigs and used the moss or wool for the cosy lining to keep mother and chicks warm.  When the young were hatched father blackbird was even busier collecting food and feeding the young.  He was working all the hours of sunlight.

As I watched the early morning activity of the birds, my thoughts went to my husband.  He was like the blackbird.  He was busy being responsible for me and his family and property.  He made sure his home for his family was warm and there was enough food.  He had a house full of hungry young as well.  He kept the home fires burning in the cold months.  He paid the bills.

Our Heavenly Father has put it into the heart of the bird and the father to have young and care for them.  God cares for all he has created.

We have moved house recently.  It has plenty of space for our children and grandchildren to visit.
I see this aspect of a caring father in my husband at the moment, even though our chicks have all flown the nest.  He is like the blackbird going to and fro putting things in place, hanging pictures of the children, making up beds, preparing his workplace, carrying chairs and tables.  He will sit at the head of the table as we share food and family times again.  He will sit around a camp fire out on the veranda and tell stories to his grandchildren that he told to his own children.  Brendan is preparing a home for his own children to return to and bring their little ones.

We are not retiring as parents.  Our work will continue as God gives us strength.  No pensioners bungalow for us.  Our children still need us.

Gods word encourages us to look at the birds.

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 ‭6‬:‭26-27‬ NIV)

People have often asked us “How can you afford such a big family?”  We have faith in God like the birds he will care for us.  We are more important than them.  God promises to care for us.  He is worthy to be trusted.

In one of the psalms it says,
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God! (‭Psalms‬ ‭84‬:‭3‬ NLT)

Brendan was working with the children in our garden once before.  A blackbird came and built a nest very close to where they were working.  It busied itself with its young while Brendan was busy with his young digging the garden.  The birds like to be around life.  As our spirits reach out to God the birds respond.  They sing for us on the branches.  We will always remember that family of blackbirds.

The first of our children and grandchildren came to visit at the weekend.  I turned on the heating to warm up all the rooms.  I reminded my husband that the blackbird lines the nest with wool to keep the young warm.  He swallowed hard.

It is the middle of an Irish winter.  Whoever thinks of a house move at this time!  Our new home is bigger.  Our last house was a modern bungalow with good insulation.  It was like a hot house.  I was using the same bed covering here that I used in the bungalow.  I was feeling the chill last night.  I gave in to changing the bed covering to a duvet Brendan bought two years ago.  I tried it out before but found it too warm.  It was just what was needed in our new nest.  The feathered filled duvet kept us cosy through the cold night.  My husband had already provided for the colder days!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/one-at-a-time/

The Fig Tree’s Fruit is Sweet

Posted in Canada, Healing, Holiday, Ireland, My thoughts, Nations, Nature by

I live in Northern Ireland where the weather is not extreme.  Our winter is mild and our summer is not too hot.  When I travel to warmer climates it takes time for me to adjust.  It is true the saying, “there is no place like home.”

Given that, I do enjoy going on holiday to the sun for a week or two in the year.  My body gets comforted by the rays of warmth on my back.  Then a quick dip in the sea or pool to cool off.  I do believe I get healing when I come to Greece.  The sun is much brighter there.  In the scripture it says ”   The sun will be seven times brighter when I heal the wounds of my people.”  Isaiah 30 v 26

This is my beauty treatment for the year.

When I go to the Mediteranean countries the stories from the bible come alive.
In Greece I have seen families sitting outside their white washed houses, eating, talking and relaxing under a veranda frame with a grape vine covering it.

The vine can grow up quickly.   It’s tendrils shoot out leaves in many directions so it can cover a large area.  The broad leaves make a green canopy to give shelter from the sun.
Fig trees can be trained along a frame as well.  Their broad leathery leaves protect and shelter from the strong sun’s rays.

The fig tree however takes years to grow.
Here is a fig tree I took a picture of recently.
image

 

Neither of these plants wither in the harshest heat.  An added benefit to the householder is the sweet fruit both plants produce.

The fig tree and the vine are symbols of peace.
It is God’s will that man has a home and lives in peace and not war.
The scriptures tell us about the harmony of man benefitting from the plants.
Solomon is know as a wise king.
During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree. (‭1 Kings‬ ‭4‬:‭25‬ NIV)

There was peace. Another scripture says,

Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken. (‭Micah‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬ NIV)

In times of war, houses are demolished and trees destroyed.  No more days of peaceful family times.
Often families can be in turmoil and war internally.  No more happy times eating together and sharing.  The vine tree is left unattended and the fig tree not pruned.

But God gives hope when there is no hope as we trust and praise him.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. (‭Habakkuk‬ ‭3‬:‭17-18‬ NIV)

Even in the darkest times of war from without and from within God promises restoration.

My Prayer For Your Healing

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

I want to thank you Almighty God for all you have done for me.
You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the Earth. You alone are creator of the Heaven and the earh.

I thank you for your son Jesus who suffered with whips on his back, died on the Cross and shed his blood so I can be forgiven and healed.  You have rescued me from death and have forgiven all my sins. You have restored my health and helped me to live.

I thank and praise you Almighty Father for blessing me with my husband and family and home. You have looked after me all the days of my life. You are worthy to be praised.
I thank you I can come boldly to your throne in heaven because your son Jesus made a way for me to come to you by shedding his blood.

Please listen to my prayer today for others, especially for those who read my blog today.
Your son Jesus said if I ask you anything in His name you will do it for me.
Because you have heard my prayers and healed me I believe you will heal others as I pray for them.

My prayer for you.

Thank you Heavenly Father for ( name ).
You are loving and full of compassion for ( name ).
I want to tell ( name ) that you are near to her and are acquainted with her grief.
You heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds. (‭Psalm‬ ‭147‬:‭3‬ NIV)
I want her to know that you, Jesus took all our sicknesses, sins and curses on the Cross and shed your blood so she can be pain free.
Please deliver her from cancer or ( other disease, ( name it ) and demonic affliction ( depression, anger, rejection, lust, etc. ) she is suffering from in Jesus name.
By the stripes of Jesus she is healed.
Restore her to full health and I declare this disease will not come back again in Jesus name.
I give you all the honor and glory because it is through the power of the Name of Jesus ( name ) is healed.
Continue to protect her by the power of your Blood, and lead her not into temptation.
May ( name ) thank and praise you for what you are doing today in her life in Jesus name.

Please put your name or those you want prayer for, in the brackets, or when I mention ( her ).

References.
Isaiah 53, Psalm 86 v 15, John 15 v 16, Psalm 103 v 1 to 3, Isaiah 38 v 16

Difficulties in Life are Meant to be Cut Down like Grass. http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_assignment/writing-101-brevity/

Posted in Holiday, My thoughts, Nature, Travel by

I am on a break after a busy summer.
Time to stop all activity, no housework, cooking, shopping, talking, gardening, phone calls or driving.
I have learned if I don’t take a holiday at this time of the year my body will cry out some other way.
I will take sick and be confined to bed, or some other circumstance arise to cause me to stop working or giving out emotionally or mentally.
God knows we will over work.  He tells me in Psalm 23
“The Lord is my shepherd, he leads me beside still waters and green pastures to restore my soul.”
As I was enjoying the view of pine trees across from my window, the peace and stillness was broken by the chug, chug of an engine.  I looked out to see someone mowing the long grass outside.
The sound took me back fifteen years.

image

 

 
Our family had moved into a big house with a big garden.
It was overgrown and had not been cared for.
Years of fallen leaves had built up and thorns and briers grew up freely.
I knew there would be rich soil underneath all this cover.
How was I going to restore this land?
I like a challenge and outdoor work.
I found a second hand lawnmower in the Ads for Free magazine, just like the one the gardener is using today.
It did not cost much but this was a power machine for me over the next years to clear my land.
Briers, thorns, old grass and odd refuse were cut to pieces and collected by my machine and I.
I sowed grass seed in the newly cleared ground and before long I had a green lawn.
I was not daunted by the overgrown garden.  It was a challenge I overcame.
I cleared my land of thorns and thistles.
Today I am glad to be resting from my labour.

The Swallow has Arrived to Rear her Young.

Posted in My thoughts by

 

The swallow has arrived from South Africa.

Yesterday I noticed a pair of swallows swirling overhead.  They are harbingers of spring in the Northern countries of the world. They have arrived to rear their young.

Swallows spend most of their days flying through the air catching insects.  Wherever there are insects you will find swallows.  They are to be found all over the world except near the Artic and Antarctica.

They build their nests near where humans live.  Their nests are found in barns of farmers.  They return each year to the same nesting place.  I remember when I lived at home on my father’s farm each year swallows would arrive.  They flitted in and out of their nests bringing food for their young.

I have been encouraged from the scriptures when I have prayed in the past about a house for my family.

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)

It is amazing that this small bird travels from Africa, thousands of miles, to nest and rear offspring.  I watched a nature programme about the swallows.  They arrive at certain places on their journey north where swarms of insects have just hatched.  A feast is prepared for the migrating birds.  It was wonderful to watch.  God even cares for the birds of the air.

Scriptures encourage us to not worry.

“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 than food, and the body more 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ? (Matthew 6:25-27 NIV)

So this small bird flying overhead has reminded me of Gods care and provision of a home for me.

 

On Top of the Hill, an Irish Boreen. Weekly Photo Challenge

Posted in My thoughts by

Here are the views from the top of the hill above where I live in Ireland.

The photos were taken from the same spot.

This photo is taken to my left.

Image

 

The small road is called a Boreen.  

Not like the many laned motorways in other countries.

The Irish Sea and the Mourne Mountains are in the distance.  Slieve Donard is the highest in the middle.

“Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.”

Image

Have you Blown it and Need A Second Chance?

Posted in My thoughts by

 

God provided a year of favour in the Jubilee or fiftieth year.

God gives a second chance:  he even gives three, four, five and more chances. God cares about mankind and he knew they would get into trouble.   God will make a way when there is no way.  

When the Queen of England was reigning for fifty years she celebrated her Jubilee year.  When a couple are married for fifty years their anniversary is called their Jubilee year.

For the Jews the year of Jubilee was celebrated to give restoration and freedom or the Year of The Lord’s favour.  

When Jesus started his ministry he declared he had come to proclaim the “Year of the Lord’s favour.”  He went about healing all those who were slaves to sickness or poverty, or oppressed mentally.  He forgave sins and gave people new beginnings, a new start in life.  Jesus brought Jubilee.

The year 2000 was a year of Jubilee for me.  I was coming up to my fiftieth birthday.  I really came to understand what Jubilee meant and that God cared for me.  

In the previous years I was praying for a bigger house for my growing family.  I wanted more space.  The house we lived in then was great but I knew as my children turned teenagers it would be too small.

God saw my heart’s desire was to help my family.  We had a limited income.  Certainly not enough to buy a bigger home.  If God gave land according to the size of their tribes of Israel, I thought it would be no problem for him to provide a bigger home.  I was his child and his Word says he is my Father.  Matthew 6 v 9.  Would a Father not give good things to his child?

He knows life throws up its hardships and misfortunes.  Rearing children is hard work!  When the children were young I could put them to bed at night and know where they were.  What would they get up to when they became teenagers?  

God promises to give a way of escape.  I needed a new beginning.  

In the year 2000 God provided a new home in a smaller town.  Not only that but God brought me back to near where I was born.  He brought me back to my father’s land like the children of Israel whom God promised to restore them to their father’s land.  Jer  27 v 22. 
I was nearer extended family.  My children were able to get to know them.
It was like moving back in time ten years.   Restoration.  

Football provided activity for my growing boys.  There were no night clubs.  There was less drink and drugs available.  My children made new friends and their parents welcomed them to visit after school.  They were being supervised.  God gave me new friends as well.  I celebrated my fiftieth birthday in my new home.  What a birthday present from The Lord.

Do you feel you are coming to a dead end?  Look up to The Lord.  He will raise you up to a higher plateau and give you a new start. 

Weekly Photo Challenge. Street Life. A View of the Street where I am Going to Live

Posted in My thoughts by

I am moving from the town to the country!

Image

From the noise of traffic, school children laughing on their way home, and people passing by, to the stillness of the countryside.
From a view of the houses and green rolling hills of Co Down to a Bella Vista of the Irish Sea and the Mourne Mountains.
From a four storey house with wide staircases to a single storey chalet bungalow with lots of rooms leading off one floor.
From tall trees and flowering shrubs here to trees and plants that are sculpted by the salt laiden winds from the sea.
From a night sky beyond roofs of close knit houses to an open sky full of bright stars.
From a house full of children and activity, to serenity and peace of only a few of us.
From lighting wood burning fires to heat from the flick of a switch.
I am going to be living where the sky, sea and mountains are big and bright.The reflection of light off the sea makes the mountains in the distance look white.

The future definitely looks bright.  Praise God he has prepared a place for us to live after I am healed of cancer.  God has kept me alive.

Brendan and I will enjoy our new home. Who could ask for anything more.

Days can be sunny
With never a sigh
Don’t need what money can buy
Birds in the trees sing
Their day full of song
Why shouldn’t we sing along?

I’m chipper all the day
Happy with my lot
How do I get that way?
Look at what I’ve got

I got rhythm
I got music
I got my man
Who could ask for anything more?
I’ve got daisies
In green pastures
I got my man
Who could ask for anything more?

Old Man Trouble
I don’t mine him
You won’t find him
Round my door

I got starlight
I got sweet dreams
I got my man
Who could ask for anything more?

I got rhythm
I got music
I got my man
Who could ak for anything more?
I got daisies
In green pastures
I got my man
Who could ask for anything more?

Old Man Trouble
I don’t mind him
You won’t find him
Hangin’ round my front or back door

Who could ask for anything more?
Who could ask for anything more?

http://daily post.wordpress.com/2014/03/28 street-life/

 

We are Moving House. Do it Again, Lord.

Posted in Dreams, Family Friday, My thoughts, Prayer, Provision by

 

 

“Be very careful never to forget what you have seen The Lord do for you.  Do not let these things escape from your mind as long as you live!  And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.”  Deuteronomy 25 v 9

After rearing our children in the big house God provided for us, Brendan and I realised over the past few years that it is taking a lot of our energy to maintain it.  Lighting the fires in the morning to keep warm, cleaning and doing household chores made me weary.

Our children advised us to downsize to a more modern house that would be easy to keep warm.  It is not easy to be released from the home we reared our children for the last fifteen years.  Our children have memories of  growing up here.  There is space for us to have family get togethers, and the grandchildren come to visit.  There is room for them to stay over.

It is not easy to start looking again.  Back in September I read from God’s Word I will provide a home for the poor.  Brendan and I were going to trust God, as before, to provide a home for us.  “Lord you did it before, do it again,” I prayed.  “You will not forsake me now when I have gray hair,” according to Psalm 71.

Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me. (Psalms 71:18 NLT)

I did not want to move away from the area where we now live.  I would be happy to move to the country nearby.  We began to look at possibilities.  I did not have the energy to look at potential houses and then be disappointed if we were rejected.  We did try once, found a lovely house to rent, but the owner was not willing to rent to us.  I didn’t try any more.

Brendan and I visited Jerusalem earlier in the year.  I believe God’s Word that says he will bless us in Jerusalem.
Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek The Lord of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing. (Zechariah 8:22 NLT)
I went to the ancient site of the Wailing Wall and prayed there about many things.

When we arrived back home I got a call from my hairdresser.  She said I had a dream about you last night and I need to tell you about it.  The dream indicated we would be leaving this house.  She did not know our situation about wanting to move from here. This dream helped Brendan and I decide to move from here.  We were in agreement.  Before I was undecided.

We looked at Property Pal, an Internet site for house rentals.  I searched for houses in our local area.  There were a few houses to let in the country nearby.  I called the agent of one I liked.  He arranged a viewing that evening.

It turned out to be a house next door to our friend who had the dream.  Her brother owned the house.  It proved ideal for our needs and applied to rent it.  The owner agreed and we move there next week.

The house is called “Bright House.”  In case we had any doubts about our move God has showed us signs three times.   I was reading in the scriptures,

“It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us. (Colossians 1:9-12 MSG)”

Tea bags and cologne.

Image

 

A song on the radio called “Bright Eyes”.

Image

We are in the middle of our house move.  Energy is low but morale high because of the Bright future God has promised for us.

God speaks today.  Listen for His still small voice if you are needing to make a Big move.