Finding joy in the everyday

How often have you heard the words “ good luck ”, “ wish me luck ”, “ how unlucky you must be” . If you win a new job, someone is bound to say how lucky you were in winning the promotion as if it came down to chance.   What the person is say is that it the decision of winning the job is to do with randomness... probabilities... accidents... chance. But to say that the universe is operated based on chance is to say there is no God. For a Christian, nothing is left to chance and as a result we should not use the worldly term “good luck/bad luck”.  We need to remember, could we repeat the same words we say to our friends to the Lord Jesus Christ - would we wish Him luck.  NO. As when we do we are saying that things are random, but throughout the whole of Scripture it is very clear that God is in control of all things and nothing is left to chance.  This is demonstrated in Proverbs 16:33 “ The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord. ”...

My son made an interesting comment the other day.  We were talking about pantries and he mentioned that none of his friend’s mothers had pantries like mine.  I asked him what he meant — he said they all had only a few items in the cupboard, whereas I had enough food to feed the multitude.  I thought this was interesting as I didn't think my pantry was unusual — my pantry is the same as my mothers, considering she was the one who taught me the skills of the kitchen. Mine contains enough essential foods so I don’t need to visit the shops for the week or so and in an emergency I have plenty of food (eg if I got sick).  And, most importantly, if visitors come over I can prepare a meal without much difficulty. So what is in my pantry (I may have missed a thing or two) Flours Sugars: white, brown, confectioners, honey, maple syrup Rice (different varieties) Pasta (different varieties) Fats/Oils Cornstarch Baking Powder/Baking Soda Cocoa Powder Chocolate Custard po...

It is wonderful what miracles God works in wills that are utterly surrendered to Him.  He turns hard things into easy, and bitter things into sweet.  It is not that He puts easy things in the place of the hard, but he actually changes the hard thing into the easy one. - Hannah Whitall Smith - * * * What difficult things do you have this week? Those things that feel like you have a mountain to conquer? Surrender yourself to Him, as those hard things that worry and stress you will turn out to be much easier when you allow God to HELP you. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation. (Psalms 38:22) * * *

When my children were little, I thought teaching them table manners was important, - it was part of our everyday life. But looking around me sometimes I have a feeling that my emphasis on manners is not considered as important as it once was.  However maybe I was wrong.  I was reading the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper and found an article about parents sending their children to “classes” so they can be taught manners.  The classes “ The Little Etiquette Program ” is aimed at children aged five to 12 and focuses on producing young ladies and gentleman who know the correct way around a butter knife, how to hold a knife and fork,  what a tea pot is plus how to hold a stemmed glass (I assume so they know how to drink wine latter in life!).  Why would any parent send their child to a class, when these things should be taught everyday at home.  Is it because the parents are “time poor”, don’t know traditional table manners themselves or they no longer eat di...

  Lights Along The Shore My life is like a ship out at sea,
 Burdens toss me about as ocean waves; 
I am Thankful God watches over me,
 My compass is set ~ I know Jesus Saves. Trials come and press down on me, 
It's then I trust Jesus ~ He is my Anchor;
 Waves of trouble allow me to see,
 Jesus has Control so I can conquer. I keep my eyes on the distant shore,
 My ship is tossed as if to sink; 
I bow to pray as the ocean waves roar,
 My faith must be firm and not shrink. Jesus in my Captain 'til life is through,
 With Him ~ I will not lose my way;
 The Lighthouse Beam is within my view, 
He leads and guides me to Eternal Day. The lights are bright along the shore,
 They glisten as diamonds in the night;
 The Beacon guides while breakers roar, 
He has kept me safe and in His sight. Some day, my Vessel will safely land, 
I'll meet loved ones who passed on before; 
God will smile and tenderly take my hand,
 Then I'll be at Home on Heaven's Shore.   by Leona I. Mi...

Do you own a dish washer? If no, who washes the dishes in your house? We do not own a dish washer and I find that people give me funny looks when I say I don't have one. When we got the kitchen re-designed there wasn't enough space and I wasn't willing to give up on cupboards. To tell you the truth, I don't mind washing the dishes, it gives me time to think and day dream.  It is one of those home duties I am quite joyful about doing!!  However I am not so fond of drying the dishes. According to my 1933 cook book " New Standard Cookery ", there are rules that we should follow when undertaking dish washing: Washing-up is usually looked upon as one of the humblest and more irksome of household tasks, and therefore performed without much method. Actually it is a job, which requires careful planning, so that it may be executed as satisfactorily as possible. If the task is performed in a careless or slovenly manner, for receptacles become tainted, and silver, g...

William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) - I am sure this is one artist you all know.  A very talented man, who was a artist, writer (poetry, fiction, and translations of ancient and medieval texts), a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and a leader in the English Arts and Craft Movement, but the reason why I have selected him today is for his wallpaper .   These are just beautiful - no other word to describe his work - the detail, the colour and brilliance - I just love these examples. Morris founded a design firm in partnership with the artist Edward Burne-Jones, and the poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti which profoundly influenced the decoration of churches and houses into the early 20th century.   He use nature to copy for his design and this can be seen in the one below  (and above). "Trellis" is believed to have been inspired by the rose trellis in the garden at Red House, Bexleyheath, where Morris spent the early y...