Summer holiday… 

Hay so as much as I love Bourg it breaks me… Every year… The height of the Alps their grandeur renders me small, insignificant… the French language leaves me lost and unconfident… the fantasy of family fading as the kids are nasty to each other and Kyle struggles to rest, relax, engage… But here’s the thing. My soul needs this. To be broken. To be flawed. To see the imperfect and to realise that nothing on this world can satisfy me like Him. This place is a ‘thin place’ for me… Heaven seems closer… God seems more present… This places breaks my heart and reminds me that beauty this side of heaven is always tainted by sadness… This place restores me. In acknowledging my, oh the only word that sums it up is “sinfulness” (missing the mark every time!) I acknowledge my need for a saviour. In this ‘thin place’ I feel Him. Real and present and strong and caring and just and merciful and righteously angry and all of His attributes. This place reminds me He is real. This place takes my breath away and makes my heart bleed and blesses me… Find your thin place. Take a holiday there. 
  

Stairway to Heaven

So these are our stairs for the new build. And after living with my parents for 2 years I am just a tad excited about seeing this house come together… Stairs are a big thing! We are getting there!! Anyway, looking at the stairs I got to thinking about wood and carpentry and Easter, and a carpenter from Nazereth… I got to thinking about a piece of wood shaped into a cross and carried… for each step that Jesus took, He took for me. As much as these stairs in our new house will carry me to the upper level of our home, all my steps of achievement, my goals, my accomplishments could never, and will never take me to Heaven. Jesus provided that stairway… to my real home. Learning to hold on a little bit looser to the things of this world as I recognise here is temporal, and climbing the stairway of grace in a pursuit of holiness and His kingdom… Nice stairs though #Gailisgettingthere 

 

Swim lesson

Watching Scott learn to swim. He knows the strokes, gets that you have to breathe but just isn’t strong enough to complete the 100m… And thinking this is a bit like my daily wrestle… Pick up your cross… Ok so I’ve picked it up… But boy is it heavy… “My burden is light” He whispers… “If it’s a heavy day and the yolk is difficult then it’s because you won’t let me help… I asked you to pick up that cross… I died so you don’t have to carry it alone…” So today I’ll lean on Him, use His floating aid, lean on His grace, and I’ll work on my stamina and my spiritual strength with His help… He is my teacher. He will equip. He will strengthen me… Please Lord, may I finish today stronger than I started it!

The Melody

“Do your scales”
“Alright”
5 minutes later…
“Thompsie; scales?”
“OK!!”
Another 5 minutes later…
“Thompson! Don’t make me come up to that bedroom!!”

After about half an hour the scales practise commenced; loudly and angrily. He hit the wrong notes and hit them hard, but soon the music changed. Instead of a thrashing, out -of-key, noise came a fluid,soft, in-tune rendition of scales and then a beautiful piece of music…

The rebellious child had given way to the tune… Wow! And through this, little mundane moment, God reminded me of the beautiful tune He has orchestrated for my life… Through allowing my heart to follow His notes what a ‘graceful’ song I could sing. Ok, ok, so He didn’t give me the talent of having a great singing voice, but you get the idea? If my heart choose to stick to His plan, His notes, how much sweeter would the melody be? Not just for my life, but for others listening too.

*note to self today; Get in tune. Stay in tune!! Image

The Odd One Out…

imageThis is Daniel. He has decided today that the game of “out one out” needs it’s rules changed! He says, “the odd one out wins!” Oh how I hope this attitude filters into his relationship with Jesus! Such boldness in proclaiming, “I am brave enough to be different!”… and suddenly his siblings are playing by these rules too! Everyone wants to be the “odd one out !” Praying today that I can follow his example as one chosen by God to be set apart. May my example influence and encourage others to choose to be different 🙂 Galatians 1:15

“What initial…

“What initially sparks God’s anger? What is the root sin, the molten core of wickedness and godlessness…It’s right there in Romans 1. It’s not the sinfulness you’d think it’d be: It’s the thanklessness – that we do. It’s our thanklessness that first stirs the full wrath of God. The beginnings of Genesis and Romans 1 pivot on the same point: Eve’s thanklessness for all God does give, and her resentfulness of the one fruit He doesn’t give, this is the catalyst of the fall. Which Romans 1 confirms: “For though they knew God they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Our fall is always first a failure to give thanks.

I have been challenged so much this past year by Ann Voskamp’s book, “One Thousand Gifts.I have been challenged so much this past year by Ann Voskamp’s book, “One Thousand Gifts.”

Pride? What pride?

Pride? What Pride? What weakness?! 😉 yep, pride is also my greatest enemy. Pride encourages me to try harder, not to expose my failings, not to get ‘caught’. Pride helps me offer up excuses rather than humbly confess. It tells me I am not failing, it’s just everyone else isn’t working right! Pride tells me, my way is best, and that if everyone agreed with me the world would be a much better place 😉 Then grace rolls in… A bit like the bowling ball, and knocks all my pins flying?! This totally upsets everything as I don’t understand it, and I certainly can’t earn it! What does it say to me in my failures? “You are not God”. It causes me to acknowledge my fragility, my non-superhumaness (is there such a word) and to acknowledge God. Then it causes me to be grateful. To feel loved. To feel worthy, not because of my own efforts but because of Gods efforts…. This helps me take that deep breath and admit my weaknesses, because I don’t have to be strong; I don’t have to perform; I don’t have to “have it all together” because He has. Grace is a gasp of fresh air when I am drowning in the ‘sea of self’. Grace empowers me when I’m losing the battle.