Leaf Creations

Thursday 8th March

Time.

This is the second post I have called Time and it probably won’t be the last, but here it has a Christian twist.  Last Friday was a moment in time we shall remember for a long while.  Sadly my Mum in law died after a long illness.  It brought back memories of my Mum and Dad dying and that of my Father in law.  All three just went to sleep, but MIL was with it right to the end and that end came very quickly.  So this week we have been planning her funeral.  Finding the right reading and hymns and generally getting sorted.  FIL left instructions on how his funeral was to go with the hymns and the little things chosen. But MIL left no right or wrong way.  She didn’t mention a favourite hymn or passage.  So we have been a bit stuck.  A bit where do we go.  She seemed very happy with FIL’s choice of hymns.  Very traditional. Very their generation.  The Lord’s my Shepherd and All things Bright and Beautiful.  Ones that you can sing with your eyes shut. Choice made.   And the reading?  Well this is where the time theme comes in.

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

 

FIL and MIL both had connections with the land.  Seasons came and went.  The time to plant and the time to uproot.  They toiled hard to make a difference.  And what did such workers gain from their toil?  A lot of friends. A lot of laughter and tears. And time to be together.  As the passage says,

“I know  that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil -  this is the gift of God.”

So what can I take from their example and do hand in hand with my Lord?  I, no – we, can make the most of our time.  To use it wisely and know that it is God’s gift to us.  To give thanks to Him every day for it and fulfill our dreams with Him.  Time is too short not to give things “a go”.  ”A go” while holding firmly on to His hand.

With fond memories of both FIL and MIL.  Love you.

 

 

Wednesday 8th February

Bad days – good times.

Sometimes life really makes you scream, and rant, and rave, about how it’s not fair!  Why me?!  Why my family?!  Things always appear to happen at the same time, and trying to get everything in perspective and keep it that way is just plain hard!!  It’s at times like this that we just turn to the Lord and say ‘Sort it pleeeeease.  Put it all right. ‘   It says in Matthew 11 ‘Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’.  And we do!  Well I do, but do I go to Him when things are just toddling along?

On the radio this morning Andy was talking about giving praise when praise is due.  The workman who came promptly.  The shop assistant who went out of their way to help you find what you were lookng for.  The neighbour who is always there  with a smile.  It doesn’t take long to give them a boost by saying ‘Thank you for that!’  But do you give God a boost by saying thank you to Him?  I do, but… er….  probably not as often as I should, which is why this morning’s quiet time brought me up short!

Psalm 100 is a short Psalm.  Only 5 verses long.  And it’s title is ‘A psalm.  For giving grateful praise’.  I’ve been praying for certain things over and over again. Really praying hard!   I know the Lord is at work in these things but oh it does seem slow!  I’m not very patient!  So this morning I’m singing psalm 100 in my head, (my voice isn’t always very melodious!!) and praying it in my heart. Thanking him for being in the situations.  For “It is he who made us, and we are his;  we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”  And I know everything will work out.

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;  come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures for ever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

So as I go through today I will try to keep thanking him for all those things, little and large,  and give him the glory, thanks and praise.  Amen.

May your constant love be with us, Lord as we put our hope in you.   Psalm 33 v22

Thursday 2nd February

Reading.

Have you ever read the Bible?  I don’t mean bits of it, I mean the whole Bible?  It is so easy to read the same bits over and over again, a lot of which are in the New Testament, but to read the whole Bible from start to finish seems like a daunting task!  Well last year my Son was doing just that – read the Bible in 90 days!.  ”You want to do it Mum.  It is good and will put it all into perspective”.  This I did know. I just needed that prod!!  We have been on two tours of Israel.  The second time I hosted a tour with my husband because we wanted to share our experience with friends and family. Yes, Son came with us and like us he got the bug too! (Hence his reading!)  It was a Shoresh tour – a tour of our Jewish roots.  No, we are not Jews but we are Christians, and the Lord we follow came as a Jew to show the Jews, His people, the route to salvation.  He came as their Messiah.  It didn’t happen in the way they were expecting, so most didn’t believe, but because of that God opened up a whole new world to His message. A world that we are part of, the gentile world. It is all there in the Bible.  God knew what was going to happen all a long.  There are signs and pointers throughout the Old Testament.  Isaiah 53 is well known as one.  It is all there waiting to be revealed.

So I thought now is the time to start.  The time to start and read the Bible from start to finish in 90 days!  I have extra time on my hands so time to read.  I started my reading plan last week and I have read Genesis and am into Exodus.  Both books contain stories that I knew well.  Creation.  Noah and the flood.  Joseph and his amazing techi-colour dream coat.  The plagues of Egypt.  All the stories I used to tell my Infant classes when I was teaching.  But also there are the bits I didn’t know.  The little things that I have now gained.  The background.  Just how long they were in the ark.  Why Cain and Abel fought.  Where Esau went to, when he parted company from Isaac and why.  Just how far Joseph travelled around looking for his brothers.  I could go on.  It has opened up a whole set of roots. Grounding for things to come!  So I recommend you have a look.  Fancy a murder mystery.  A family saga.  It is all there in the book we perhaps take for granted.  The book that we had for school and put on the book case when we left.  Lift it off and have a look.  It’s good!  You’ll see!  Happy reading and God bless.

Oh yes, where did our reading plans come from?  Try You Version .  There are lots of plans to choose from.

Thursday 19th January.

Faith.

“To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.”  Hebrews 11 verse 1.

I have often puzzled about the difference between faith and belief over the years.  Depression can be like that – make you question the things that you hold dear.  It took a young man of about 12 at the time to put it firmly into perspective.  He said “Belief is in the brain and faith is in your heart.”  It has stuck with me over the years and it again came to the fore this morning.

My quiet time today looked at Faith and the first verse was that one above.  At a time when I’ve been unsettled, up-skittled, not right, it brought me up with a jolt. Stop worrying about the future, just trust.  Have faith in the Lord for He will guide you.  Trust in Him and He will lead you.  We may not be able to see Him, but He is there, holding your hand. He may be tugging you to go forward.  Prodding and saying “Come on. It’ll be alright.” But He is there.  Just take a look back over your life and see Him in the decisions you made.  That job redundancy that made you go down a different path, which gave you the skills to use now in a special work for Him.  It will certainly make you think!

So, I will be certain of the things I cannot see and go forward with Him in faith.