Who are you relying on?

I am a real fan of the UCB 'Word for Today'.  You just can't beat it for sound biblical teaching and its relevance and application in our lives.  It is a must to start your day and focus you, regardless of what is going on around you.  It is my daily dose of 'something'!

The reading today was just an early morning cup of hot stuff!  It was titled 'Who are you relying on'?  After reading it (I'll share it with you in a moment) I decided to set my self a mini-challenge.  For everything / task / activity I would do today I would indeed ask myself the question 'Who am I relying on' in order to achieve / be successful / get through difficulties.   Does this make sense? 

From waking up and getting us all ready and out of the house on time, to performing the errands on a rather long list, I can trace it all back to reliance on one source .......................... I rely on the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to see me through.  It sufficient for me and each day I refill my cup with His Grace.  It's a bit like putting on your make up; it hides a multitude of flaws.  So does His Grace; it hides a multitude of character flaws, in so doing, allows us confidently, but gently, face the day and any trials (big or small) that come our way.  Beautiful........................


As I promised here it is:
I particularly love the last sentence and feel that this is something we should do every day, I certainly do, I have to.  What about you?

WHO ARE YOU RELYING ON?			07 Mar 2012
'We stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God.' 2 Corinthians 1:9
Jesus said, 'Here on earth you will have many trials' (Jn 16:33 NLT). You solve one problem, and another one comes along to take its place. They're not all big, but they're all necessary to your spiritual growth. How do you assess the strength of something? By testing it! The Bible says: 'Don't be...shocked that you are going through testing...It will prepare you' (1Pe 4:12-13 CEV). Some of your most life-enriching experiences will come during your worst moments-when your heart is broken, when you feel abandoned, when you're out of options, when your pain levels go through the roof-and you turn to God. That's when you learn to pray heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers. When you're in pain you don't have the energy for superficial ones. And that's when you discover, 'The Lord is close to the broken hearted' (Ps 34:18 NLT). God could have kept Joseph out of prison, Daniel out of the lions' den, Jeremiah out of the slimy pit, and Paul from being shipwrecked, but He didn't. As a result, each one of them was drawn closer to God and impacted the world around them. Your problems force you to look to God and depend on Him instead of yourself. This is especially hard on super achievers like Paul. 'We...saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us' (2Co 1:9 TLB). You'll never know what God can do until God is all you've got. So place your needs into His capable, loving hands, and watch what happens. Today (day 72) I am thankful to have someone I can rely on, by just placing my needs into His capable, loving hands and am ready to see what happens when I do.

Embracing the fullness of now

There is nothing I love more than finishing a day at work at just putting the key in the front door.  I'm home, I can kick of the shoes and shed the clothes (don't worry I do replace them with comfy lounge-wear).  For me it is such a poignant act, it signals the beginning of a slower pace, more listening (from me) than talking (it's a requirement of the job, honest); I can just sit and stare at my babies as they de-brief, often at the same time, about their day.  I do so love it.  For that moment of time I don't think about tomorrow, instead, embrace the fullness of now. 

I must share something else that made me very emotional.  When I was chatting and catching up with my good friend yesterday we were sharing how we (our fellowship of friends from years back) had been going through different things, sometimes really tough things and really needed the strength of each other to lift and build.  One of the things we used to do back then was for our men to get together, once a quarter, for some male bonding, the benefits of such times of fellowship were clear to all.  Life can and does get busy, often beyond our control and desire and such initiatives fall by the road side.  But because 'The name of the Lord is indeed a strong tower' good times are resurrected.  Blessed be his name! 

Today (day 71) I really am just thankful for where I am at and what God is teaching me about myself and this roller coaster called life.

Talking, jaw breaking...............never!

Anyone who doubts the existence of God need only look at the perfect artistry that He has fashioned called a woman's jaw and boy was it made strong.  Well with all that talking we are destined to do. 

After a marathon session with a dear, dear friend who had originally called to speak to Aaron (yes his birthday does spilleth over!) we had a lengthy catch up, but she did do most of the talking.  Then my Dad called to touch base with Aaron & we had a brief tete-a-tete.  As I was about to put fork to mouth another friend called (I thought it was my husband calling from a very cold Belfast, honest I did) for a necessary de-briefing session on the good stuff the Good Lord has been doing.  Hey hey hey, see what I did there?  Aaron then called another friend to say thank you for his pressies and I was summoned to the phone, but this time only for a short while.  Finally it was the turn of my boy, Sam, well he's got to catch up with his mum and you can't put a time limit on that!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am still waiting for one more call, from a tall, dark, most handsome bloke.  Please tell my husband......

You know what will happen now.  No one will call for days and I'll get a complex.....

Cliche but 'It is good to talk'.  Wonderfully uplifting dialogue does wonders for our spirit and is definitely what God intended and I am thankful that today (day 70) I was blessed with such conversation that spanned the ages.

Now what is that tipple that's recommendation as a good jaw lubricator, oh yes, a glass of sherry.  Tempting, but I'll settle for a cup of tea.  Night night........................

O Happy Day.........................

O Happy Day, Happy, Happy Day........................ and an emotional, thoroughly thankful young man of just '12 years of age' retired to bed this evening knowing how so very much he is loved!  Grandma called 3 times today after calling yesterday to wish him a 'Happy Birthday Eve'.  One of his best mates, James had popped over yesterday evening to spend some time with him.

I love birthdays, especially my children's, even though with each they get older and more independent (you know what I mean, we'd like them to stay our babies for a little bit longer).  Aaron had an emotional start after he awoke to jubilant cries of 'Happy Birthday'.  He just missed his big brother and the fact that he would not be joining us to share the day. I sat with him and shared the story of his birth, as I do every year; his arrival and the joy he brought with him.   Well..................... he likes the story (I think).  A bacon and cheese sandwich later (bread lovingly buttered by Gracie) and birthday messages from his Aunt / Uncle / cousins  and friends he was all smiles again.

Now Aaron didn't have substantial requests on his birthday wish list.  He never does, but always gratefully receives whatever he is blessed with.  However over the past few weeks he had been mentioning a few popular children's brands and a t-shirt or hoodie he had spotted and taken a liking to.  He has lately been restyling himself and has definite ideas about the look he wants to achieve, gets it from his most stylish dad!!!!!!  With his stylish dad for back up we discussed the over pricing of said items due to nothing other than the brand names, but said we were willing to consider a possible purchase for him should we see the big 'S' for sale sign.

Imagine his eye opening delight when Kat popped over and on opening one of his pressies there was one of his much longed for tops, a perfect fit, just for him..........................  Time to update his BBM (that's what they call it) status and upload photos to back it up!

I sat and just said quietly to myself 'God heard the simple prayer of a child and blessed him' and today (day 69) I am thankful for such a reminder.

The seasons of life

At a conference at our church today we were reminded of that scripture from the Old Testament.

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Although some of the above might seem radical, the message behind this scripture is that life is made up of different seasons and there is a definite start and end to each one.

Today (day 68) I am thankful for this reminder.

His Grace is sufficient....................... always

Today (day 67) I am thankful that His Grace is sufficient for me and I will 'Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name...........................  He has done great things.

You know how children get when they are over tired.....................well adults get like that too!  I am just cream puffed 'pooped', but not too pooped to raise my glass of water and paracetamol to my Lord and my God for: giving me the strength of a lion when I needed it; enthusiasm to keep going when it had long left the station; tanswers to 1000 questions when I needed them; the ability to smile through gritted teeth when I needed to; fast decision making skills when I was called to make them and at the end of the day all I have left to do is to say 'Thank you Lord'!  Through it all I was still able to encourage, laugh, sing your praises and say yes because I knew it would make a difference.

Happy spring week-end whatever you have planned.

Life experiences ...............wow!

As I collected the children from the playground there was a chorus of "Mrs Aina, where is your costume?"  Yes, 'World Book Day' has come around again, far too quickly in my opinion!  I am, however, a great advocate of reading and also a real fan of dressing up.  However I still have clear memories of dressing up seven years ago as the 'Cinders' half of 'Cinderella whilst a colleague who said that as her boyfriend had not yet proposed marriage pleaded to be allowed to go as the post fairy godmother 'Cinderella' as it might be her only chance of wearing anything close to a wedding dress!  Yep I was conned.  He did propose and two children later..........................  The children truly embraced the spirit of the day as did my very own 'Snow White'!

I feel that there are certain experiences in life that are life changing outside of experiences of marriage, motherhood, illness, untimely passing of loved ones.  For me, for instance, being ministered to by the children from the 'Watoto' Ugandan Orphanage and the privilege of having some of them spend time in our home; having conversations with inspirational people; reading books about inspirational people like 'Doreen Lawrence'. 

There are also movies that do the same thing; 'The Blind Side', 'Coach Carter' and I can add 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' to my list.  I went to see it on the recommendation of a friend of mine and I truly believe every adult who has lived a little or a lot and experienced the ups and downs of life should see it.  I laughed at intervals through it, but when it got going so did my tears.  The life lessons were too many too mention and I am still absorbing all that this film was.

One quote from it that I so truly believe is that 'Life is a privilege' and that when we wake up in the morning our heart's desire must be to do the very best we can.

Today (day 66) I am so thankful for the opportunity to have seen this film and like my friend did to me, I highly recommend it to you!