An intimate touch

I read somewhere once something which made a lot of sense to me about touch.  Its a fundamental human need.  Those poor sad babies in Romanian orphanages who lie in cots all day devoid of human contact don't tend to do very well.  Isolation is not supposed to be part of the human condition and we are designed to be tactile sensitive beings.  But there are grades or levels of touch depending on the intimacy we have with an individual.

So if we barely know someone we might shake their hand or possibly put a hand on their elbow or back if we need to guide them somewhere  ( remember the shock when Michelle Obama put her hand in the small of the Queen's back to usher her along at some dinner or other!!)   A handshake is non-threatening and acceptable between strangers.  It marks a friendly overture and gives us some sense of the person we are greeting - vice -like grip or limp as lettuce??

If we know someone better we might give them a hug.  Full body contact. But only for a few seconds or it starts to get uncomfortable.   Then for those members of our family we have more intimate touches.   You know you love someone when you touch their head.  A ruffle of the hair.  A gentle stroke to comfort.  A romantic hand on cheek.  The head is a MUCH more intimate place to be touched and we need permission to go there and there will only be a few people we would allow to touch us in this manner, or be allowed to touch.

Then there is the kiss.   The most intimate form of touching.  Touching someone with our lips.  We reserve our kisses for the very special people in our lives.  There is nothing better than kissing and being kissed.  It is vulnerable yet safe.  Its almost impossible to be closer to someone then when you are lip-locked together.   Almost....

Because there is one more place to go..... and it's the act of intercourse.  Where two people are naked and unashamed, totally surrendered to each other in every way and where bodies interlock and ' become one'.   You only do this with one person.  It is sacred and intimate and is not to be shared.

The Bible says that our relationships here on earth are a foreshadowing and an illustration of the way God relates to us.   ' Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church'.    God does not want a formal, handshake, slap on the back relationship with you.   He doesnt even want a hug and a kiss sort of relationship with you.  He wants to go all the way.   He wants a covenant love relationship more intimate than any human relationship you have ever known.    Read Song of Songs if you want to get a flavour of how passionate He is.

Many of the Hebrew words in the Bible which we translate as ' worship' actually mean things like ' to bow down before'  and  ' to turn towards and kiss the face'.  When we praise God He is not interested in having a sing along, He doesnt want to hear us telling Him how great He is.   What He is after is the adoration of our hearts - He wants to be kissed in worship, and to kiss us back.  Because He is our lover and that's what lovers do.

How is your relationship with Jesus today?   Perhaps you dont know Him at all and would like to meet him and shake His hand.   Maybe its a while since you felt His hug and you gave Him a kiss. Perhaps you have been sleeping in separate beds for a while.  Or maybe you are more deeply in love with Him than ever before.   This Christmas let's  not forget what it's all about.   It's a love story.
And you are the object of that love.

Lord Jesus, as I approach Christmas time, admist all the hustle and bustle more than anything I want to feel your touch.  I pray today for all those people who have no one to hug and kiss them.  Those who are deeply lonely and isolated.   Please would you hug them and hold them tight this Christmas time and let them know that they are loved.   Amen

Clean Sheets.

Ive just changed my bed.  And having done so I have climbed in between a lovely crisp, white, fresh ,smooth, cool set of sheets all tucked in and perfect.  There really is nothing like a freshly made bed is there?

I used to think the term ' a clean sheet' referred to a piece of paper - a fresh clean page on which to write a new chapter.  And of course it can mean that.  But tonight Im also thinking that it means something else too.   It represents that feeling of wellbeing and security and comfort of being wrapped up in clean cotton without wrinkles.   When Jesus became a sinless man 2000 years ago He was buying us both things.  He was embarking on a mission to wash away our sins so that He could present us to His father as His bride.  Spotless and radiant.  Perfect.    He was giving humanity a fresh start - the chance to write a whole new chapter.    But He was also making the way for us to go to a
place as clean and safe and comfortable and perfect as He is.  He makes me to lie down beside the still waters.   Heaven is a place of deep rest and joy.   No more tears, mo more sadness or suffering. No more death. Im really hoping at least some part of heaven will be a bit like bed !! :-)

This is the time of year when we start to think about New Year's resolutions.  We have that sense of getting a clean sheet on Jan 1st as we look ahead to a brand new year.   We resolve to get fitter, pray more, eat more healthily, stay in touch , redecorate, be less critical, spend less, etc etc etc.  And most of the time our determination falters after a few days or weeks .  Because without God our clean sheets dont stay clean for very long.    Thankfully the clean sheet Jesus offers us does not depend on our own willpower or commitment or determination.  It depends on His. All we have to do is accept the clean sheet He offers us.

And the extra good news is that even if the fingerprints of the enemy and the pollution of the world sometimes make our clean sheets grubby we can come to Jesus moment by moment and ask Him to wash us clean again - and He will.

Lord Jesus I thank you for new beginnings.  Thank you for the clean sheet you offer us on which you want to write the new story of our lives.  Thank you that You have gone to prepare a place for us in heaven and that it is going to be a safe, pure and spotless place.  Other gods and philosophies and teachings might offer a sense of peace and wellbeing but You are the only one who washes away sin and brings us, through rebirth, into a brand new life.  As we wait for You to come back help us to avoid the grubbiness of the world and keep the fingerprints of the enemy far from us.  So that when You return we, your Bride, will be spotless and without blemish.  Just as you have ordained.
Amen

Magi

To my mind no Christmas is complete without this.   Four minutes.   Enjoy  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s5BeIpVZmc



Lord Jesus,

after an encounter with you nothing is ever the same again.  I pray this Christmas for all those family members and friends who have not yet had that meeting, who are still on the long hard journey to find you.   I ask that Your light would show the way and that this coming year many of them would reach the point where they see You, recognise who You are and give You the gift of their trust.  Bring back the prodigals and draw the seekers.  And help me to play whatever part I can in those journeys.  So that You may receive the reward of Your suffering.  Amen

Being born

Im watching One Born Every Minute.  First time Mums.  Fifth or sixth time Mums, young couples, older couples,  premature babies, cleft palate babies, easy deliveries, c-sections...... really its amazing any of us makes it into the world there are so many variables and things which could go wrong!

I always stop to think at this time of year of the enormous risk God took in becoming a baby 2000 years ago.   Its difficult and dangerous enough being born in 2014, in the UK, in an NHS hospital surrounded by technology and medical expertise.  But imagine being born back then.  Imagine what the death rate must have been amongst mothers and babies - it is probably not much different these days in some of the poorest countries in the world.  How scared must Mary have been - God really did put that poor girl through her paces.  First off she gets visited by an angel.  Scary stuff.  Then something happens to her ( the Spirit of the Most High overshadows her ......  what must THAT have been like!!!??)  the result of which is she finds she is pregnant.  And not married.  She has to endure who knows what sort of abuse and rejection from her family and friends and community.  So she goes to seek solace with her cousin Elizabeth and tries to hide away whilst she works out what to do.  Then. when it all looks as though it might finally be turning out OK - Joseph has not divorced her having had his own mind blowing experience with God, she suddenly finds herself on a donkey trekking the three days to Bethlehem when she is about to give birth.  Poor girl.   You have to have been nine months pregnant to really appreciate just how horrible that must have been

She goes into labour - which is a terrifying enough thing to happen.  And we read the Bible story forgetting that most first labours can take 24-36 exhausting hours.  Who knows how long they were traipsing round Bethlehem trying to find somewhere to stay before they finally opted for the cow shed?  How terrified must Joseph have been knowing that this God-gift of a child was coming into the world and that he was going to have to deliver it?

I remember what it was like giving birth.  I did it three times.  It was not fun.  Without medical intervention Sam, who got stuck, probably would not have been born alive and I might not have made it either.  Having babies is a painful, long, difficult and often dangerous thing to do.   Hats off to Mary and Joseph for somehow getting through it and safely delivering Jesus.  I'd like to think that they had some help - some local midwife or experienced mother hearing about them and coming to help with the birth.  Perhaps the innkeepers wife taking pity on them and bringing them a few bits and pieces to make them more comfortable.    The

likelihood is that they weren't actually in what we would think of as a stable...... more like the room above the cowshed . Warmish but smelly .

Anything could have gone wrong.  But it didn't.  In His birth Jesus puts Himself right at the heart of the human experience.  He doesn't shrink away from poverty and pain and displacement and aloneness.  In His incarnation He embraces danger and uncertainty and mess.  He makes Himself supremely vulnerable and puts Himself completely into the hands of His own creation.

And what do we do with this God who wants to identify so completely with us?  Who wants to be able to say about every aspect of our lives ' I know - I've lived it too' ?   Do we nurture His life, however small, in us.  Or do we nail Him up and walk away from Him?

Causing a bit of a stir

It would appear that I have caused a bit of a stir in the village.  In two villages in fact.  The one in which I live and the one in which my church happens to be.

Now I have to swear you to secrecy if you are reading this in Dromara or in Moneyreagh because nobody is supposed to know it is me......  but.....  well, if you promise not to tell, I shall let you in on what Ive been up to.

A few months ago I was introduced to Pinterest.  For those of you who dont know about it , its a craft website where people share ideas for making things.  Making all sorts of things using all sorts of skills.  Sunday school teachers post their lesson ideas, grannies post their knitting patterns, artists show off their handiwork..... its just a website jam packed full of weird and wonderful, simple and complex, brilliant and easy things to do and make.
Once I discovered it I started trawling through to have a look at the sort of crafty things people were doing in their churches  ( as in arts and crafty not as in devious and underhand !!) and I came across this.

Its a pebble.  That's all.  Just a simple painted pebble, but there is something really adorable about it isn't there?   There was a story attached to the picture so I went to read and discovered that last Christmas a chap somewhere in England had the idea to paint some stones and leave them around his town in the run up to Christmas as a bit of fun with a serious point.  He wanted to remind people what Christmas is all about.   He painted about 300 stones and left them all over the place - in shops, at bus shelters, on top of gateposts and on windowledges.   The people in his town got so caught up in the whole idea that he made it into the local paper.

Well, I looked at the stone and I read the story and I thought ' I could do that!!'

So I did.

Ive painted a couple of hundred  ( the local beach just happens to produce beautifully smooth rounded pebbles)  and on the 1st December I started leaving them out in the village.  Every evening I sneak out with about ten in my pocket and some hay to set them into  ( the guinea pigs dont seem to mind) and I leave them in the playpark and on benches and in shop doorways.

After a couple of days a friend ( who is one of the very few people who know what Im up to) told me that a child had run up to her at the school Christmas Fair and said , wide eyed, ' Did you know there are Baby Jesus's in the park??!'     Then Ben ( who has helped me put some of them round the village) started coming home from school saying that all his friends were talking about finding Jesus.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               I told someone in church what I was doing and wondered if anyone from church would like to take some stones to put round Moneyreagh.  They thought this was a great idea so last Sunday a box full of baby Jesus stones went to church and people took them away with them to plant round the village. Today I got a text from the minister to say that there was ' a bit of a buzz' going on about it all.

Meanwhile Ben came home from school saying that all his friends are now talking about having found Jesus and the teachers were starting to get a bit fed up with them bringing stones to school.  

Ooops

  Tonight Santa arrived at Eurospar in Dromara and I went up to help out with some carol singing.  With a pocket full of baby Jesus stones.  Even managed to sneak one onto the shelves in the shop !! left one on the petrol pump, at the cashpoint and on a few windowledges and doorsteps on the way home.  It feels exciting to be doing something secretly.  And I know it is frivolous and just a bit of fun, but it really does give me a buzz when I hear that people are talking about having found Jesus.  I choose to believe that it is a prophetic act.  I've prayed over all the stones and asked that the people who find them will find the real thing at some point.  That they will be blessed by finding them and that conversations will happen about the Jesus on the doorstep or at the post office or in the doctor's surgery.  In Moneyreagh we have put up posters saying ' Have You Found Jesus?' with the church contact details.  So that people know where to go if they want to find out more.

I shall let you know what happens. But if nothing else the church is quite excited about it.  And its something everyone can be involved in from the oldest to the youngest.  I'd better get painting more stones!!

Lord sometimes the simplest things have the biggest impact.   I pray for the stones I have painted this Christmas and ask that each one would find its way to someone who really needs to know You.  I pray that as the stones are found people would re-focus on the real meaning of this season and would stop to think about the fact that you came as a baby laid in straw.  As the world pushes You further and further away from Christmas I ask that you would continue to give the church creative ways of bringing truth and light and hope.  Amen

On Presents and Surprises

I've been wrapping presents this evening  ( I hope you are suitably impressed!) and I got to thinking about why we wrap presents.  And about surprises.

We have always been big into surprises in my family.  Keith's family don't do surprises at all.  Which was a huge surprise in itself when we got married!!!  His Mum will take him to M&S two weeks before his birthday and buy him a jumper.  Whereas in my family nobody knows what they are getting and its always a real present, never money, and it is always wrapped up and presented on the day as a surprise.  To our family this is super important.  It somehow adds to the celebration of the day, the excitement of not knowing what is coming.  The anticipation and the joy of discovery as you peel back the wrapping ( or tear into it depending on your personality type !)

But also, even more importantly, it adds so much to the joy of GIVING!

A friend of mine who had her kids at the same time as me came from a family that didnt do presents much.  She found it a bit odd that I would occasionally turn up to her house bearing a gift.  And she found birthdays and Christmas really awkward - because I would always have a small gift for her and her kids and she would never have one for me.   She asked me not to give her gifts because ( and she was brutally honest) she didn't want to feel obligated to buy them for me in return.  But I told her that that was not the point.  I wasn't looking for a present in return, I just really enjoy giving people a surprise.  And I want my boys to grow up understanding that giving is every bit as exciting and fun as getting.  So I kept on with the small gifts at birthdays and Christmas for her and her boys.

About five years into our friendship when I was visiting one day she told me that she had been to see another friend who had just had a baby.  As she was driving over to her house she suddenly thought ' What would Caz do?  She would take a present! '  So she stopped at a garage and bought a bunch of flowers and gave them to her eldest boy - who was about six at the time- to give to the new Mum.
It was only when she saw the excitement in her own little boy as he handed over the flowers and the delight on the face of the new Mum who of course made a big deal about how lovely they were, that she understood something about giving presents and surprises.   And she said that the joy her own child had evidently experienced as he handed over the flowers had made her change her mind about present giving in the future.

Christmas is a time for giving and for getting.  For so many children it is only about getting.  And I think this warps the whole thing and gives children a false sense of entitlement and makes them greedy.   So this week I have made a point of taking each of the boys shopping so they can buy presents for their siblings and their dad and grandparents.   Small things - its not the THING that matters ( although there is something deeply satisfying about finding the perfect gift for someone) its the thought and time that goes into it.  Its the focus on what will make someone else happy.  And my boys actually really enjoy that process.  They enjoy having a secret to keep till the big day.  They love knowing that they have got something to give which is going to be excitedly received

They have also learned how to receive a gift.  Because I have taught them.
After many birthday parties they now know never to say ' Oh I've already got that.'  Or, Im NEVER going to play with THAT!'  etc  They understand that the giver has put some thought and time into the gift and that if its something they don't want or have already got it is important to still be kind and gracious.   Josh's birthday in November was beautiful.   Ben had bought him a picture for his bedroom wall.   I'd found it when shopping and knew he would love it, so asked Ben if he would like to give it to Josh - and although he was a bit dubious that it would be the right thing  ( he would much rather it had been a game for the DS!)  he agreed.   When Josh opened it his reaction was priceless.  He grinned from ear to ear, made all the right noises, hugged Ben and showed it off to everyone.  Ben was SO chuffed!   Josh  was chuffed.  I was chuffed.  It was a perfect present giving moment.   I LOVE that!

And now for the God bit.......

It seems to me that God could have chosen to wrap His gift to us in any number of wrappings.  But
He chose to clothe Himself as an embryo and become a baby hidden away in the backstreets of Bethlehem.   The Jews were expecting God's gift.  They had been waiting for it for a long time.  They thought they knew what it would look like - it would be royal and expensive and kingly.   And because they were expecting that sort of giftwrapping they missed the present itself.  Only the poor and the wise recognised the gift and the giver and gladly received it.  And I dont think God has changed the way He operates today.  I think He still likes to surprise us in the way He gives.
A few weeks ago a harpist friend of mine had a major disaster when her harp broke into smithereens.  Way beyond being able to be repaired.   She could not afford a replacement.  But she and others prayed.   Today she received a new harp all the way from Paraguay  ( she is in Northern Ireland)  !!   A church there with connections to her family had heard the story and got together funds for a harp and then found someone who was travelling to Ireland to bring it with them!!!    Talk about a surprise !!  She was literally jumping for joy when she received it.   Only God could do that stuff.  He just loves to show off with the gift giving thing

Lord Jesus. today as I think about Christmas and about presents and lists and what to get for so and so help me to have the right perspective on the whole thing.  Help me to enjoy the process of giving and be gracious in receiving.  Let my gifts bless people by their thoughtfulness not their value.  Thank you that You are a God who loves to give , You promise to meet our needs and sometimes the way You do it just amazes us.  Give us a portion of Your creativity this year as we prepare to celebrate the greatest, most selfless, most beautiful and costly gift ever given.

Amen

Thankful

Sometimes I sit here trying to write my blog and nothing much comes to mind . On other days ideas are competing to get on the page.  Today there has only been one word in my head and that has been THANKFULNESS


So we had better go with that then!

Advent is a time of preparation.  We are supposed to be thinking about the coming of Jesus, past present and future. And getting ready to celebrate both His birthday. and the fact that He has promised to come back.  And I get the feeling that being thankful needs to be part of our preparations.

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thess 5

There is so much for which we can be thankful - I dont need to tell you that you are blessed beyond measure to have a house and a job and a car and a family etc etc etc.  And we all know that we take most of it for granted most of the time and we could do much better at being thankful.   But what I have on my mind today is to be thankful for the people in our lives.  Particularly those people in our past who have made significant contributions into our lives.

We all have families and probably don't thank them enough for the care they have offered us over the years.  The wisdom and tough love, the financial input, the sacrifices and the time - all of those things which have helped to make us us.  Our parents and grandparents and siblings aren't perfect,  But they have shared our journey, and guided us into adulthood.  Most of us have had at least one teacher in our past who has had a profoundly positive impact on our lives.  Or a youth leader or a friend's parent......  significant adults who encouraged and inspired us as we grew up. 
And then there are the people who introduced us to Jesus.   And those who have prayed for us and taught us over the years.   There are life-changing books we have read.  Songs we have heard.  Sermons we have recorded to listen to again and again.   So many people have left their fingerprints on our lives and gently helped to shape us, many of them without knowing the impact they were having.   I'm very very thankful for those people.  Aren't you?

And what about the people we take for granted every day but who help us immensely by the jobs they do for us?  Our bin men.  Our postie.  The shopkeepers and street sweepers and swimming pool attendants.  When do they ever get thanked?  Do you know something - if you do bother to stop and say thank you to these people you get just as much of a blessing as they do!  Try it sometime.
In My local Tesco cafe there's a lad called William.  He must have worked there for a while and every time I go in ( which isn't that often)  I'm always really impressed by him.  There is something about him.   Nothing is too much trouble.  He notices things.  He is always super friendly.  He is just really really good at his job and every time he serves me coffee I wonder if his boss realises what a great asset William is .   The other day I decided to tell him.   I just said ' William I just want to tell you that you are really good at your job.  You always have a smile on your face and its a pleasure being served by you'.    He went a bit pink and said thank you and was clearly very chuffed indeed.  And I went away feeling great - because it feels REALLY good to be positive and thank someone who isn't expecting it.  And it is so easy to do.

The Americans have just celebrated Thanksgiving - and I'm not sure why, of all the many many things we have imported from the States we haven't adopted that yet.  It seems to me to be a great idea.  To get together with family and friends and count our blessings and vocalise our thankfulness for and to each other.   But I suppose that really we don't need a designated day on which to be thankful - it should be a way of life for those of us who love God.  So today why not decide to say thank you to a few people.  Maybe to someone in your past who perhaps doesn't realise how special they are to you.  Or someone who serves you or works hard on your behalf and who would be encouraged to know that they are appreciated.   And see how good it feels to be thankful.   It's why God wants us to give thanks in everything - because it is good for both us and the people we thank!!  Double bonus.

Lord today I am thankful for all the blessings You have showered on me and all the people You have brought into my life to help and encourage and inspire me. Those who have appeared for a season and those who have been with me all the way.  I pray you would bless them all today and let them know how special they are.  And Lord I ask that today I would have the chance to say thank you to someone who really needs to hear it.  Let me never take for granted those around me who make my life better just by being there.  Thank you for my family and friends and church.  It is good to be thankful - help me to grow in thankfulness because it takes my eyes off me and helps me to see the good in others.  Which is a good way to prepare for Your coming.  Amen