Forged by life

 Here is my servant, whom I uphold.........a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. Isaiah 24:1-3 (paraphrased)

There is something so peaceful about looking across a valley with rows and rows of regimented grape vines. Its a picture perfect scene and even the mist seems to be suspended in the air and I reflected on an elderly lady  I had visited recently.  She is a person of faith, forged by life and living with aging issues, failing strength and health. To look on her one would thing she may well be suffering yet her smile, when she lifts her arthritic neck is radiant and her eyes are alive.  She is an inspiration.  As I continued to ponder the vineyard I realised that like grapes there is a process to go through in life. Its a 'crushing' process, a refining process and the strength of faith is in the fact that even while we are being crushed, we are still being used, and we are still 'hanging in there 'with God and its then I see the strength of the elderly lady.

There is a profound saying which says:  It is the crushed grape that yields the wine.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace

Anne, servant of the Lord

'Peace'

Their trill lifts my heart

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. (TIS454)

At times we only need a thought for it to be a prayer. Sometimes we only need a thought for it to be a meditation or a reflection. Sometimes words don't come but the trying is all of the above.  Stopping momentarily as if caught by surprise is one of the beautiful images I have of connecting with God, Deliberately I have grown native plants to try and encourage small birds into my garden and as they grow and flower I am more and more rewarded. Just working from my office, glancing out the window and there in the flowering Grevilia is a tiny honeyeater and he has brought along the family. The sight catches my breath, their trill lifts my heart.  Its a prayer. Its a meditation. Its a reflection.

The smallest of gifts in the running in life can be the greatest blessings.

Jehovah - shalom.

The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the lord.

                                            A surprise - a blessings when out walking.

God unchanging

Wind, wind blow on me, wind wind set me free, wind wind the Father sent, the blessed Holy Spirit (New Harvest 226) 

I was watching people flying kites on the hills of the arboretum and there was great delight and   joy  as the kites rose high and dipped low, dancing on the wind, until the wind stopped and the kite plummeted to the ground only to be picked up   and tossed sky wards again. As I watched it reminded me so much of life. The soaring and dancing, the dipping and falling and then I thought of God how he is there for us in whatever life throws at us be it joy, dancing,  feeling low or in crisis His love is unfailing, unchanging and always present, never dependant on which way the wind is blowing. Ever present, ever loving, ever unchanging God. May the wind of the Holy Spirit blow on you today.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                Kites in the wind

Comfort for you and for me.

 Your rod and your staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

Many of our days can be floored with little fractures of despair or worry. They can pull us down, distract us from enjoyment, take us away from our trust in God. We often cant avoid the issues in our days but we don't have to go them alone. God is with us always, even in the fractured bits. Now that's a great comfort.

That's a nice word, comfort.

 It gives me an image of being wrapped in a warm blanket and  held tight. Mecrina Wiederkehr says ; Between the cracks of daily life I find you waiting........you slip into my life like day and night, like stars and sunshine. I know that you are God.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                    God's love in the cracks.

Secrets of a happy life

 The cheerful heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15

We are never poor when our heart has a continual feast: 

The company of good friends around a picnic table sharing chocolate, sharing the beauty of nature, sharing life. Walking at sunrise, catching the 'making of the day., the fog, the mist, the colour. Walking a winters day, in the rain smelling the fresh earth and stepping in puddles. The blessings from God, the stranger we meet along the way, Godly encounters, our life, his comfort  and love.

I read this from Iris Murdock: One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.(and I just saw another from my window, as a tiny blue flower on a spindly stem waved its joy in the breeze)

                                                    A morning 'feast;'

Today, tomorrow and every day.

 I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Jeramiah 31:3

Indeed, God does love us with an everlasting love and he shows that in so many ways; so many uncountable ways. As my eyes fall on the opening of each new day I am compelled to say 'thank you Lord,'  what a gift. So often we can be complacent about 'the gift of a new day' - almost take it for granted, as a given. But when we truly see it for what it is then our desire is to use it wisely in love for one another  and to the service of the Lord.  Jimmy Carter said: We should live our lives as though Christ was coming this afternoon. 

Thank you Lord for the gift of this new day.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                               Not just another day.

Love letters from God

 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish  but may have eternal life. John 3:16

What's a blessings? There is so much wrapped up in that word blessing. I can 'feel' it now in the quiet and still of the morning. I can 'hear' it in the trill coming from the tiny birds, little notes falling  and rising on the morning mist and  in the has been, once was, lingering beauty of the last rose of summer and its that little pond of peace, heavenly peace, that's deep in my soul, my whole being. I think I would call a blessing  love.  Peter Kreeft said: The whole world is a love letter from God:  I would say, every blessing is a love letter from God.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                What's a blessings?

A splendour all around.

 There was a splendour all around like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day.. Ezekiel 1:27-28

The carpet of leaves on the ground were thick and colourful and full of moisture from the recent rain and silently some fading leaves were still falling without any ceremony but there was a  look of a dance about them. and looking at them was like a sudden gift. I read this quote from T.C.Clark which said: 'Lord, give me joy in the common things.' 

May you find joy today in the ordinary, the common things.

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                                A carpet of leaves.