The Spider in the Hall! - A Dose of Encouragement

If you have read other posts on this blog you will know that my husband travels often on business.

Although some people think this has perks - it rarely does.  In fact there are so many other things that are downsides of this fact.


The Spider in the hall being just one of those.

When we moved into this house in December 2010 we noticed a lot of spiders appearing in the first 6 months here.

Suddenly we would be sitting quietly watching a dvd in the lounge when something would run along the floor past us and Fred would have to jump up to get it and kill it before it disappeared again.  Slippers were even known to have been thrown across the room in some cases.

These spiders were not wee tiny things but quite big and therefore noticeable when they tried to sprint the length of our room.


The 2 good things about that time was that

• Fred was not travelling much so he was there to do the killing (please don't judge us for killing them).
• It came to an end, we presumed the spiders had been hiding somewhere after being free to roam the house while it was empty before we bought it and now they had all ventured out and been GOT.

I'm not saying we didn't get any spiders since then but to be honest we got more outside on the patio than we did in the house and the ones in the house were not big.

Until September last year that was.

It was enormous!
I mean really enormous!

But worse than that - Fred was away on business!

I was on my own in the house!

It was 1.15 in the morning when I should have been in bed fast asleep but well.....

All I could think of was

That thing could make it to our bedroom 

and the door of our bedroom doesn't close properly 

and this thing could be crawling all over me in bed. 

 I would never be able to sleep.

It has to go!

But there was no Fred to get it for me.

Now just to prove that I did not zoom in on this spider to make it look BIG you can see it compared to the mirror which is about 4.5 feet long and 2 feet deep.  The spider was just approaching the corner and was about 1.5 feet from the mirror.

Before I decided how to kill it I had to take a picture because otherwise Fred would never have believed me about the size of it.

My biggest problem was I did not want to squash it on the wall because I did not want to mark the paintwork - too lazy to have to clean it!

I would have to act quickly before this thing ran off.

But I didn't because the spider seemed content to just sit there while I took the picture and stared at it considering my options.

No way was I going to try to scoop it onto a piece of paper and try to take it outside - it would have been far too close to my hands.

It had to be the flick it off the wall and stamp on it method!

But I was in my slippers and my feet are small so I had to go get a newspaper and would you believe that brute just sat there on the wall and waited for me to come back.  I think he thought I would be no match for him.

Then with a swift flick off the wall (making no mark), I threw the newspaper on top of it on the floor and jumped on top of the newspaper.  

GOT IT!

I actually think it was so big it couldn't move as fast as smaller spiders.

After what probably would have looked to others like a little flamenco dancing on the newspaper it was definitely dead.

Well I felt so good (not because I had killed a spider) but because I had managed something I usually relied on Fred to do and I would be able to sleep unworried about the spider.

But then the thought struck me

What if there was a spider's mate somewhere in the house?

How quickly I could go from one feeling to another!

How quickly my mood could be changed by one little thought!

But the devil sure knows which little thought to put into our minds - that one little thought that will be the one to do his evil work.

He knows just when to slip it in to rob us of any joy we have.

He tries it all the time.
He is an expert at it.
He thinks he knows us so well.

And let's face it he does know us well.

He knows all those thoughts, feelings, fears, reactions, worries that he can attack us with.

But

God knows us better than anyone.

God does not attack us.

God does not rob us of joy.

God does not throw discouraging thoughts at us.

God does not plant niggling fears in our minds.

God is the one who gives us joy.

God is the one who helps us overcome all that the devil wants to pull us down with.

So next time you feel your joy being sucked away by the devil and his whisperings in your ear think about this story of the spider and 

imagine you are flamenco dancing on the devil 

because 

Jesus has the victory over the devil and so do we.

Don't let the devil hold you back!

Segway Titanic Tour - Xtra Special Day

Okay so I never learned to ride a bike when I was young.

I know you are all thinking

                    "Who can't ride a bike?"

Well I can't.

But I can definitely ride a Segway!

Over the last several years I have occasionally seen people on segways and I always thought I would love to have a go but even though I am attracted to trying more unusual things I do not like making a fool of myself in front of others.

Then I read that they were very easy to ride/drive so I probably would not fall over and make a fool of myself and I also found out that a company in Northern Ireland were running "Titanic" Segway Tours which were obviously tours around the "Titanic Quarter" of Belfast on Segways.

I kept thinking how I would love to do it and hinted to my husband several times but Fred is not one to really take a hint - well not quickly anyway..

Then last year I decided we were going to go on the Titanic Segway Tour when all of the family would be together in Northern Ireland - not something that often happens now that our oldest son is living in Leeds and our daughter is living in South Korea.

To make a full day out of it we were going to go to the Titanic Exhibition first and then do the Segway tour and then go for dinner.

So we went online and booked 6 places on the tour one day in August, yes 6 because of course our middle son got married so we have a daughter-in-law as well.

Unfortunately Jonathan (the one from Leeds) took ill that morning and had to stay in bed all day so there were only the five of us in the end.

You can see the Titanic Building in the background - a rather impressive sight as you drive across the M3 over Belfast - designed to make you think of a ship.


I was so looking forward to this and as soon as the guy said we could get on the segways I didn't wait for the others.

It was so easy to do and very enjoyable.

We were told to go in single file and follow the tour guide so Linda led us off after him.


We were like ducks in a row and Linda enjoyed taking these selfies trying to get us all in as we rode along.

I laughed and laughed as we segwayed all around the Titanic quarter even though everyone we passed stared at us.  In fact I think that made me laugh even more.

The guide took us to different parts of the Titanic Quarter and we did listen as he explained what had happened at each part.

You can see me concentrating in the picture below when we were beside the dock.

Well shortly before that shot I had been giggling and not long after it I was giggling again but I did stop to listen in between.


When we had been all round the Titanic quarter and heard all about it we stopped for a ...

It seemed very strange parking the segways alongside the water and sitting in the coffee shop looking out at them.


Then after coffee we segwayed back toward the Odyssey Arena where the guide then let us have about 15 mins of free time on the large flat area riding round just as we pleased.

It was hilarious!



Daniel took this video.

No-one fell off, no-one collided with anyone else (although Daniel and Suzie almost did) or with the posts or the benches in the area.


Linda took this one.





Can't remember who took this one.  All I know is I was too busy enjoying the play time that I didn't take any videos or pictures at all.






But all good things have to come to an end and when Jonathan - the guide, said it was time to go back to the tour Office we were all disappointed but we had to go.

Well the chat was great after this event as we had all thoroughly enjoyed it and felt the time had gone too quick and I was already wondering when I could do it again.

However it is not a cheap day out, but it was a Special Day for us.

They do claim to be the only Segway Tours in the UK you see.

And I have been scheming & planning and hopefully there will be another Xtra Special Day !!!

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 63

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


Today I'm looking at Psalm 63 

This has long been one of my favourites and I remember learning a song based on verses 3 & 4 of this Psalm when I was a teenager.

While I was contemplating which Psalm I would put up for today's post I had a phone call from my son who is a Pastor in the Apostolic Church, UK.  He had rung to tell me that Pastor Hugh Mitchell had died this week.

During the past year we had all been very happy to hear that Pastor Mitchell had celebrated his 100th birthday and had been well enough to write a thank you letter to our church for the card we had sent him.


So why am I sharing this here?

Because it led me to choose Psalm 63 for today's post.

Pastor Hugh Mitchell was the writer of that song I mentioned above.

The song is entitled   "Thy Loving Kindness is Better than Life"

Looking at Psalm 63 v 1 - 8

This Psalm is about the Psalmist and his reaction to God:

V. 1-2
the Psalmist is seeking God earnestly
and he knows he has found God;
he has seen God's Power and Glory


V. 3-4
the Psalmist recognises the loving kindness of God
and how great it is;
his response is to praise, bless and adore God

V. 5-8
the Psalmist is joyful in his praise
which comes from fixing his attention on God;
recognizing God's help
and being secure in God's Hands.

There had to be a specific word used in this Psalm to express exactly what 

the Psalmist wanted to say


Lovingkindness

So great and special was the character of God that the Psalmist wanted to picture it for us.

Have you experienced God's Lovingkindness?

Do you think it is better than life?

Do you want to Bless God because of your relationship with Him?

Perhaps you know this simple but profound song

If you know this song or have heard of Hugh Mitchell then you might like to read this tribute to him.

UPDATE

Since writing this post my husband and I have recorded some videos of songs of bible Verses so I have included the one for Psalm 63 v 3 featured above.

The Elephant in the Bathroom! - A dose of Encouragement

Earlier this year I wrote about some hotel rooms and the various features or lack of features therein.

Today I'm writing about a hotel room again but from a completely different viewpoint.

Last month I wrote about various animals and the thoughts I had from our experiences with them and today I'm talking about another animal.

So what is this strange connection between a hotel room and an animal?

In the early part of February this year my husband Fred was away travelling with work and I had an appointment first thing in the morning in Belfast during a time of snowy weather so my son Daniel came down to Banbridge from Belfast and drove me up in the early evening the night before.

I could have driven up myself but I'm not a keen driver in any amount of snow after an incident many years ago when the children were young, and Daniel wanted to "take care of me" with his dad being away.

I had gone on the internet the day before and found a hotel which offered a good price and was near my appointment location even though I had never stayed there before.

So having arrived at the hotel and been greeted by a very pleasant girl on reception we booked a table in their restaurant to have a meal and headed up to leave my bag in the room.

That's when we saw the elephant in the bathroom.

In this day and age what is the first thing any of us do now when we see anything funny, interesting or just different from the norm?

Yes we take a picture!

So out comes the mobile phone and I'm snapping away with Daniel laughing and saying to me

 "I bet that will make it's way into your blog sometime"

Now at this point I want to include for the record that I was not the only one who had their mobile phone out clicking away at pictures!!!    Right Daniel!


And he doesn't even write a blog.


Okay so let's get back to today's animal.

Here it is

Isn't it cute?


Well you can guess what I thought about after taking a few pictures.


Yes   -   "I wonder how they did that?" 

and so then began another round of pictures as I took the elephant apart bit by bit to see how it had been made.

Then can you guess what I thought about after that?


The well known phrase

"The Elephant in the Room" 

referring to something that is there, that is not being spoken about, but everyone is conscious of that overhanging situation.


Well that could have fitted in with my situation that evening.

It could even have been thought that there was an "Elephant in the room" all the time for the previous 2 months as I had waited for this appointment to take place.


The appointment was at the Breast Clinic.


I was in that band of women who, having been checked out by their doctor, are referred to the clinic as not immediate (to be seen within two weeks) but should be seen within 6-8 weeks.

So basically the doctor is rather concerned but not sure that there is definitely something wrong there.

It had been at the start of December that I had seen the doctor and that meant I had to wait through Christmas and the New Year.

Fred & I have always been of the mindset that we pray about every situation and then try to leave it with God knowing that He knows best so that is what we did but that doesn't mean we didn't think about it often. and we did continue to pray about it during the time of waiting.

Our biggest concern was not to worry the kids (all grown up now with one 30 mins away from us and the other two living in two different countries) because that is what parents do; they try to protect their kids from things that may hurt them in any way.

However things did not go as planned and to cut a long story short I did end up telling one of the kids and then the other two had to be told as well.

So that was how I ended up being "taken care of" by my son on my appointment at the hospital.

Now God knows in advance what we are going to need.

And God plans in advance how He will meet that need.

Because 


God takes care of us.

If I had not told the kids then Daniel would not have known that there was an opportunity to help his mum.

If Daniel had not come to drive me to Belfast I would have had to drive myself and I would have dreaded that in the snowy weather.

If Daniel had not been with me the night before I would have been alone in Belfast and that would not have been as pleasant as an evening chatting and joking with my son over a lovely meal.

If Daniel had not been with me the morning of the appointment then I would have felt very lonely sitting on my own waiting in the hospital for the scan and mammogram and then the results.

If Daniel had not been with me after the appointment who would I have had to be thankful with that it was not cancer?

God had planned it all.

He planned that I would tell the kids because He had planned how He would show me His love and care for me through them.

God wants to take care of you.

There is no doubt about it.


God loves us.


God can meet our needs.


God wants to take care of us.

Are you facing a problem?     Do you have an "Elephant in the room"?

Talk to God about it and give it over to Him.

Then let God take care of you.

Let God take care of you.

Because

God wants to take care of you.

The Tall Ships in Belfast - Xtra Special Day

Many years ago (around 20) when the children were small, we had been to see the Tall Ships in Delaware.

A few years ago the Tall Ships were at our hometown of Londonderry in Northern Ireland but we were not living there anymore and also could not get there at the right time to see them.

Then when we heard that they were coming to Belfast (30 minutes from where we now live in Northern Ireland), I was determined that I would get to see them.

Well that was planned for last Thursday and yes it did happen as planned.

Everything seemed to be well organized for arrangements for transport and we we chose to drive to one of the Park & Ride locations to then be driven by bus to the docks at the Titanic Quarter of Belfast.

Wandering around looking at the ships from the dock  is enjoyable but who would go to this event without boarding one of the ships if possible.

Well not Fred & I anyway.

We joined a small queue and boarded the Netherlands ship The "Gulden-Leeuw" (Golden Lion)

Quite appropriate for us as we spent over 6 years living in Tervuren, Belgium and had to learn to speak some Dutch while we were there.


Although it was a bit overcast while we were onboard we did manage to get a few pictures.

I suppose I should be thankful that this Mechanical Engineer of a husband of mine did not end up in the engine room which happened one other time we were on a ship (another story to tell).

The ship in the background here is The Europa (The Hague, Netherlands)

and after we got back on dry land we noticed that something was happening onboard this ship but not where they would normally allow people to climb.

A well known reporter for The BBC was filming part of a report.

The BBC Early Evening Programme "The One Show" was going to be broadcasting live from the Tall Ships the following evening and his report would be featured then.

The thing I found most interesting was seeing how he got down from this position safely because of the harness and rope and clip (there is probably a proper name for that but Fred isn't here to help me with that).

When Dan Snow was unharnessed Fred suggested I go up to the same spot and he could get a picture of me.  

My husband thinks he's funny sometimes!

Just noting that there were some more quicker forms of transport around the Tall Ships too which definitely could not be classed as tall. 

Around this main dock there were two markets, one with international stalls and one with craft stalls.

We naturally walked around these and also saw the main stage with musicians, a funfair and another smaller stage with more musicians.

There were some activities for children but we did not see any of the street performers that we had read about online.

I was rather disappointed about this because I felt it would really have added to the atmosphere of the whole event - plus I wanted to see how large the bubbles were that the bubbleman was supposed to be making.

Perhaps they were not there because it was the first afternoon of the Tall Ships visit but the people were there so the entertainment should have been there as well.

Not all of the Tall Ships were moored at this main dock so we took one of the event buses over to Pollock Dock to see some more.

The largest ship here was the Statsraad Lehmkuhl from Bergen in Norway.

You can tell it had got sunnier now and I was able to hide behind my sunglasses.

The HMS Northumberland was moored here too but they were not allowing visitors onboard it.

This Type 23 Frigate was here to lead the Flotilla of Tall Ships away to the start of their races after their stay in Belfast.

Pollock dock was a smaller Dock however there was also a funfair here, a place to eat, another international market, a bar and a few tents which I think was to represent a Viking Village.

Then the thing Fred had been looking forward to - The BBC Zone.

He had a wander round their first tent while I found a seat to wait for him.

In the second tent I thought he was going to volunteer to do the weather forecast but I must say now we know more about green screens and what the weatherman himself actually sees as he is explaining the weather to us.

The third tent had the Daleks.

I got out the camera because I just knew Fred was going to have to have a go at programming the Dalek round a maze - well a few corners anyway.

I decided it would be good to try a short video on my phone camera so if you want to see how Fred managed with the Dalek you can watch it below.

Now apparently it was not Fred's fault the Dalek broke.

The girl explained that it was not programmed as accurately by them originally as it should have been.

So then he had another go

Actually before he had tried we saw two of the Daleks come apart and after he tried it was still happening to others but they were easily put together again.

There were various sizes of Tall Ships here at Pollock Dock as there were at the other docks.

To the right behind the Statsraad Lehmkuhl was the Sorlandet from Norway and then the Guayas from Spain.

To the left were some of the smaller ships.

After our time of much walking we rounded our day off nicely by meeting up with our son and daughter-in-law in Belfast and going out for a relaxing meal.

Yesterday the Flotilla of Tall Ships, starting with The Christian Radich (also from Norway), left the docks at Belfast and sailed up the Lough towards Bangor to the East, then turning to Whitehead on the West.  They eventually proceeded on up along the north coast until they were at the starting point for their races starting today.

We will have to wait now to find out which of the ships win in each of the 4 classes but I suppose we will be hoping that the winner Class A might just possibly be The Gulden Leeuw just because that is the one we were on.

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 1

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


Today is appropriately looking at Psalm 1 for our first week of this series.


This is one of my favourite Psalms probably helped by the fact that there was a song based on it that we used to sing many years ago and that has helped me to learn some of the verses.

For me this Psalm falls into three parts:

V. 1-3
the man who is blessed


V. 4-5
the ungodly man


V. 6
the comparison of the end of the two men



The Man who is Blessed.
Firstly we know he is blessed because of what he does not do.
Secondly we know he is blessed by what he does.
Thirdly we see what the blessing will be like - good foundation, strength, fruitfulness, good life.

The Ungodly Man.
Firstly we know he is the opposite to the blessed man.
Secondly we know that his future is not good - not with God.

The End of the Two Men.
God respects and recognises the Blessed man.
The Ungodly man will perish.

There is no sugar coating - we are one or the other and it is not decided by man but by God.

Hence it should be God we are honouring in life and not trying to please man or be liberal or go with the times or be swayed by the majority or indeed be goaded into compromise by the minority.

And how do we know what is of God and what is not of God?
By delighting in God's Word and thinking on it all the time so we can use it as our guide & measuring rod.

It is important we know what the definition of the ungodly is 

but 

the one we need to focus on is the man who is blessed.

We need to avoid the pitfalls 

but 

most importantly 

we need to turn ourselves to the word of God.

Update:

My husband was preaching on this Psalm recently in church and around that time he put the words of it to music to help us all get the words into our minds and thoughts because we all know that singing is a great way of memorizing.

Below I've included a video we then recorded that will help anyone to sing along - this and other videos of worship songs can be found on his You Tube Channel  Apostolic Worship