Tag Archives: inspiration

My Experience on A Flight Yesterday. Write a Post in the Present Tense

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I am on a flight to Tel Aviv, at 37000 feet altitude. The sky is blue right to the horizon.  I am enjoying the brightness up here.  As I look below I see the snow capped mountains and the cloud filled valleys of the Alps.
 
 
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 Life is all around me inside the aircraft.  There are many families with young children on this flight.  There were prams and car seats folded beside the stairs as we boarded the aircraft.  In the past when Brendan and I took some of our children on holidays we would be the only young family on the flight.
 
Families are sharing their fruit and sandwichs   There is a pleasant waft of freshly peeled orange.  Mothers nurse babies.  Toddlers are being entertained with stories their mums are reading to them.  Women are standing in the isles, stopping to chat with friends.  I am thinking this is like a small community on an airoplane.  My neighbour says “I have never been on a flight like this, with so much activity.”  We quieter folk read a book, do a crossword, Sudoku or write on one’s i Pad.
 
It is three o’clock, prayer time?  It is the time Jesus died on the cross.  The men, with their hats on, are standing at the back and front of the aisle.  They read from their books of prayers.  I am reminded of the the Book of Daniel.  He was a governor in Babylon and was one of the Jewish exiles taken there when the temple was destroyed.
 
He did his job very well and other officials in the King of Babylon’s kingdom were jealous of Daniel.  They wanted to get rid of him.  The only thing they could hold against him was that he prayed three times a day.  He got put in the Den of Lions because he refused to stop praying or bow down to any other God.  And his God delivered him.
 
I think “Do I take God serious enough to talk to him three times a day.”  If  I love someone who loves me and has blessed me so much in my life, I want to spend time with him.  I am going to spend some time now reading from my book of prayers!
 
 
 
 

 

Do you Believe you will ever write a Book

Some years ago I was travelling home from America.  My family had send me on a holiday for my birthday.  I was sitting beside a lady who was writing on a small computer.  She was making notes for a book she was writing.  I was returning home to a houseful of children to be reared and there would certainly be no time for writing.  Have you watched the film “Cheaper by the dozen?”  The mother of the children wrote a book!  I wondered if I would ever write a book.  The only writing I was doing was jotting down notes about my daily readings from the bible.  My husband called them “My Rewrites.”  He teased me saying “Are you going to rewrite the bible.”
Ten years on, I was on my way home from Canada to Ireland.  What was I doing?  I was writing notes for my blog.  I would never have dreamed that I would be doing this.  With the quick advancement of technology over these last years one does not have to make reams of notes in books with a pen.  I can do much writing on my i Pad.  One can e mail, send pictures, take pictures, blog, all with the press of a button.  Brendan bought it for me on my last birthday.  As I sit to write, memories come flooding back to me.  The Holy Spirit brings things to mind.
I have resisted writing before.  I resisted thinking back to the past.  I did not have good memories.  I resisted writing letters to anyone because I wanted only to write if I had some good news to tell.  I did not have the peace, confidence or courage before.  God promises he will make a way when there is no way.
 I have resisted anyone loving me.  I have resisted showing love.  I was embarrassed at first when I visited Canada.  Waitresses in the cafes were friendly and smiling.  People talked about having fun.  A husband would call his wife honey.  A wife would call her husband sweetie.  I was embarrassed.  I have never called my husband sweetie in my life.
Maybe the Irish are too numb from pain to express genuine love.  It can be embarrassing to hug someone you don’t know.  We can be sharp to tear someone down with our tongues.  I want to speak kindly and be pleasant to others.  Very often we don’t say anything and retreat into silence because of fear of being rediculled or someone retorting in anger because they don’t agree with your opinion.
There is a saying that goes if you can’t say anything good don’t say anything at all.  Perhaps trust is broken and one cannot be open again.  One puts up the defences to protect ones heart from wounding.
But God has healed my heart and mind of past traumas.  “Perfect love casts out fear.”  I can now look back and remember the good.  A friend has come back into my life this last week.  As we talked she remembered good times when we met together with our children.  More restoration and healing for me.
There is a Psalm that describes how I feel.
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. 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 126:1-6 NIV)

Blurb for book I want to write.

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My husband and I wrote a book called Staying Alive.  It tells about my journey from being diagnosed with fourth cancer to the head consultant writing me a letter to say he could find no trace of the nine centimetre tumour in my colon. Four years on, I am staying alive and I have produced this book about my family.
Whatever your views have been about having children up to now, this book about our big family will change your ideas forever.
I tell stories about life from day to day in our home, how God interrupted our lives and guided us on a journey we did not choose.  Scripture says I chose you.
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10 KJV)
You will laugh, you will cry, you will have renewed hope and courage.  This book will bring healing to you, your marriage and your wider family.  My book tells of restoration of broken relationships by the power of God.  Barriers broken down and unity and love restored in family.
God came into my life and has multiplied me to become a tribe of forty nine.!  I have fourteen children, ten in laws, twenty eight grandchildren, one great grand child and counting.
The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly.” (Isaiah 60:22 NIV)

Do you have Good Teeth? One of the Gifts of God is to Enjoy your Food

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Psalm 21v 1&3
 
 
The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give!
You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. (Psalm 21:1, 3 NIV)
 
Twenty seven years ago I was expecting my eighth child, John.  I remember reading the Psalm mentioned above.  A mother needs to give special attention to her teeth when she is expecting a baby.  I was going to my dentist.  He discovered one of my molars needed a crown.  He said I can give you a gold crown for this tooth, free.  Dental care is free when one is pregnant.  I remembered the Psalm I had read, “I will put a gold crown upon your head.”
 
Within two weeks I had a shiny gold crown fitted on my tooth.  People are often surprised that my teeth are strong after having fourteen babies.  I had a good dentist and rather than take a tooth out when it was decayed, he preserved it and fitted a crown.  I have a mouth full of gold crowns!  I have been blessed by God. 
 
When I was in Dawson Creek back in November 2013 one of my gold crowns dislodged from a tooth.  I was anxious that my tooth would be sensitive and if I got to a dentist it would be expensive.  Our host got a dental appointment.  He checked it out and suggested I wait to see my own dentist back home.  Thankfully I was not in pain and the appointment was 50 dollars.
 
Two months on, today, I got a new gold crown fitted.  My tooth is restored to better than before.  God is a God of restoration.  I persevered two months with a jagged tooth in my mouth till today I have a strong smooth,gold crowned tooth.  One of the gifts of God is to enjoy your food.  I enjoyed my dinner when I got back home.
 
Have you had a promise that God gave you, fulfilled?  Tell me about it.

 

 

How to Heat a Two Hundred Year old House.

Posted in Dreams, My thoughts, Nature, Provision by
This week I got a harvest of wood.  Last summer a friend asked me if I had a wood burning stove.  I told her I had four.  I bought two of the burners very cheaply.  Many people nowadays prefer gas or oil for their heating.  Cutting wood is hard work and wood is in short supply.  I had the workers, all I needed was the wood.
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She told me her neighbour had left stacks of broken logs in her part of the grounds where a few trees had been cleared.  I was delighted with her offer.  My stack of logs needed replenished.  In the autumn I went out to see this new source of wood.  My boys did not have to do the heavy work of cutting down the trees or chainsawing thick trunks.  They pulled out logs from the stack in sizes manageable to carry to the van.  Two days work supplied us with wood we are still using.  The boys chop the wood back in our garden and store it.

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I visited my friend this week to thank her and she said we are welcome anytime.  Brendan and the boys decided to gather in some wood before they returned to university.  It started to rain the day work was to start.  But undeterred Brendan and the boys headed off. The rain stopped.
We had storms recently.  In the middle a Eileen’s garden was a tree that had fallen in the storm.  Brendan and the boys cut it up and now all the tree is in my back garden.
When I moved to our present home which has seven bedrooms, fourteen years ago I was wondering how were we going to heat it.  It is two hundred years old and had some fire places and some oil heating.  To keep us comfortable may be costly.
I had a dream.  In it I saw a stack of wood, a stack of coal and a stack of turf.  I believe God was showing me he would supply the fuel for my big house.  To the back of our home was a small wood that needed cleared for houses to be built.  That was our supply of wood for a few years.
One spring, trees were washed up on a local beach in a big storm.  I discovered it and alerted Brendan.  In no time, with the boys help, we had the van full of wood.
Another friend, who lived in a big estate offered us any fallen trees.  So God supplied the stack of wood, and the turf and coal.  From time to time we bring home turf from Kerry when we return from holiday.  I burn coal only on the cold days.  So I have not had a big bill for fuel in the years we have lived here.
When I had the dream I was reminded of the poem by Padraic Colum.

Old Woman of the Roads

O, to have a little house!
To own the hearth and stool and all!
The heaped up sods against the fire,
The pile of turf against the wall!
To have a clock with weights and chains
And pendulum swinging up and down!
A dresser filled with shining delph,
Speckled and white and blue and brown!
I could be busy all the day
Clearing and sweeping hearth and floor,
And fixing on their shelf again
My white and blue and speckled store!
I could be quiet there at night
Beside the fire and by myself,
Sure of a bed and loth to leave
The ticking clock and the shining delph!
Och! but I’m weary of mist and dark,
And roads where there’s never a house nor bush,
And tired I am of bog and road,
And the crying wind and the lonesome hush!
And I am praying to God on high,
And I am praying Him night and day,
For a little house – a house of my own
Out of the wind’s and the rain’s way.

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When the chilly winds and rain of winter blow, we are cosy in our big house with the home fires burning.  My son said he misses the warm fires when he is away.  I even have a dresser of my own with the Delph.

From the Roar of the Sea to Stillness of the Flock of Dunlins

Posted in My thoughts, Nature by
Today I am noticing birds. It is mid January and spring is in the air.  The sparrows are chirping in the hedgerows, the starlings are searching for food under the leaves:  the doves flit from branch to branch, and the little chaffinches chase away any intruders from the bird table.  Blackbirds are making an appearance from their winter hideaways.  The time for singing of birds has come, early!
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 The earth is causing the first flowers to spring up.  I saw snowdrops today.  There are a sure sign for me of brighter days coming.  I bought the first bunch of daffodils this week.  I am reminded of the scripture
“Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.”  from the Song of Solomon 2:12 NIV.
Later in the morning I saw other birds.  Brendan and I went for a walk along the promenade in Newcastle.  The tide was high, the sea calm, with waves gently lapping on the rocks.  A few days ago the waves were crashing, splashing, and cascading onto the promenade, leaving sea weed and sand.  There was  power in those waves.
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I looked closer at an area of beach covered in pebbles.  There was a little flock of Dunlins.  Their white bellies and grey backs enabled them to be camouflaged among the stones.  They were still and silent in unison, all facing the same direction.  The moment reminded me when people would be silent out of respect for someone important.  It seemed they were worshipping.  It was a holy moment.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and though its waters roar and foam.  He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:1-3, 10 NIV)
It was marvellous to look at the flock of birds.  Can we learn from these little birds and be in unity?  Sometimes one can be quiet for a moment, but for a group of people to stand in quietness without being told to is unusual.  Our world is full of noise, talking, traffic, radio, TV, music and machines.  Perhaps we can try with our friends or family to be quiet and still for ten minutes like the Dunlins.  Be still and know that I am God.
Creation is is declaring the Glory of God as the waves crash and the little birds together stand still, hidden among the stones.

DAVID’S BIRTHDAY part two

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My daughter got in touch with Brendan at the airport.  The information desk paged him on the intercom.  He was soon to board his flight to London.  He returned home to be with me at the hospital.  Our baby was well on its way when Brendan arrived.  I was delighted to see him.  The labour progressed.  Brendan brought me extra courage and strength.  David was born, a healthy baby boy of ten pounds with a strong pair of lungs.

I have always been excited when I started in labour.  I know the waiting is over and my baby will be born soon.  I had no fear for my well being or my child’s health.  I believe in God’s promise that “Children are a gift from God”Psalm 127 v 3 and “He will keep me safe in childbearing.” 1 Timothy 2 verse 1.

Children wait in anticipation for a Christmas present from parents, or “Santa Claus” and do not be disappointed.  Before Christmas I see parents going around franticly looking for their children’s presents, greeting stressed out and spending much money.

“You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” (Luke 11:11-13 NLT)

Brendan and I decided many years ago to delete Santa Claus out of our family.  We had many reasons.

1.  Santa Claus is a lie. If we as parents tell our children lies when they are young, then how will they trust us  to believe important things we tell them later in life.

2.  This lie is mixed in with an important event in the Christian calendar, Christmas, the birth of Jesus, a gift from God the Father.   It is good to give gifts to one another at this time to celebrate God’s gift to us.  But let us be truthful about it. You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.

3.  One can live within ones means.  Many people get into debt at Christmas time.  The consumer society makes most profit at this time.  How come Santa does not go to the poor countries of Africa?

4.  One does not have to get stressed out living up to expectations of having to buy presents, Christmas tree, turkey, make big meals, celebrating.  Christmas Day is the most stressful day of the year when family tensions run high.

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:31-34 NLT)

5.  Many people want the fun, fellowship and feasting but do not acknowledge the One that Christmas is all about.

It turned out that eight of our children were born around the Christmas season.  Our children were gifts from God to us.

I was very comfortable in the maternity unit I was transferred to.  It was a home from home.  Twenty five years ago mothers were happy to stay in hospital to get help with their babies. One could get a good night’s sleep.  The night nurses fed the babies.  Now because of financial cuts and mother’s choice the stay in hospital is one or two days after the baby is delivered.

I was happy for Brendan to go to the conference.  I would stay in hospital and enjoy the care, until his return.  I got plenty of rest, good food, and had time to bond with my beautiful new son.
I had no care for tomorrow.

David is a bright, handsome young man.  He has a heart to work with disadvantaged people.  He has already worked in Nicaragua and India.  He is overcoming difficulties to get into his destiny that God had planned for him before he was born. May God bless him this year.

It is also the twenty fifth anniversary of the Keg Worth aircraft crash today. On the night of David,s birth, when Brendan was on his way from Belfast to London, a flight from London to Belfast crashed with 114 people on board.  Forty seven people died.  It is a sad day for many.  I will not forget David’s birthday.

COLOURS OF THE RAINBOW

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Today there is a display of colours of the rainbow in my living room.  My husband bought me a beautiful crystal bunch of grapes many years ago.  I had it sitting in my display cabinet for a long time.  
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About three years ago, after he was decorating our living room, Brendan decided to give the crystal  a more prominent place in our living room.  He hung it from an old gas light fixture on our wall.  It hangs like a bunch of grapes on a branch.  Brendan is very creative.
 
Later that morning he entered the room and there were flashes of rainbow colours all along the wall.  He called me to see the spectacle. Whow!!  It was special moment.  We watched as the lights danced along the wall when Brendan spun the grapes around.  The rainbow is a sign of God’s covenant.  
 
When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” (Genesis 9:14-16 NLT
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

The Salmon

Posted in Canada, Prayer, Provision by

When Brendan and I were in Seschelt our friend Ivan took us for a drive up along the coast.

We parked near a bay and our host told us he often went fishing there. The salmon were abundant in these waters and one was sure of a catch. What an ideal way to spend an evening in the sunset on his little boat in the bay. This certainly was the good life.

We stopped off at a coffee shop. Some people called over to us and told us “The salmon are running!”
There was a small river flowing nearby. We crossed over to it and sure enough we saw salmon spawning in the shallow waters. What an oppportunity for us!

While Brendan and I rejoiced to see this feature of nature before our eyes, our friend took some video footage. We were all excited as we spent those moments. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

Salmon live their adult life in the waters of the ocean. The Pacific is a big ocean, and millions of salmon return up the many rivers along the Canadian coast in Autumn. There are many types of salmon. The Sockeye is the biggest and most popular salmon caught. Wild bears and eagles have a feeding frenzy when the fish return.

The salmon has one goal, to return to the place where they were born to hatch their young. Once they leave the salt waters and enter the fresh water of the river the salmon stop feeding. They start the hazardous journey upstream over rapids, waterfalls and potholes to get to the shallow water when they can swim no further.

There the female releases her eggs in the sandy water bed and the male fertilises them. The parent salmon work is done. Every ounce of their energy has been used to get to their destination. They die soon afterwards.

We watched as the salmon released their eggs in that Creek. There were queues of fish waiting in the shallows to take their turn to lay their eggs. Perhaps they were not so keen to go forward because they knew their end was near.

Brendan, our friend and I savoured this moment. What is nature saying to us?

As I pondered on this I thought of my own life as a parent. Our goal as parents is to raise our young and help them through the stormy waters that we have passed through and show them the way.

The salmon entering the fresh water begins the journey of dying to self. This is symbolic of the one who decides to follow Jesus as well. He leaves the ocean, which represents the world and enters into the river of The Holy Spirit. Just like the salmon one has to die to self so more of the life of Christ lives in us.

As I get older I realise that on my journey in the river of the Holy Spirit I have had to die many times to my own will. As I trust God ‘s leading in my life I have peace. I can pass what I have learnt on to my children. I do not have to die physically like the salmon, but I have to die to my own will. The following scripture sums up the Christian journey.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen (Jesus the author and finisher of our faith) since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:7, 16, 18 NIV)

PRISONER, PENSIONER AND PRINCIPAL

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Yesterday Brendan and I went to visit a friend who is a prisoner, Brendan’s mother who is 93, and another man who is principal of a school. 

The first snow was falling as we drove early to the prison.  Our friend was glad to see us.  He was cheerful and encouraged us to keep on looking after our family.  His wife and all but one of his children do not visit him.  He realises what he has lost because of his selfishness.  He encouraged us and we encouraged him.  He is sure of God’s forgiveness and love and prays for his family.  He is hoping for restoration.

Brendan’s mother is settling home after a few days in hospital.  Despite her weakness she blessed us with Christmas gifts for our family.  She has lived a long life and has seen her children’s children’s children, all sixteen of them.  She was widowed young, reared her boys and lived humbly.  She is leaving behind a good legacy.  She has borne good fruit.

The principal of a school invited us to pray with him.  Two hundred and twenty five young children attend the school.  Jesus said “Let the little children come to me for such is the kingdom of heaven.”
We encouraged him and prayed for wisdom for his task in overseeing forty staff and all those pupils.
I always give thanks to God for the school teachers who cared for and taught my children.  I was reassured they were being well looked after, while I was busy with my younger children.

Teachers do a great job, but the parents can give the best example to their children.  How we live our lives as parents affects our children.  We do not get to be selfish for long as we rear our children.  One of my favourite verses in Exodus 20 says God promises to bless us to the thousandth generation of those who love The Lord but curses come upon our children to the fourth generation if we disobey God.  What choice will you make? 

But I believe their is hope for the prisoner and his family.  Jesus forgives our sins and promises to restore all that is lost.  Over and over in the bible we read about the children of Israel.  When they were far away from God because of their sins He always had mercy and restored them.  When I was feeling hopeless and about to die of cancer, God sent his healing and restored me.  There is hope.

Brendan and I were in Canada and Slovakia recently sharing this hope with many people.  God wants to restore families.  Jesus shed his Precious Blood to pay the price for our wrongdoing and our forefathers’ wrongdoing.  You can go free from guilt and shame.  Do not blame, just forgive.  And God will restore that which has been lost.

May God bless you and your family in this season of good will.

Angela