In the beginning...the beginning of my blog-thinking that is...there was my pastor, pastor Dave. He is a kind, big-hearted man in whom you could feel the love and devotion to his Lord and his flock as clear as daylight...just oozing out of every message, word and smile. When remembering him (as he has since left our church to pastor, love and care for a younger congregation) I can hear his warm, friendly, father-like voice echoing this famous phrase which has since motivated and inspired me numerous times...that somehow, someway always seemed to slip into almost every message conclusion he gave, " Brother's and sister's , this I urge you today, keep your gaze on the Lord....and (only) a glance at the world.".
Time-out. Some of you may be familiar with this phrase....with some good or bad experiences attached to it. I came to know it as the only legal discipline act I could practise while profesionally teaching and caring for children in the U.S.A. The idea is that when a youngster is disobedient he/she is sent to the designated 'time-out' corner or chair, away from any other children, distractions or interests. The child is then explained that he/she must remain in that corner/chair for a certain period of time during which he/she is to think about what it did, why it disobeyed and how to do it the right way next time. When the time is up he/she must apologize to the offended party and promise to try and change the behaviour. Though I know that discipline is a very delicate subject (and I certainly don't want to get into that mess now) in most Christian circles (not just discipline of children but also adult punishment laws, death penalty..ect.) and I don't want to voice my opinion on this matter here, I would like to say that I have enjoyed to see the positive results from this time-out principle and try to use it as much as possible in my personal life...though I am still far from being as consistent with myself as I was with the children! The idea is that when I catch myself falling away from God's holiness and perfect laws I take 'time-out' to refocus on Him....figure out where I started to go downhill, what the circumstances and my reactions were and how I can aviod such mistakes and loop-holes next time. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to come before our Beloved on my knees again and feel that refreshing forgiveness and burdens lifted as I confess my guilt and shame.....oh to experience afresh that joy that we once had when we first were saved and now on a daily base as we learn to walk and later run the race with Him! He is good, so good! He is definately worth laying aside all earthly matters, yes to refocus our gaze anew on Him and for a moment, just a moment, forget about the world as we fill up on Him :-)!
Well friends...it's so exciting to see God at work in our lives and I'd like to share some experinces as a testimony to Him and hopefully encouragement to you (please feel free to take advantage of the new comments section at the end in which you can also share your thoughts and praises of our Lord...or comments on my 'Glances')!
Today's highlight: The Christmas tree!
As I was brousing through a secondhand/charity shop this afternoon...just doing some window shiopping and always on the lookout for a good buy, I noticed a medium sized, artificial Christmas tree underneath an old cupboard displaying some merchandise. I asked the friendly looking gentleman tending the shop how much he is asking for it. He told me that it was just brought in half an hour ago and as the shop was closing in an hour and then shut until the New Year, he was happy if I would take it....yes, he would give it to me for next to nothing as he wouldn't be able to sell it in the New Year...one British pound! Though I didn't have any use for it and I couldn't think of any friends that could use it I carried the morethan half my size tree in a box up the hill to my accomodation....a room in my future parents-in-laws house. Excited abou the great deal I told my future mother in-law about the tree and she said she knew just the person to have it! An oldre lady in our church who is like family to this family had been looking for an artificial tree for some days only to find that they were all sold out. A quick phone call soon found a happy soon to be Christmas tree owner and a blessed soul to have witnessed God's timing and joy in sharing with our bretheren.
Merry Christmas...and God's richest blessings to you for the exciting New Year 2004!
Friday, December 19, 2003
Saturday, November 01, 2003
Friday, October 31, 2003
The country's health system and .....a jog in the rain?
As many of you already know (and I do hope more are still praying) I have been in the country for four months now, working parttime for a nursing agency and hoping and praying for a job at the local government hospital, actually only five minutes walk away! Well...to present to you already a partial answer to prayer, I was offered a permanent position in the surgical unit two, no almost three weeks ago...Praise the Lord! But before we all go out and celebrate maybe I should inform you that I haven't even started yet due to a list of red tape that is taking quite a long time to hack through....prayer still welcome, hopefully I can start before December!
Well, as summer has made it's way to the other side of the world (how are the beaches in the 'Land downunder'?) the winter is approaching fast on this island. Having being terribly spoilt by the great food feasts of my future in laws the words excersise and triim down keep popping up in my mind. So I decided to look around at what the local inhabitants of this area do....some don't, some pay money and join a club ( not a bad suggestion if you can afford the money AND extra time it takes getting there, changing, showering and getting back (approx. 1hour if I were to do it and that's without including the excersise time!)).....and some just go jogging in the cooolllllddd rain!Well I'll try to old fashioned version then for a while....drinking lots of water instead of teas and juices, stairs instead of lifts or escalators and the good old (German) 'Friss die Haelfte' method! Comments and further ideas welcome.....
Well, as summer has made it's way to the other side of the world (how are the beaches in the 'Land downunder'?) the winter is approaching fast on this island. Having being terribly spoilt by the great food feasts of my future in laws the words excersise and triim down keep popping up in my mind. So I decided to look around at what the local inhabitants of this area do....some don't, some pay money and join a club ( not a bad suggestion if you can afford the money AND extra time it takes getting there, changing, showering and getting back (approx. 1hour if I were to do it and that's without including the excersise time!)).....and some just go jogging in the cooolllllddd rain!Well I'll try to old fashioned version then for a while....drinking lots of water instead of teas and juices, stairs instead of lifts or escalators and the good old (German) 'Friss die Haelfte' method! Comments and further ideas welcome.....
Friday, October 17, 2003
A cold, some pills and a meal
Well...Today is the day! Six more months until Jonney and I tie the knot!
The day started out with a striking headache that woke me at 2:30am...ahhhh the beautiful reminder of the sinusitis that has been raging a nasty war on my body for the past few days....a cold as some say...and cold was definitely what I felt, though I had three blankets, a cardigan, a knitted quilt and a hot water bottle snuggled around me.
Pills. More pills...and even more pills! Yes, they come in various forms, sizes and colours. Today the red ones, tomorrow the white ones. One does wonder if it all actually does help or just provide expensive .....human waste? After all, an old German proverb states....A cold takes a week to heal with medicine and only seven days on it's own.
Two friends came over for a meal. My love suggested we do Mexican. Well....I have come to assume that British people do not do Mexican very often as it took three major grocery stores and the weekly market to provide the necessary ingredients! It is interesting though how different Countries cater to different international foods....Take for example Germany: home to the Turkish fastfood cuisine and great Greek restaurants. The USA: we'd have Mexican food at least once a week and Italian food is almost as common as a hamburger! Britain: famous for their Indian curries and love Chinese food. How difficult it is though to get Mexican food in Britain...or Indian food in Germany...or...well I guess you can get nearly anything in the USA as long as the nutritional value and calories is posted on the side of the box.
Anyway...I do hope you all are able to find satisfactory food where you are living. I would probably do the same if I would n't change countries and the taste buds linked to them so frequently. Well Britain, whether you like it or not, I'm here to stay for a few more years so put out the salsa and lets see some more tortillas and sour cream on the shelves...I'm not going to change my taste just yet! Thank you Lord for making us all so different and wonderfully unique!
The day started out with a striking headache that woke me at 2:30am...ahhhh the beautiful reminder of the sinusitis that has been raging a nasty war on my body for the past few days....a cold as some say...and cold was definitely what I felt, though I had three blankets, a cardigan, a knitted quilt and a hot water bottle snuggled around me.
Pills. More pills...and even more pills! Yes, they come in various forms, sizes and colours. Today the red ones, tomorrow the white ones. One does wonder if it all actually does help or just provide expensive .....human waste? After all, an old German proverb states....A cold takes a week to heal with medicine and only seven days on it's own.
Two friends came over for a meal. My love suggested we do Mexican. Well....I have come to assume that British people do not do Mexican very often as it took three major grocery stores and the weekly market to provide the necessary ingredients! It is interesting though how different Countries cater to different international foods....Take for example Germany: home to the Turkish fastfood cuisine and great Greek restaurants. The USA: we'd have Mexican food at least once a week and Italian food is almost as common as a hamburger! Britain: famous for their Indian curries and love Chinese food. How difficult it is though to get Mexican food in Britain...or Indian food in Germany...or...well I guess you can get nearly anything in the USA as long as the nutritional value and calories is posted on the side of the box.
Anyway...I do hope you all are able to find satisfactory food where you are living. I would probably do the same if I would n't change countries and the taste buds linked to them so frequently. Well Britain, whether you like it or not, I'm here to stay for a few more years so put out the salsa and lets see some more tortillas and sour cream on the shelves...I'm not going to change my taste just yet! Thank you Lord for making us all so different and wonderfully unique!
Buenos Dias! Welcome to the daily observations from Monalisahus! Some of you readers might be family...or family-to-be (well, you know who you are), friends or just interested viewers....I do hope you all will gain some insight into the world and life as I am living it and possibly learn something....like how not to do the same silly mistakes as I make and hopefully not get as depressed about life as I do!
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