Batik and Blood Suckers

Elephants, Bullocks & Daft Hats

What a Welcome : Day 1-2-3

Monsoon Ready

I walked into town this morning to pick up some last bits for our trip to Sri Lanka and take my Friday walk along the esplanade to make sure the sea is still there and all is well with the world. 

A couple of broken benches in the Sid and the ford rendered impassable served as reminders that we're about to catch the tail end of Sri Lanka's monsoon season.  

The sea was churning and wild, hurling pebbles up onto the road and sending me running to dodge the waves breaking over the sea wall. Wonderful!

Sidmouth makes me smile. 

I bought kippers from the shed on The Ham, passed a chalked up 'local brussel tops' sign in the Market Square, walked a little way with Sandra from the fish and chip shop, stocked up on peanut butter for Vikki from Verity in Ganesha, gave Ollie Salter a wave and a "morning!" on my way back up the road and met lots of people along the way to exchange a smile and a few words with. 

I'm looking forward to our holiday, but to be honest I feel a little apprehensive around the edges. Once we're on the plane I expect I'll start feeling more excited but at this moment, on a National Express coach heading for Heathrow, stuck in traffic and running 50 minutes late, it doesn't feel quite real yet. 

I'm ready for the adventure though, and looking forward to spending two weeks with my lovely Mick exploring some of the places he visited on his last trip to Sri Lanka in 1982 - just before we met. 

I've got my brolly. Bring it on!

Out of the Closet

Remember how no-one liked to admit their children had nits?  Then, almost overnight, it became okay to talk about the little blighters.  In fact it became quite the thing to share notes about the pros and cons of dousing their little heads with chemicals or using dollops of conditioner and a nit comb.  

It was such a relief to realise that you weren't that weird after all.  Battling head lice became just another accepted (although annoying) aspect of parenting.

Well.  Here's the thing.  We have moths.  

We're the kind of people who find Christmas cake under the sofa in June.  I mean, we know how the vacuum cleaner works; we use it quite often.  But we hoover around things rather than move them out and see what's lurking behind or underneath.  

Also, we have way too much stuff.  There are clothes in my wardrobe that I haven't worn for years and I'm completely rubbish at getting a grip and clearing things out.  And I love bargains, so I'm not averse to buying secondhand clothes - and I don't always wash them before putting them away.

But now we know there's a problem we're throwing stuff out, pulling out the furniture and keeping on top of our hoovering issues.  

We've had a busy weekend.  The beasties are out of the closet.  For now.  

We're facing the fact that we'll likely be finding them for years to come, but at least we know what we're dealing with and can keep a lid on the situation. And maybe one day we'll get shot of the pesky things altogether.

I'm telling you all this just in case you've noticed tiny brown moths in your home.  If you have, don't ignore them, they won't go away on their own.  In fact they'll get worse. 

Check out this site for some practical information:  The Pied Piper

1) Love God. 2) Love People.

'One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?”
Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” (Matt 22:37-40)

Two commands.  Two pegs.  Everything hangs from them.  That's all. 

Two things have got right up my nose this week:

This little book was found by one of my loveliest friends on a park bench in Sidmouth, our home town. 

H and I worked together for twelve years.  We talked, laughed, got angry about stuff, dreamed big dreams, acted daft, listened to each other, swore a bit, talked about God now and again, and laughed a lot more. 

Five years on, we no longer see each other every day, but we're friends.  Definitely.  We love each other.

I love God.  I love H.  She doesn't love God.  She loves me.  That's all.

I suppose that whoever left that book on an empty park bench thought it was a loving thing to do.  I don't agree.  I think they'd be better off joining an evening class or a club and making some friends; people they can talk to, listen to, laugh and cry with... and talk about God with now and again too. 

I want so much for my friends to know how madly, passionately, fiercely God loves them!  He loves them.  It's good news. 

The scriptures are a huge, sweeping picture of God's intense, redeeming, costly love for his world, painted with a massive brush.  Sneaking into a park when no-one is looking to leave scary bible sound-bites for unsuspecting 'heathens' to find really gets my goat. 

Love God.  Love People.  Everything hangs on those two pegs. 

I don't really want to talk about the second thing... but it's a bit like the first thing.  That's all.

Let's pray peeps

That's how Goodreach began our prayer time yesterday evening: "Let's pray peeps".

He prayed for us to be changed by this trip, that God's miracle working power would enable us to act on what we've seen and experienced here in Kenya. Beth encouraged us to wait on God, to open up to his Holy Spirit. As we sang "there's an army rising up..." God moved.

We've seen God at work in the slums of Kibera and Mathare. We've met children with no sight but profound vision. We've encountered joy, hope, faith, breathtaking gratitude and love in dire poverty; light piercing the darkness.

When we arrived in Mathare, a small girl, probably aged about five, led a group of bigger children hand in hand, snaking around the dirt 'playground' of the slum. She held her head high as she sang. The others followed her lead, moving with the music, stepping to the pulse, the beat of their song.

God's kingdom is near... and each one of us has a part to play in bringing it in, a unique gift to share, a different and beautiful thread to weave into the picture.

He chooses to work through our hands, our feet, our voices, our dreams and visions. He is our unity. He transforms us from a random bunch of do gooders into a radical, upside down army. His is the back to front rEVOLution creation is groaning for.

Let's move together in the kingdom's rhythm. Let's step to the pulse, the heartbeat of God.

Let's pray peeps.