All Things New

Well. here we are in a new year.No doubt some have made resolutions that possibly will be broken within the first 2 weeks or so of January while others will be hoping for a better year than the last one. Whether you are in either of these groups or neither, the thing about the new year is that it is new.  It's not just reliving the past year a bit differently. It's time that we haven't yet lived.  It's new, untouched, fresh.

I do smile when looking round the shops and seeing adverts about certain products that they are 'new and improved'.  We do tend to think of something that has been made better as something new, it's not like the old version.  

Actually it's either new or improved.  If it's improved then it really is the old with some slight difference in content or the way it's been put together.  Something new is something that hasn't existed before.  So this new year is new, having not been lived before, new opportunities, new adventures, new encounters.


With this in mind, I've been pondering about Jesus' words when he said 'A new commandment I give unto you'.  Many times he referred to Old Testament laws and commandments and then said 'but I say unto you ...'  His way wasn't just to be an improvement on the old, something rehashed, a sort of reinvention of the wheel so to speak.  It was to be something different, something that hadn't been considered before.  It was a new way of thinking, different attitudes and reactions, a different way of living.  


We are told that in Christ we are a new creation - not just the old but a bit more tolerant and maybe a bit more smiley than before, not so quick to react.  God is not just patching us up and repairing us, mending the bits that are broken.  He re-creates us.  Many people have the thinking that we gradually work our way up the spiritual ladder, improving as we go,  It's as though somehow we earn our entry into heaven by being more and more active within our local church community.  It's a bit like a scout or guide working to earn their badges of merit.  We don't seem to understand Jesus' teaching that God loves us, full stop.  We can't earn his love.  He is love.  Actually what Jesus said was not that we should be an improvement of our old self but a new creation and have different ways of doing things.  As he said to Nicodemus, we must be 'born again', become a new and different person   We have made following him a religion centred around the person of Jesus, while he was telling us to follow his teachings.  When after feeding the 5000 and the people wanted to make him their king, he rejected the idea.  Again when there were those who said that he was 'good', his reply was. 'Why do you call me good?  There is none good but one and that is God.'  He was always pointing us to God and showing us how to live the way God intended, showing his unfailing love to all and at all times by the way we live.  We are to be people of 'the way' of Jesus. 

I am just musing and wondering how will 2016 be a new year?  How am I a new person in him?  What does that look like?  I don't have all the answers and not everyone may agree with my rambling thoughts but I can't help wondering if we as his Church have not just re-formed and improved the Old Testament ways instead of doing a 'new thing'.  How much of Jesus' teaching do I actually live day by day?  How much do I really follow him and show God's all-embracing and ever present love through my daily living?  I pray that in this new year, God will guide me along new paths and reveal himself to me in new ways.   Happy New Year to you all.

Activity, rest and waiting.

The week began with activity.  Last week my elder son Martin spent a few days with us as work didn't permit him to spend actual Christmas with us.  He was off work on Christmas Day but to travel down to Somerset from Cheshire late on Christmas Eve and then travel back Christmas Day night to be at work on Boxing Day just didn't seem worth it.  It was better to get a few days off the week before and spend some time with us.  We went to the cinema to see the new Hobbit film and then went for a pizza - a very enjoyable afternoon and evening out.  So we did a sort of Christmas a week early, having turkey with all the trimmings etc. and we opened a couple of presents, leaving the rest for the actual event itself.  Last Saturday afternoon he went back to his own place in Cheshire and my other son Diego went off to work.  The house seemed quiet after that.  Until Monday that is!  Then the storm hit!  On the Tuesday morning in the light of day we surveyed the results -  there was a drip coming through the ceiling in the front bedroom, a tile off the roof at the back of the house and the fence blown down (for the umpteenth time this year!)

The broken tile off the roof

Sunday was indeed the lull before the storm, literally.  So activity began again.  Phone calls were made to those with whom we have emergency cover and they were very helpful.  The problem, of course was that this was now Christmas Eve when everyone wants to be at home not out on emergencies.   Absolutely, I quite understood. We were assured that it might take a couple of days but they hadn't forgotten about us.  On Boxing Day we received a phone call to say that someone would be around to assess the damage the following day.  That night another storm hit, but not as strong as the first one, thank goodness.  We are now bracing ourselves for the next storm due on Monday.  But at least, whatever happens, the 'rescue plans' are in motion. 

Trying to prop up the fence again til it is replaced

So Christmas Day was a calm day and again on Thursday as on both occasions we waited for the phone calls ... ... and waited ... ...  and waited ... ... or so it seemed.  I watched the news and was grateful that our damage was so little in comparison to many who had had no electricity since Monday, could not celebrate Christmas, were not able to have the traditional Christmas meal and in some cases had to evacuate the house because of flooding.  I felt quite guilty - I had no reason to moan.  Someone has already been contracted to put up a new fence in the back garden.  We made the agreement way back at the beginning of December but he is unable to do anything before the middle of January but at least that problem is in hand.  The man came and assessed the damage of the roof as arranged and that will go through to the insurers who will then arrange for it to be done - quickly I was assured.  Ah! but it's the waiting when things aren't the way we want them to be that gets me.  It's frustrating.  I want things sorted.  It's like life is on hold.  But this week is just like life. 

There are days of planned activity that we look forward to and enjoy.  There are also days of quiet.  But it's the days of unexpected activity that bring problems and the seemingly unending waiting for things to be resolved.  In the mean time we seem to just plod on but it's not what we really wanted and it's kind of unsettling when life seems to have lost its flow.  How often do we find ourselves in the waiting room of life unable to move forward?  Life is not always the planned activity and days of rest.  So what will 2014 bring?  I wonder.  Maybe some plans will become reality but there will possibly be some waiting time while God sorts things out on our behalf.  Whatever 2014 brings, I hope it is good for you.

Looking back, looking forward

All the planning, adorning our homes, buying gifts and other preparations for Christmas have been and gone. They unfolded at their appropriate time as we celebrated the coming of Jesus into the world as a baby, each in our own way. It is now almost time to put everything back in their respective boxes and store them away for another year. In our home we had a wonderful family time together but my older son has now returned to his home in Cheshire and things are gradually returning to the way they were. The last couple of days we have tried to be creative in using up any left-overs. Yesterday the recycling lorry took away our torn Christmas wrapping paper, the varioius cardboard boxes and the empty bottles and so we begin to look forward to another year and whatever that will bring.



We look back over the past year and note things that have changed and hope for future dreams to be fulfilled. One of my favourite sayings is:

'Look back and thank god, look forward and trust Him.'

A few days ago I received an email with some noteworthy sayings that I am taking with me into the new year.

Happiness isn't a destination, it's the attitude with which to travel through life.

Objects were made to be used. People were made to be loved. Not the other way around.

A smile costs less than elecricity and gives off more light.

Friendship is one of the most beautiful gifts that God has given us to share.


I don't usually make New Year's resolutions but one I will try to keep is to live out those sayings.

New house, new start

I have been thinking lately that I should start blogging again. It is now over 3 years since I last posted something here. Since then we eventually moved house in May 2009. We have done quite a bit of work on the house since moving in and are now tackling the garden. So here goes - new year, new house, new start.

A new year comes with the natural looking back and looking forward. Some friends have been talking about their 'to do lists' for the year ahead. I guess that at my age I don't really want to have a long list and feel pressurised into completing it. I may not be as quick and agile as I once was but there are things I would like to do and places I would like to visit. These past 3 years have been a time of waiting and now in this new year I have a sense that things may start to move again so who knows what this year holds - only God. And I just want to journey with Him and go where He wants me to and connect with those whom He has prepared for me to share this part of my journey with. I wonder what surprises He has prepared for me. I have a feeling that it's going to look different from anything I've experienced before. So here's looking forward to 2011.