Preparations

The adverts are all trying to get us to part with our money and the shops entice us to buy their products.  The Christmas cards are beginning to arrive.  Every year the first one to arrive is from a 91 year old aunt who lives in Canada.  Yesterday I got the tree and decorations down from the loft ready for the weekend – I like to put the tree up and start putting the Christmas garlands and decorations around the living/dining rooms once December has arrived.  This Sunday Diego and I are having a day trip into Portsmouth to visit the Victorian Christmas Market there – looking forward to that!

 

A few years ago I bought a ‘Christmas’ cactus, so called because it flowers at Christmas time.  Except that most years mine flowers a bit before that.  And this year it has done just that.  It is now in full bloom.  I won’t complain because it is really pretty and this time of the year any colour from natural flowers or plants are welcome to cheer up the dull days.  But if I’m honest I would really like it to be in flower on Christmas Day.  When I see the buds appearing then I feel that it’s like another step in the preparations.  There are still quite a few buds that are still quite small and haven’t started to open up yet so maybe I’ll get my wish after all.

I’ve made lists and gradually ticking off the things that are now done.  Even though we don’t have small children in our home, I love Christmas and all it means to me as a Christian.  Why do people say it’s mainly for the children? - unless of course I’m still a kid at heart.

 

 

Omnirelevant

I have just invented a new word - omnirelevant.  The prefix omni- means all, ever, in all things and places.  We seem to use it more when we look for words to describe God - omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient.  I have considered God to be all of these things and also be always relevant to my life.  I have always maintained that God is not just the God of the Jews or the Old Testament or even the New Testament but God is relevant to all people and now.

I, along with most western Christians, was more than a little surprised at the result of the Anglican Synod yesterday when they voted not to have women bishops.  Most of the people there at the synod wanted the motion to be passed, the outgoing archbishop and the new archbishop both wanted it to be passed so what sort of 'democratic' voting system decrees that it will not happen, at least not now?

Yesterday I also received an email from a relative telling me of her son's marriage and saying she would send me the photos for me to see.  She mentioned that as her son was divorced and this was his second marriage, she felt that she could not share freely on Facebook as there are quite a number of her acquaintances who (for ‘religious’ reasons) don't agree with divorce or remarrying and so would cause problems and she asked me please not to share the photos.

I am amazed that in the 21st century western world (I'm referring here to people who consider themselves Christians, not some other religion) there are those who still have such a dinosaur mentality when it comes to their faith and how they practice it and expect others to practice it.  Outside the church construct people are hungry for God but is it any wonder that they want nothing to do with the organised church?  God is relevant - omnirelevant to us all but it would seem that the established, organised church construct no longer is.  People see the church as not relevant to them, their circumstances or the world we live in today.  

Not All That Bad

Two of my blogging friends have had a difficult time lately and both on their blogs this week have focussed not on their tragedies but on thanking God for what they do have and some of the happy times they have shared this year. At this time of year when our thoughts turn to Christmas preparations, I was thinking of what I should include in my usual newsletter that accompanies the cards I send in order to keep family and friends up to date with what is going on in our family. To be honest I am struggling to find enough things to say as this year has been VERY quiet; no travel, no holidays away, no life-changing situations. It seems that this past year I have been very boring and nothing of significance has happened.


But reading my friends' blogs I realised that my attitude was all wrong. Instead of bemoaning my uninteresting life I should think of the good times I have had and the daily blessings that I have enjoyed. Today the weather here in Yeovil has been lovely and warmer than recent days. So I was able to hang the washing outside and by mid afternoon it was all dry. There haven't been many days lately when the weather has been suitable to be able to do this. This morning I went to the hairdresser's to have my hair trimmed. Again I thanked God for the health and strength to be able to walk there and back. This time last year I was struggling to walk so far but God has indeed been good to me restoring my health.

Those who know me or who have followed my blog will know that I love to feed the wild birds in the winter. This week I was able to get a photo of a bluetit on the fat ball container. It is always a pleasure to see these beautiful little birds and that I am able to help in keeping them alive during the cold spell.

I could go on but won't, but I have learnt, or should I say have been reminded yet again, that even when things are not as we would like or seem quieter than we're used to, there is always something good. It's just that we can't see the good things when our minds our totally absorbed with the not so good.  It's just like the old song says, 'Count your many blessings, name them one by one ... ... and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.'

Visit and Changing Season

I realise it's 2 weeks since I posted anything on my blog. It was 2 weeks ago today that my elder sister and her husband came down from the northeast to visit us for a few days. They came on what we call 'the Christmas run' (as I mentioned in my last blog). They come with their presents for those of us living in the southwest and in return we give them the presents from us here to take back to those in the northeast. We look forward to this visit each year. As we are all getting older and finding travelling not quite so easy and a little more tiring than a few years ago, we try to make the most of the short time we have together. On the Sunday we all went to my younger sister's house for dinner and tea and she prepared a lovely 'Christmas' dinner with all the trimmings as we are never altogether at Christmas time. We spent a day out in Wells, looking around the cathedral. We always enjoy the visits to the two local garden centres to wander round their Christmas displays and have a coffee in the adjoining coffee shop. The displays are lovely to see but they remind me of those in the northeast and somehow don't quite equal those in the Metro Centre in Gateshead or the window displays in Fenwick's big department store in Newcastle. The child in me lives on especially at this time of year!

Sister Jean and brother-in-law Bernard with 2 younger members of the family,
 Charlie (left) and Oliver (right) on the Sunday get-together.

 

My sister and brother-in-law don't have a computer and as his brother and wife are currently enjoying a 6 week fabulous holiday touring around New Zealand and Australia, I was able to let them read the daily blog telling of their wonderful adventure and see the accompanying photos. I have recently been tracing our family tree back through the centuries, thanks to ancestry.co.uk and was able to share my findings with them. My brother-in-law had also brought documents and information to trace some of his family tree and they returned happy with the new-found knowledge of past relatives and where they had come from. Maybe now that they have had a little experience in using the computer and seeing how useful it is to browse the net, discovering useful information and keeping in touch with friends and family, who knows, maybe they might consider joining us in the 21st century.

My parents on their wedding day -
1st August 1931

While they were here, the weather wasn't too bad and things in the garden were still growing but in the past fortnight the gardener has made his last visit for this year, the trees are looking bare and there are few blackberries left to gather. The small fig tree now has its winter overcoat wrapped around it before the frosts come, British Summer time is no more, we have had the first fall of snow and morning frost on the grass and the evenings are dark sooner. This past two weeks have gone by quickly and thoughts are turning to Christmas preparations. Suddenly it seems that Christmas will soon be upon us and I need to start writing cards, especially those that need to be posted for family abroad so they get them in time. Time to make my endless lists of things to do and buy!