The countdown continues...

We had a childrens christmas party after church. They loved eating together and we had a special guest.

He gave the children a gift each. Ellie waiting her turn.

No not this one!

No not that one....

There it is!!

Both Jessie and Ellie playing with their gifts.

This was Ellies sunday school 'sunbeams' craft.

 Jessie used these to tell me the christmas story.

It was a lovely long sunday, too long for Ellie!

The narrow gate

Before I begin this blog post, I would like to say that I feel a need, to start sharing some things that God shows me in pictures and visions. I often see very clear visions in which God speaks to me. He often uses this form of communication with me, with the intention to share with others around me. This particular vision is about following God, through narrow gates. In life we can make hundreds of decisions and choices. Some are easy to choose, others are harder. Choosing the right path and making the right decisions depends on many factors. Many moral choices we make are obvious, but there is also a path that God has planned for your life. Few find this path. This path involves giving up your own agenda. This path involves consulting your heavenly Father, asking him to show you where he would like you to go and how to live. This is not an easy thought for some, it can seem a hard to pill to swallow. Yet those that choose this path are amazed at the blessing, freedom, fulfillment that follows! Having made that choice myself, I can testify to its goodness! I truly found life when I decided to connect with my loving heavenly Father! I would love for others to do the same. Be blessed.

The Narrow and Wide Gates

Matthew 7:13

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. (14) But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

I stepped forward, toward the Wooden gate in front of me. Jesus was on the other side of the fence, smiling , with his hand out stretched, beckoning me to step through the gate. 

It was the narrowest gate I had seen so far. I would have to turn to my side to pass through this one. I sensed the spirit of God whispering at my ear. "This is the gate, that only those who have taken up their cross to follow Jesus, can pass through." I looked behind myself, back at the path from which I had just walked. On the floor directly behind me, laid down was my cross. I felt a little confused. 'had I taken up my cross and therefor carried it this far, or was I about to take up my cross?' I presumed the latter, for I felt convinced I would not be standing at this gates entrance if I was not ready.   I viewed the field beyond the gate, in which Jesus stood. It was dark, slightly lit by moonlight where the fence and gate were, but it darkened into the distance. It seemed muddy underfoot and heavily churned up. The ground was uneven and quite uninviting. I felt nervous to enter. Part of me wondered what good lay up ahead, for my eyes saw only darkness and heavy mud. But then I caught his eyes, staring deeply into mine. His face had the ability to soften my fears, quieten my heart and clear my doubts. He smiled, and I started to unfasten the heavy backpack which I was carrying. (Consisting of the fear of man, the  concerns of peoples opinions and self consciousness ) It was a heavy burden, and I knew that firstly, it would not be able to fit through this gate and secondly, I had no need for it. I dropped it to the floor and as I did,I noticed my clothing. I wore a white, satin night dress, thin in texture and silky to the touch. 

It had thin straps and struck me as very unsuitable attire for a walk in the cold of an evening. I felt very under dressed and then I saw that I was also wearing big black walking boots! Big sturdy, mud covered walking boots! 

Again, I looked at Jesus. His gaze and smiling face took away all feelings of awkwardness and self awareness. He reached his hand out for mine. I grasped onto him and he helped me up and through the narrow gate.

 The field was dark and he walked quickly up ahead of me, I was aware I needed to keep up and wanted to call for him to slow down a little, but then I saw the holy spirit hovering to the left of me. " He likes to keep a steady pace," he said with a smile. I moved my eyes only, acknowledging his words, but keeping my head facing forward, fixed on Jesus as he walked quickly and confidently up ahead. " you'll be OK here with us, we will keep you safe and show you the way to go," he continued. " it's dark isn't it?"

" it is" I replied. I was slightly anxious and was trying to walk close enough behind Jesus so as not to lose sight of him in the thick darkness. It was getting darker as we ventured on.

 suddenly I lost my sight of him. I could see nothing at all except the deep, thick darkness. It was heavy all around. Then I heard his voice.

" sit down here" he was speaking from  behind me . I bent low and stretched out my left hand to feel my way to the Item on which to sit. " here" he said reaching for my hand and directing it toward a wooden bench, big enough to seat the both of us.

We sat in the dark as he opened up a book on my lap. It was his holy word, The bible. It illuminated the area where we sat, like a log fire would. It threw a warm glow on the ground below and I could see his face lit beautifully, he was so loving and captivating. " my word is a light unto your feet and a lamp unto your path" he said. The warm tones in his voice smoothed away my anxious thoughts, that wondered where I was and where we were heading. Then a noise caught my attention. It was similar to the sound of a fire cracker being lit in the distance. I looked ahead to see a red candle like marker, burning and crackling in the darkness. Then another broke through the silence, just a few meters up in front, with a spit and a crack, it burned like the first. Then another followed in suit. Three burning candle like marker points lit a path ahead. They marked the way ahead.

I turned to look at Jesus, then i looked down at the glowing book on my lap, which had many red ribbons laid through it's pages, marking specific words and highlighting pages. " I am guessing I follow this path?" I said.

Jesus did not reply. He didn't need to. I knew.

Psalm 119:104-105:

           I gain understanding from your precepts;

       therefore I hate every wrong path.

              Your word is a lamp to my feet

       and a light for my path.

Why are you hiding?

Ellie-Faith is 3 years old. She attends pre school 4 afternoons a week. The rest of the time, she is home with Mamma, enjoying quiet time, cuddles, craft, children's T.V and sometimes we cook together.

 Her favorite program on children's channel is a program all about cooking. Every day she asks, "mamma, can we do some cooking?" Sometimes the answer is yes, other times the answer is "Not today Ellie, we will do something else nice"

 Today, I was on the computer setting up a personal message from Santa for both of the girls. I had finished Jessie's message and had just checked the finished product for Ellie's message also.

 For anyone who wants to give their child a personal video message from santa go to:

http://portablenorthpole.tv    Its very sweet.

 So I was calling Ellie so she could come and watch her special message from the North pole, I had no reply. I called again. "Ellie, come here a moment!" No reply. So I went to investigate where she was. My pleasant feelings of treating her to a nice Santa chat soon turned into sheer horror as I poked my head around the lounge door. On the table where the T.V sits, I found this:

For those of you who are wondering, it was a tub of olive spread, one apple, one crushed banana- mixed!

The tone in my voice changed. She was still no where to be seen and now I knew why! "Ellie! Where are you?" silence followed. I found her, hiding behind the craft cupboard door, with paint brush in hand, covered in spread. Her hands were a yellow sticky consistency and her face pale and riddled in guilt.

"Soooorrrrry"

She was sent upstairs to clean up and then given time out in her room, to 'think about what she had done'

Its funny how children hide when they know they have done something wrong.

It reminds me of Adam and Eve, when they hid from God, after eating the fruit thy were told not to.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

Even as adults we can hide away when we have done things wrong. We can hide from God, or distance ourselves from him, feeling ashamed or guilty for our wrong actions or attitudes. Yet  there is no point in hiding. God knows exactly where we are! Just as I knew that Ellie was in the house somewhere, He knows where we hide. He is also ready to pick us up, dust us off and put us back on the right path when we have said "sorry' for those wrongs. He is a loving Father who just wants us to learn from our mistakes and to try again.

Have a good day!

Tis the season...

Well, in this Christmas season there has been a lot going on! I have loved every minute of getting ready for our first Family Christmas, held in our home. Usually we travel to Wales to stay with My Dad, his wife Caroline and their son, my brother Tom. Tom is 5 years old, a year younger than my eldest daughter, so it works well. The children usually entertain themselves. Living on a large farm, with lots of space to run around is always an adventure for any child!
   However this year, we decided that as we have moved to a larger house ( which is fit to accomodate more than half a family!) we would celebrate in our own home.
 We have our good friends and their son sharing the day with us also. So I am looking forward to it.
 I have been decorating out home and crafting to make it homely and 'christmasy' for the kids to enjoy. We spent an evening, as a family getting the tree (James and Jessies job) putting it together ( Myself and Jessie) and finally decorating the tree (Jessie and Ellie)
 We have held a tradition, that Jessie is the one who places the star on top of the tree at the end of decorating it. However, Ellie is now also old enough to get involved, so we did a 'take 2' for Ellie also to have a turn. ;0)

I also got stuck into some crafting. I saved all my glass jars with lids, washed them and de-labeled them.

Some lovely fabric squares made jar covers, held on with elastic bands. I wanted to fill these jars with goodies, for friends and family.

                                          

                                      

I created some labels for the jars using christmas themed stamps.

                                          

Here are the empty jars, ready to be filled with sweets or beans etc.

                                          

Other jars were used to make candle lanters. Simple idea, creating a handle with string and decorating with decorative ribbon.

                                       

This is a finished lantern, complete with a christmas star!

We also baked some lovely mince pies, well shall I say Ellie-Faith baked!

Here she is mixing all the pastry.

Cutting out the star lids and circles for the base.

baking....

Mmmmm the finished pies!

The only problem was the time it took for the pies to cool!

I saw this wooden house advent calendar in tescos magazine and for £5 I thought it was an absolute bargain. However they did not stock them in my local store, so I asked a good friend to see if they had any in the larger tescos near her home. They did! I am really pleased, as I can re use this each year and the girls love it!

I have a few other blog posts I am thinking about writing, but just for now, I pray that you are enjoying the Christmas season. God bless!

Take eat!

Its winter I know and we are well past the season for apples to be growing in abundance! We have a lovely large apple tree at the bottom of our garden and this year we used a lot of apples! Some we ate, some we baked, some we turned into marmalade and some we gave away by the bag full!
 Now however, it is winter. The tree is bare, it does not parade its glorious fruit. It is empty of apples and thin on leaves.
  Just like seasons exist in the natural, Seasons exist in the spiritual. Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to grieve, a time to live and a time to die.
 Spiritual seasons are not always parallel with natural seasons. We may be experiencing a cold, wet winter in the natural realm, but I believe we can be in the season of spring in the spiritual realms.
 I sense the gentle nudging of Gods voice, calling to us to "take and to eat"
 For everyone of us, that will mean different things. For some, it may mean taking hold of personal promises, for others it may mean stepping out and doing what has been on their hearts for years! It may simply mean taking a big bite of joy, where you have been feeling so sad.
 I feel it is a time for us to start taking a hold of things that God has for us. They are ripe for the picking!
We can however choose to leave these things. We can choose to sit back and wait another year, another decade.....but we may just be missing out on something wonderful if we do! Sure, spring time will come around again, but why wait, if its here now?

                   Take eat, I am giving this to you.

Take eat! I am giving you this fruit.

Take eat, I am giving you the keys,

take eat, you have all authority.

Too many years have gone by,

and now this is your time.

Too many years have gone by and I have heard your cries.

Too many years have gone by and you've said "father when?"

I say, "Take eat!"

Christmas crafts and ideas

I have been taking a little break from blog world, but I am back and getting excited for christmas.
I have been thinking of gifts to make for friends and family this year, and have a few ideas up my sleeve.

Some inspiration has been taken from the shabby chic style. I aim to make little wooden heart door hangers with polka dots and little gingham ribbon.

For the children, I have been saving all my glass jars and their lids for a craft session, filling them with wonderfully colourful sweets and decorating them with lables and fabric tops.

There is also a lovely simple idea to decorate the home, with jam jars and tea light candles:

This can be used with or without sweets, it could be filled with little coloured marbles or stones. It also looks great with a candle alone.

I have been in search of a reusable advent calendar for the girls this year and have a good friend on the hunt for me in her local stores today-thanks kira!
There are some lovely wooden options out there, and also great fabric ones too.

The Fabric house is from Laura ashley and the other is a wooden advent calendar- both can be found on Ebay for a cheeper option. I have found some great bargains on there this year!

Look at this adorable little craft kit for little girls, a great introduction to sewing. I know Jessie will love it!

http://www.handyhippo.co.uk/p5363-StitchIt-Dolly-Kit.html

This one also is a great idea for gifts for the grandparents or Fathers day or Mothers day.

http://www.handyhippo.co.uk/p5361-StitchIt-Lovehearts-Kit.html

I think Fimo is also a lovely stocking filler as the children love creating things, baking them and keeping them. As a child I had hours of fun making little characters and jewelry from fimo.

http://www.handyhippo.co.uk/s263-1-Fimo-Kits.html

Have fun with your family this year, I am sure I will blog after my crafty evening, with the above ideas in mind.

God bless.

consider....

O Lord My God when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made
I see the stars I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then Sings My Soul, my Savior God To thee
How Great Thou Art
How Great Thou Art !

The words of this song came to mind this morning and  as  the words ran through  my mind, I felt  that I should stop for a moment and Consider the works Gods hands have made. 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

³ And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

 ⁶ And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." ⁷ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

⁹ And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.

⁴ And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night,

 and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

²⁰ And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁴ And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.

God made the wild animals according to their kinds.

²⁶ Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth."

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
       in the image of God he created him;
       male and female he created them.

 ²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.




Now, thats a LOT to consider! 

O Lord My God when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made
I see the stars I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then Sings My Soul, my Savior God To thee
How Great Thou Art
How Great Thou Art !