"He trusts in God"

Matthew 27:32-44

Everything is busyness. There is too much to do, or at least I think the to do list is overwhelming. I am exhausted at the thought of it all.
The man coming to check on the alarm system is late. The dogs are getting frustrated with being left outside. I want to rush around and do things in the house but am hovering with intent to answer the door as soon as I hear tyres on the gravel.
Sometimes life is really black. Illness and death are present. The golden pot of money is empty. God seems to be nowhere as he was for Christ. With Christ I can still say I trust in God but is my trust evident to those who observe me?

Praying

Romans 16:1-16
Jenny, keep her cancer in remission; Cathy keep her cancer in remission too; give give Jeanne relief from her arthritis and rheumatism and keep her cancer in remission. Be with Gill, be her comforter and companion... so goes our daily prayer. Sometimes I think the list might be a little long and repetitive.
Paul is seldom a comfort but today I sympathize with him and draw solace from his list of greetings. He does not want to omit anybody and neither do we when it comes to bringing their needs which we know about to Christ. and his

There is a vegetarian in the house

Romans 14:13-23
 So I cook and eat vegetarian and do not complain about extra dishes, if there are any.

All things bright and beautiful

Psalm 48
All was summer along the banks of the canal. There were the usual cyclists out to defer their coronary but also many families enjoying the sun and the peaceful flowing water. Picnickers spread blankets along the banks, a barge full of tourists viewed the sights. I was there enjoying the scenes and the strwberries which I bought in Ronquières.
Praise comes easily in such circumstances.

Romans 13:8-14

In brief- here are the bare essentials of the thought.

How do you wake up?
What do you do when you wake up?
Does it depend on the plans for the day ahead?

11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.

 Waking form the sleep which leads to death to life with Christ, a day which surpasses imagination both in the future  and today.

Wet feet

Joshua 3:1-13
Joy and exultation at the thought of salt water soothing aching feet. Fear and trepidation as the cold water becomes closer. Grains of damp sand glue themselves to your feet and migrate to the gaps between your toes. Then the pain of the cold Atlantic hits. Such is summer paddling in Britain. A mixture of emotions accompanying a step out of the comfort zone.

Gathering

Matthew 25:14-30

The violets in my garden are thriving. I did not sew them. I just gathered a couple of stray plants as they intruded into a footpath. They like my garden and have multiplied. I am trying to grow some mint acquired by the same means but  I am having a battle with the slugs for the new shoots of mint. The continually wet weather is aiding the slugs.
I bought a fig tree in a pot. I see that there is a Lady's mantle there too.
I like reaping where I have not sown. Their is a pleasure in seeing a wayward plant flourish.
Now I need to see what gifts God has given me and help them to flourish too.

Footstools

Welsh tapestry, given as a wedding present; a green one inherited from my mother but the stool which is habitually used as a footstool in front of the TV is not a footstool. It is a real stool which is quite large enough to be sat on. As I child it was my Miss Muffet stool. My tuffet, where I sat with my little blue bowl of cereal finding the thought of curds and whey too abhorrent.
But for now the stool gives rest to weary limbs. How good it is when we can be the place of solice and comfort, a source of renewing energy for those who previously  would have held us as unsuitable companions.

Holy Spirit

Acts 19:11-20
Wow what power. What a difference Paul made in the lives of people.

Tell me the old, old story, tell me the old, old story, Tell me the old, old story, of Jesus and His love.

Psalm 143
Tell me the old, old story was another of my Grandma's hymns.
I often feel embarrassed recounting for a third and fourth time events when Jesus seemed extra close to me or the Holy Spirit more powerful. But God does not mind. He is real and old stories, even the childhood memories of a not quite old, though I thought my grandmother was old when she was my age, may be a nudge towards an almost forgotten memory of Christ.
And if you would like a retrospective connection to mushrooms and my grandmother and old stories I remember my mother telling me about picking mushrooms in the field behind her childhood home. She told me this as we were picking mushrooms on our way back from visiting my grandmother.

Stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients per person
1 flat mushroom
1 tsp humus
1 tsp grated cheese

Method
Take the stalk out of the mushroom, chop and replace in the mushroom
spread the humus over the mushroom and stalk
top with a little grated cheese
bake 375/190 for about 15 mins.

Grandma

Psalm 135
A few weeks ago in our morning service, I think it was by chance, we sang two or three Charles Wesley hymns. I found myself singing them, of course only to myself and God, in the car on the way home. They were songs of God's glory and his intervention in my life. My grandmother used to sing hymns throughout the day. She would sing "Jesus was me for a sunbeam" and "Jesus is a friend of little children" to me as she cooked the dinner in her little kitchen. I am sure she sang other hymns too but she did not share those with me, only with God who was her friend. Grandma was a quiet and gently person living in my grandfather's shadow. But I remember the love in her voice as she sang with her constant companion.

Too much me.

Numbers 22:41-23:12
I am very impressed by Balaam. He obeyed God. He followed up on the conversation with the donkey and did as God told him. I suppose the moral for us is to heed the little nudges and they may turn into some big thing that God wants done for his glory.
I think there is too much Jane in my life. Even if I do something for God I am proud that he has worked through me.

Donkey talk

Numbers 22:21-38
I do not have a donkey but I do have a dog who is my companion and has been for twelve years. As I move around the house he changes beds in order to keep close to me. Ernest has never opened his mouth and spoken to me but he is often very determined in the route we should take for a walk. He will sit and refuse to move. Ernest is small enough that I can pick him if required and carry on my own way.
Perhpas I need to take a second thought before following my own path for a day and remember that God has his plans for me. I am not saying that I should follow Ern's whims but that I should not be hasty in deciding where I go. I need to remember to discuss my plans with God and follow his nudges. Once I had decided to give myself a treat and visit a supermarket a little further away that my normal area but on passing by a different shop I went in there instead. I met a very lonely person who needed a friend. I am sure it was God who changed my plans. There is a small voice which speaks if we heed it.