Sarah Type Request

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a humourous read. I've really got a lot out of the book i've been reading recently but at the same time could obviously be a bit hard going at times. So is there anyone who could recommend a book that made them laugh or a slightly more light hearted book?

Peace

Today I went to they gym. However I went to the gym feeling really angry. Now I don't get angry very often - frustrated yes, angry no. But when I do its not good.
Now I needed to go to they gym cos I hadn't been this week but I knew that if I worked out angry then I'd push myself too hard and do myself an injury. So whilst warming up on the cross trainer I put on the soundtrack to amazing grace, I know in the past if i've been stressed its really calmed me down.
By the end of the first track and some prayer (which always helps :->) I was suitably more chilled. And went on for the next half an hour or so having a really great worship session (which actually isn't unheard of whilst I work out in the gym.
But I just wanted to praise God that he can and does come close to us in the smallest places and some would say the strangest places, whether that be at the gym or in a traffic jam (I HATE TRAFFIC JAMS!) or even in the bathroom.
He is an awesome God who is capable of anything and everything .

Query - perhaps a long shot

Has anyone got a copy of Total Youth Invasion that I could borrow - I only want one track really so would prefer not to have to buy it. Is there a nice person out there who owns it by any chance who wouldn't mind me borrowing it briefly?

One of the great things about being part of a church community is that it offers us the family that so many of us crave, and that is how it should be. I once heard someone say that if you go into a church and there are no unusual people there then something is wrong; if there are no social misfits, no weirdoes, no people with body odour, no people who have poor social skills... then the question is 'why not?' What is it about this church that repels people who don't fit in? The church should be the one place where everyone can feel they belong.

Jonah

Well I was gonna blog about roots but there's so much to say that I wouldn't have clue where to start and i'd be here all day and still rambling on which would all be a bit long winded. I got an awful lot from roots some of which is very personal some of which will come out in the wash in conversations. All I will say is that I had an awesome time and came away with a great sense of peace which was great!
Right, onto blog subject. Sat down this morning and have read the introduction notes on Jonah in my study bible and instead of just highlighting the appropriate bits and not reading them again unless I open up that page. I thought i'd put it on here for me to refer to more easily.

As you read Jonah, see the full picture of God's love and compassion and realize that no one is beyond redemption. The gospel is for all who will repent and believe. Begin to pray for those who seem farthest from the kingdom, and look for ways to tell them about God. Learn from the story of this reluctant prophet and determine to obey God, doing whatever he asks and wherever he leads.

Rather than running away from God, trust him with your past, present and future. Saying no to God quickly leads to disaster. Saying yes brings new understanding of God and his purposes in the world.
We must not limit our focus to our own people. God wants his people to proclaim his love in words and actions to the whole world. He wants us to be his missionaries wherevere we are, wherever he sends us.

The Joys of being a homeowner!

Well what can I say my on Saturday 21st April 2007 my washing machine went to the big soap bubble in the sky.

Yes its true I now have no washing machine, so what did I do on my day off on Monday, thats right, I took my washing bin full of clothes and trotted off to my mum and dads and did my washing - oh what joy!!!!!!!


So I am currently scouring ebay for a decent washing machine, but until I find one its off to "Jackie's Launderette" to do my washing oh ha ha ha ha ha - sorry i'm laughing out loud as I wrote that that really has made me chuckle - can you imagine it!!!!!!!!! he he he he he he :->



There are some bonuses to using Jackie's launderette I put the stuff in the washing machine and depending on whether I am still there when its finished depends on whether me or my mum hangs it on the line. Oh yes and one MASSIVE advantage is that I don't usually really iron much other than my army shirts but when I use Jackie's launderette I get my stuff ironed for me he he he THANKS MUM :->

Portugal vs Essex??!!??

Well at the weekend I was supposed to go to Portugal with my mum and dad, but due to unforseen circumstances it has had to be postponed till June.
So whats a girl to do all geared up to spend a lazy weekend in the sun well i'll tell you she (with help it has to be said) felted the roof of her shed and cut her grass which resembled a jungle and wait for it wait for it....... WENT TO THE GYM.
But actually it wasn't all bad i did have a very productive weekend just not what was planned.

On Sunday (having already arranged that I wasn't gonna be at the army - got cover for the band etc) I decided to still have the Sunday off - which is very much a rareity!
And I must say I really enjoyed it - for many reasons. Just because I didn't go to the army doesn't mean I didn't spend any time in worship it just wasn't corporate/ group worship. I had my own worship time on the treadmill and cross trainer. Another reason I found Sunday interesting was because I got to see how everyone else does "sunday" Now I know I for one can get a bit caught up in my own little bubble on a sunday morning, it just doesn't really enter my head what othere people do on a sunday morning and here I was in the throng of it. It really did set my mind wandering and was an excellent catalyst for my thoughts.

So there you have it instead of going to Portugal i spent the weekend in sunny essex - which for a change isn't meant in a sarcastic way. The wetaher was lovely and I had a very productive weekend and best yet I still have the weekend in portugal to look forward to so there is a silver lining to this cloud :->

For those who are interested

Tim (Fisher) and Helen are engaged -

Planning to marry Summer 2008 .

I read this...

It seems odd to have to say so, but too much religion is a bad thing. We can’t get too much of God, can’t get too much faith and obedience, can’t get too much love and worship. But religion – the well intentioned efforts we make to “get it all together” for God – can very well get in the way of what God is doing for us. The main and central action is everywhere and always what God has done, is doing and will do for us. Jesus is the revelation of that action. Our main and central task is to live in responsive obedience to God’s action revealed in Jesus. Our part in the action is the act of faith.
But more often than not we become impatiently self important along the way and decide to improve matters with our two cents worth. We add on, we supplement, we embellish. But instead of improving on the purity and simplicity of Jesus, we dilute clarity, clutter the simplicity. We become fussily religious, or anxiously religious. We get in the way.

Comments please...

Haircut day is nearly here - HURRAH!

At the weekend I am finally getting my haircut it was due for a cut a few weeks ago but I had to put it off so that I could get my hair up during my week off so it was easy when I went swimming and I didn't need to take my straighteners with me. But finally it is in sight. I don't know how you all feel but I just get to the stage where i'm desperate for a haircut and it becomes a really big thing cos my hair is doing my brain in - well I reached that stage a good 3 weeks ago and finally its nearly here woo hoo.

And yes for those of you who are interested i am getting a considerable amount chopped off and this is not just me getting all excited about a trim.

Does anyone else have weird things like this comments please - or am I the only one who gets this compulsively obsessive about matters like this

SCARY SCARY SCARY!!!!!

Ok so i'm not a mum yet, but I have to blog a whole "they grow up so fast" blog!!!!!!!
Today was a scary milestone. Today was the day one of my charges got her own mobile phone!!!!!! Ok so now i'm sounding really bad, but it's sooooooo scary where the time goes last thing I knew she was just turning 5, i blink and suddenly she's 10 and has a mobile. I know the average age of a person to have a first mobile is getting younger but still it's so worrying.

While I'm blogging I suppose I should also add I am also now appreciating how daunting it can be for parents to let go at different stages.
When the schools go back becky will walk home on her own for the first time. Now she lives less then 1/2 a mile from her school yet this is such a big thing. I can't work out though whether i'm feeling it so much because between 8am and 6.30pm she is my responsibility oh whether its just cos its a daunting thing now she's growing up I actually think its both but more a case of the whole letting go and the whole independance thing - which is a scary prospect cos how much worse will it be when it is my own child - actually no I love the girls almost as if they were my own so it'll probably only be slightly worse. I refuse to become neurotic :->

Having thought about this over the last couple of days i remembered an incident when i was going out on my own the first few times and when you're allowed to start crossing "the big roads" by yourself. When we were little we were allowed round the block on our bikes, but I wasn't allowed to the newsagents - which involved crossing "a big/ bigger road" so once I was out of sight what did bolshy bec do - headed straight for the newsagents!!!!! That basically sums up the way I was back then (shame certain members of my family don't realise I've changed and actually people do grow up and grow out of things - but thats a whole other blog) But anyway - at the time I just thought my mum was being silly i mean i was out on my own and had crossed that road thousands of times before and was literally only 100 yards further then the places mum let me go anyway so I didn't see that problem. But I totally do now ah hindsight is a wonderful thing. Sorry mum :->
Anyway, basically i'm gonna sound like a complete granny but I don't care -

THEY GROW UP SO FAST!

Whose Kitchen is this?!

This is supposedly my kitchen, but I don't think i've ever seen this amount of work surface since I moved in 2 years ago!

2 Weeks ago I decided it was time to clean my kitchen blimey - I must have been ill!

I had to take pictures as I'm not sure i'll ever see that amount of work surface again - well not till I move out anyway!!!!!!

This is what it looked like afterwards.

(2 Weeks later I can assure you it no longer looks like this :->)

p.s Yes I got my new phone today (Woo Hoo) - hence being able to retrieve the photo's

Thought provoking

Have just read Liz's blog and felt compelled to write this - yes I know twice in one day - i don't even manage that in a week usually. But hey.

Well our Easter weekend is being led by Jean and Ian Harris - they are classed as our "specials" as although they go to our corps we had to book them a year ago to ensure we snared them first - sorry just find that amusing.

Well they lead a very good if somewhat different to the norm Good Friday service. It was very well put together and very powerful - just the way G.F should be.

Anyway, was sat in my usual position in the hall (end of the cornet bench - oh how I miss my horn - but that's a whole other blog altogether) pretty much in the middle of the hall.

At Ilford we have a life size cross stood in front of the platform, behind the middle of the mercy seat during the singing of the first song I had to peer round the "arm" of the cross and actually thought "the cross is in the way" Woah! At that point everything stopped and I just sat there, Shouldn't the cross always "get in the way" or at least what Jesus did for us.

Wow amazing how something so simple can just stop us in our tracks and make us think and just how many dimensions that one phrase has - "The Cross is in the Way" yet it is the Cross that paves our way. So that was my big wow/ woah moment from Good Friday the moment that really made me stop and think.

Have blog ready and waiting

Have blog ready and waiting to publish just awaiting my new phone. I have a decent blog all ready to go but need photo's for it to make any sense. The photo's are on my phone and I have mislaid the software to be able to transfer them onto the computer, am getting a new phone this week













So will blog once I have the pics on my computer.

Have been on a much needed holiday this week - just a few days away to great yarmouth but was some much needed R&R time.
All chilled and mellow and ready to face next week when the girls get back and we have a week of madness - fun madness but madness nonetheless.

*Disclaimer* Sorry very boring blog but needed to keep my average up as it has been somewhat lacking due to being away.

The Happy Family (And Proud Uncle Chris)

Introducing Lyra Dawn Goldsmith

T minus 2 Days and Counting

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!!!!!

Lethargically happy I have to say at the moment. What is the reason for your happiness I hear you ask?

NO MORE CELLO PRACTISE!!!!

The girls have their exams in the morning so I don't have to hear them practise again before then woo hoo! Now don't get me wrong I love them to pieces and they play very well for their age but it has long since reached the tedious point.

There is however another reason for my happiness;-

T minus 2 days and counting - 2 days of working left and then 2 weeks off WOO HOO!!!!!!

I am sooooooo ready for my time off and holiday. So there you have it a knackered, very lethargic but happy Bec, very much looking forward to the next 2 weeks!!!!! -x-

Bible Study bits and bobs

The following probably won't make any sense to anyone but me and they are definately in no particular order. But are just musings and bits that I wanted to look up following several sermons.

Passage I wanted to look up;

Romans 8v26
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

Notes
As a believer you are not left to your own resources to cope with problems. Even when we don’t know the right words to pray, the Holy spirit prays with and for you and God answers. With God helping you pray you don’t need to be afraid to come before him.
Ask the Holy spirit to intercede for you “in harmony with Gods own will” Then when you bring your requests to God, trust that he will always do what is best.

Blasphemy
Something which you say or do that shows you do not respect God or a religion
*In connection with 1 John 5
Mark 3v29 Deliberate, ongoing rejection of the work of the Holy Spirit is blasphemy.

Christian love is not a feeling it is a choice.

We can choose to be concerned with peoples well being and treat them with respect, whether or not we feel affection towards them. If we choose to love others God will help us express our love (Notes on 1 John 2 v 10-11)

1 Peter 3v13-14
Now who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead you must worship Christ as Lord of your life.

Bible Study 4 - 1 John 3

1 John 3
Initial –

v10 Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

v10 The Message
The one who won’t practise righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love a brother or sister.

v15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

Lets show the truth by our actions v18

The Message
My dear children, lets not talk about love, lets practise real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. Its also the way to shut down debilitating self- criticism. Once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves we’re bold and free before God!

Notes from v4
There is a difference between committing sin and continuing to sin. Even the most faithful believers sometimes commit sins, but they do not cherish a particular sin or continually choose to commit it. A believer who commits a sin can repent, confess it and find forgiveness. A person who continues to sin by contrast is not sorry for what he or she is doing. Thus this person never confesses and never receives forgiveness. Such a person is in opposition to God, no matter what religious claims he or she makes.

Notes from v 8-9
We all have areas where temptation is strong and habits are hard to conquer. these weaknesses give the devil a foothold so we must deal with our areas of vulnerability if we are struggling with a particular sin however these verses are not directed at us, even if for the time we seem to keep on sinning. John is not talking about people whose victories are still incomplete he is talking about people who make a practise out of sinning and look for ways of justifying it.

Notes on v15 link to Matthew 5v21-22
Christianity is a religion of the heart;
Outward compliance alone is not enough.

Bitterness against someone who has wronged you is an evil cancer within you and will eventually destroy you.
Don’t let a “poisonous root of bitterness” grow in you or your church.

Linked passages;

v12 links with Genesis 4v7
Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and b its master.

v15 links with Matthew 5v21-22
You have heard that our ancestors were told “ You must not murder. If you commit murder you are subject to judgement. But I say, if you are even angry with someone you are subject to judgement. If you call someone an idiot you are in danger of being brought to court. And if you curse someone you are in danger of the fires of hell.

Message paraphrase – Sin is lying in wait for you ready to pounce, its out to get you. You’ve got to master it.

Notes of Matthew 5v21-22
Killing is a terrible sin, but anger is a great sin too because it also violates God’s command to love. Anger in this case refers to seething, brooding bitterness against someone. It is a dangerous emotion that always threatens to leap out of control leading to violence, emotional hurt, increased mental stress and spiritual damage. Anger keeps us from developing a spirit pleasing to God.
Have you ever been proud that you didn’t strike out and say what was really on your mind? Self control is good but Christ wants us to practise thought control as well. Jesus said that we will be held accountable even for our attitudes.

UPDATE - ANOTHER PROPER BLOG AT LAST

Well, well, well. Have just spent the last little while sorting out my blog as it was a bit of a waste of space until now so am resoluting - if thats the right word to blog every now and then and actual use this space I created over 6 months ago!
Well today is Tuesday and I am so looking forward to Thursday, the 2 girls I look after - Becky and Jessie are both doing grades on their cello's B grade 2 and J grade1. And why you ask am I looking forward to it well its simple no more cello scales!!!!!!!!!!! for the last couple of weeks I have been i suppose the fairest word I could use is subjected to roughtly 30 -40 mins cello practise a day half of which has been scales!!!!!!! To add to that the pieces Jessie is doing becky did for her grade one about just over a year ago so it is the 2nd time i have had to aid the practise of these particular pieces!
I have to say they are definately getting better - which is a flipping good thing considering they have their exams thursday morning! but i am very much looking forward to only having to get them to do cello practise once a week Woohoo I now have another styring to my bow - excuse the pun "I the brass player can now play the c scale on the cello :->"
Anyway enough ramblings, I will sign off now before I bore myself - whoops too late! :->