adventblog25

 Josh came home on Sunday afternoon and on Sunday evening Keith Josh and I went to Sam and Ben's church for a carol service where the whole family was together, sitting side by side singing harmonies to some favourite carols.  And I thought that life doesnt get much better really.  One boy married to a lovely girl from a lovely family who adore Sam.  One boy home for the holidays from a job he is enjoying and the youngest thriving in the last year of his Uni course, having secured funding for a Masters next year. His lovely girlfriend Grace seems to be a permanent feature and we are all delighted about that.  Today, right now, everyone is healthy and happy and going well with Jesus.  Tomorrow that might change. But today I'm most definitely counting my blessings. The carol service sermon focused on the shepherd.  Bethlehem being the city of David, the shepherd king.  The angels appearing to the poor and lowly.  Jesus the shepherd King being l...

 Yesterday morning we had our Instant Nativity in church.  This involved all the children and included a cast of two donkeys, a fox and a bear, three stars, several angels , two wise men (one of them was a wise woman) and one King Herod. Three innkeepers, a Mary a Joseph and a decidedly plastic baby Jesus. Oh, and some shepherds, one of whom was 2 yrs old and spent the entire time ' driving' his sheep round the stage like a car.  The donkeys spent a good part of the show wrestling each other.  The angels needed a considerable amount of coercion to get on and off the stage.  It was every bit as mad as you would expect. Of course the whole point was for the children to have fun, to feel included and to dress up.  Oh and to learn about the real meaning of Christmas.  You might think that everyone knows about the real meaning of Christmas, but I was watching something on the news or some news-type thing the other day and was horrified to realise just how m...

 Ive managed to get to within spitting distance of Christmas without actually mentioning this Christmas much at all.  Its been an odd blog this year but I thank you for allowing me to delve into the topic of fear and sort out my thinking about it.  For the last three days I shall endeavour to delight you with deep and meaningful prophetic insights as in years gone by. The past several days have been hideously annoying.  My car was playing up so I booked it in with my wonderful mechanic, Ray last Wednesday.  Wednesday teatime he said it was ready to pick up but Keith wasnt home till after closing so on Thursday he dropped me down to pick it up.  I went into the office to pay and realised Id left my purse at home.  Bother.  Told Ray Id be back in ten minutes and drove home to get the purse.  Halfway back to the mechanics the car shuddered to a complete halt.  Phoned Keith who came to rescue me and I limped the car into the garage and left ...

 Last week in church I realised something, or remembered something. Or rather God nudged me.  I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.  Only a little bit, but I recognised that at this time of year in particular it is easy to feel a bit taken for granted.  Well, it is for me anyway.   I throw myself into all the christmas stuff, go the extra mile, make an effort and quite often I feel that nobody particularly notices or appreciates it.  Which is of course a lie,  they do notice and they mostly appreciate.  But when Im busy and tired it can be easy to listen to the wrong voices. Sometimes living in a family of adults feels like living in a student squat.  Everyone does their own thing. Nobody tidies up after themselves. Someone else's washing is always in the machine...... moan moan moan. And poor me, I am overworked and underpaid and I dont deserve this life.  Sound familiar? Ive put in a big effort in church this year, as I do every y...

 Id written the blog for today (Ill probably post that one tomorrow) but just before I was about to read it over and tweak it I was thinking about what to write for the last couple of days and I think I heard the Lord say '' have a look at the word 'ready' ''     Its a word we hear all the time at this time of year.  Are you ready for Christmas?  Everyone you speak to this week, from the postman to your granny will ask you this question.  As I was thinking about this I was wondering why it is that we feel the need to be ready for what is just another day of the week.  On Christmas day we will wake up, brush our teeth , get dressed. Eat. Talk to people. Watch some telly. Go to bed.  All the things we usually do every day.  Yes, granted we will also open some presents, eat more food than we usually do and possibly go for a walk or play a board game with people we might not normally see on a daily basis.   But it's not that far o...

  Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,   15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.  Hebrews 2 I apologise that this Advent Blog has been so serious.  When I started out this year I didnt think Id still be writing about fear on day 19.  But there is so much to talk about! This might be the last day and maybe the last few will be a bit more lighthearted. We shall see. Anyhow, what fear really all boils down to in all of its manifestations is the fear of death.  When you peel back the facade of every fear and dig down into what its all about it comes back to this.  The reason Adam and Eve had absolutely no fear in the Garden of Eden was because there was no death. Hebrews tells us that we are all, for all of our lives, held in slavery by the fear of death. This is why we can live free...