We are off to friends tonight for some sparklers and chilli!! Sounds scrummy to me and I'm looking forward to it.

We've got 2 estate agents coming to value our place in the morning and then we are off to look at some houses, we're just wondering whether we can possibly move out of town, a little bit off the main road without extending the mortgage. We reckon it just might be possible, a little juggling of finances here and there.  Gotta also go and deliver a birthday present to my niece, who will be 8!

Looking forward to Church on Sunday, and if the weather's nice we might be able to go for a walk in the afternoon. We have some friends coming for lunch after the morning service. So, all in all a quiet and relaxed weekend ahead, nothing too taxing on the brain or body. Chillin' in front of the TV tomorrow night too. Bring it on!!

I read these words recently in my daily notes:

Everybody needs encouragement. None of us achieves anything without help. The great achievers in history became all that they were because of the people in their lives. The authors of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings, CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, were both professors at Oxford University and maintained a close friendship. Every week they'd meet to eat, talk about their fiction-writing endeavours and read passages of their yet unpublished works. It was Tolkien who encouraged Lewis, an avowed atheist, to explore Christianity, ultimately leading to his conversion. And it was Lewis who encouraged Tolkien to continue writing fiction and to seek publication. Were it not for their friendship and mutual encouragement, the world wouldn't have received the finest writing in apologetics of the twentieth century, nor one of the finest fantasy works ever written.

Everyone, young and old, successful and less-than-successful, famous and unknown who receives encouragement is changed by it. Mark Twain said, 'One compliment can keep me going for a whole month.' A word of encouragement from a teacher can change a child's life; a word of encouragement from a spouse can strengthen or even save a marriage; a word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach his or her potential. Zig Ziglar says, 'You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life.'

The Bible says, 'Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones' (Proverbs 16:24 NKJV).

 
"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." - George Washington Carver

'Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit' - Gal 5:25

Wow! What a God we serve!   We've had a really encouraging weekend, a good turn out at our fireworks evening on Friday. It was nice to have a little bit of time with 3 of my nieces and nephews there, they make me smile and are all so lovely. We had some great conversations in town on Friday night while out street pastoring, it was quite lively and lots of celebrating, all good natured fun though. 

On Saturday I managed to hem and hang the curtains in Kelly's room, spruce it all up, clean the carpet and clear it out. John assembled the desk and it all looks wonderful in there now. We put the PC together and it's all now ready to be used as office space when Kelly's not sleeping in there!

On Sunday morning we had a packed full Church with 5 new families represented, it was great to see the place full of children all playing together after the service, and also to hear what they had been learning about at the Holiday Bible Club last week. So many of them remembered the memory verses and learnt the song, it was great to see and hear. God is at work and it's so encouraging to be part of it. We had a lovely lunch after the service and it was great to chat to some new people. I enjoyed a quiet afternoon home alone, it's very quiet when John's at work, Kelly's at uni and Amy's out - nice but I'm still not used to it. It was good to chat with different folks after the evening service and discuss all the recent encouragements. It's such a joy to experience God's goodness and love in so many ways, to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and to share it all with people I love.

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds    
              In a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,    
             And drives away his fear.

           -- John Newton --

We've had a busy week this week. Kelly has been home from uni for a few days. All 4 of us went out for a meal on Monday, which was nice.  
She's had lots of people to visit and catch up with. The evenings have been busy with meetings and stuff and last night we took a trip to Ikea as we'd picked up the wrong thing last weekend.    

I was off work yesterday and went and helped at the Holiday Bible Club at the Church, and then went shopping to buy my niece's birthday present, did the weekly shop as the fridge was empty, did some washing and tidying and it all seems very strange to be back at work today.  It felt like yesterday was a Saturday! The outside freezer has packed up and so we lost lots of food and had to cook a large chicken casserole and some other meat, and I've still got the job of washing it out to do! This morning I got up to find we had no water, oh the joy of it all!!  It makes you realise how much we take even the simplest of things for granted.

Anyway, we have fireworks and a barbq tonight at Church to round off the week, followed by Street Pastoring. Tomorrow I am going to enjoy a lie in and then do some decorating before the X-Factor and a quiet night in.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as
you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

We saw these guys at the O2 at the Hillsong 10th Anniversary Service, it was a great version.
John would love to sing it with some others from Church. 
 

'Your love O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.' - Psalm 36:5

We went to the Premier Evening with the Briscoe's on Friday night, fantastic sound Bible messages, and again, it was so great to be with so many different believers from all different Churches praising and worshipping God together. Worship was led by Lou Fellingham and Phatfish, who was as good as ever at leading us into the presence of God.

Saturday morning was the ladies prayer brekkie at the Church, 9 of us gathered and we had a wondeful time of sharing and praying together for the world, the church, each other, friends and families etc, and it's so good to be able to encourage one another and share life together. John and I then hit Ikea, we managed to get everything we needed and even managed to fit it all in the car too, which was quite amazing. We paid a quick visit to my brother's and gave birthday presents to 2 of my nephews. It was good to see them all, they are all growing up so fast. We enjoyed a lovely meal with Malc & Shell and then watched a western called Open Plains! Not my usual kind of film, but it had a bit of romance in the last 5 minutes, so apparently that counted as being my kind of film!

Wow! a really powerful service yesterday morning, and a soul saved as a result. Praise God! The best sermon I have heard on 'I am the Way, The Truth and The Life, no one comes to the Father except through me.'  The way that God works in people's lives is so amazing, the way He orders events and circumstances for people to hear the gospel, for them to be in the right place at the right time, for the speaker to have the right words to say and for hearts to be opened by the Spirit is truly wonderful. God will save those that He wants to save. A real answer to prayer and a great encouragement, what an awesome God!!

We had a scrummy lunch and a nice afternoon chatting with friends at Cheryl and Hamish's. All in all, a great and uplifting weekend. Much to be grateful and thankful for, so many blessings and encouragements.