Here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year good health, wealth and happiness for 2010 Ros x
And I leave you with this little prayer
Lord, give me a vision for my life. I put my identity in You and my destiny in Your hands. Show me if what I am doing now is what I am supposed to be doing. I want what You are building in my life to last for eternity. I know that all things work together for good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. I pray that You would show me clearly what the gifts and talents are that You have placed in me. Lead me in the way I should go as I grow in them. Enable me to use them according to your will and for Your glory. I ask this is your name. Amen!
Today my brother and four friends set off for the Erg Chebbi Dessert in Morocco with motorbikes on a month long adventure. They are catching the ferry from England to northern Spain, travelling through Portugal and then crossing to Morocco on 2nd January. He is the mechanic for the tour, so will have a few challenges keeping five bikes moving!
For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor,
Everlasting Father,
Price of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
ISAIAH 9:6-7
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming into our world and joining in our human condition. You humbled yourself to us, joined with us as intimately as possible. Joined with all creation, our hearts cannot help but shout with joy!
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This is a Christmas card we received yesterday from a missionary friend. It is beautifully hand painted on fabric - from Tanzania - and I wanted to share it with you.
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Finally, I would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and to thank you for your lovely, encouraging comments during the last year. May the peace and joy of Christmas be with you today and always.
For almost a week there has been a thick blanket of snow in south east England. Temperatures have been well below freezing all of which is unusual for December. Sophie, Tim and I dressed up warm and took a walk across Gold Hill down to the village centre for some last minute shopping.
Snow Love!
Sledging on the hill.
Almost there, but very slippy underfoot.
A quick visit to the bookshop, leather centre, stationers, and greengrocers and then a telephone call home to Mike for a lift home as it was getting dark and very cold!
Here's our all time favourite receipe for Christmas day. Very quick to make and kind to turkeys! Serve it with the usual roast potatoes and veg, plus horseradish and/or cranberry sauce.
Set the oven to 190o deg C/Gas Mark 5. Grease and line 2lb loaf tin with a long strip of greaseproof paper to cover base and short sides of the tin. Fry the onion and celery in the butter or margarine for 7 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Cover with a piece of foil and bake for one hour, then remove the foil and continue cooking for a further 15 minutes, until firm in the centre. Remove loaf from oven and allow to stand for five minutes, then loosen edges by slipping a knife between loaf and tin. Turn loaf out onto a warmed serving dish. Serves 8.
One of the lovely ladies from the PP Forum is undergoing chemo during the next few weeks, so Katy and 'H' thought it would be a nice idea if we could make flower blocks for her. Her favourite colours are blue, purple, orange, green, so these little pansies seemed to be just right.
This month's friendship block goes to Tessa. She has provided us each with a 10" piece of dark blue fabric and has asked for a theme of "night sky". My first thought was to make a traditional star block but I was worried that I would loose the pattern on the fabric if I started to chop it up! So I settled for attic windows then she can gaze at a whole sky full of stars.
As we start the final week of Advent, and are looking forward to the joy of celebrating Christmas with friends and family, I'd like to share this little reflection with you.
Caring for One Another Let each one confidently make known his need to another that the other might discover what is needed and minister to him. Let each one love and care for his brother as a mother loves and cares for her son in those matters in which God has given him the grace. St Francis of Assisi
Lord, during this hectic season, I often become so absorbed in my own little world that I am not attentive to the needs of others. Help me to express my own needs humbly and to meet the needs of other graciously. By doing so, may I be drawn into a closer relationship with others and with you.
This weekend we celebrate the third week of Advent and I have this reflection I'd like to share with you. Ros
The Humility of God
The most high Father made known from heaven through His holy angel Gabriel this Word of the Father - so worthy, so holy and glorious - in the womb of the glorious Virgin Mary, from whose womb He received the flesh of our humanity and frailty. Though He was rich, He wished, together with the most Blessed Virgin, His mother, to choose poverty in the world beyond all else. St Francis of Assisi
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Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8
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Humble God, in your humility, you reached out to the human race in order to draw us into a communion that could not have been possible through any other means. May Jesus be a friend who can identify with all that we go through in life, who brings us into a relationship with his Father, and who, by his humility and self-sacrificing love, shows us what it means to live human life to its fullest.
I was lucky enough to be the recipient of Jan's (Jan's Musing) PIF (Pay It Forward). Just look at what she has made for me! A beautiful bag using Geta's shadow trapunto technique.
And a lovely postcard made from hundreds of tiny thread snippings!!
Thank you Jan very much for my wonderful gift.
I will be doing my PIF early in the new year, so please keep an eye open for the details.
I organised a little workshop last week for my Viva a Vida friends; something simple we could make in a couple of hours, so there was still time to chat and have lunch. We made padded hearts with pretty red ribbons. Then I made a few more when I got home, adding little bells which I had been saving from chocolate wrappers.
We also made some little pink doves. These are my version in gold and turquoise, which proved rather tricky to photograph hanging up as they kept spinning around! I embroidered eyes with lurex thread and used the same thread to make a little hanger. You will find the pattern for the little birdshere.
My friend Ivone, who has Japanese heritage, gave me this really pretty fabric to make a furoshiki (or 'Japanese wrapping cloth'). Measuring about one metre square and a lovely soft but densely woven fabric this is beautiful. I spent a rainy afternoon hand stitching the edge.
Throwing anything away in Japan is a costly business so reuseable wrappings are essential! Ladies in Japan have stacks of these, including vintage hand-me-downs. You can use them for wrapping presents, transporting small packages and beautifully wrapping a caserole dish for your pot-luck lunch. Then take the furoshiki home again ready for the next time!
We are fast approaching the second Sunday of Advent. Here is another little reflection which I would like to share with you.
Growing in the Virtue of Patience Where there is patience and humility, There is neither anger nor disturbance. St Francis of Assisi
Let them pay attention to what they must desire above all else: to have the Spirit of the Lord and Its holy activity, to pray always to Him with a pure heart, to have humility and patience in persecution and infirmity. St Francis of Assisi
Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. James 5:7-8
Lord, in our society of instant gratification, patience is not a cultivated virtue. Remind me that I do not need to immediately have all the things I long for and all the answers to my questions. In the waiting, we often learn much about ourselves, come to a greater awareness of what is truly important in life, and gain a better appreciation for the things we must await.
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If you are enjoying the advent posts and want to read more from St Francis here is the ISBN number 978-0-7648-1756-4 of the little paperback I have been reading from.
