Finding joy in the everyday

Art Friday: Anne Mortimer I love cats and Anne paints cats - what more can I say:))  Note that all the cats are smiling. Life is good. These are happy cats.  It never takes much to make a cat content! ****

Do you have a chair in your home that you can call your own? I have two, one is in the lounge room where I sit/lounge every night and one in my study. The one in my study (above) I use for reading on weekends, when I watch DVDs from my computer, when I phone my dad in the evenings or when I want to enjoy an afternoon nap on a winters afternoon. This is my own little retreat.  However this one needs to be shared with Ruby, my gorgeous black cat who thinks it is a really grand chair just for her.  In fact I think she thinks I bought it just for her!! However, she does need to share it with paddington bear! Its a very cosy chair and the throw rugs comes in handy in winter.  There is nothing nicer than curling up in my chair with a good book and a mug of hot coco or tea.  I like to create these little spaces in my home that are cosy and inviting and have a homely feel to them.  The filing cabinet next to my chair may not be beautiful, but...

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.  John 4:7 **** " Queenslander's  have hit back at the principal of a Christian college after he organised a transfer for two student teachers who wore traditional Muslim headwear during a work experience placement this month."  ( source ) Instead of accepting these two young Muslim women into the school with open arms, the school asked for them to be transferred and got a stack of very bad press in return. What an opportunity the school had - surrounding these young women with loving and tolerant Christian teachers, students and parents. Sharing their faith, talking about Christ and demonstrating that Christians can love and accept others and welcome those of differ...

I find it interesting when my comments are deleted from blogs. Whilst blog owners are entitled to delete comments (it is their blog and they can do whatever they like), it is interesting what is deleted (and I am not referring to trolls commenting). Often it is well written comments that happen to have different point of view.  I don’t expect visitors to my blog to share all my views and I am quite happy to hear their opinions on topics (it makes for an interesting conversation) and it is lovely to see the diversity of comments — even if I don’t always agree with them. As Christians we are often see as narrow minded and intolerant, sadly I think Christians can be very intolerant of other Christians who do things differently. And women in particular can be quite bad when it comes parenting etc. I find this very sad and for some women it must be both upsetting and turning them off participating in Blogland (and from commenting). Perhaps this is most evident when I write ...

Artist: Bob Byerley Born 1941, USA I do hope you enjoy these lovely paintings by Bob Byerley - these are full of joy and I love the expressions on the faces of the children - sheer pleasure! You can almost see their minds ticking over as if they are planning something wonderful!! ****

Yesterdays blog post covered a really tough topic but one we need to keep talking about. If you know someone who is suffering in their marriage, please reach out, that hug or shoulder to cry on could make all the differences in their day.  Many women are struggling in their marriages but too embarrassed to share with others - it makes them look like a failure. They aren't failing, they are doing the very best they can and we as their Christians sisters need to give them all the support and encouragement we can.  We need to be a true friend.  Just taking your friend for a coffee and cake or a walk through the park really does lift the spirits, it might not sound like much but it is.  xxx  *****

Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.  Colossians 3:19 Every week in Australian at least one woman is murdered by a current or former partner.  In the  USA, on average 3 females and 1 male are murdered by their partners annually.  Domestic violence affects more than one million children in Australia. In the USA, more than 6 million children witness domestic violence annually.  40% of police time is taken up dealing with domestic violence, costing $13.6 billion a year. In the USA, domestic violence health  related  costs equal $5.8 billion. Just imagine the savings to policing and health if domestic violences was reduced. During the Easter period alone, six women and children were killed as a result of domestic violence. In the USA, one women is beaten by her husband, partner every 15 seconds.  1.2 million women in Australia (over the age of 15) who have experienced domestic violence. ...

Source In a recent survey in Britain about reading and books it was found that the average British home contained 138 books but more than 50% of these books have never been read.  How many books do you own? What percent have been read by the family? Are you still adding to your book collection? If you had to recommend a book or books in your collection what would they be? I have far too many books and sadly running out of space. To save money and to make sure I am not over run with books, I now rely on my local library for almost all my books and rarely buy books these days (excluding my Christian literature).  This way I still can maintain my joy of reading (and I read a lot of books per year) but no longer breaking the bank and we can move freely around the house without bumping into books!! ****

And whatever you do, do it heartily,  as to the Lord and not to men,  knowing that from the Lord you will  receive the reward of the inheritance.  It is the Lord Christ who you serve.  Colossians 3:23 I don't know about you, but at times I am pretty poor at submitting to my husband. Ok,  lets be completely honest, I can be worse than poor at times.  When he is angry, grumpy, demanding, just a pain in the neck, rude, horrible . . . the last thing I want to do is submit, in fact I am more likely to become unreasonable and augmentative myself - he deserves it, doesn't he ? No, no and no! And I was reminded why when I reading my daily devotional the other day - "The Excellent Wife" by Karen Eiler. In fact she put it so well, it was a bit of a wake up call.  It doesn't matter whether your husband is being nice or grumpy, augmentative or sweet, we are asked as wives to submit to our husbands as submitting to our husbands means...

Dear blogging friends, I write to you from a very grey and cold location - it really does look bleak outside (ssh don't tell anyone, but I am still in my dressing gown and warm slippers!), but according to the weather bureau, once the clouds lift it should be a lovely sunny day.  Sometimes life is like this - all around us looks bleak and cold, but if only we trust in the Lord and lean on Him, we will see the sunshine through the clouds.  What a week, it was so busy, with book club on Tuesday evening, working late on Wednesday, vet on Thursday and car service on Friday.  I don't like being home late during the week, fortunately it rarely happens and  I thank the Lord as He gave me the extra energy I needed to get through those two long days (God never lets us down when we need that extra energy). However I wasn't looking forward to Friday - I was nervous about taking the car to be service as it isn't something I normally do and I am car illiterate (of ...

Art Friday: William McGregor Paxton 1869-1941 American Impressionist who was inspired by Johannes Vermeer. ****