Wednesday

Nothing Kept That Boy Down! - A Dose of Encouragement


He was nearly 5 years old and loved going out on his bike.

Just in our little cul-de-sac with very few cars and of course he always stayed on the footpath.



Then there was the day that he didn't stay on the footpath and our little dare devil decided to go round the corner at the end of the cul de sac where a pile of sand was lying and he toppled his bike.




He wasn't on his own, his older brother was there on his bike and a couple of friends so they came running home with Daniel and the blood pouring from his top lip.

He had split his lip and needed to go to the hospital (which fortunately was only 5 mins drive away).

Okay I was rather sad that he was probably going to have a little scar above his lip but it didn't seem to bother Daniel at all.

He was quite used to falls and bumps and cuts and scrapes from he was very young and we have always laughed at the fact that even though we wanted to get a family picture taken when he was a year old we couldn't manage to get a time when his face didn't show some marks until he was almost two.

I often thought that people would look at him and then at me and say to themselves


What kind of a mother is she?   



Here he is at 3 years old in the spring and then in the summer.





But he didn't let any of those bumps and falls stop him doing anything he wanted to and with as much vigor and speed as possible.


Nothing kept that boy down.



This pic the following year shows how he just could not get on that slide quick enough.








Well  he healed reasonably well from that split lip not helped by the fact that this boy was an avid eater and also wanted those steri-strips off as soon as possible.

It was only a few weeks later on a Sunday afternoon just as we finished Sunday lunch that one of his friends arrived at the back door and Daniel was asking to go out to play in that cul-de-sac again.

He had not been outside much since the fall and we said ok but not on your bike and be careful.



We had a step,

                
                     just one step at the back door,

                                                    
                                                   but that was all it took.  



That one step where he tripped in his eagerness to get out to play and split the lip yet again.

This time the cut was at the opposite angle to the last one so in the end two crossing scars featured above that lip.

Here he is starting P1 at school just 2 weeks before his 5th birthday.






This time of course I was more worried but not Daniel.

Nothing kept that boy down.


As soon as it healed he was back to his normal self; going everywhere and doing everything at double the speed of everyone else.


He was full of energy and enthusiasm.


He bounced back!


Ready to do anything that was adventurous and full of fun.


The following years had him playing and racing with older kids and wanting to win at all costs.






As he grew to be a teenager and then into his twenties he has never been the one to let something stop him trying things out and being actively involved in sports and music and church work and friendships.

As for the bumps and cuts and scrapes they may have turned into other setbacks and hurts through the years but still


He is full of energy and enthusiasm.


He has always bounced back!


I look at Daniel and wonder why we can not all be like that.


Why do we not bounce back?

Why are we not full of energy and enthusiasm?


Some days the smallest of things can just knock us down and we don't bounce back or at least not for quite some time.

Sometime maybe you were so hurt by something you just can not let yourself be in the position to be hurt like that again.

Sometime maybe you have failed at something and decided that it was best not to try again.

Sometime maybe you have listened to the wrong words said by someone who just ended up deflating your spirit completely and you have never been able to get free of that feeling of worthlessness.

Sometime maybe you have been misunderstood and you have suffered from that and you don't want to be in a similar position again so you don't open up with people anymore.


It's time for us to be more like Daniel and the Bible Character he was named after.


We are not worthless or failures in God's eyes.

It's time to do what God wants us to do

                  and not to fear rejection,

                                    or attitudes of others

                                                      or decide we don't have the energy to fight a cause.


If God tells us to do something or has given us the ability to do something then we need to be obedient and put all our effort and enthusiasm into the task whether it is great or small.


How?


Let's believe His Word.





That's the energy and enthusiasm that God will give us if we trust and ask Him.

I am so thankful that we are not worthless or failures in God's eyes.

So let's bounce back from the things of the past.

Let's be able to say

Nothing kept me down.











Sunday

It's God's Love #10

This Sunday Series is all about God's Love.


A simple, short post each week
consisting of a Bible Verse around the topic of
God's Love and I would be very pleased if you
would join me each Sunday.






What do we look for on a daily basis?



What is always important to each and every one of us?

What do we always need in our lives?


To Be LOVED






Always

It is just a plain fact

We are

loved

by

God








You are welcome to copy the Bible Verse Graphic above and any of the others that will be in this Sunday Series on God's Love.  
Please use it as it is with no editing for your own personal use including on social media but not in any commercial way. 

With regards to any other pictures or graphics - please contact me. 


Thanks.











Wednesday

Zoning Out - A Dose of Encouragement


We are just back from our trip to Malta.



Such a lovely way to spend our
                       37th Wedding Anniversary.


Just the two of us
     
              doing just what we felt like doing

                             just when we felt like doing it.





It is not often this type of thing happens even though our kids are grown and living away from home, even though I don't work and Fred works from home.

There is always something to be done for the blog, for church, for the house, for the kids (yes they still need us sometimes to help with something, to proof read an article, to ask questions about things, or just to have a little moan to when things are not so straight forward for them).

So it is very sweet to have a whole week of doing nothing by a deadline or by a phonecall or by an email.

It is very sweet to just relax and think of nothing (and also wonder how it is possible to sit by a pool in high temperatures and just close your eyes and think of nothing without always falling asleep) or to read a novel in a day or two or to do some puzzles.




Yes it is a delight to do all of this without thinking you should not be using your time on this when there are other things to be done.

Relaxing is good for you in so many ways and we were very blessed this past week to have all that lovely weather and location to relax in and to have someone special to relax with.




God always knew we would need times of relaxing and what we sometimes even call "Zoning Out" from everything that grabs at our attention and demands action.

God wants us to relax.
God wants us to Zone Out.
God wants us to refresh our minds and our bodies.




So what if we try to just relax for a little time each day?
Take some "Me Time" so that we can feel refreshed.

Don't feel guilty about doing it.
Enjoy it.

God can use the time to refresh and restore us

We really will benefit from it.

We really don't know what God will speak to us about once we are refreshed.











Sunday

It's God's Love #9


This Sunday Series is all about God's Love.


There will be a simple, short post each week
consisting of a Bible Verse around the topic of
God's Love and I would be very pleased if you
would join me each Sunday.

(Just go to the sidebar if you would like to sign up for an email reminder of my posts.)








As the Children of God we have a lot to be thankful for.

One of the specific things to be thankful for

is God's Love








Steadfast

Dependable

Faithful

Unmoving

Unchanging

Unfailing

is

the

Love of God







So as the verse says

Let's

GIVE

THANKS

















Wednesday

Marriage (What's it all about?) - A Dose of Encouragement



HAPPY ANNIVERSARY        

                                               to  


                                                    ME & FRED!


Yes as you read this today we will be married 37 years.


To celebrate we are off on holiday to Malta a new destination for both of us.


So I thought that this post today should be about Marriage and what it's all about.









Fred and I met in 1971


Started going together in 1973


Got engaged in 1975 as we were finishing school and heading off to university so promised our parents we would  wait 4 years until we were both finished there before we would get married.


Sorry but we broke that promise - we are not perfect.


We got married on 27th August 1977





It all seemed to be going in 2 year gaps.


We finished at university in 1979 and went back to jobs in our hometown.


Then it was a 3 year gap before our first Son was born in 1982


Another 2 year gap and our second son was born in 1984


Then three years later our daughter was born in 1987


The next big thing was our move to live in America in 1992 and then our return to Northern Ireland in 1995


Later in 2004 we moved to live in Belgium


And returned to Northern Ireland (but to a different area) in 2010


Last year 2013 was a big year


Firstly we got round to doing our family photo shoot that the kids had promised to buy us for our 30th Wedding Anniversary - not their fault that it didn't get down sooner just the fault of how difficult it is to get us all together in the same country let alone in the same place for long enough to organise something like this.






They will not be very happy about this casual one but I think it is just us with our natural happy faces.






They might be a bit happier (but probably not) with this more formal one of the two of us!



So finally we come to this year 2014 and we are happy and proud to celebrate our 37th Anniversary.


No fancy picture from this year just a happy one our oldest son took of us when we went to visit him in Leeds at Easter.





What were we doing that makes me think of it as being a happy picture?

Well we were in a small village in the Yorkshire dales just walking around relaxing together and laughing at the ducks and ducklings.



That's what marriage is all about, 

sharing the everyday times 

with the person you are meant to be with 

and

 thanking God for each other.














Sunday

It's God's Love #8


This Sunday Series is all about God's Love.

A simple, short post each week
consisting of a Bible Verse around the topic of
God's Love and I would be very pleased if you
would join me each Sunday.







So many times people have to find reasons to love.



Do we need a reason to love God?


Does God need a reason to love us?







God loved us

So we love God

and

How could we ever have known Love

if

God had never shown Love

because

Love is our response to love given to us.

















Friday

Patio Furniture Restored


The Patio furniture was all rusted so the question was...


"Do we need to go buy new Patio Furniture?"


"Well no, not at all!"   is the answer.







We had bought a wrought iron Patio Set 2 years ago and a cover to go over it to protect it in the winter time.

I chose it because of the blue and white mosaic pattern which I really like and I knew it would brighten up our patio.

The first winter we dutifully put the cover over the 4 chairs and the table but we had a very very stormy winter and so the wind would catch under the cover and sometimes was strong enough to actually move the set.

Several times we would have to go out and fix the cover back into position and sometimes move the table and chairs back too.  Hence, because we are a lazy couple we got fed up with that and then last winter we didn't bother to put on the cover at all.

Well that was a big mistake because this summer we really noticed the rust taking hold on our otherwise sturdy chairs and we were not a happy couple then.





So I got on the internet and did some reading round the great DIY blogs that are out there to find out what we could do to get rid of the rust and save our Patio Set.
Having done that I proceeded to tell Fred that we needed to get brushes to rub over the chairs and get rid of as much of the old paint that was lifting off the furniture as we could.  Then we would need the rust treatment to paint over it and then the proper paint.

Fred headed off and came back with 2 steel brushes (one softer than the other)




and one tin of paint.






Now being me as usual I said

but that is not what I read in the blogs


Fred however told me that in the shop they explained to him that one type of paint would be perfect for the job because it was a dual purpose one,


it treats the rust and paints it.


but it would require 2 coats of this paint.


So off we started.



BEFORE


1.


The table was hardly affected by the rust at all but Fred gave it a quick go over with the softer brush anyway as we were going to have to paint it because originally the wrought iron was a dark grey but the paint we had got was black and the table & chairs would have to match up at the end.



2.



You can see here how bad the chairs were both front and back and underneath.


However the whole set was still very sturdy it was just dirty and rusted.




PREPARATION


3.


We had to tackle the chairs with the harder brush on the rust and I rubbed the white around the mosaic design part with the softer brush to clean it up as well.


There is a scraper on the harder brush and Fred needed it to help make it quicker to lift the old peeling paint.


Look at the nice sunny day we had for starting our project.



PAINTING  -  First Coat


4.


When all the chairs were well brushed over and wiped down we were able to start the painting.


It wasn't long before we were sitting down while painting and then also down on our knees to get at the lower and underneath parts.





We needed some masking tape to protect the mosaic part while I tried to paint around the tops of the chairs.


When we got the first coat of paint on the chairs we were tired and really had done as much as we could for one evening.


So then after a discussion of 

rain or no rain tonight?


we put the chairs into the garage because I was sure it was going to rain.




PAINTING  -  Second Coat


5.  Well we had quite a spell of rain over the next few days but eventually we got back to the chairs to give them and the table a second coat.







Notice it is no longer shorts and T-shirts but trousers and jumpers as in the two weeks we were doing this the temperatures changed dramatically, but then we are in Northern Ireland!



6.    Now there was one last thing to be done and that was the cleaning up of the table.




You can see how bad it was close up and how much better it looked after I had worked on it for a while.


The very centre out to the second round of light blue tiles was done using the softer brush and then some thin bleach rubbed along it.


The next section of dark blue tiles and next ring of light blue was done only with the bleach.


And then a small part of the outer section of mixed tiles was done with only the brush.


Definitely it is worth doing all of it with both brush and bleach as the centre part is really white now.




AFTER


7.     So now the job is completed and the Patio set is back in its place on the Patio







The Patio set was not very expensive 2 years ago at £199 but I certainly did not want to have to pay money for a new set next year and so investing in the brushes and paint was a much better option.  Plus the fact that Fred and I tackled a job together which makes the chore more bearable and we had some good fresh air while doing it.








Note it must be stated that it was definitely more Housework than Funwork for this project.