Never underestimate...

"Never underestimate the power of truth spoken in a single sentence."   - John Piper

Hope

"Christian hope is simply this: God cannot be overthrown."  

- John Piper

i like #2 ...

...this line of plant pots...

...and this old bike...

i like...

...these rapeseed fields...

...and trees in long lines on the horizon...

what can i say

"There are some things about which nothing can be said and before which we dare not keep silent." - T.S.Eliot

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." - Rev.21.4

600 miles, 71 days and a 72 year old man

I just read a very moving story in the news about a 72 year old Chinese man who walked more than 600 miles to visit his son in prison. The journey took him 71 days and he had to walk with a stick. He had all his savings stolen just after he left home, so had to beg all the way and was sometimes forced to eat rotten food from bins. When he arrived the prison staff bent the rules to allow him to see his son which he hadn't seen for 2 years. Apparently his son was actually adopted and said "He adopted me and loves me very much, but i have nothing to repay all this"

petals

The first of May. Somehow i feel like there's something special about this day, but i can't think what? Maybe it's just because it's a third of the way through the year and it really does feel like Spring now. Whatever the case i feel i must at least write something on my blog to celebrate it. Originally i was going to post about how broken and messed up this world is, but then i changed my mind and am now writing about how beautiful all the blossom is outside and how it makes me smile. I love watching the petals summersaulting through the air. I sat on the pavement the other day, waiting for the bus, and noticed so many little things that you forget to see when you're standing up. It used to be like that with my seizures. I remember several evenings when i came round from fits on the cold pavement outside and i'd notice the stars above and the beauty of the sky. It almost felt like a blessing to be able to just lay there and stare up at them as i recovered. Today i noticed the petals have all collected in the gutters - their little existance is almost over, but even now they still look so pretty and fill me with a sad kind of hope. They have a small job of proclaiming God's glory and then it's all over and they joyfully give up their life. It's sad in a way, but then it points to the one who lasts forever and that even our lives should be sacrificed willingly in order to bring Him glory. 

One of my other favourite things at the moment is seeing trees in long lines on the horizon.... there are loads round here and i just love it... I love lines of birds on the telephone wires too..... and at the moment the fields are full of rapeseed and are just stunning. Whilst on the topic of things i like at the moment i may as well mention that i have a strange love of washing hanging up in balconies and am forever noticing it on my walks.... then there's barns full of hay, i love them... and all the quirky strangers i bump into who love to chat about nothing much... and i could go on forever, but i won't. What a strange ramble this is!

Anyway.... the first of May.... i guess it is a happy kind of day.

the first gleam of dawn

"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day." - Proverbs 4.18

What a beautiful verse.