Lessons from / for another year

May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs and your stocks not fall; and may your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your white blood count and your mortgage interest not rise.   
May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist, your gastro-enterologist, your urologist, your podiatrist, your psychiatrist and your plumber.   


May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what others see in you delight them. May someone love you enough to forgive your faults, be blind to your blemishes, and tell the world about your virtues. 
  
May New Year's Eve find you seated around the table, together with your beloved family and cherished friends. May you find the food better, the environment quieter, the cost much cheaper, and the pleasure much more fulfilling than anything else you might ordinarily do that night. 
  
May the telemarketers wait to make their sales calls until you finish dinner, may the commercials on TV not be louder than the program you have been watching, and may your check book and your budget balance - and include generous amounts for charity.  


May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to your spouse, your child, your parent, your siblings; but not to your secretary, your nurse, your masseuse, your hairdresser or your tennis instructor. 


Above all, may God enrich you with His wisdom, overwhelm you with His love and comfort you with His peace in all you do in 2011 - Happy New Year

Lessons from 'the Doctor'

Hectic, manic behaviour. Trolleys loaded like it is the last shopping day ever, traffic jams - backing up for miles, and all this to celebrate a festival called Christmas. 


Churches in overdrive to entice the locals, who might just have the urge to make the season that little bit more spiritual, by attending one of the many Carol Services or Christmas morning get togethers. 
Family, friends, cards, presents and food ... and of course ... the festive episode of Dr Who. Than ... as if the festival hadn't happened ... the shops are overcrowded once again. People returning the unwanted, upgrading the not quite right or buying what wasn't yet received. And I forgive you for not spotting, in the middle of all the busyness, what the Doctor had to say about it all (in a way).


We celebrated enough Christmas eves (watch iplayer for this to make sense) ... but now it's time to Celebrate Christmas !!! Look at that again ... go on .. do you see it ... do you hear what I hear (to quote an appropriate song). Enough of the Christmas eve, the Christmas preparations, the hustle and bustle to get that one day over and done with. And instead of rushing into the Boxing day sales ... enjoy all that Christmas stands for, all that it has to offer - for Christmas IS Joy to the World !!! - Happy Christmas (even today - 28th December)

Lessons from a Missed Penalty

Striker versus Goalie. A very expensive striker versus a relatively new goalie ... your money would be on the striker, surely. As I was watching the highlights of last nights' match, I thought I'd knew the outcome ... they'll go two up. The striker decided to hit it as hard as he possibly could ... and  ... shot it way over the goal. 


This (huge) miss, is not going to make any difference as the team went on to win. The miss will (finally) be forgotten and no doubt the striker will one day score again. The goalie was just happy to see the ball flying miles over his goal ... no embarrassment for him this time.


This made me wonder ... how often do I miss a target? Mine may not be as much in the public eye as was this penalty in the match. But how often do I miss, be they great howlers or nearly misses  ... a miss is a miss, however you look at it. So the question remains ... how often do I miss a target?


My main target is to let my light shine before others, that they may see my good deeds and glorify my Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) How often do I reach that goal ... how many times a day do I miss that target ... another lesson I'm learning.

Lessons on One of Them Days

Today is one of them days. A day full of emotion on both ends of the scale. Let me explain. This afternoon was the funeral for little baby Faith. She never had the chance to taste life on this earth. She lived inside her mum, and was happy there, but it wasn't to last. And today, a small service to say ... see you 'soon'. Do I understand any of this? .. NO !! Does it hurt? - it damn well does. But even in these times I will believe that my God is God and I am not. Next time we sing that song in church - "He gives and takes away", well that will never be the same again.

Than tonight I shared with the Salvation Army band, singing Carols. Songs of hope, songs of promise, songs of a Saviour and a birth - such a contrasting day today. And still ... I hope, I learn ... for it is not for me to ask why, but say, thank you Lord for Life, for families, for friends, for memories, for Christmas, for the knowledge of Faith being with you, thank you Lord.

Sometimes, when the sun goes down, It seems it will never rise again…
but it will!
Sometimes, when you feel alone, It seems your heart will break in two…
but it won’t.
And sometimes, it seems It’s hardly worthwhile carrying on…
But it is.
For sometimes, when the sun goes down, It seems it will never rise again,
But it does

poem by Frank Brown

Lessons from the Snow

Love it or hate it ... the snow is here. It was the way the papers informed us that caught my attention. "Fuel Shortages" "Empty Shelves in our Supermarkets" "Country's come to a standstill" to mention but a few.


For others, the heavenly white stuff came as a blessing, children playing with screams of laughter filling the streets, I even spotted some adults writing their names on cars and throwing the odd snowball.


This made me think ... would Gods' blessings ever cause me to come to a standstill ... let me linger in this blessing ... let is last ... very much like the Facebook updates of many school going youngster.


Than ... the next morning ... all the snow had gone. Youngsters complained as they'd liked another day of school, others complained about the sludge now causing slippery surfaces. And what about Gods' blessings ... when they 'end' ... am I wishing my life away for the next one to come, or has it caused me to be more contend, feeling blessed for having received it and encouraged me to seize the days ahead.


Hmmm ... another lesson learned ?

Lessons from the Meerkats

I just love the adds featuring Alexandr and Orlov the Meerkats. (check www.comparethemeerkat.com/home ) 


As a Christian, I can see many comparisons with my own journey. Having checked me Bible for the references to Courageousness / Fearlessness / Ambitiosness, it is quite amazing how it all fits.


The main line in the adds is: "My ancestors didn't go through all this to give you cheap insurance." It made me think about how often I take my salvation for granted. Jesus didn't come to the earth to die so I can live the life I want ... hmmm ... another lesson learned 


(to be honest ... still learning, really!)