Smiling

There are times when life just seems to get you down; things don't always go the way you'd hoped and so it seems that all you can do is to plod on.  The news this week has had some terrible images from war-torn parts of the world.  The financial situation and lack of proper jobs that give you a decent weekly income don't seem to be improving.  It seems to be a case of 'that's life; get on with it!'  But this week, amidst all the doom and gloom, I have been deliberately looking for situations that have made me smile and thought I would share a few of them via my blog.

My friend Margaret with some of the children she has helped.
Photo taken a couple of years ago.

I have a friend who volunteers with a charity working among the poor in Nicaragua for 8-9 months every year.  She has found a congregation that once a month they do a kind of 'Songs of Praise' service in English.  Recently they sang an old hymn but made a slight mistake in the translation by omitting the last letter of the last word.  They had written, 'Rejoice ye pure in heart, rejoice, give thanks and sin!'  Oops!



'Rubber' Grandma Jo

Another friend this week referred to herself on her blog as 'rubber grandma!'  Apparently the Swedish use this as an expression of endearment about someone whom they accept into their family.  (My friend is not Swedish but English btw)  And she used it in reference to her son's partner's daughter.  I smiled when I read it and tried to visualise a 'Rubber Grandma Jo'  Come to think of it I know a few 'rubber grandmas'.
 
On Tuesday a white-haired old lady (no, not me!) was helped onto the bus by another passenger.  As she sat down she apologised and smiled saying that it was getting a little more difficult as she's in her 90s!  She did use a walking stick and needed a bit of help but, wow!, in conversation she said that she was 98 and still lived alone and came into town unaccompanied.  I must remember her on those days when I feel old and a bit decrepit.

On the news we have had horrific pictures about attacks in Syria but on Wednesday there was a news item about a father who was overcome with emotion when he was reunited with his young son, whom he had thought had been killed in the chemical attack where they lived.  That day at least his tears turned to joy.


We have been enjoying some produce out of our garden this week and the other day I took some blackberries for my sister.  To my surprise (and delight) she shared with me some rainbow trout that she had been given by another friend.  It certainly brought a smile to my face when later I ate the steamed trout and vegetables for my dinner.  Sharing puts a smile on people's faces.  Share a smile if nothing else.

I'll end the smiles by sharing a video that I saw on Facebook just in case you missed it when I posted it on my status.  If you have already seen this (about family pets squeezing into boxes) then you can have another laugh, even if you're not a pet lover.  Click here to watch.  Enjoy and ... ... keep smiling!

The Old and The New

Yesterday, I went, as I do most Fridays, to our local traditional family butcher to buy something for the Sunday roast and meat for next week’s meals.  Unlike supermarkets where the meat is already cut and packaged (usually showing the nice lean bits on the top so you think it’s all like that!) there they have all the meat out on the long cold slabs and they cut off the amount you want.  Some aspects take you back in years as the staff don’t put the prices through a conventional modern checkout type till but they write each item down on a piece of paper and total it up in their heads when you’ve completed your purchase.  They make their own sausages – we particularly like the pork and cranberry ones – and different types of burgers.  They will take the skin off the chicken portions if you ask.  All the staff recognise the regulars when you walk in the shop and they remember what you like and don’t like.  Sounds like how things used to be many years ago.

Haynes Butchers Princes St Yeovil

The interior of Haynes shows it to be one of the most traditional of butchers. The meat hooks are still on the racks on the wall, tiled in white and green many decades ago. There is still a traditional wooden cashier's booth or hut built into the shop. This is the last cashier's booth I know of in any shop, left over from a time when the cashier and the butchery functions were completely separate.

 

 

Before you think I’m just being nostalgic and living in the past and wonder how they are still surviving as a business I must point out that they do sell in pounds or kilos as you wish (by law they have to sell in kilos, of course) and will take payment by credit/debit card.  There are always lots of people in the shop buying their goods.  I think this is partly because you know that you see exactly what you’re buying, the prices are comparable to the supermarkets and you feel that you have received personal attention.  They seem to have got the blend right between the traditional and the new ways – the old and new together.

The Bible often refers to God as God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; three generations; old and new together.  He is Alpha and Omega; beginning and end; first and last; the Ancient of Days yet new every morning; the same yesterday, today and forever.  So it seems that this unchanging God I worship joins the old and new together across the generations, from the dawn of creation until today and blends them together in perfect harmony.  He embraces all – the traditional and the new-fangled, latest fad, the old and the new ways.  His love has a way of encompassing all who come to him, regardless of age or ways of worshipping.  It also reminds me that although in life I have myself changed many things and maybe do things differently now, I must not disregard what has gone before – it has made me the person I am now.  God loved and accepted me before as He does now. 

I think in life we so often ‘throw out the baby with the bathwater’ as the saying goes.  When new or different ways come along we seem to discount anything that has gone before.  It’s like saying some new way is the only right way and everything else is wrong or out-of date.  God accepts all whether young or old using traditional or most recent ways of worship.  His all-encompassing love is for any who comes with honest and open spirit in humility and true worship.      

 

 

 

Paths That Cross On The Journey

This week I had the pleasure of meeting up with a friend I hadn’t seen for quite some time.  We are both products of leaving the organised structure of church and were catching up with what had happened over the past few months since we last met.  We have both had some difficult times and were sharing our experiences.  It is so reassuring when we talk to someone and they grasp just where we’re at on our journey and can relate to the things we are saying.  Inevitably come the questions ‘what if …?’  What if we had taken a different path?  What if we had looked for an easier option?  What if we had seen from the beginning just where the path would take us?  What if ….?  What if …? 

 

We had set out on this adventure with God along the path ahead of us and we thought we saw the goal we were aiming for.  To be honest we didn’t really know what to expect.  We only knew that it would be different.  But then the path took some twists and turns and it seemed at times that we were completely lost.  It was tough to keep going but we saw some unexpected wonders and learned so much along the way.  Our initial goal seems so far away now and out of sight but we know deep inside that we have to keep going.  Maybe what we thought we were aiming for was not the real goal after all.  This is a journey of faith and all we have to do is follow the path that is in front of us.  That’s easy to say!  

 

The challenge really, when you go a different route from the one you’re used to, is the uncertainty of it all.  You know you’re on the right path but the uncertainty comes because of the lack of familiar landmarks or checkpoints.  You can’t settle back and be comfortable, assured of ‘doing the right thing’.  There’s no-one telling you what you should or shouldn’t do, read, watch or think/believe.  There is no structured, organised time for worship or searching the Word.  It just sort of ‘happens’ as you travel.  You are no longer following the crowd without much concentration on your part.  Now you have to pick your own way around and feed yourself and think for yourself.  You have to become more aware of your surroundings, of things that might trip you up, in order to recognise new signs in unexpected places.  But in the process you learn more about listening and can gain a deeper understanding of things that until now have been hidden.  Maybe they weren’t really hidden, it’s just that they never were in the situation or context we were part of. 

 

Each of us is on our own personal journey and the paths we take are often very different.  Occasionally our paths cross and we exchange the joys and trials of our journey.  It is so good to meet up with friends who are also journeying a new path.  Such conversations result in our being more resolute to continue onwards.  We go on our way feeling animated and encouraged as we make new discoveries and different ways of travelling and working out the path God has prepared for us.  And so I continue along this different path God has shown me.  I don’t really know where it will take me.  I just know that God is with me and showing me a little bit at a time and I am happy just to follow along the part that He has shown me for now, learning and seeing what He reveals along the way.    

  

Result!

I don’t always have cereal for breakfast but at the moment if I do, I am enjoying being able to add some mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries and blackberries) freshly picked from the garden, washed and scattered on top.  It is such a joy to be able to go out into the garden and pick something you have grown yourself and make it into a meal.  A number of online friends have been saying the same sort of thing, showing photos of the fruits of their labours and what plans they have for utilizing them.  It always fills me with wonder that such tiny seeds can produce such great produce that feeds our bodies satisfying our hunger.

 

Amazing sugarcraft - a spray of flowers
all made out of icing sugar

People who are creative in craftwork gain the same sense of satisfaction when they finish some project, be it painting, knitting, sewing, baking, making some ornament or any other hobby they love doing.  It’s not just some spare time hobby of course but can be to do with studies and work achievements.  Sometimes many hours of work and great effort are spent in perfecting what we do.  But, oh the joy when we can see the finished article.  Sometimes things don’t always go according to plan and we are disappointed at the results but when it turns out the way we plan, then we are very happy and want to show everyone.  It’s not about the cost or even about the time and effort involved.  It’s something more, beyond words even.  There is a sense of accomplishment and deep happiness when we see our handiwork.

 

With the fruit and vegetables, the obvious words that come to mind are about reaping what we sow and that is true in life also.  But what really has impressed me this week is the deep sense of joy, satisfaction and happiness that comes with it.  When I think how God emptied Himself into human form, giving Himself totally for us, all I want to do is worship Him and give Him joy and pleasure by being what He wants me to be, just as He planned and hoped for me.  His plans for me are ‘plans to prosper (you) and not harm (you), plans to give (you) hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11)  What response can I give other than worship and praise and bring Him joy?  He gets deep satisfaction when we develop in the way He has planned.  There is great joy in Heaven and that’s the best result of all.

 

 

Just Being Me

Standing at the bus stop the other day I got talking to a lady and of course being British, the topic was the weather.  The hot weather had returned and we were commenting on how some people love it while others struggle.  Personally I don’t mind but realise that as I get older, too much for too long is becoming a little more difficult to cope with.  Some of the neighbours were out in the sun (participating in the pastime of deliberately burning the skin and competing to see who can become the most burnt!) while others avoided it.  On such occasions the words of Noel Coward usually come to my mind – ‘mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.’ 

 

The truth is of course that we are all different.  We like different things and react in different ways.  We are unique; all different one from the other.  Any parent will affirm that no matter how many children they have, no two are alike.  I always comment that my two sons are like chalk and cheese and I’m sure others feel the same about their offspring.  We all have differing tastes in music, reading material, friends, clothes, food … … and the list goes on.  We are constructed mainly the same way – two eyes, two ears, a mouth, a heart, lungs etc. – but are completely different in how that sameness is lived out.  Although we all have the same anatomical make up we all have differing requirements, tastes and tolerance of some foods.

 

The most wonderful thing is that God loves each one of us as we are – unique.  We don’t have to conform to a particular way of doing things in order to be accepted by Him.  He made us all different.  He likes variety.  If you doubt that then just take a look at the world around you.  There are thousands of different species of flowers, animals, insects … … etc.  I am always enthralled by programmes of David Attenborough and always surprised to learn something new or see some new species never filmed before.  Yet each one is important and has a vital role to play in the interdependence of creation

We all have our place and a role to play in the grand scheme of things.  And the wonderful thing is that we don’t have to copy anyone else in order to fulfill our part.  Sadly some people when they join a (church) group change their mode of dress or way of speaking.  It’s as though they become like clones of those around them with the necessity to conform to how the group does things.  God’s truth is that I need to be me because that is who I was created to be.  So many people waste so much effort (and sometimes money) trying to be like other people.  They try to copy their styles and mannerisms.  For some reason they seem to think that if they can be like so-and-so they will be better people, more acceptable, more successful.  The other day I read the words ‘the only person you should try to be better than, is the person you were yesterday.’  We used to sing with the children ‘Thank you God for making me me.’  So I’ll just go on just being me and together with God being the best me that I can be.