Ta-da!

After a little break I am back in blogging mode, it has been so wonderful to spend time with my family.  Youngest son has been home for the holidays, and daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter Poppy came and spent a whole weekend here at Granny's house, how nice was that!

Thank you for your patience while I've been away!

So what have I been up to then?

Well here are two cardigans that I have knitted for Poppy, sorry they seem to be the wrong way around!

And here I am, enjoying a lovely cuddle with Poppy!

And another thing I have been enjoying in my spare time is watching Heidi Baker on Youtube

Heidi baker is such an inspiration to me.  She is a Canadian woman, married with 2 grown up children, they have been missionaries for over 30 years, mainly in Mozambique.  They feed hundreds of thousands of homeless children every day and have planted thousands of churches.  They also have a heart for England, and Heidi and her husband both have PhD degrees from King's College London.  Go on Youtube or itunes and you will find a ton of Heidi Baker teaching.  I am currently reading one of her books, 

It tells a little about their journey, and it is so interesting I can hardly put it down.  Do go on Youtube or iTunes and be blessed!

This afternoon we have enjoyed a chicken dinner, and a little rest watching an old episode of The Waltons.

Enjoy your day.

Giving the year to God

Today I read this wonderful post at the Girltalk blog, which has a wealth of Christian resources.

'Will you wake up on January 1, 2012 and say to God: “I don’t need to read your Word or pray or listen to your voice today. I am competent on my own. I can keep my New Years' resolutions all by myself, thank you very much.”?

Of course not!  We would never dare say these frightfully arrogant words.

But if we neglect God’s Word and prayer, we are saying with our hearts and actions: “I can do it all by myself.”

Jesus has a different perspective: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” He says in John 15:5.

We can’t start a new diet, stick to our budget, or kick that bad habit without Him. None of these things—no matter how hard we work at them—will have any “eternal value or…produce spiritual fruit” without God (ESV Study Bible).

To bear fruit, we must sit at Jesus' feet and listen to his teaching (Luke 10:38-42).

We must renounce our self-sufficiency.

We must repent from our arrogant independence.

We must come to the God of mercy who is eager to forgive.

And we must sit.

When we sit at Jesus’ feet, we are saying: “I need you! I can’t obey you without your help. I can’t serve you in my own strength. I can’t walk in a manner worthy of the gospel by myself. I need your grace.”

And you know what? He will give it! God doesn't correct our self-sufficiency to push us away. He wants us to draw near to sit and listen. He wants to speak to us, to teach us, to give us grace to bear fruit.

So let’s say—with our words, our hearts, and our actions—I need you, Lord, today and every day this year!'

What an excellent reminder or the all-sufficiency of our God.

A Fresh Start

I've been reading some of my favourite blogs, and a theme that emerges is one of a fresh start.  We are not quite at the start of a new year yet, but Christmas is behind us, we've eaten far too much (oops!), and the promise of  a new year beckons.

I am already thinking about things I would like to do or achieve in 2012.  Last year I grew a few vegetables for the first time.  I am already collecting yoghurt pots, ice-cream tubs etc. to sow seeds early in the spring.  Also, having a new granddaughter called Poppy, I would like to sow some different types of poppy seeds, in her honour!

Another project for next year is to live more frugally, and to decrease my carbon footprint.  There are wonderful blogs, such as Life After Money that inspire me in this direction.  By spending less, I hope to be able to be more generous to others.

We constantly need new starts and plans, because we are fallible creatures, who stumble and fall, and need to pick ourselves up again, time after time.