Bubbles

I love bubbles. Soap bubbles that is. Weird as it may be, I could watch them all day. They are so fascinating. The perfect spherical shape; the way light is reflected off the surface; the colours of the rainbow which you can see; the way they float around; and even the way they pop. Before you doubt my sanity, as could be the case with such a fascination with these objects, think back to your younger days when playing with bubbles was so much fun. Think about how much you enjoyed the beauty of these objects as you tried to catch them in your mouth. I'm not that insane after all now am I. As simple as they are they are beautiful. And, wikipedia tells me that they have been around before 4 centuries (a 17th century painting shows children playing with bubbles apparently).

Bubbles are not the only beautiful thing that some of us may have forgotten about. How often do we stop in our busy lives to appreciate the beauty around us. It is there. God has revealed himself to us by his creation and we can see it in everything around us. But how often do we stop to appreciate this beauty. How often do we stop to take in the breath taking awesomeness of the sunset, or the power of the waves, or even the beauty in the the wild flowers along the roadside. We can see the power and awesomeness of God everywhere, we just have to remember to look.

On a little side note, have a look at this website: 1000awesomethings.com. It's really cool :D

LOVE

Love is, or at least should be, a big part of a Christian's life. My life is full of love and I want to share it with others. To do this I am going to endeavor to list 15 examples of love and explain why I chose it as an example.

1. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." That is the greatest example of love that I could think of and I don't think there is anything like that love.
2. Christian love. Because God has loved us we are required to "Love your neighbor as yourself." Sometimes this type of love can be hard, especially when we don't like our neighbor. But because we have recieved such a great love, there shouldn't be anything stopping us from sharing this love with others.
3. The love between brothers and sisters in the Lord. The church community is bound by the shared love of Christ and each and every church member has the common bond of a shared faith. In that way, church members are there for eachother, willing to lend a hand and show support when needed and sometimes even when not.
4. The love shared between husband and wife. My grandparents have been married 50 years yet it is still amazing to see the love which they share, and the blessing which they have recieved of a lifetime together and the stories which they can tell together.
5. The love between mother and child. The love and care a mother shows to her child even when they are older and don't always agree. My mum is the best mum in the world (yes I probably am biased when I say this) and the love she shows to each and everyone of us is wonderful, it's true when they say that a mothers love doesn't divide, it multiplies. Each child requires the love of a mother in a different way, yet a mother is able to show that to them.
6. The love between father and child. And yes I do think that this love is different. A father and mother show love in different ways, while a mother may be more caring a father will be more protective.
7. The love between old friends. The kind of love where there is no secrets and even if you don't see eachother  for ages, when you get together it is as if nothing has changed and you can still talk for hours.
8. The love between brothers and sisters. I'm sure not every family is like ours, but the love that is shared in the teasing, heckling, joking and other antics, is truely a blessing.
9. The love between sisters. Sisters are always there for you to talk to, to share your secrets with and to be a listening ear. When you begin to get older you really begin to appreciate it.
10. The love of life you can see in the eyes of a disabled child. Sometimes the most simple things are fogotten, as I work with people with disabilities it often makes you stop and think.
11. The love of new friends. I love making new friends and establishing new relatioships. There is something special about establishing friendships and finding more about another person.
12. The love and devotion a dog shows to it's master. It is true when they say that a dog is man's best friend. A dog will always be there to listen (not that they can talk back) and will be willing to shower you with love even when you are not in your best of moods.
13. The dedication and love of animals to their children. Living on a block of land we have had lots of animals, one example of this dedcation is the birds which nest under our back veranda, 2 pardelote birds nest in the bird box there each year, the amount of dedication these parents have to their little chicks is inspiring, once the little birds have hatched they are constantly running back and forth with more food.
14. The warmth of a hot chocolate in front of a wood fire on a cold wintery day. I know this is not really an example of love and devotion as the others are but I still think that it is something everyone loves.
15. and ummm.... I'm sure there is lot's more but lets just change the 15 to 14 :D

Food for thought

This weekend we had a youth camp, although I did not attend the whole time (due to work and extreme tiredness) it was a great weekend full of lots of fun and great discussion on the most important thing in the world. The word of God - centered mainly on the book of James.
Here is just some food for thought which I have taken away from the weekend and would like to impart to others also.

• James Ch 1: Perseverance
• Consider it JOY when you face trails - vs. 2
• Trails test our faith, and the testing of our faith produces perseverance.
• perseverance produces character and character hope - the hope that we have in God is a firm and steadfast hope which does not waver, it is a firm confidence.
• Do not just be hearers of the word but doers
• Are you really applying what you have heard and learnt?
• Do you practice what you preach? (to put in a cliched way)
• vs. 25 - But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
• It is a hard thing to do sometimes but we have to work at putting into action what we have heard and learnt.
• James Ch 2: Faith
• Do not show paritality.
• Favouritism is something which is very easy to show. It is easy to speak to certain people because they think like we do and they have the same interests as us.
• BUT vs. 9 says "if you show faviouritism you sin, convicted by the law as law breakers". We are not loving our neighbor.
• As Christians we are united by a common faith.
• SO, lets try step out of our comfort zone and reach out to others who we do not usually talk to.
• James Ch 3: Restraint
• Think before you speak. Are you words
• True?
• Helpful?
• Inspirational?
• Necessary?
• Kind?
• The tongue is impossible to control. We need to continually pray to God for the wisdom to control the tongue  because it is only be the power of the Holy Spirit that we will be able to do so.
• James Ch 4: Submission
• Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up vs. 10 
• It is very hard for us to be humble, but humliity with one another and before God is an important part of the life of a Christian vs 6 says: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
• Draw near to God and he will draw near to you - vs. 8.
• Many people within our Church circle will react to this verse and state that in quoting this verse in such a way you are very 'evangelical' and taking responsibiltiy for your own faith. This is not what James means. We draw near to God in humility, with a contrite heart.
• James Ch 5: Patience
• The book of James comes round in a circle and the theme of Ch 1 is also related to the theme of Ch 5. James encourages and reminds the readers to be patient in their sufferings.

The book of James is FULL of great riches and what I've written here is only a brief summary.