Wednesday

Looking for Devotionals or Bible Studies - Stuck at Home and Need Help?






Are you stuck in the house?

If you are confined to home

             or self-isolating

                          or off work because the kids are ill

    or perhaps the weather is just too cold or stormy to get out

  you may be looking for some devotionals to read each day

or Bible Studies to dig into.



If So
THEN
This is the place to find all my devotional & Bible Study type posts 


Just click on the Titles to find out more.




Each of the blog posts that fall into the category of Devotionals will be listed here 
under 
Themes or Topics.



Why We Worship

#1   God is Great                                                  
#5   God is Holy                                                 
#9   God is Merciful                                             
#17   God is Wise                                                




It's God's Love                          
                                                   

It's God's Love #4
It's God's Love #5                                                
It's God's Love #8
It's God's Love #9                                                
It's God's Love #12
It's God's Love #13                                              
It's God's Love #16
It's God's Love #20
It's God's Love #21                                                 
It's God's Love #24
It's God's Love #25                                                 




Songs for Worship



Pondering the Psalms




Smile God Loves You







Sunday Scripture

Sunday Scripture  Luke 1v37
Sunday Scripture  Psalm 145v1-3
Sunday Scripture  Matthew 8v27
Sunday Scripture  2 Timothy 1v7
Sunday Scripture  Romans 8v25 
Sunday Scripture  John 16v24 
Sunday Scripture  Hebrews 12v14
Sunday Scripture  Psalm 16v8
Sunday Scripture  1 Thessalonian 5v16-18
Sunday Scripture  Philippians 1v21
Sunday Scripture  Psalm 34v1
Sunday Scripture  Proverbs 22v17-21









New Testament





                  

Just click on the Titles to find out more.




I started the Advent Reading Challenge through the Gospel of Luke where you read 1 chapter each day from 1st December to 24th Dec and by then you have reached the end of the book.

Then I thought I would write a series of blog posts as I went along mostly covering 2 chapters at a time.


Each time I publish my post I will put the link to that post in the list below so have a good wander around and read my thoughts on the Book of Luke.


The Gospel of Luke 


Overview & Chapter 1
Chapters 2 & 3
Chapters 4 & 5
Chapters 6 & 7
Chapters 8 & 9
Chapters 10 & 11
Chapters 12 & 13
Chapters 14 & 15
Chapters 16 & 17
Chapters 18 & 19
Chapters 20 & 21
Chapters 22 & 23
Chapters 24 & Summary




                    ************************************************************





I started blogging each day for 31 Days for an October challenge and reached the end of chapter 17 so then I decided to continue on through Acts but only posting approx. twice a week.


Each of the posts are in the list below so have a good wander around and read my thoughts on the book of Acts.










SCHEDULE

DAY 1  -  Do You Read Everything in a Book?  
DAY 2  -  Who is your Attention on?
DAY 3  -  All Together Now?
DAY 4  -  Is there Strength in the Promise?
DAY 5  -  What Happened at the Gate?
DAY 6  -  Have We Got Your Attention?
DAY 7  -  Who Complains About Good Things?
DAY 8  -  Responses to the Gospel
DAY 9  -  Because of a Lie
DAY 10  -  Who Does the Miracles?
DAY 11  -  What's the Outcome?
DAY 12  -  Wise & Respected Men
DAY 13  -  A Result of Hatred.
DAY 14  -  Good Out of Evil.
DAY 15  -  Important Questions, Simple Answers
DAY 16  -  Darkness! Now the True Light!
DAY 17  -  Changing Lives & Communities
DAY 18  -  Death & Life
DAY 19  -  It's not about Us, It's all about God!
DAY 20  -  We all need to be Encouragers
DAY 21  -  A Miraculous Escape
DAY 22  -  Daily Scriptures
DAY 23  -  A Specific Job for the Kingdom
DAY 24  -  Love & Hatred
DAY 25  -  All the Same?
DAY 26  -  Believe in the Right Thing!
DAY 27  -  Empowering People's Lives
DAY 28  -  The Call
DAY 29  -  What Does God Need?
DAY 30  -  The Power & Destruction of Envy
DAY 31  -  Knowing God



This is the rest of the Book of Acts .



Chapter 18  -  Reactions of People
Chapter 18 (contd)  -  A Godly Couple
Chapter 19  -  Questions are Important!
Chapter 19 (contd)  -  The Influence of Paul
Chapter 20  -  A Short Eventful Visit
Chapter 20 (contd)  -  Paul's Goal
Chapter 21  -  The Journey to Jerusalem
Chapter 21 & 22  -  Paul's Defense
Chapter 23  -  A Murder Plot
Chapter 23 & 24  -  Accusations & Indecisions
Chapter 25  -  The Big Appeal
Chapter 26  -  Paul Comes Before the King
Chapter 27 & 28  - 

                    ************************************************************




Looking at 4 studies 
of 
the

 What 

When

  Where, Why, Who

 and 

 How 

of 
Mercy





                    ************************************************************
Looking at the Story of Ruth and Boaz from the Book of Ruth from the relationships of the 3 main characters Ruth, Boaz and Naomi.


Ruth & Boaz - The Start of the Story



Ruth & Boaz - Unconditional Love








Why not pin this to be able to come back later 













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Sunday

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 18


Some Sundays I choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on it.



                    Today I'm looking at

Psalm 18 

A Psalm of David






This Psalm falls into 7 parts:


V. 1-3
Acknowledgement of God who was David's Deliverer






V. 4-6
Acknowledgement of God who Heard David's Cry






V. 7-15
Acknowledgement of God who was David's Avenger




V. 16-19
Acknowledgement of God who Delighted in David








V. 20-30
Acknowledgement of God who treated David Justly







V. 31-45
Acknowledgement of God who was David's Support




V. 46-50??

Acknowledgement of God who was worthy to be Exalted above all





This Psalm could be summed up simply by verses 31-32 






Surely we can acknowledge God in the same way
 as David did in this Psalm.

From this Psalm we should always remember that:

We have to be humble to be delivered also for our city to be delivered.   v 27

God will give us the strength for the battle against evil in our city   v 39

 So that the enemy will have to turn away from us  v 40

Because of what God has done and will do in our city we must extol him  v 49



















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Friday

10 Storage Ideas for Spices - Organising My Home


I like organising but sometimes I just don't have the proper space or storage container to suit my needs.

Spice storage is something I have had to think about each time we have moved house and I have to say that I looke at many different storage ideas for my spices over the years and have used a few different types.

So when we were getting a new kitchen put in to our present home I again had the opportunity to look at storage for my spices.






So when we were getting a new kitchen put in to our present home I again had the opportunity to look at storage for my spices again.

This time I was going to have a larder / pantry for the first time since we bought our first home and we were designing it as a walk-in pantry (although we would not be able to walk in too far as we were determined to get all the shelf space possible fitted in.

Because we were having full say as to what drawers, cupboards shelving etc. we would have in the kitchen I was open to storing my spices in various ways so here are 10 storage ideas I looked at for my spices.



10 Storage Ideas for Spices



1.  Drawer Storage for Spices

I was keen to have sets of long drawers with a mixture of shallow and deep.

However I never have more than about 15 herbs and spices so this would have been too large for me but oh how accessible all my jars would have been.







Omega National Spice Drawer Insert






2.  Lighter Drawer Storage for Spices


Then also I was interested in having pull out shelving which is a bit like drawers so I thought this type might be good.

This is narrower so would fit better in those 50 mm or 60 mm cupboards where I was going to have the pull out shelving but in the end the cupboard I did allocate for one of these ended up having to be less deep (front to back) because of extra piping etc. needed behind it.







3.  Worktop Storage for Spices

Some of my worktop space was going to be deeper out from the wall so I considered allowing some of my worktop space to be used for the spices.

Again very accessible for quick grabbing but in the end we decided we would have enough on the worktops and did not really want to have this type of metal storage which would take a lot of cleaning.





3 Tier Standing Spice Rack







4.  Rotating Storage for Spices on the Worktop

I am extremely fond of things being easily "got at" so definitely I would have been interested in looking at rotating storage for nearly anything.

However again the thought of having to clean this on regularly stopped us taking up the worktop space with this.






Kamenstein 30020 Revolving 20-Jar Countertop Spice Rack Tower Organizer with Free Spice Refills for 5 Years








5.  Rotating Storage for Spices on a Cupboard Shelf

In a cupboard this type of storage can not normally be as high as we could have it on a worktop so this was an option.

It definitely was an option for us because I do like rotating storage to make it easy to grab things and I had been planning to put three other rotating storage items in my new larder but when we checked the measurements again we would not be able to fit them all in.


X-cosrack 2-tier Lazy Susan Turntable 10inch Bamboo Spinning Spice Rack











6.  Wall Storage for Spices

Do to the layout of the new kitchen there wasn't going to be a section where we could have some wall space clear that could be used for  mounting some form of open shelving or racks.

If I had been able to consider wall storage this quite simple metal rack would have been very interesting.




mDesign Metal Wall Mount Kitchen Spice Rack








7.  Cupboard Door Storage for Spices

We would have our long larder / pantry door and several other smaller cupboard doors that could be used for extra storage space on the inside.

This was then a thought for a while but in the end we decided that we would rather not have jars knocking together as we opened the door every time we wanted anything within the cupboard let alone the spices themselves.






Spice Storage Rack Organizer Pantry Door





8.  Cupboard Shelf  -  Plastic Storage for Spices

Now in the end we knew that we really wanted to keep our herbs and spices inside our new larder basically to have most if not all the food stored together.

The place we knew we would have room was along the wall on the shelf behind the 3 rotating storage containers as otherwise there would just be wasted space there.

It would have to be free standing or something easily attached to the wall of the larder.

First I looked at plastic versions.






Prodyne A-845 Spice Rack, 20 Bottle






9.  Cupboard Shelf  -  Wooden Storage for Spices

Then I looked at wooden versions.

But most of them seemed to sit out a distance from the back of a shelf and I didn't want to lose too much of my shelf depth.







2-Tier Wooden Rack Seasoning Shelf Spice Rack Shelf Space-Saving Multifunctional





10.  Cupboard Shelf  -  Metal Storage for Spices

Then I looked at metal versions.

I am quite partial to black metal and had already ordered two items for another part of the kitchen that were black metal so I felt drawn towards something like those and this is what I found.

So I had my solution and I believe it ended up being the cheapest of all the ones considered so that was an added bonus.
 
Who doesn't like to save a bit of money?







Scroll Wall-Mounted, Traditional Spice Rack 



The one I got was even cheaper than this one but when I went back to get the picture and name of it I found it was no longer available in Amazon.   However to me they look exactly the same.

Although this one states wall mounted, so did mine but it does sit perfectly on my shelf and I have never bothered to attach it to the back of my larder.


This is mine below, all full up and sitting in my pantry / larder.







I do like my decision and in fact I like it so much that I'm now trying to get another one to match it to put beside it to the left where I have some more space and I could store my other small jars and bottles of things for baking etc.  but because it doesn't seem to be available anymore I may just have to get the one shown here as the dimensions are the same.

Although this one states wall mounted and so did mine it does sit on my shelf and I have never bothered to attach it to the back of my larder.


Thinking of redoing your kitchen, or adding some extra storage then why not pin this for later.














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Wednesday

How to Keep in Touch & Encourage Others When We Have To Be Apart - A Dose of Encouragement


We are in lockdown in Northern Ireland just like many are in lockdown all over the world during this month of April in 2020 and may be like this for many weeks or months to come.

We are confined to our homes or as many of us would say - we are stuck at home.

Many of us want to keep in touch and encourage our family, friends and church family.

What can we do to encourage others when we cannot go out to visit, talk in person face to face, or meet together in our different churches?







Yes I'm sure it is in your mind right now that there is one obvious thing we can do - PRAY!

I agree the first thing we should do is pray for
  •  our situation 
  •  our families
  •  our friends
  •  our neighbours
  •  our church community
  •  the lonely, vulnerable and anxious people we know
  •  those who are ill
  •  doctors, nurses, other hospital workers
  •  home carers
  •  foodbank workers
  •  key workers

BUT

What else can we do to keep in touch?

What else can we do to encourage each other?


Yes here I am sitting at the computer as I do for at least a little while each day - okay much more than a little while most days - and in this day and age most people do spend time each day on computers, mobiles, tablets etc.


My computer is where I do most of my blogging, online shopping, work on kids resources,  playing with graphics, storing photographs and filing Home info.

My iPad is where I do most of my emailing, make lists and notes, facetime our kids, go on facebook, play a few games' and browse Ebay and Amazon.

My mobile is where I text, message, whatsApp, take pictures & videos


Now on each of these things I do have contact with other people but everything via these things is in a kind of shortened form.


However in the situation we are at this moment I need to change my ways and add something that is not so much in shortened form - I need to start using my phone as a phone.
I hate talking on the phone and will do almost anything else so as not to have to do it.
Partly because I don't feel that I hear these so clearly on the phone even though my hearing is fine.
Partly because I talk with my hands, and you can't do that while holding a phone and of course there is no-one to see it.
And
Partly because I can't see the person to see how they actually feel as they are talking to me.


So I'm going to have to get out of my comfort Zone and actually phone people because it is just not enough to ask Fred how each person is after he has called them.


That sort of brings me to what our church is doing in this time of Lockdown.



What our Church is Doing

  • Live online service each Sunday morning.
  • Online Prayer Meeting on Zoom midweek
  • Bible Study online midweek
  • Milk Note*
  • Leadership Phone contact rota
  • WhatsApp group for prayer requests and encouraging news and uplifting videos etc.
  • Videos of some of the congregation singing (individual videos put together)

*A little note put in the door (one day in the week) of people who may need some extra help during the week to get some extra groceries or something else from a shop and then collected another day and the items delivered as soon as possible.







Types / Groups of People within the Church Family

  • Elderly
  • People who live alone
  • People who do not have any family living locally
  • People suffering from Chronic illnesses
  • Couples
  • Families with teenagers
  • Families with young children

All of these people need to know that others are thinking about them, praying for them and care about them.



How can different people within the church family encourage each other?



What We can Do as Individuals

  • Phone calls - Just ring someone to encourage and check up on them.
  • Text Messages - a little check-in text is quick & easy & maybe a conversation will ensue.
  • Send Cards - it doesn't take long to write a greeting on a cheery card or postcard.
  • Write letters - it takes more time than to write a card but some of us are better at letters.
  • Support Foodbanks
  • Buy a special treat or make a tasty treat for someone on their own
  • Use our Hobbies - to support other organisations or people*
  • Use our Abilities - to support other organisations or people**
  • People living in the same area can take their daily walk some days to go past homes of others - wave to them or stop and have a brief chat or take a picture from a proper distance.
  • Encourage Each Other to Exercise - easy things together on facetime or phone & have a laugh  
  • Encourage Each Other to Listen to Good Hymns & Songs - send YouTube links* 
  • Encourage Each Other to Read the Bible - decide to read a certain passage and then chat on the phone about it or on facetime**
  • Encourage Each Other to Memorize Scripture - decide to learn a particular verse and then test each other on facetime or a phone call***
  • Use our Hobbies - to support other organisations or people****
  • Use our Abilities - to support other organisations or people*****

*Take turns to choose a song from your own play lists or decide to find new songs

I have some recommendations here:
  Looking for Good Songs 


**All you need is to pick a book of the Bible or chose a reading plan 

Here are some posts to help you:
  

***All you need is to determine you want to memorize a verse of the Bible and follow my tips 


****Remember that if you have any hobbies like card making, knitting, crocheting, quilting, cross stitching you can use them to encourage and show love and care for others.


 *****Remember that if you have any knowledge of computers you can be of help to get other people online when there are church services and prayer meetings and Bible Studies available there. 


SOME EXAMPLES:

Help them set up a Zoom account for prayer meetings, Bible Studies or even ladies meetings - yes this is how I had to speak to ladies from another church a week ago.  Quite awkward when you have too many people for one screen as we did as you feel you aren't interacting so much because you can't see them.






Help them to get a facebook account set up so that they can access the live streams.


Help them  to find good facebook pages.


Help them  to get unto WhatsApp to be in a group of people for contact and prayer requests.


They may even want to come join others on my Facebook page which was primarily set up to encourage others as is this Blog.
  Just click on the pic below.

Sandra's Ark








IDEAS for Children to be Involved within the Church Family


Children can make cards for the older people on their own.
Our grandchildren made cards for us and because they know what they like to play with in our house and they know the things we like they customized them for us.
My card had a large heart and some butterflies because you will find hearts and butterflies all over my house.
Fred's card had a guitar on the front because he loves guitars.
Both of our cards had pirate stickers on them because our grandson Matthew loves to play with a pirate ship we bought him which stays in our house.







Parents can share little videos of the children

Families could take a little video of them all saying hello and waving to people.




Children can dictate little messages for their parents to send to others.

Our daughter-in-law wrote a postcard to me for our granddaughter who is not quite 3 years old yet and she wrote it by asking Ruby questions to help her think what she might like to say.
I can tell you now that we are going to have sausages and pasta the first time we get back to see them in their house after Lockdown, partly because she likes pasta and I like sausages.







People who know the children well can facetime the children to chat with them, read a story, sing a song with them, or play a little game.
We sing songs with our grandchildren and find out if they have learnt any new songs recently that they can teach us.


We do a hide and seek over facetime where we get the grandkids to close their eyes and count while we hide a cuddly toy bear in different places in our house and they then have to tell us where to go in the house to look in the places they think we may have hidden it.







We can do a jigsaw together with them over facetime.
This was one that their mum got us for Christmas and it was rather special because it was made from a picture of Fred and I and the three grandchildren the day the youngest was born.






Here are some links to other blog posts for tested Facetime ideas:






The Church can produce simple materials for the children

The Church can choose themes or topics and produce a
  •  little prayer,
  •  story idea,
  •  colouring page
  •  simple memory verse
  •  and maybe a simple craft idea for the parents to use with the children.
for each one.

Having been a Sunday School Curriculum Writer and A Kid's Club leader for many years those kinds of things come more naturally to me and every church will have someone who can develop a little system like this.




WHAT CAN WE ALL DO TO KEEP IN TOUCH?

 WHAT CAN WE ALL DO TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS?


Can you encourage someone?
Yes you can.

 Can you do any of the things mentioned above?
Yes you can.

No matter who you are, you can do at least one of the things mentioned here in this blog post.



 Do you think that one thing you are able to do can make a difference?

If you said no then you are wrong.

Every little thing we do out of love and concern and compassion for another person can make a difference to a day for them.

In times of loneliness, vulnerability, anxiety or stress one thing in the day can help to brighten someone's life - that's what encouragement is all about.

People always need to be reminded of God's Love

People always need to be reminded that:





I actually received that poem above many years ago after an extremely sad time in my life and I was very thankful for some encouragement.




Can you encourage someone?

YES!

To encourage someone means to leave them seeing their day, week, life, changed even in a very simple way so that they are lifted out of any discouragement, loneliness, dismay, they may be feeling.

With the added advantage we have of turning their eyes toward Jesus to know He still cares for them.



And what about the person doing the encouragement?

 Well if you step out and do some act of kindness to encourage another I tell you it will also encourage you.



Let me encourage you from my own experience how simple acts of kindness encourage others.

I know how a little letter can help someone   -   See  Tears over a Little Letter

I know how receiving a handmade card can encourage someone.   -  just look above to the cards we got from the grandkids.

I know how a phone call can help someone   -   I'm not good at making them but I do appreciate them.

I know how keeping in touch on facebook messenger regularly can help someone.

I know how checking in with someone on WhatsApp helps them.

I know how thankful people are for little cards sent out to them to show your love and concern.

Here are examples of some of the lovely Postcards I found that I am sending out to people within our church who are on their own.






I picked them because of the attractive, encouraging Bible Verses they display.

I bought them from a company called "10 of Those" who are a UK company and sell lots of books as well with everything being at really good prices.

 There are two packs of the postcards and they each have 5 different designs, the picture above show three from each pack.






I get no commission from "10 of Those" - I just wanted to give you an example of what you can get for a good price but I'm sure other Bible Book shops online will have similar products.



I also know how providing that bag of pasta or flour or toilet rolls or other essential items to a foodbank will not only help the people who receive gifts from the foodbank but will also help to relieve the pressure on the foodbank organisers.  -  Our son is in that position.


I also know that just being the person someone else can turn to at any time for prayer is a great encouragement.


I also know that being the person who is inviting you wot pray online with them, or read the Bible or sing the Psalms together online is a great help to others.  -  Our other son is in that position.


I also know that having someone just to remember you live far from your homeland and in a different culture and to make you laugh at times can be a great gift.  -  Our daughter is in that position.


So why not think how you feel and how you would like someone to encourage and help you and then do that for someone else.





You may also find the following blog posts to be of help for phone calls, letters and cards and even for encouragement on social media.

  BIBLE VERSES OF ENCOURAGEMENT IN TIMES OF ANXIETY WORRY & STRESS

  BIBLE VERSES OF ENCOURAGEMENT IN TIMES OF BEREAVEMENT

  BIBLE VERSES OF ENCOURAGEMENT IN TIMES OF COMFORT






Or you can click on ENCOURAGEMENT in the Menu Bar at the top of this post for other blog posts on Encouragement.


There are also many FREE PRINTABLES available on this blog which may encourage you or others and these can be found in  SANDRA'A ARK RESOURCE LIBRARY  







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