What a difference a Sneeze Makes - A Dose of Encouragement

                  

               I love a good sneeze, don’t you?  

I quite enjoy two or three sneezes at a time but when you have to sit beside someone who sneezes not just once, or twice or three times in a row but ten or twelve times it can put you off sneezes for life. 

When I was a teenager I was at a computer course with a range of students from other schools (yes those were the days before all schools had IT on the curriculum).  How well I remember the first afternoon on that course when the guy sitting beside me started to sneeze and sneeze and sneeze.  Everyone turned round at different times to see who was sneezing and at one stage the teacher stopped talking to stare in our direction.

Later in the church I attended for many years there was this guy who once he started to sneeze seemed like he wasn't going to stop and everyone would start saying 

      

but would then get fed up after 3 or 4 times.


Everywhere I went this guy would be sneezing and people would always think he was coming down with a cold or flu or something worse and often he would get such bad looks from people.

Well, I suppose I'll have to admit that I was in lots of the same places as this guy because this was the guy that I fell in love with all those years ago (even with the sneezing power and volume).  


This is the guy I have been married to for almost 37 years and he still has a powerful sneeze and yes will still sneeze lots of times in a row.

I can recognise Fred's sneeze anywhere.  

And this sneeze has helped me out on several occasions.

Many times when we lived in America and would be in those really, really large superstores Fred would wander off to look at some of the things that interested him more than regular shopping did.
Then when I would be finished shopping and I was getting tired and just wanted to get through the checkout and go home I would not have a clue where he was. 


That's when his sneeze was a beautiful sound to my ear.


He would sneeze and I would hone in on his location, waiting of course until he was finished sneezing before I would actually join him because I'd rather avoid the stares and in some cases pitying looks of the people nearby.



Now you are probably thinking 

               "that's ok he's her husband, she's with Him all the time so of course she'll know the sound of him" 

and yes that is my point

I know my husband really well and the rest of my family really well.

You will know your family really well too!

BUT

Can we recognise the Holy Spirit's prompting anywhere?   anytime?

Do we know the Holy Spirit well enough to know how He works through each of us personally?

I know my husband well enough because I have known him for many years and because I spend a lot of time with him.


So when he sneezes 


I know from experience that he hasn't got those
 allergies that people will be absolutely certain he must have because he sneezed a lot in their presence.

I know the difference between the way he has always been or whether he is taking the flu.

I don't have to think twice or pose the question to myself "is that Fred or not?" when I hear his sneeze.


That is exactly how we should be about the Holy Spirit.

Even just recently I have found myself sitting thinking yet again
" is this the Holy Spirit talking to me or not?"

After all this time I should be more honed in to the way He talks to me, to the way He impresses things on my mind, to the sudden bits of information He gives me.
Yet still many times I will hesitate to step out and do what He wants me to do.

We shouldn't have to take time to ponder and try to work out if the Holy Spirit is speaking to us or encouraging us to so something because we should recognize His way of working in us.

How?

Well just what we do with our husbands and families.

Love them. 
Spend time with them. 
Be prepared to listen to them and not do all the talking ourselves.

No one can know your family better than you through all the years so in the same way no one is going to be able to tell you when the Holy Spirit is prompting you, only you can.


And if we can manage in OUR family where we ALL like to talk and butt in and add our piece to the conversation, then you can too.

Why We Worship 20

I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"

Have you ever thought about how thankful we should be that God is not like us?

Have you ever thought about how we are meant to become like Him and not the other way round?

I am so glad that He is not to become like us because we are flawed.

God is not flawed because 

Just think about that, 

                       
                            that means

there is not one thing wrong with our God.

No matter what we do we will never be perfect as only God is perfect so we know that the verse above does not mean just exactly as it sounds.

However God does want something from us.

The previous few verses in that chapter of the Gospel of Matthew will help us.

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

We are to do the things that are more unnatural for humans to do.

We are to show the love and goodness of God to others by being different to the norm in this world.

We are to have a different attitude toward others because God has instructed us to be like Him.

We are to walk in the ways of God.

I am thankful that God is Perfect because this means we can fully trust Him?

5 Essentials Items for Any Kitchen

One of the best ways to make our work in the kitchen less of a hassle is really to make it

 easier to do 

 or 

 quicker to do 

 or

 both.

One way to do this is to have some simple but very practical tools.

I have picked out 

5 things that I automatically think of 

when I am considering  what I use often or a lot of to make things easier for me around the house.

Yes these are

5 Things I Don't Think I want to have to do Without.

1.  Clip-its



Both IKEA and Lakeland have really good sturdy clip-its and in a good variety of sizes.

However you can buy them almost anywhere now but they may not be just as good a grip.

How can we seal many bags without some of these???


USES
Bread bags
Bags in freezer
Large crisp bags





2.  Long Handled Spoons



LAKELAND sell them but I have also bought them from pound stores

I have some that are bent so that they will sit on the edge of a mug or glass and some that are plain but I also have 2 (not pictured here) that I got in South Korea that have a larger wider spoon part whereas the others are more of a teaspoon size.

Who doesn't need something with a long handle to do some scooping???


USES
Tall glass ice cream sundaes
Large coffee mugs
Getting to the bottom of jars of jam etc.






3.    Kitchen Scissors



LAKELAND, IKEA, Pound stores and  any supermarket now.

Different colours and sizes available, but do get ones with a good comfortable grip because if you get hooked like me you will use them constantly.  

Who doesn't have lots of occasions when it is so much easier to cut with scissors than to chop with a knife???     Well Not Tomatoes anyway!

USES
Lots of meats and vegetables are actually easier to cut using the scissors than a knife.
So convenient for cutting foods into foods already cooking on the stove.
Also how else do you open those horrible strong plastic bags that seem to stretch as you try to pull them apart?






4.    Silicone Basting Brushes

LAKELAND and also in pound stores.

The round ones I have found to be softer and more flimsy.
But the flat ones I absolutely adore.

Who wants to battle with pieces of greased proof paper or kitchen towels to try to grease items???


USES
Oiling and basting roasts
Putting lime or lemon juice on fish
Spreading jam or any other similar mixture on cakes etc.
Greasing dishes.





5.   Resealable Bags



IKEA have the best and at such a good price. 

These ones seal easily and well not like some others you can find other places.

They have two different boxes you can buy with two different sizes of bag in each so between all four sizes you are equipped for just about any eventuality.

Great to have bags that seal so well that the contents don't leak over everything else in the fridge or freezer and bags that can be reused over and over again.



USES
DIY accessories like screws.
Transporting any type of food stuffs.
I have never tried soup in one but thicker foodstuffs are fine.
Freezer use as well as fridge use.

I reckon you could tell me of a few things you don't want to have to do without either.  If so let me know in a comment.

The Third Coffee Mug - A Dose of Encouragement

I love to read little phrases that may be clever or humorous 

and I love going round craft shops or gift shops.  

        One day in Cookstown many years ago, I found a nice shop and spent an enjoyable time wandering round picking out some very early Christmas presents. 

          
        
The shop had a great display of mugs and of course I found one which I couldn’t resist.  

Firstly its design was in blue (which is by far my favourite colour I even wrote a post on it "I Love The Colour Blue" and I would probably have everything in my house blue if Fred would let me) and secondly the words on it amused me.  
        
         It read  

                      “I would get organised except it would only confuse everyone”. 

I bought it for my husband Fred because he told me that his desk at work was always a mess and I thought he could use the mug at work.  However the nice blue design was rather a floral design and I felt that Fred might not appreciate it, so I kept it for myself.  

          Anyway, I was always trying to get organised, I had a small two drawer filing cabinet in the kitchen, two drawers of my roll-top desk were filing drawers and the large drawer at the bottom of the computer armoire was also a filing drawer.  With all of these you would think that all our papers etc. would be organised and nothing misplaced or forgotten about; but no! 

                     
Even though 

                                                   

 I rarely end up completely organised.

In fact I'm pretty good at starting and not finishing things.  I'm good at getting everything out to rearrange cupboards etc. and taking ages to get it all back in again.

Fred often asks me why it is that every time I say I am sorting out something, he finds me in the middle of a mess.  

            
 My answer is 

 "you can’t tidy up properly without making a mess".  

I know that sounds stupid but it makes sense to me. 

When you are organising things you need to have piles or boxes for 

• Things you will throw out
• Things you will donate or give away
• Things to keep
• Things you like and know you don't really need but you don't want to part with.

Some day I will have a 

                                                                            

 but not just now.  

The only problem is that this can often affect my spiritual life too. 

• When to read the Bible?
• Where to read the Bible?
• What to read in the Bible?
• When to pray?
• Where to pray?
• What to pray about?
• When to study?
• How to study?

I kept thinking I must organise how I read, pray and study the bible; so then I would want to try to plan it all out in advance and decide when the best time was and method was but then I would get started and change my mind.


Let’s face it if I tried to wait until I got all that organized perfectly,

then I’d never be found in a quiet place with God.

So I knew I could not have it just perfectly organised and instead 

I just had to do it.

because otherwise I would never learn from the promises, love, mercy, grace, compassion of Jesus and the instructions God has given us.

Of course that was all years ago when I had the kids at home, I was working and Fred travelled a lot with work so perhaps the reason for not being properly organised was due to all of that.  

So now then when the kids are grown and away from home and  I am not working things can be organised perfectly can't they?

   No, not at all, it is just the same now as then.

(except I don't have that coffee mug now because it got broken some years ago)  

and I know


I just have to do it.

So I'm thankful God doesn't wants us to do it absolutely perfectly

 but just wants us to do it to the best of our ability and His Holy Spirit

 will help us with the rest.

Are you like me?
Or perhaps you have no problems at all with organising your quiet times with God.

Why We Worship 19

I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"

Do you know that God loves to give us what we don't deserve?

•  He loves to pardon our sin.
•  He loves to be good to us.
•  He loves to give us His Gifts.
•  He loves to extend His Mercy to us.

And really we don't deserve any of this.

This is all because 

What does this mean?



It simply means that :

• Jesus the Son of God took our place.
• Jesus the Son of God bore our punishment.
• Jesus the Son of God gave His life for us.

And He did it for our benefit not His.

No wonder we sing and talk about God's Grace being AMAZING.

Of course the verse above is not actually a full sentence.

So let's look at the full sentence here in verses 11 - 14.

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,

12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 

13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, 

14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Because of the Grace God has shown us we then need to react by turning from our ungodly ways to God's Way and look forward to seeing Jesus who has made this all possible.  

We are to be His own special people and ready to do good just as He does.

I am very thankful for God's Grace  -  aren't you?