This is our God!

By Friday afternoon, I feel absolutely shattered. However I will persevere and do some chores, i.e. hoovering. I looked at the pile of ironing and decided that it could wait until tomorrow morning! And later on I thought I would read my friends' blogs. This is when I discovered the following song! Beautiful! You may know it already.



Have a blessed Friday evening!

The wedding cake

The Wedding Cake

A couple was arranging their wedding and asked the bakery to inscribe the wedding cake with 1 John 4:18 which reads “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”

The bakery evidently lost, smudged or otherwise misread the noted reference, and beautifully inscribed on the cake John 4:18 ... “For you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.”
~ I found this joke quite funny, hope you do too.
I'm about to go to our morning service, have a blessed Sunday. 

Despicable me : a family film

Tonight, we, that is Imogen, her friends and I, sat down comfortably with a few nibbles and watched Despicable me and found it adorable and . Set in a techno world, it is the story of a thief (Gru) who wants to steal the moon as a way to impress his banker and maybe his mum. Another younger and more successful villain is in competition with him. As Gru (our anti-hero) keeps surveillance on Victor's home, he realises that three kiddies selling biscuits are allowed to get in the 'fortress'. As it turns out, Gru wants to use the three loving orphans and ends up adopting them just for his selfish purpose. However there is a twist ...I am not saying any more.
Have you watched this film? Did you like it? Let me know. Blessings.

Spring is here to stay!

Yesterday morning, I was on the phone to my auntie Rolande who lives in Bar-sur-Loup, north of Nice (south of France) and the first thing she said was it was too hot! 30 degrees Celsius. Wonderful, I declared..enviously. Here, the temperature was 20 degrees which is quite warm for April! In the afternoon, we took a stroll by the canal and noticed that the water was fairly high. A few barges were stationed by the bank, their owners either engrossed in a novel while sunbathing or eating outside in the field while their dog was on guard on the péniche.
Steven decided to walk by the river and crossed through the woodland that looked thick. Cowardly, I did not follow him but went back on my steps looking for an opening along the hedge. There was a small gate. As I was walking towards the river I heard him exclaim a loud ' Oh No' His right foot had sunk in a muddy watery patch! Still a few minutes later we saw a bird flying above the canal: it could well have been the elusive king-fisher! We have had a wonderful walk! Praise the Lord.
Blessings.
Note, the photo of the king fisher is on this website: http://www.zpc-naturefolio.co.uk/Gallery-Roy%20Blewitt.htm

Running slowly...

This week, I have found pleasure in running slowly. Let me explain, in the evening before total dark falls, I have set out and gone jogging for no more than half an hour. I find it hard to keep going but once I am out, I have to persevere. It is so hard though simply because in the winter I hibernate and lose any interest for exercises apart from the odd sessions in the gym so I become so unfit. However spring triggers in me the need for outside activities, i.e. biking, running or walking. In the last two years or so, I have suffered from a bad back, it could happen anywhere, anytime! it was so unpredictable so I started to have stack of paracetamol or ibuprofen ( I would alternate) in my handbag, pencil-case, school-bag, a bit everywhere! I was told that running was not the best thing to do hence a swift move to biking. This is a new start for me, running again gives me great pleasure. Praise be to God. Amen. Bros and sis, what is your favourite kind of exercise? Do you need to exercise? Do you find it hard to exercise? 

Women's world day of prayer

Chile
How many loaves have you?


This year, the service was held at Milwich. It was well attended, as parishioners came from the ten parishes in the team. 

Although superficially, with Chile’s rich list of natural resources things may appear to be flourishing, 80% of the wealth is owned by just 20% of the population, so there are many for whom life in Chile is a struggle. We enjoyed listening to 'The Song of Chile’.
The slides that were shown  illustrated some of the projects that are being run by Christian groups to empower women to be more independent and thereby take a greater control of their lives for the benefit of their families. A big thank to everyone who organised this lovely evening. 

New background...

I must admit that at times I am not on this planet..I forgot the difference between template and background! One is so easy to change, the background whereas templates can be awkward to set, especially if you have to fit the code into the html page, something I don't relish doing..still done!
This morning, I brought Imogen two tablets of ibuprofen as she told me that her throat was still painful. At least, her temperature was down so she was on the mend. Steven and I went to Stowe-by-Chartley and I was so glad to meet up with everyone. 
Reference to the i-pad and how many times its users downloaded the Bible in 60 days set an humourous tone at the beginning of the sermon. So can you guess the figure? the answer is 3.4 million times. It is certainly edifying to know that all over the world Christians (or people wanting to find more about Christianity) are reading the Bible, the only book that is God-breathed.  2 Timothy 3:16 says:  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, Also, in 2 Peter 1:21 we are reminded that the prophets did not make things up as they wished but were used by the Lord: For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel was about Jesus being led in the desert to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4-1:11 In this passage, there is ample evidence that Jesus knows his Bible and it allows Him to defeat  the tempter. Another question was: would you find it useful to learn verses of the bible by heart? Now, my heart jumped when I heard that, as yesterday while I was exploring a new blog where the author had told her bible study ladies to learn some verses by heart. How extraordinary! Something that I might do, what about you, have you ever considered learning bible verses by heart?
Blessings to all. N.

Women of Faith: I'm trading my sorrows

I'm trading my sorrow
I'm trading my shame
I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord

I'm trading my sickness
I'm trading my pain
I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord

Chorus:
And we say yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord Amen

I'm pressed but not crushed persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I'm blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure
And his joy's gonna be my strength

Though the sorrow may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning

I hope that you will enjoy listening to this song! It does lift me up and helps me focus on what matters: Jesus is with us during our journey. 

Millie's baptism!

 At times, I think that photos speak louder than words. Don't you agree?

Millie was such a good baby for her christening.
Here she is totally relaxed with minister Jeff Reynolds who appears to be totally in tune!

 Oh dear, what is happening? Millie is looking very puzzled! However mum Sharon is not phased!

Paul, Sharon and Millie

Hang on mum and dad! Let me read that too!

 After the baptism that took place in Milwich, we all went to the village hall for a pink balloon party!

 What's grand-dad doing?


We had a fantastic time.

Millie, may the Lord keep on blessing you, your siblings, your parents, your family and friends. In Jesus-Christ. Amen

Big Society in Hixon!

Grow old in the Lord 'Tis sweet to grow old in the fear of the Lord, When we cease our tasks one by one; When His strong right hand helps us stand, Till the last day's labor is done.When His strong right hand helps us stand, Till the last day's labor is done. 'Tis sweet to grow old in the fear of the Lord; To live 'neath His loving restraints; 'Tis sweet to grow old in the fear of the Lord; As life's shadows longer creep; Till our steps grow slow, and our sun swings low, He gives beloved sleep! (Faith in the Future, copied from The Vegas Dive Messenger, January 7, 1966.)

Some time ago, Steven and I went to the luncheon club  in Hixon. 

As it happened it was Ray's 95th birthday and we had a cheerful nutter. 

The atmosphere was so friendly, the roast diner was 'excellent' I was told by the regular folk. 

 The luncheon club welcomes

 the over-60s from Hixon and villages nearby, i.e. there were a couple of pensioners living in Weston.

 It is organised by a team volunteers 

alternate Fridays from 12:00 to 15:00 

and believe me

 it is much appreciated by his patrons.

 May the Lord bless all the participants of this superb example of 'Big Society' in abundance!.In Jesus-Christ, we ask. Amen. 

On the left, Ray, in front of him, 

Vera who lives in Weston

Another parrot joke

A man went into a bar and said to the bartender, "If you give me free drinks all night, I will entertain your customers so much they will stay all night and drink lots and lots."

 "Oh yes," says the bartender. "How are you going to do that?" 

The man gets a hamster out of his pocket and puts it on the piano. The hamster runs up and down the keyboard playing the greatest piano music anyone had ever heard.

"That's incredible!" says the bartender. "Have you got anything else?" 

The man gets a parrot out of his other pocket and puts it on the bar. The hamster begins to play the piano again and the parrot sings along - sounding just like Pavarotti. 

Everyone in the bar is amazed and stayed all night drinking and listening to the hamster and parrot.

 The bartender is delighted. "I must have these animals. Will you sell them to me?" he asks. 

The man shook his head no. "Will you sell just one then?" asks the bartender.

 "OK, I'll sell you the parrot for $100" the man says.

 The bartender is delighted and hands over the money. 

Another man standing next to the man who owned the hamster said, "You're a bit stupid selling that clever parrot for only $100". 

"No I'm not," the man replied. "The hamster is a ventriloquist"!!!

Purified- Holiness

[BIBLE 1PIERRE 1:16 / 1PETER1:16 ] BY EYDELY GOSP

News from Chennai Challenge

The Chennai Challenge leaders organised a series of meetings to train all the young people who will go to South India to help destitute children. 
Imo and Liz attended one of the meeting last week and will be going to another one in London soon. 
Now they have to fund their project and must raise a minimum of £1400 before the beginning of August.

Nochikuppam Slum Chennai is described in the website Walking through India as “The city of flyovers”. It has Nochikuppam slum with 1,300 huts where around five thousand people live below poverty level and don’t have enough money for two meals a day.
The inhabitants are mostly rickshaw pullers, seasonal small vendors, house maid servants with a family income ranging from a meagre Rs.1500 to Rs.3000.
As I teach citizenship in my school we were discussing media and particularly advertisements, one of my12 y.o students confessed that he did not like to see adverts from charities asking to help and donate money to far-away countries. 
I asked him if he knew why. His answer was that they were so far that he did not think it was his problem. 
The other day I was listening to somebody saying that when you are young, some children will share with others more than others. 
We need to promote this Christian value of sharing with others.

This is what we read in Isaiah 58:5-7 (The Message)
 What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
   sharing your food with the hungry,
   inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
   putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
   being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
   and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
   The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
   You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'


In Proverb 31: 8-9 sons are urged to
'Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. ⁹ Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.'

If the Lord puts on your heart to support Chennai Challenge with your donations, click on my profile to email me. Blessings. Your sister in Christ. N.

Birthday at the Bank House pub in Hixon.

A joyful celebration for Steven's birthday at the Bank House in Hixon. I will post a few photos. 

I'd better say that these are Steven's photos as I cannot use my computer at the moment!

It is great to spend quality time with our friends. Of course, we may wonder if the birthday boy enjoyed listening to lots of the usual comments about 'getting older', 'bus pass' and some very good jokes that unfortunately I cannot remember! Actually I can remember a very good one said by Philip..

A vicar is visiting an old lady who is 100 years old 

and asks her how things are going. 

She answers that everything is fine then pauses.

Then she goes on: Oh, things are even better now

 that I managed to get my son who is 80 in a nursing home...

So we were in excellent company, with superb food and drink. 

Do you find it difficult to get to speak to everybody?

 If I am having an interesting conversation,

 I find it hard to stop and move next to somebody else

 and start another equally conversation..

.well, I could spend the whole time talking to the first friend,

 however, I think that it's quite exciting to move on and talk to somebody else..

I knew somebody who'd s say very casually as soon as the conversation would become a bit fluffy, 

.excuse me, I must see X..

.she would say it so naturally that you could not  possibly be offended 

even though you had to find somebody else to talk to.

 I cannot do this if the conversation is not ending naturally.

Praise the Lord for our loved ones and our good friends. Your sister in Christ. N

Have a blessed and happy New Year 2011

 Steven's birthday cake..with 6 candles!

 Verity and Nicky in a very eccentric mood!






Nicky and W.

We are having a very relaxed day with family, my sister Pauline, Dad, my niece Nicky and my great-nephew W. who is great fun. Imogen disappeared last night to spend the evening with her friends, came back today for a short appearance and disappeared again for diner with her friend Lizzie. She has just come back now and is entertaining William. Camille is still in London with her friend Kanika.

After having eaten buffet bites for the last two days, as on the 31st it was Steven's birthday, we enjoyed eating the vicar's best spag bolognaise. Last night we enjoyed watching the fireworks in London on t.v.

In the above photo, from left to right, back row, Dad, Pauline, Verity, Nikki, Wendy and Peter.

Frank and June next to Dad. I must confess that last week I was a bit nervous thinking at all the things to prepare in view of the birthday celebration, I am so pleased that it went smooth. Praise the Lord for all his blessings. "The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:3