Monday 23 May 2011

Birthday weekends

My birthday is on 4th May, my cousin's is on the 6th May. It was tradition that every year we would have a birthday weekend on the May Day Bank Holiday, however as I moved to Aber last year we weren't able to do so.

On Thursday I came home for the weekend as a surprise as it was mum's birthday on Sunday. I texted my youngest sister and asked her to postpone tea for me and make sure mum didn't know. However, by the time I had arrived it was pretty clear that I was coming as Esther had asked for an extra place setting to be set for her imaginary friend... oh dear... 

We were all ready for a birthday weekend for me and mum when on Friday my aunt asked whether they should be arriving on the Friday night or the Saturday morning. My other sister (Rebekah) had invited them, which was 100% fine, but had not told mum that they had said yes! 

So Esther and myself, after a lovely walk in the grounds.... 




set to tidying the house! 

My Aunt, Uncle and two cousins were here for the Friday night and Saturday and it was a lovely day :) We sat and had a picnic breakfast and lunch in the garden while our Uncle practised his first aid for a test on us - Rebekah was awfully good at playing dead! After that we went for another walk in the grounds... there's a beautiful bit with a lake that I've never been to which shows just how lazy I am! They hold weddings by the lake - its so beautiful! We collected pine cones as well for the fire :) 




It's been a wonderful weekend, yesterday (Mum'd birthday) was wonderful too with lots of food, puzzles and a lovely walk :) 

It's been a really nice weekend just relaxing at home :) 


Thursday 5 May 2011

20...

I must apologise for not writing as much recently, it is the end of term and essays, exams, and the sun are becoming very prominent in my life for now.


I was just on facebook procrastinating and found a quote on a friend's status:
'When you have no helpers, see all your helpers in God. When you have many helpers, see God in all your helpers. When you have nothing but God, see all in God; when you have everything, see God in everything. Under all conditions, stay thy heart only on the Lord.' -Charles H. Spurgeon



I just thought it was really beautiful, and rather relevant for this time of year; when things are busy and focus is on so much that God can get pushed out of the picture. 


I realise that I haven't said anything about New Word Alive since returning, and this is a fail 
indeed. 


New Word Alive was really helpful for me. I found it both encouraging and challenging.


I am going to share a couple of things from that week... 


1. God is all. 
One thing that has stuck with me the most is that God doesn't need us, that we aren't important. Now, don't get me wrong, He wants us and to Him we are incredibly important and precious. But for His plan to work, we aren't the responsible ones. 
We have our roles, but we aren't needed: 
It isn't our faith... it's God's faithfulness.


2. To love God, we must understand His love for us.
In life people may let us down. Friends, family and loved ones can make us feel unloved. But we still love them. This love for them, however, can be from our own will (even if only for a short while). We can choose to love them anyway.
With God, a being that we can't always see and feel, it can be really hard to love Him. I know that sounds terrible, but it's true... at least for me. But I know that the only way I can love Him is through His love for me.  
Just think about that for a moment... 
The only way I can love Him, is through His love for me...

While that can sound like a 'cop-out', handing all responsibility over to God, it is amazing in itself! and guess what... God already has that responsibility, not in a burdensome way, but because He is Love! 
When we find it hard to love God, just think about His love for us... remind yourself of the Gospel and all its greatness!

It is so freeing to realise that everything is on God!

This doesn't mean that we are to be lazy... God's love should spur us into action and love for others. 
Tapping into the source of Love can only lead to a constant flow of love!

It is so beautiful to think of God and His love for us! :) 

And what a beautiful thing to reflect on in the first steps of my year as 20! :) 

The Joy that overflows with His Love!