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27 January 2012

Everyday I walk the fields at the back of my house and this week I have walked them pretty much in rain and gloom. At first glance there doesn't seem much to inspire, yet because I know them so well now, I can see the hedgerow change almost everyday, . This week I took some random photos of the chaos in the hedgerow and I am amazed at how they have turned out, the light and dark, the shapes of tangled branches, the crisscross of the tall grass, it is a beautiful design.

Sometimes we need to spend time really looking to see the beauty that emerges- same goes for people too.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.' Matthew 7:1-2

Posted by Elsie Bouffler at 1/26/2012 8:54 PM | Add Comment

25 January 2012

I always seem to think I have more of everything in my cupboards than I do. I remember buying ketchup for instance but using it seems to pass me by and before I know it we have run out, in spite of my protestation that I am sure there is more in the cupboard. I read yesterday a quote which made me laugh that if you think you have lots in the cupboard you have probably run out- how true.

I think it applies to other things as well, we are not always very good at seeing when our resources are depleting, when we are getting too tired, or too stressed , or too busy and by the time we need energy and strength there is none left in the cupboard. Sometimes we need to remember to take more care of ourselves, to do a little less, to rest a little more, to make time for our hobbies or just to indulge in something we love to do for no other reason than the fact that we enjoy it.

When Elijah ran away exhausted after all he had done, the angel woke him and gave him the simplest advise to eat and rest, how much better if we remember before we run out.

'Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush.
Suddenly an angel shook him awake and said, "Get up and eat!"
⁶ He looked around and, to his surprise, right by his head were a loaf of bread baked on some coals and a jug of water. He ate the meal and went back to sleep.
⁷ The angel of God came back, shook him awake again, and said, "Get up and eat some more—you've got a long journey ahead of you."
1 Kings 19 : 3-7

Posted by Elsie Bouffler at 1/24/2012 7:01 PM | Add Comment

24 January 2012

On Sunday's papers I read a column where the writer was asking the question , what was worth getting up for at this time of year? Its a good question because it is dark and cold and it is still January (which does seem to have 300 days and not just 31- as opposed to July which only has about 5 days in it).

Yesterday , Monday morning my youngest sat huddled on the sofa before school facing the prospect of outdoor hockey first thing, suddenly whatever I needed to do that day just got better because I couldn't actually think on anything worse.

Yet as I walked over the field with the dog, the trees are budding, the hedgerow is sending up red new shoots and in my garden the daffodils are through (which of course may not be a good thing). So its all happening, even through the gloomy days, it is all getting ready and that seemed very hopeful to me. What is worth getting up for? Today is worth getting up for and giving thanks.

'The LORD has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.' Psalm 118:24

Posted by Elsie Bouffler at 1/23/2012 8:57 PM | Add Comment

23 January 2012

I have just finished reading Great Expectations and my guilty pleasure has been following the series a little bit each lunchtime as I read through the book.

I wonder if we are not also asked to live with Great Expectations. Throughout the bible God promises to be with us, that he has a purpose for us,that we will be with him in eternity, that we need never be afraid, yet unlike Pip, very few of us live as if we expected it. We worry and stress over all the little things in spite of this promise laid before us. If I had been Pip I would probably have stayed at the forge ,just in case, just to be on the safe side.

In the story Pip is let down in some ways, some of his expectations come to nothing because they rely on man, yet I only have to turn to the bible to realise how much God exceeds our expectations every time. It is enough to make you want to trust....

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19 :26

Posted by Elsie Bouffler at 1/22/2012 8:04 PM | Add Comment

20 January 2012

Sorry for yesterday's lack of thought but I was a bit preoccupied during the time I normally sit down and write these. What should have been a quick walk with the dog before the day really began became a marathon tramp back and forth across the fields as she disappeared again.

To explain, I have taken endless time and effort to train her better and it was paying off, friends were remarking how much her behaviour had improved, I blew the whistle, she came back, it worked every time, except yesterday. I blew the whistle she took one look at me and disppeared to follow a scent that was obviously too good to miss.

After a very long time, I abandoned the search and came home only to find she had beaten me to it, come in through the dog flap and was sitting looking at me , wondering where I had been no doubt. The scene which followed was not quite the return of the prodigal- I was wet, stressed, late and I am not always a good person.

I have no idea where she had been or what she had doing but clearly paradise didn't quite deliver as she headed for home eventually - if only she could remember that next time she is tempted from the straight and narrow, if only we could remember too.

'Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.....So he got up and went to his father.' Luke 15:11-32

Posted by Elsie Bouffler at 1/19/2012 7:33 PM | Add Comment

18 January 2012

I was sent a youtube clip this week which was called Why I hate religion and love Jesus which tried to make the point that sometimes people who use the label Christian seem to have lost sight of what Jesus was really teaching.

The point was strongly made and is not a new one, after all didn't Jesus make the same point about the established religion and what God really wanted, we don't have to look much further than the parable of the Good Samaritan to see what he thought of those who preached religion but did not practise it.

When we hear all the rhetoric from politics in the USA just now we might be tempted to think that little has changed . It easy to point the finger, and the clip makes no mention of all those involved in wonderful work in the name of Christ, however it is worth challenging ourselves from time to time .

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:37

Posted by Elsie Bouffler at 1/17/2012 8:59 PM | Add Comment

17 January 2012

So yesterday was meant to be blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year, I wonder if by giving it a title we make it more depressing. Maybe we didn't realise it was a miserable Monday until someone tells us and then sure enough....

Early in the morning I took myself off to walk the dog, the sun was rising and the fields were white. The plants carried a sparkling frost and glistened in the sun - whatever else might have been going on it was hard to be sad when God had given us the gift of such a beautiful morning.

'When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour.' Psalm 8 :3-5

Posted by Elsie Bouffler at 1/16/2012 9:05 PM | Add Comment

16 January 2012

My kids have been trying to teach me to play Temple Run , not sure if anyone has tried this, but it involves brain hand co-ordination which I simply don't possess, so my poor guy keeps crashing into trees or diving off the wall.

It did occur to me how good it might be if we could just as easily swipe ourselves over the hard times in our lives, avoid the bumps along the way and swerve to miss the obstacles, but then maybe we would never grow and learn. After all the temple run guy has to keep going back to the starting point while I like to think that God holds my hand when I hit the wall, then picks me up and sets me back on the road more ready for the next challenge.

'Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.'

Posted by Elsie Bouffler at 1/15/2012 7:38 PM | Add Comment

13 January 2012

I heard on the radio this morning that the weather is about to turn colder, but I did a bit of a double take when I arrived at Tesco to see the front of the shop filled with sledges and snow shovels, clearly it is about to turn colder than I thought- or is it?

The two thoughts together in my mind and I think in lots of people's mind make me begin to worry whether they know something we don't and rather than just pick up a pint of milk maybe I should prepare for the worst. Is this a deliberate marketing trick, or an I just a complete pessimist?

I do tend to make provision for things and not just leave them to chance yet all of Jesus's teachings tell me just the opposite, work on my relationship with God and what he asks of me and everything else will fall into place.

So I haven't bought a shovel or ten loaves and pints of milk- I have left it all but I confess I am still just a little bit worried .

'But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.'Matthew 6:33

Posted by Elsie Bouffler at 1/12/2012 7:31 PM | Add Comment

12 January 2012

Earlier this week having already done my morning dog walk, the sun suddenly came out and I raced back over the field with my camera because there was a particular picture that I have been waiting ages to take. As I got to just the right spot, set up and clicked, the camera wouldn't take , the battery was needing charged.

So today ready and prepared on this lovely morning with a full battery I set out and took just the pictures I wanted, came home saved them and deleted them from the camera, only to discover they were not where I had saved them, nowhere to be seen and I had deleted the originals.

I confess this was not my finest hour until...

I was rescued by my husband who searched my files and found all the photos intact just in a different place.

So what thoughts do I have?

Either the parable of the ten virgins, to be prepared at all times (both with a full battery) and a good relationship with God, or to 'seek and you shall find', no matter how frustrating the search can be.

Perhaps I'll leave it there for now, I really need a cuppa!

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.' Matthew 25;13

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.' Luke 11:9-13

Posted by Elsie Bouffler at 1/11/2012 9:11 PM | Add Comment

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