Pick me up and dust me off

Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,do it all for the glory of God.. 1 Cor.10:31
Every little thought,every big consideration,every feeling transformed into action,every act deliberately carried out,everything that I do, may they all be to the Glory of God. And God forgive me when I fail. Pick me up and dust me off and give me the courage to start again. And then I thought of the flowers in the garden and shaking my head I said to myself naught is impossible to him who trusts always.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne,servant of the Lord.

                                Naught is impossible to those who trust God.

The blackbird sang

Praise with elation, praise every morning. TIS 156
Eleanor Farjeon writes in her lovely hymn, Morning has Broken,'blackbird has spoken like the first bird.' Isn't it true, that sometimes we look but don't  see what we are looking  at and sometimes  we listen but don't hear what we are listening too. In the first moments of dawn  I sometimes hear  the melody  of the blackbird, high on a power line singing, and singing, and singing......is it just the blackbird singing or is it 'a God thing?' Perhaps his perpetual singing is praise for the new day and praise for his creator......or is it just a blackbird singing? I recall being at a small rural church when an elderly lady said to me,' I was baptized in this church.' In those few words I saw and heard a lady of deep faith, of loyalty and faithfulness to her God, one of the great crowd of witnesses, running the race.  How blessed are we when we listen and hear, look and see 'the God thing' in everyday life.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

A tiny rural church

Singing in the rain

His praise will always be on my lips. Ps 34:1
What wonderful rain and our minds are on the drought stricken areas that  they too can sing praises to God for rain, at last, at long last. So be it Lord. Rain dose something for all God's creatures. Its life giving, refreshing water. I read this quote from G.A.Leichliter:
I heard a joyous strain - a lark on a leafless bough sat singing in the rain and Jehovah  Shammah - the Lord was there.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

A top knot pigion enjoying  the rain

Such a wonderful God.

Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and his judgments.1 Chr:12
An acorn, weighing less than an ounce falls to the ground  and  can produce an oak tree weighing  more than two tons. Bury one minuet kernel   of corn and watch it grow from a green stem popping through the soil to a plant around six feet tall that produces cobs of hundreds of kernel. And that tiny pea shaped seed that grows and flowers into beautiful scented sweet peas.Ah, we have such a wonderful God of miracles.Miracles all around and yesterdays bulletin at church held a few powerful lines of a miracle. It said, caterpillar-cocoon-butterfly-can one not believe in miracles?  Look and see and enjoy all of the miracles around you in this new day.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Believe what you believe

Just believe.  Mark 5:36
Living in the outback many years ago I often wonder at a lone tree that had fallen in the desert where no one was for hundreds of kilometers, would it make a sound as it fell?
J.H. Jowett said: 'Does the wildflower bloom less carefully and are the tints less perfect because it rises beside the fallen tree in the thick woods where mankind never enters?
Its all like belief isn't it? While we cant 'see' faith  we know its there. While we cant 'see' Jesus, he is there. This simple statement from Marks Gospel says,(paraphrased)  'Just believe.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Did the tree make a noise when it fell and no one was there to hear it?

Restoration

Beauty from brokenness,hope for despair. (TIS 690)
For several days I have looked back on the reflection from Friday November 2 'Spring back into life.' and the imagery I used of the dormant, seemingly dead rose bush in winter that springs into life with love and care, water and tenderness, and blossoms in spring.  I called a modern day parable.  It strikes me how something can come out of what seems  to be dead and I pondered the idea of life, death, and new growth and I wonder, do the people we share our lives with see this new growth, this change in our  lives as we grow from what we were to what we are now, fruits of our journey with Christ. 
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne,servant of the Lord.

New life 

What can I say

How good is it to give thanks to you, O Lord. Psalm 92:1

Sometimes we forget to say 'thank you' to God. Sometimes our prayers are all about our needs and our wants and the thank you can become lost from our thinking. When I start my day I try to remember to say. Thank you for the roof over my head. Thank you for the new day. Thank you for food. Thank you for the beauty that surrounds me with spring flowering gardens and the peace and quiet. Thank you for being there with me when I need you most. I think that often we can forget how life is so good for us especially when I reflect on the homeless woman on the streets, the young man racked with mental confusion, and those who have no trust in Jesus to guide their lives. Lourdes Ruiz wrote: What can I say as I live each day. What can I say to you, my God? All I can think is thank you. 
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

For the beauty of your creation, we thank you O God.

Spring back to life.

He is God not of the dead but of the living. Mark 12:27
I was admiring the new beauty of the buds and blooms of the rose bush and thought how can it be that something so dead and lifeless a few weeks ago can spring back to life and blossom with such beauty. And I thought of God and our lives. People of God who have sprung  into life through the love of God and the power of living water. I look again at the rose bush flourishing with love and water from its gardener  and think this is a parable and I want to tell the story over and over again of how God's love can come into our lives and raise us from death to  life.

Covered in God's love