Oh the stillness of Monday morning.
The house is quiet.
No popping of the toaster, or the kettle boiling for tea and coffee.
The high chair is empty till the next grandchild comes to visit.
No airport pickups today.
Visitors from far away places in England, Canada and India have left.
The light, warmth and stillness invites us outside.
The calm after the storm.
Our friend the robin welcomes us.
He flutters and swirls around me, excited.
Others birds in the forest are singing their hearts out.
Two blue tits come down inquisitively looking for food.
A blackbird calls.
A solitary Raven chases away any competitors for the food scattered on the lawn.
The sunshine glistens on the water, thousands of lights dancing.
Tinkle, tinkle sounds come up from the last yacht below in the bay.
Where is the sun bed?
It hasn’t been packed way yet.
I stretch out and look up.
A few dry leaves drift past.
There is the blue sky beyond the bare branches.
Somewhere up there in an aeroplane is my son and his family.
I will savour the sunshine and beauty.
It’s a new day, I will not be sad.
Tag Archives: religion
Welcome to My World by Jim Reeves
I listened to this song today.
I really liked the lyrics.
Jim Reeves was popular in the sixties.
His voice brought back memories for me of then.
He sang many Christian songs.
Listen to it. Let the words speak to you as if Jesus was speaking to you.
The Practicalities of Living in The Real World
What is life about.” “Is my life worth living?” “Who am I in the midst of millions of people on the earth?” I asked myself these questions.
When I had two children I began to think more seriously about how I would guide them in life. Children are not just for Christmas. They are for life.
The family unit is the environment a child is born into. In that place, depending on the parents, the child can feel secure, loved and learn to trust. If the home is not a secure place, if the parents are not loving, then the child will not have a good start in live.
If he does not receive love along the way in his formative years, in the extended family, at school, from the community, then the child will not have a good experience in life. He will be disadvantaged in overcoming difficulties this world throws at him.
I decided I would have to make some sacrifices to think of my children before myself. I wanted them to grow up in a loving home. I knew I would have to make changes in my relationship with my husband.
Was there any help out there? I searched, asked questions, I was looking for truth. I looked at other people that were rearing their children. Did I want the way they lived? Were others successful? How did their children turn out?
My husband and I travelled with our two children to Findhorn, a community in the north of Scotland. Did they have the answer for community living? We wanted to find a community of people that demonstrated love.
At the time in Northern Ireland the Christian communities were at war. There was hatred in the atmosphere and we were all under that cloud.
We returned home. We knew Findhorn was not for us.
I was given a bible and I began to read it. Jesus claimed to be the way, the truth and the life. Now I was getting somewhere. I was looking for truth.
I read on. Jesus said God gave Moses the commandment to love one another, and to love your neighbour as yourself. Okay here I find someone talking about loving one another. But there was war in Northern Ireland. I was confused. I decided to find out more what Jesus said and take my eyes off man.
Jesus prayed “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” I thought I will have to look to God in Heaven. Life on earth revolves around God not me.
I began to follow Jesus’ guidance about prayer. I went into my room and prayed to God in Heaven. I learnt to forgive others anything they did against me. I had joy when God answered my prayers.
I read, “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:40, 41 NIV)
The Garden Of Gethsemene where the disciples were found sleeping.
I decided to spend fifteen minutes praying and fifteen minutes reading the bible. Sometimes I may have prayed for an hour. It was a start. I decided to do what Jesus said “Abide in me.” I wanted to be fruitful for God.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing. If my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”(John 15:5, 7, 8 NIV)
What a statement Jesus made! I can do nothing without him. I believed!
He began to change me. He brought new friends into my life. He gave me patience. My money went further. I was getting on with my husband. We did things together. The Truth began to teach me.
I grew in wisdom. God gave me wisdom. Wisdom has to do with becoming skilful in honouring others, loving, raising my children, handling money, morality, working, treating others kindly, not arguing, living in an attitude of peace and not war.
Heaven was coming on earth in my life. I had love, peace and joy. I was finding meaning to life on earth. I wanted to continue on this journey.
Why not go into your room and pray to the Father in heaven. He is listening and will answer.
My Experience on A Flight Yesterday. Write a Post in the Present Tense
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.
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!
Happy Christmas
Happy Christmas to my family, friends and followers near and far away in the nations. Thank you so much for your love, encouragement and support over this past year. It is always exciting to see your flags in my stats box, Canada, USA, Israel, Ireland, UK, Greece, Cambodia, Russia, Australia, Slovakia, South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia, Korea and the Phillipines. Thanks for your comments.
The empty nest has filled up again with children home for Christmas. It is good to see one another. Children have a tendency to want to catch up on sleep. I wonder why? Isn’t that what home is for, to crash and recover from work and student life.
Where there are no oxen, the stall is clean, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests. (Proverbs 14:4 NIV)
With family here there is washing, cooking and cleaning to be done, but there is more strength to get logs cut, and some early spring cleaning done in the home and the garden.
As we have food, fellowship, fun and family times, let us not forget to thank God our Father for all his blessings. His Son came on earth to set mankind free from sin, sickness and the oppression of the devil. Let us turn to him and seek his revelation and blessings for the new year.
I heard this hymn recently,
God sent his son,
They called him Jesus
He came to love
Heal and forgive
He lived and died
To buy my pardon
An empty grave
Is there to prove
My Savior lives.
Chorus
Because he lives
I can face tomorrow
Because he lives
All fear is gone
Because I know
He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because he lives.
Brendan and I sung this chorus on the way to hospital to hear what treatment the doctor was going to give me for Cancer. All fear left us.
May we face the New Year with this hope, that God is near and wants to help us and he holds the future.
Angela
PRISONER, PENSIONER AND PRINCIPAL
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
FATAL ACCIDENT
I went to school in the country in a place called Drumaroad. It was a two teacher school. The head master was an excellent teacher but was know to be strict. He taught the basics of subjects that prepared one for the grammar school. As well as Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Religion, we learnt Algebra, Latin and Geography. I enjoyed Mathematics and Geography.
Children in my class stood around the maps of the world, as the teacher pointed out faraway places. We learnt the names of towns, mountains and rivers in Ireland. We learnt about the capitals of the nations, London, New York, Moscow, Paris etc. I saw that New Zealand and Australia were at the other end of the world, on the opposite side from us. I wondered if I would ever go there.
Many years on I have had the opportunity to travel to New Zealand, when my daughter got married there. I have been to London, Paris, Bratislava and unusual named places like Quala Lumpar and Dubai.
I was not so good at creative writing. One day the Master asked us to write a letter to a friend who had been in an accident. I started off saying, “I hope you have recovered from your fatal accident.” I did not know what “fatal” meant. I heard the word being used by someone so I thought I would try it out. When the master gave back my work he pointed out my mistake. He laughed. I laughed as well. I did not take offence but I have never forgotten what “fatal” means.
I was remembering this recently. I may have been prophetic then because I have recovered from the fatal disease of cancer. Nothing is impossible with God. Jesus rose from the dead. There is power in His name to recover from accidents and diseases.
I love to tell others what God has done for me by healing me from Cancer. Isaiah 66 says “I will send some of the survivors to the nations, to distant lands that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations.”
I am in Scotland visiting my children, three of whom are at university there. Angela has recently gone to Edinburgh. Abraham is at St Andrew,s, where Prince William and Kate met. Jacob is in Aberdeen, home of the oil industry. I have had the oppportunity to tell Abraham’s friends about my healing. I am giving them something to think about, that cuts across the the secular humanistic thinking of education.
Our God is the God who hears when anyone prays. He has compassion on all he has created in this world. He created all the nations that I studied about all those years ago, as I stood around the maps in that country classroom.
Some people stand out in our lives as having a big influence on us. Master Fitzpatrick is one of those people and I thank God for him. He had knowledge and he wanted to impart it to the next generation.
He was a good teacher. Thank you. He may not have travelled beyond his parish but someone he has taught has gone to the nations. I am sure he helped many others, who have done well in life.
We don’t realise what good we do when we help someone, that can have far reaching effects.
Angela
Healed of Cancer. Angela McCauley 