Higher and higher

That's it, he has made his mind up! I'll explain, my husband, the Rev. Steven A will go up the spire of Hixon church. I did try to make him change his mind. Questions such as: 'Are you sure it's safe? and 'Think about doing something else!' but to no avail. As we are off to beautiful Oxfordshire next week, the 'exploit' will not take place until after the 6th of November, depending on the weather, of course.
Did I forget to mention anything? Oh yes, Steven hates ladders! There must be a pedantic term to describe this condition..

Monday..off...light stuff!

Yes, monday and thursday are my days off school and I love it! Don't get me wrong, I love going to school and teach but at the moment, the thought of being free to do what I want is fab..

Well, sometimes things don't go quite the way they should.

For instance, Imogen somehow didn't hear her alarm so I hear this tiny voice, mum, I'm running late..Emerging slowly,..me : what time is it? ..8..oh and could you iron my black top?

Oups, this is when duty calls, so I get up and go straight away in the kitchen to iron that thing..of course, i should have done it last night..but it was getting late...In the end, she was right, i took her to school and came back straigth away..and a warm and cosy smell of coffee was waiting for me,

courtesy of Steven..

Later on, I got a text from Imogen, mum, I forgot my notes for college, could you bring them please..

So, at lunch time, I did and this time headed to Liddle for a bit of shopping. I was supposed to buy their delicious 100% arabica coffee but of course, I came back with more stuff, namely, chunky kitkat..and hot cross buns..these are healthier than croissants, of course they do not taste the same...

A cycle in discipleship.

Being Christ's disciples can be tough. If you want other people to know about Christ, there will be problems, attacks, crisis, worries of all sorts along the way. Matthew 11:28-30.
1 Invitation for refreshment. Jesus invites us for refreshment and reloading. He knows about the pressures of life. We can get weary. He is inviting us to be renewed. He does not want us to be broken down. He wants us to be refreshed : the living water, (John 4:10) the true vine (John 15:1). Note that the word for gentle in Greek is 'tamed', a friend but watch out, Jesus is not a push over, he is quite firm when he has to be, when he dealing with the Pharisees for instance. Also note the importance of reading the Scriptures, Jesus invites us to get some nourishment, to feed on the Word. Let's dwell on the word 'yoke', here we understand 'well-fitting' so the yoke will not hurt the animals. Think about custom-made shoes! Jesus doesn't say that everything will be easy. He invites us to be worried about the priorities of the Kingdom, the right concerns.
2 Invitation into a work-out : ask, seek, knock: Matthew 7:1
Jesus invites us into a journey, into a relationship. Working with God, with our brothers and sisters. Come and explore. That journey can be tough as we mentioned it before.
3 Reminder that our God is a loving God. You, as parents give good things to your children so will our Father in heaven. Matthew 7:9-12
4 Reminder about the journey. We can choose between two paths, the broad easy one leading us away from our Father or the narrow one. Imagine a mountain path, not easy. If we do what Jesus says, if we trust him and obey him, (Hebrews 12: 1-3) we will be more efficient during our journey.Still in our moments of despair let us think of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, God won't test you beyond your forces.
Rev. Steven Abram
I hope you enjoyed reading those personal notes I jotted down at Milwich tonight.

How to pray

Last saturday, we spent a day in Doxey church listening to Mother Winsome. The theme for the day was Transformation in Christ: coming close to God on the path of holiness. Here are some personal comments.


During the first session entitled Personal Holiness, Sister Winsome engaged us to speak about prayers. She asked us some challenging questions, first, did we pray at all ? or was is 'arrow prayers' ? How did we pray? Was it in a quiet place? without interruption? Sister Winsome told us she had to get up at 5 a. m. to spend this special time praying otherwise she would be distracted by all sorts during the day..


Soon, questions were fusing..Was bible reading same as praying? No, as this was not the same, not establishing this special conversation between us and the Lord. However, you could meditate on a verse or two then pray. Also listening to Christian music was a good introduction. Praying is this special time with your Father, when you speak to him and he listens to you and speak back to you. One cannot exagerate the importance of silence and concentration. So much so that she gave us some tips, if anything distracts you, write it down and keep on concentrating..


You may know it already, it's a sort of discipline. It does not come naturally, we need to persevere!