A Collection of Plates - Coffee & Conversation

Well it was time to Declutter!


A kind of favourite saying of mine is

A Place for Everything & Everything in it's Place

which sometimes just invokes a smile from Fred or other times a laugh from the kids.

Of course you may have seen me write about that phrase before in A Place for Everything  and in  Everything in it's Place?

But why would they smile or laugh at me?

You see I have been known to collect things.

Yes in the past I have collected:

• Plates
• Books
• Magnets
• Anything to do with Arks
• Dvds
• Teddy Bears
• Jig Saws
• Wedgewood Pottery
• Aynsley China
• Scrapbooking items
• Notebooks

and the list could go on...........


In the last few years I made a decision on the plates

THEY had to GO!

I had collected plates from all of the States we had visited in America and there were quite a few between Fred travelling there for his work and then us living there for 3 years.

I decided to keep 1  -  the first one Fred had ever brought back from a work trip and it was from Delaware but the fact that we later ended up living in Delaware made it extra special.


However I didn't just get rid of the rest of them easily, it took a bit of time and as I went through them I set some aside to think about and finally had these 4 that I thought the kids might want me to keep from very special trips we had made.

You have to take into consideration the fact that they are no longer kids but are all in their 30's now but their reactions were "no - get rid of them all" - why did I ever think they might still be interested in these?

Obviously I am far too sentimental!

So Fred made a trip down the hill from where we live to the nearest charity shop and gave them the rest of my collection of plates from America.

only kidding there were not that many - maybe a bit more than half of that!


There had been a small amount of small plates from around the UK as well but after this they went too.  It was a little while later but the decision was easier to make because I knew I had made the right decision about the larger ones.

The right decision has to be made.

In Philippians chapter 4 we are told to think on things that have a good value to them and obviously forget the rest.

Spending our time on these things is important and not cluttering it up with the unimportant or unworthy things that will not bring us peace and help us rejoice as is written of in the verses leading up to verse 8.

It's a decision that has to be made.

Gotta get rid of the ones that clutter up our minds and don't leave room for the good things  because it is much better for us to dwell on the good things.

Smile God Loves You!! Psalm 100:5 - Sunday Scripture

This Sunday's Scripture on God's Love is Psalm 100 v 5  

 One of the things that makes God Good is His Everlasting Love which is exactly what this verse talks about and then it leads on to His Faithfulness.

Look at the powerful words we see in this verse telling us about the Lord, His Goodness, Love and Faithfulness.


It tells us 2 things about this Love

• it is steadfast  -  sure, dependable, unmovable, like an anchor
• it endures -  lasts, strives, overcomes everything

Because of this great dependable love that overcomes everything God is faithful to all of us who come to Him.

What else could we ask for to feel (as the well known hymn states)

"safe and secure from all alarms"

The Love that makes God the True Faithful One.

Christian Songs For Kids - I Can Do all Things

Do you find it hard to get visuals and recordings for different kids songs?

I have always found this a problem so I am now sharing songs that I have used with children providing you with

Visuals 
(Powerpoint or Picture or details of how you can make one) 


Words   
(chords also available)


Recording  
(mp3 or video to learn the song) 


Then if you would like to download the visual of the song there will be a link provided to my creation, or I will direct you to where else you can find it.   

This month I am taking the theme of

SCRIPTURE  VERSES

The song I have chosen is 

I Can Do All Things
(Philippians 4:13)

I was planning to teach this Bible verse to the children in church one Sunday at the start of the service where we have a little spot for them but everyone in the congregation gets to join in to listen and sing with them and sometimes I think the congregation have as much fun as the kids.

Thinking of how to teach the verse I was trying out how it sounded saying it out loud in sections and I found I
kept wanting to repeat the words "All Things"

So that lead me to putting it to a little tune.

It also lead me to thinking of a way for them to do simple actions for the song and then the next thing was a Powerpoint visual.

POWERPOINT

When we sing the 3rd reference Philippians 4 13  we draw out the 4 13 a little at the end.



To Download a copy of this Powerpoint slide presentation for projecting    
CLICK HERE for (4:3)
CLICK HERE for (16:9)

To Download a copy of this visual for printing on A4 Card    
CLICK HERE for (A4)

WORDS

I can do all things, all things.
I can do all things, all things.
I can do all things, all things.
Through Christ
Through Christ
Through Christ
Who strengthens me
Philippians  4  13
Philippians  4  13
Philippians  4  13



To Download a copy of these words with chords for guitar and piano 
CLICK HERE

To Download a copy of these words with chords for guitar and piano 
CLICK HERE

ACTIONS

I can do all things  - nothing
All things -  pump arms in the air twice
Through Christ   -  point upwards
Who strengthens me   -  make a strong man pose
Philippians 4 13  -  hold hands together in front of you with palms up to represent the open Bible

RECORDING







Notes:
This song was written by myself so I have the copywrite for the song
But the words of course are straight from the Bible.

I Hope you enjoy the song and this is a help to you.

A short Song is an easy way to learn a Scripture verse like this one.

Previous Songs:   

Creation  -    Who Made?
Easter  -    He's Alive
Prayer  -    Whisper a Prayer
Bible Stories -    I will Make you Fishers of Men


(Click on the names of the songs above to view them)

Smile God Loves YOU! Romans 5:8 - Sunday Scripture

This Sunday's Scripture on God's Love is Romans 5:8

As I read through this one I thought of the 6 Question Words as I call them when teaching English as a second language.

Who, Where, What, When, Why & How.

So that's how I want to look at this verse today.

Who's Love?        It's God's Love.


Who to?      Us.  Everyone because all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.


How?       By giving His Son to die in our place.


When?        While we were in our sin.     When we were separated from God.


Why?       There was no other way.      No other substitute would have been good enough.


Where?      On the cross at Calvary.


What does it show?      The perfect Love.    The perfect sacrifice.


Who is it for?         The Imperfect People.

The Perfect for the Imperfect.

The Perfect Father 

because of His Perfect Love 

gave the Perfect Son 

as the sacrifice for the Imperfect People.

Smile God Loves YOU! John 3:16 - Sunday Scripture

What is good for you?

Smiling!

So we are going to smile.

Why?

Because we know God loves us.

I have a favourite mug.
Oh, ok, if you have read my blog in other years you may well have noticed I love mugs and I do have some that are special to me but this one has always been my absolute favourite.

I blogged about it in

Another Coffee Mug  -  A Dose of Encouragement


This mug is going to be my theme pic for this series because

God thinks we are special.

Why?

Because He loves us.

When we think of God loving us there is one verse that will spring to most people's minds and that is

Sometimes we skim over it because we know it so well.  

You learnt it as a child if you went to Sunday School and even people who do not read the bible regularly can quote it  (and I hope correctly because often we are all getting too casual about the Word of God and thinking we know a verse but instead we are misquoting it).

There are so many things we could say about this verse, so many key words, so much truth and hope and promise and love all poured into it.


I always like to take verses in their context so let's read over the verses surrounding this in John chapter 3

The New Birth

3 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.   14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

In verses 14 to 18 we are focused on Jesus, the love God has for all of us and the proof of it.

Not just once do we get the message of John 3 v 16 but we have it repeated in this passage.  

In fact the message of salvation is in each of those 3 verses.  

Words are repeated and phrases repeated and if God repeats something then we need to take heed because it is very important.

Then there in the middle of it all is the reason why Jesus came to die

Then there in the middle of it all is the reason why Jesus came to die -

Because God loved us so much He wanted to make a way for us 

to be able to live and not perish, 

live with Him and be in His presence 

even though none of us could ever deserve such a privilege.

She Burnt Them Again! - A Dose of Encouragement

Do you ever ask your kids for the password?


Do your kids think you are mad?


We had a little password in our family which I would often ask for as any of our kids were coming into the house.   And they all knew what it was - Sausages.  


You may ask:  What does this have to do with Encouragement?

But as often happens here at Sandra's Ark - Let me tell you a little story about us.

So we had this little password in our family and everyone knew what it was - Sausages. 

They would humour me and say it as they were coming into the house

And I would then repeat it in a silly bass voice and kind of draw out the word

A silly little thing that as the kids got older they would frown at.

There was never anyone else around when I would ask for it so why would they be embarrassed by it?


They also frowned and muttered at the fact that whenever I would grill sausages I would burn them.
Well they and their dad would say I had burned them but I would just cut off the really hard bits and eat away quite happily.

But I have to tell the truth - I had burned them!

I burned them because I could never have enough patience to wait for them to cook nicely but always went off to work on the computer or to read a book or even do some housework (ok not too often for that last one) and then - well - the sausages just got burned because I would forget about them.


I tried baking them in the oven too but even then I would forget about them and burn them.

You see I'm always looking for shortcuts to things because I don't have enough patience, or because I get bored doing any one thing for too long.

I love to make nice meals if there is someone else around to help or talk to me while I do it but when I'm preparing & cooking on my own - no!

I want the quickest way to provide the meals.

I have been known to make easier, quicker versions of meals like the 10 Minute Chicken Korma
and sometimes I have even made the desserts so easy that they hardly even really qualify as desserts such as my Ginger & Pineapple Log (Super Short Version) which basically is not a log!

I promise you I really do know that microwaves are not just for reheating coffee  -  oh yes this is another one of my little quirks or one of the "Oh No Mum!" things that the kids would frown at but I see nothing wrong with reheating my mug of coffee two or three times during the day.

I Love Coffee!

I really Love Coffee!

and

I Love my Coffee Mug!

I Love my Other Coffee Mug!

I really Love my Coffee Mugs!



And then we come to the big, big, bad thing that I did to our middle child

Fred & I went to live in Belgium and left him behind in Northern Ireland 

because he had started university there.

I know this is something that people outside the family probably found more strange than the family did.  I felt I could sense people saying:  "What kind of a mother would leave her child on his own?"

So there you have it I am not perfect and never have been a perfect mother.

I would rather read a book than do the ironing.

I would rather do a word puzzle than clean the oven.

I would rather write my blog than hoover the house.

I would rather write a list than actually do the things on the list.

I would rather go sit watch a dvd 
than 
finish up the mess I made because I had started to try to organise the study 
& 
boy can I make a mess while trying to organise things.

I am not perfect and never have been a perfect mother!

But Mostly

I would rather have a coffee and sit & chat with my now grown up kids about how 

Jesus has worked in our lives.

He has redeemed us, healed us, kept us safe, 

answered our prayers, never left us alone, helped us in everything

 and 

we are all thankful that He is still doing so 

no matter what country we may have lived in 

or are in at the moment

because 

He is the Perfect One.

You see I can't be perfect because I am human but thankfully with Jesus I have the help to do all the things He has planned for me.

If you like you can visit my about me section and see the poor hubby and kids who had to put up with me not being a perfect mum - oh and the middle child is the tallest one with his arms around us all in the snow.

Pondering The Psalms - Psalm 27

Each Sunday I choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 27 

This is one of the Psalms of David.

This Psalm falls into five parts:

V. 1
Declaration

V. 2-3
Confidence

V. 4-6
Praise

V. 7-12
Teaching

V. 13-14
Hope


Declaration.
We need to physically say these words.
We need to speak forth the truth, to truly grasp that we need not be afraid
       
                        He is our Light

                              and
                                        He is our Salvation 

                                              and
                                                        He is our Stronghold


Confidence.
The speaking out as in the last two verses and the knowledge that there is no need to be afraid leads on to being confident about what we know God has promised  -  this makes me think of Psalm 34 
He has promised that He is on our side.

Praise.
The result of seeking God, wanting to live in His ways and being in His Shelter can only lead to us giving Him all the praise and thanksgiving we can.

Declaration, Confidence, Praise, Teaching, Hope.

Teaching.
Crying out to God, seeking His face and accepting His gracious help leads us to listen and pay attention to Him to learn what is the good and acceptable will of God   (Romans 12:2)
All because we are not leaning to the way of others or to our natural instincts but we are being focused on His way.


Hope.
Knowing God's promises, having gained confidence in knowing God's will and His way and being prepared to wait on Him has all come to the point where we know we have hope for now and for the future.

A Lighthouse and a Lifeboat

illustrations

of 

His Love stretched out to us.

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 136

Each Sunday I choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 136 

This Psalm falls into 5 parts:



V. 1-3
God


V. 4-9
Creation


V. 10-22
Redemption


V. 23-25
Love


V. 26
Hope

This Psalm starts and ends with two almost identical verses - verse 1 and verse 26

However they are each placed specifically at those important points.

We Start with God's Goodness

God.
He is the God of gods and the Lord of lords.
 He is Good, He is Merciful and He is Love and His goodness, mercy and love will never end.
 How could we not be thankful?

Creation.
He is full of wonder and creative power.
All that is on, above and around the earth was made by Him.


Redemption.
He provided our Salvation right from the start.
Our lives should be a witness to that.


Love.
He is the one who always sees, cares, and acts on behalf of His people.


Hope.
Even though we have not seen Heaven or can properly understand Heaven we believe in God so we believe in Heaven because we know His love is not going to end.

The Psalm is a portrait of our lives with Him.

 How He is good to us and draws us 

through our knowledge of 

His Greatness, Salvation and Love 

to the culmination of a 
Home 
perfectly prepared for us by Him.

We end with Heaven.

This is a Psalm which some might say is simply repetitive.

But

this is really a Psalm of recognition on our part of how worthy God is to be praised 
over and over again.

This is a Psalm which uses the history of the world to highlight the Love of God
to His people

and

to lead us to 

the Eternal Hope we have in Heaven - our home with Him! 

Pondering The Psalms - Psalm 141

Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 141 

This is a Psalm of David


This Psalm falls into 4 parts:


V. 1-2
A prayer up to God


V. 3-4
My influences on my heart


V. 5-7
Outward influences on my heart


V. 8-10
My refuge

A Prayer up to God.
A plea to be heard by the Lord but respectful and offered in a reverential, sacrificial, form of worship.

Our influence on our hearts.
David is asking for God's help so that he can control his fleshly attitudes and not be enticed into any evil ways.


Outward influences on our hearts.
David is well aware of the evil around him and knows that he can trust God for protection from others and that God's Word is more powerful than man's.

Our Refuge.
David knows exactly where his help and refuge is.  They are in the Lord.
He can seek God for all the protection and help he needs.

Where is our help?

Is our prayer to God offered respectfully?

Is our prayer a reverential,  sacrificial form of worship?

Is our prayer for the protection of our hearts from ourselves and from others?

Our we as sure as David that God is our true help and refuge?