littlelaughalot
Friday, July 13, 2007
Off to Fort William!
Tomorrow we will be off to Fort William for a week. We will be taking Pippin our wee dog and we will be staying in a lodge which the girls are quite excited about. I'm especially looking forward to eating out as often as possible.....no cooking and cleaning up...sounds like heaven! Hopefully the weather will be kind to allow us to get out and see some lovely scenery....long walks and picnics sound wonderful, and Pippin will just have a ball.
Hoping to go to Mallaig and to Morar to see the lovely beaches there!
I would also like to visit Skye for the day as well....so plenty of things planned. Most of all I just want us all to have the opportunity to relax and just enjoy each other's company.See you in a week!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Our new charity shop
I am very proud to say that we now have our very own Salvation Army charity shop, pride of place, in the Bellshill main street. An ensemble from our band played for 10 minutes before the official opening of the store took place. Trevor Caffull, who is the Managing Director of the Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd....(who had come all the way up from down South for the occassion).... spoke for a few minutes, and then Ivor Telfor our Divisional Commander read the love passage from the bible and said a few words and then he officially opened the store with a few cuts of the red ribbon. There was even a red carpet rolled out for customers.
Within seconds the shop was absolutely stowed out and remained so for about the next hour with long queues being a good reflection on the quality of stock found in our store. The band played another piece of music and then we were invited through the back where a lovely spread had been put on. However, I decided to just go through to the store and have a good nosey around myself instead!
I have to say without being biased, that the shop has been fitted so well, the staff and volunteers have done an amazing job. It looks very professional....colour co-ordinated clothes are all kept together and all the accessories have been placed together in lovely displays around clothing that matches. There was no "smell"...everything was totally fresh and just immaculate.I spoke to Ivor for a wee while and he was just so chuffed that the shop was open. To be able to have the store in the main street where the presence of the Salvation Army is seen and felt is just such an amazing opportunity. Leaflets and info about our church are on display as well as the store being staffed with ordinary folks who have a love for God and a love for the community....for all the people that they will come in contact with on a daily basis.
Yeah..it will be great to raise more funds for the army, but this is not the main aim. Friendships hopefully will be built between the staff and the customers, and hopefully through time we may see some more new faces in our church, or in coming to Alpha, or house groups..ect....and see more people coming to know God as their personal Saviour. This would just be wonderful.
I managed to buy a lovely lilac and pink wall clock for the girls bedroom which was still in its original packaging,....brand new.....still screwed into the back of the cardboard!....£1.49!!!Chuffed!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Laughter is good medicine!On Saturday I had a wonderful time with Thomas and the girls. We spent quite a long time in the Hamilton Museum which is a place the girls like to visit often. The displays were absolutely top class..very informative! They had lots of info about the history of Hamilton and of the old Hamilton Palace...(not the night club )...which was owned by the wealthy "Hamilton" family, who also owned and built the Hamilton Mausoleum. The museum also had a fantastic exhibition on Sir Harry Lauder, whom I didn't know that much about but enjoyed learning just how much of an important Scottish figure he was.
One of the things I really think is important in places such as these is to make sure that there are some interactive stuff that you can do with the kids. There were opportunities to dress up as Harry Lauder. Now... the sizes of clothing are really intended for kids, but with much persuasion from myself, I managed to just about fit Thomas into some Scottish Harry Lauder regalia.
Now as per usual Thomas has given a very descriptive account of the days events, but has left out some of the best photos....on purpose I feel, so I just have to show them...don't I?
and the best one...
We also managed to just about to squeeze into some royal clothing...although I look more like a skivvy than someone royal. I thought since Thomas likes to spend such a lot of his time on the "throne"....dressing him up as the king was suitable.
We actually had the opportunity to go inside the Mausoleum in the afternoon which was amazing. Thomas has some wonderful pictures of the inside of it...so check his blog out and then visit flickr to see most of them. All in all a very educational day.So we definitely had lots of laughter today...and at night it was no different as we got the good old tennis table out. Such fun! So...thank you Thomas, Dayna and Miriam for a truly wonderful day.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Thanks Papa!My Papa taught me many things in the years I was priviledged to have him in my life. One of his greatest passions was for gardening. He didn't have the biggest garden in the world, but what he did have he looked after so well. The edges of the grass were so well manicured...none of this strimmer business. My Papa detested them when they came out...he stuck with his garden shears and had razor like edges to be proud of.
When we moved into the house we are currently in, my Mum and Dad kindly gave us some money from my Gran & Papa who both by this time had passed away. I wanted to do something good with the money, not waste it or use it for something that wouldn't last. So I decided to do my gardens up with it, as a reminder of what my Papa held dear...to care for nature and for wildlife.
Everything that you see in my garden was done by my now not very lady-like hands. I'm not a professional gardener but I have such a passion for plants and nature in general. I edged my lawn with cobble stones and laid some slabs and put some decking in...and it may not have been done by a professional but I'm glad that I did it on my own, because I truly feel that it is mine, and I designed it all thanks to the good advice that always echoes in my mind from my Papa.
My front garden doesn't get much sunshine so I have had to rely on a lot of evergreen plants. Round the back suffers terribly from clay soil, resulting in a terrible lawn and the need for raised beds to stop the risk of the plants drying up in the clay in the summer and drowning in swamp in the winter.It's been a lot of hard work, and still continues to be, as I, in true style like my Papa still have my trusty garden shears at the ready, always trying for as sharp and clean an edge as possible. Many a neighbour over the years has come out and asked if I would like to borrow their strimmer, obviously feeling sorry for me with my shears...I then get strange looks when I say "no thanks, I choose to use these!" If you have a massive garden I can see the need for the strimmer for certain things, but not for the edges of your grass, it just turns the grass yellow eventually..it burns it! Get down on your knees, grab a pair of garden shears and take a great deal of satisfaction from a lovely clean edge. I'm sad...I know, but it's just something I am passionate about.
When I come in the house with filthy hands and nails and a sore back, I know I've done a good job!
As for attracting wildlife....I get many different birds visiting my garden, and at the moment we have our own little field mouse which can be seen in the picture above. We sit and watch it from our window. As long as it stays out there and doesn't come in, I don't mind!
Saw this mug and loved it. They are certainly not cheap...and for someone who tends to be a bit on the clumsy side...maybe at this price it wouldn't be the best idea. But I think this is just genius! I found it at Cool Hunting
"Who doesn't love a little biscuit to dunk in his coffee? Dominic Skinner must because he designed this mug to hold them neatly inside the bottom. He was even smart enough to make right and left handed versions so there's no worry of losing your cookies while taking a sip."
Josh Rubin
LOVE IT!
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Garlic card?...love it!!!
I was on Facebook and was checking out Darrin Reeves page. I was very intrigued with his latest buy which is a garlic card. I did a search for one and I must say I am loving it. One site describes what it does..."It comes in eight colors and has little embossed letters all over it that allow you to puree garlic without much mess or fuss. And it is the size of a credit card so you can carry it with you for any garlic pureeing emergencies that may occur."
They are not expensive at all and I think this is great design and great fun. Thanks Darrin...I think he's got a red one!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Feeling uplifted
I am currently listening to an artist known as Rita Springer. Some of her lyrics are just amazing. I have it up full blast singing along with her at the top of my lungs whilst cleaning up the house. I love it when you can have God moments when doing menial tasks! Fantastic. Here are the lyrics to two of the songs so far this morning that have just struck such a chord with me.
"OH GOD OF MINE
Oh God of mine, I’ll have no idols
Oh God of mine, come lead the way
Oh God of mine, I’m greatly humbled
This sinner’s heart You came to save
Oh God of mine through storm and trial
Oh God of mine through death and grave
Oh God of mine in resurrection
Your scars display my soul’s refrain
Oh God of mine Who holds all nations
Oh God of mine Who saves the day
Oh God of mine, Your grace sufficient
And tender mercies new by morn
Oh God of mine, forever faithful
Oh God of mine, forever stay
Oh God of mine, forever after
These eyes upon Your face will gaze"
'YOU'RE MORE THAN A FRIEND
In the quiet of my soul
In the stillness I hear Your voice call
And I am overwhelmed
I am lost for words to describe You
Jesus, You’re more than a friend
Jesus, You’re more than my heart could ever express
Your love and your grace never fail me
Your merciful touch always heals me
You bring joy to my soul
My heart longs to worship You my King
And I long to bring You a pleasing offering
And I am overwhelmed
I am lost for words to describe You"
Go out and get a copy....she's got such a great raw and textured voice and it will just lift you up! the album is called "I have to believe". Also her rendition of the amazing Delirious song "Rain down" has been done really well.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Rob Bell...third way?
It's very hard to try to explain in any way how wonderful it was to hear Rob Bell speak without doing it any justice. All I can say was that he has inspired, blessed and challenged me. He spoke for an hour and a half without any pieces of paper or notes in front of him, and I could have sat there all night listening to him. Thomas has blogged in far better detail than I ever could on his blog so please check that out...but the one thing amongst many that stood out...was this "third way" thing!
In life we react to things mostly in two ways. We either let someone walk all over us and humiliate us and do nothing about it....keep allowing ourselves to be humiliated, or go to the other extreme, of reacting back in as equally if not worse an act than was was thrown at us...in doing so making ourselves just as bad if not worse than the aggressor.
Rob spoke about how wonderful it would be if the world tried to find a third way of dealing with situations such as these. Jesus was the best at finding third ways. Diffusing situations where people where desperately trying to irritate Him...where people were trying to accuse Him of breaking some sort of law.... God's law!....where people tried to bring Jesus down.....He found a third way...He found a way of diffusing it all without allowing people to humiliate Him or drag Him down or worst of all allow people to say that He wasn't who He claimed to be...The Son of God...the Messiah! Yet He did it with such class! He didn't just walk away from the situation and just give up, but yet neither did He retaliate in the same manner as what was done to Him.....He found a third way, and in doing so, didn't lose face. He put his point across with such great authority and with such clarity that the disgruntled people were left at times speechless and with the ball well and truly being out of their court.
I really feel that for most people, finding a third way in which to react to a situation, especially one that comes unexpected and fast, is incredibly hard! We usually react quickly in one out of the two ways...and I desperately need to find a way of letting this third way of reacting come naturally to me. When I look back over my life and even at this very moment in my life I feel that I allow or have allowed people to put me down which is really in essence trying to humiliate me. It may be that they are unaware of what they are doing, yet it hurts. How do I deal with it. Well in my past I have usually "sucked it up" and as I don't like confrontation and animosity particularly much, I usually just smile and pretend I don't mind, and then go home upset about it...knowing full well that if I allowed myself to respond in the other way it would only be to my own shame the next day when I remember back to how I let it rip!
Tonight I was in a situation with someone who I have been struggling with for a while with the odd condescending remark being thrown at me here and there for the last few months, and another situation was starting to happen again! And I really felt such an anger welling up in me and I would have let it rip, because it's been building up to a climax for such a long time. Instead I answered back as honestly as I could without being rude or retaliating in the same manner, and then excused myself from the company.
I felt quite peaceful when heading home, in that for me I had found the third way in that particular situation. Normally I would have just laughed it off in some way, or in feeling the way that I did tonight would have said something that I would deeply have regretted, and in doing so would have only let myself down. So I answered pleasantly but still firmly and got myself out.
Hopefully I have let that particular individual see that it's not on to keep trying to put me down...that it's not acceptable, but also in doing what I did, may they also have seen that I didn't return the same behaviour. In doing so I hope that the individual tonight may realise that maybe he/she had went to far and maybe as Rob Bell said...allow them to change their behaviour and change their mind about how they behave in the future.
We are only human...I'm only human! I get frustrated, angry and fed up like everyone else, but I never want to let my Lord down. I never want through some burst of what seems like righteous anger to ever hurt someone, even when I feel hurt myself. I want desperately to be able to put this third way of "reaction" into "action" in my life. I really need God's peace to reside in me in difficult times. I need to feel a real "shalom" with Him.
Make me a channel of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me bring you love;
Where there is injury, your healing pow'r,
And where there's doubt, true faith in you.Make me a channel of your peace:
Where there's despair in life let me bring hope;
Where there is darkness, - only light,
And where there's sadness, ever joy.O Spirit, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consolded as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul - .Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all that we receive,
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.PRAYER OF ST FRANCIS
