Inspired my Nicola's recent post i feel the need to reminisce myself. I did actually write a little list a while back, when i couldn't sleep, about some of the joys of being a child. I mainly focused on the benefits of growing up as a Christian though and the things i could remember that influenced my faith... the list goes as follows:
* Learning great kid's songs, such as "Are you greedy, grumpy, noisy, nosey, messy, lazy... are you always causing trouble, driving grown-ups crazy.... Jesus changes Mr Men and Little Misses too... He can take away your sin and give new life to you.. wooooo!" ...... it has to be sung really fast for the full effect.
* It was always good to know that Jesus was with you when you went upstairs and it was all dark and scary... Hannah and me used to always reassure each other and say "Don't worry, Jesus is with you!"
* Being able to pray every night - i always prayed that there would be no burglars or kidnappers or fires, that no-one would get very ill, that the police wouldn't have to come and that there would be no big puppets that came to scare me......And after praying i could always sleep peacefully and it was always answered, ha ha!
* Whenever we didn't have any money we would always pray and God would provide it. Sometimes we had to pray just to get enough money for food or for bills and it would arrive at the last minute. Once we prayed for money when it was my Dad's birthday cos we had no money to buy him a present.... and then we found £10 in the garden bush and we could buy him a jumper. From then on i have never worried about money cos i learnt that God always provides... and he has been faithful to that.
*Hannah and me made used to make lovely Sunday School tapes for Matei, which was always such fun - we sung him songs (i can't sing) and read him stories!
*Children's bible stories with funny pictures in were always a pleasure to read....
*I loved my baptism when i was 7.... i remember it very clearly.... the swimming pool was full of flies and woodlice!.. The leader of my church, Richard, came round before and explained things to me and i cried and cried... He told me how his brother once had to take the blame for something naughty he had done at school and he had to stand on a bench and was laughed at by everyone... he said that was a little like Jesus taking the blame for us!!... Richard always gave people time, i appreciated that even as a child.
*A girl called Sian gave me a cool badge after i was baptised, which said "Jesus saves" on it. ha ha. Sounds cheesy now, but as a 7 year old i loved it.
* We once had to watch a crystal ball video at school,when i was 7, but i refused to and turned my back and read my bible instead... ha ha.... everyone thought i was mad.
* I got great stickers... with all sorts of bible verses and cheesy christian sayings on them... i still have them... i loved them as a kid.
* There was a sweet old lady, called Elsie, at Grace Church (which is now Jubilee) - she used to give all the children sweets every week. I loved her. Not just cos of the sweets, but simply because she treated the kids with respect and love and care.
*I remember how i once threw a waterbomb through the window of my house when 'The Lads' from church were visiting... i thought they'd be angry, but instead they went and bought a new window-pane and replaced it for us.... good example of mercy.
*We had a great tape called 'God of Grace' that we used to listen to in the car all the time... Matei and me used to sing along to it... they were good days.... i learnt good truth from that tape... and i now listen to it every day when i wash-up, ha ha... amazing how i haven't grown tired of it!!
*I remember i prayed once that God would do my home-work for me while i was at church... i was about 10... and i genuinely believed he would do it... i was well excited thinking about what his hand-writing would look like!!... and opened my note-book with great anticipation!... But He didn't answer that prayer!!...... it taught me something about prayer though and how God is in charge!... a good job really considering Hannah once prayed she would become Banana Man!!
*The biggest thing that influenced my faith was my parents humility and faith in God, the way they trusted Him in the most difficult times, the way they were completely unreligious... even the fact that we didn't always go to church but just went for walks sometimes, their testimonies, the way they were open with us about everything, and the way they looked after us...... fine examples of followers of Jesus.
I could go on and on and on, but this is already ridiculously long and of no interest to anyone bar myself...... it's amazing the tiny things you remember from being a child though and the power they have to affect your whole life.... N.B.... the picture i included is from when i was a wee child, you can tell where my enthusiasm for art came from, ha ha, what a good drawer i was... ahem!
* Learning great kid's songs, such as "Are you greedy, grumpy, noisy, nosey, messy, lazy... are you always causing trouble, driving grown-ups crazy.... Jesus changes Mr Men and Little Misses too... He can take away your sin and give new life to you.. wooooo!" ...... it has to be sung really fast for the full effect.
* It was always good to know that Jesus was with you when you went upstairs and it was all dark and scary... Hannah and me used to always reassure each other and say "Don't worry, Jesus is with you!"
* Being able to pray every night - i always prayed that there would be no burglars or kidnappers or fires, that no-one would get very ill, that the police wouldn't have to come and that there would be no big puppets that came to scare me......And after praying i could always sleep peacefully and it was always answered, ha ha!
* Whenever we didn't have any money we would always pray and God would provide it. Sometimes we had to pray just to get enough money for food or for bills and it would arrive at the last minute. Once we prayed for money when it was my Dad's birthday cos we had no money to buy him a present.... and then we found £10 in the garden bush and we could buy him a jumper. From then on i have never worried about money cos i learnt that God always provides... and he has been faithful to that.
*Hannah and me made used to make lovely Sunday School tapes for Matei, which was always such fun - we sung him songs (i can't sing) and read him stories!
*Children's bible stories with funny pictures in were always a pleasure to read....
*I loved my baptism when i was 7.... i remember it very clearly.... the swimming pool was full of flies and woodlice!.. The leader of my church, Richard, came round before and explained things to me and i cried and cried... He told me how his brother once had to take the blame for something naughty he had done at school and he had to stand on a bench and was laughed at by everyone... he said that was a little like Jesus taking the blame for us!!... Richard always gave people time, i appreciated that even as a child.
*A girl called Sian gave me a cool badge after i was baptised, which said "Jesus saves" on it. ha ha. Sounds cheesy now, but as a 7 year old i loved it.
* We once had to watch a crystal ball video at school,when i was 7, but i refused to and turned my back and read my bible instead... ha ha.... everyone thought i was mad.
* I got great stickers... with all sorts of bible verses and cheesy christian sayings on them... i still have them... i loved them as a kid.
* There was a sweet old lady, called Elsie, at Grace Church (which is now Jubilee) - she used to give all the children sweets every week. I loved her. Not just cos of the sweets, but simply because she treated the kids with respect and love and care.
*I remember how i once threw a waterbomb through the window of my house when 'The Lads' from church were visiting... i thought they'd be angry, but instead they went and bought a new window-pane and replaced it for us.... good example of mercy.
*We had a great tape called 'God of Grace' that we used to listen to in the car all the time... Matei and me used to sing along to it... they were good days.... i learnt good truth from that tape... and i now listen to it every day when i wash-up, ha ha... amazing how i haven't grown tired of it!!
*I remember i prayed once that God would do my home-work for me while i was at church... i was about 10... and i genuinely believed he would do it... i was well excited thinking about what his hand-writing would look like!!... and opened my note-book with great anticipation!... But He didn't answer that prayer!!...... it taught me something about prayer though and how God is in charge!... a good job really considering Hannah once prayed she would become Banana Man!!
*The biggest thing that influenced my faith was my parents humility and faith in God, the way they trusted Him in the most difficult times, the way they were completely unreligious... even the fact that we didn't always go to church but just went for walks sometimes, their testimonies, the way they were open with us about everything, and the way they looked after us...... fine examples of followers of Jesus.
I could go on and on and on, but this is already ridiculously long and of no interest to anyone bar myself...... it's amazing the tiny things you remember from being a child though and the power they have to affect your whole life.... N.B.... the picture i included is from when i was a wee child, you can tell where my enthusiasm for art came from, ha ha, what a good drawer i was... ahem!
7 comments:
Ah that's so lovely! I haven't though good and hard about my childhood for a while. My stuff's all so embarrassing, like weeing in the garden, listing swear words to my older sibling to impress (poo, arse, crap, twit...) climbing trees, making tents out of black sacks and sticks in the garden and eating my dinner in my 'new home' (spaghetti, I remember it well!) I weed in the garden a lot come to think of it, even made a camping toilet out of bricks... I was a real weird one! I'd ride my bike, having races with my friend, Pamela, in the close and down the alleyway. Sonic the Hedgehog on mega drive was a favourite, those ball on a rope skippy things that go round your ankle, blackberry picking and juicing in summer, water fights, cigarette butt collecting, ladybird collecting, stamp collecting... How fun it was! Thanks for that, that was nice! x
Ah yeah, i have a lot of memories like yours too, they're not wierd at all.... my list was refined to ones to do with being a christian... but if i was to include everything else then there'd also be loads other, such as playing imaginary pirates on the coal bunker with Matt or pretending we were on an island or were robots or gipsys.. making dens and climbing trees and having water fights and picking blackberries goes without saying yeah... i collected matchboxes and buttons... ah, sweet days.... although i do recall much more embarrassing memories too.. but if i included them then i'd embarass myself wouldn't i? and can't be doing with that today, ha ha! x x
p.s.... thanks for leaving comments, i don't think anyone else reads my blog apart from you... but i've never told anyone it exists. Is it ok to leave comments on your own blog? ha ha.... do you find the replies i write? hmm... i wonder. Anyway, shut up becky and stop rambling!
Yeah I find them! I think it's good to leave comments on your own blog... there aren't any rules to these things so it's all good! Looking forward to a lovely day tomorrow x Also, I'm pretty sure others do read it... it's kind of a scary thought that we can't know who! I know Madz reads coz she was saying how cool this post was just yesterday... x
Hi Bex
I was just going to leave a comment the other day but baby was crying. I think your blog is wonderful. It shows what a creative and thoughtful person you are. You see life from a completely different, wonderful and godly perspective. Im checking it when I can. Keep it up girl.
hey becky that was a great post, esp loved the homework bit and banana man. Had to skim a bit though! lots of stuff there! i bet i could come up with a sizeable list what with being a pastors daughter! Hope you're good, i second what belinda said, your blog shows how deep and interesting you are. lots of love xxx
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