HOLIDAY TIME!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Tomorrow we are headed off to our Church Sunday School Camp! So we will be away until Friday. It is a lovely big house we hire in Faskally, which is just outside Pitlochry near Perth.

We have a great week of bible teaching, food!, sports, trips, food!, praise and crafts and, oh yes, more delicious food!

The Lord really blesses this time away every year I attend. My kids love it too as they get to run about with all the older kids and just have a brilliant time.

So I hope to try and get online when away but can't guarantee it! We head into Perth on Thursday so I will be able to get online there!

I will post lots of lovely pictures of the Scottish scenery for anyone that is interested and was thinking of doing a kind of devotional diary for each day which I may post, depending if it is worth reading, on Thursday or Friday.

Please pray for a safe journey and thinking of you all!

Graduation concert and huffy child!

Well what a busy morning. It was Jacob's last ever day at nursery. He had a great time and Emma and I watched his graduation concert! Imagine a group of 4/5 year olds graduating from nursery!

The kids chose their favourite songs to sing to all us parents and one of them was called "Superstar", a Christmas one about how Jesus can be your superstar! I was surprised they sung this at Christmas last year and today, because a lot of schools and nurseries in the UK can be very secular these days and not mention Jesus. They even did a nativity at Christmas with the proper story and not one adapted to fit these modern times.

Emma enjoyed the singing but was a bit cross when all the boys and girls received certificates and lovely new storybooks as parting gifts. She shouted "I want a book!" and folded her arms in a massive huff!

I think it was all a bit too much for her as she is now napping and Jacob is playing in the garden.

I love these verses from Matthew:

¹⁵But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant.

¹⁶"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him.
"Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read,
" 'From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise?"

I have always felt that my kids understand and see Jesus our Lord in such a different light to me. I often think they are closer to him because of the child like way in which they see things.

" ²He called a little child and had him stand among them. ³And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.⁴Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus wants us to become child like in our faith and who better to teach us how to do this than our own children. I see the way Jacob is curious and accepting of what I teach him about Jesus. He asks questions and probes further but he accepts things as they are and is eager and keen to learn more and more. I pray that I can be more like this!

Love Collette x

Thankful Thursday!

Hi and welcome to another Thankful Thursday hosted by Sonya Lee over at Truth 4 the Journey.

Sometimes it can be hard to maintain a thankful attitude throughout the week, so I am glad for Thankful Thursday as it makes me focus on events over the week I should thank God for.

1. Lovely sunshine and dry weather! Of course we need the rain but we get that so much in Scotland it is so nice to get a great spell of weather. This means the washing goes out on the line, the kids head out into the garden and I crack on with chores!

2. Friends! We just had my lovely friends over for lunch and even though I am very tired today as I was up mega early it really refreshed me and was nice. Among us there are 8 kids and one in the oven but they were in and out the back garden enjoying the sun!

3. Supermarket shopping online - a silly one but a great help for me. Doing my weekly shop online allows me to budget better, (no impulse buys!), and spend more quality time with the kids.

4. Holidays! Tomorrow is the end of the school/nursery term and my wee boys last day at nursery. He starts school after the holidays. On Sunday we are off to our Church Sunday school Camp and this is a week of fun and time with God.

5. Hayfever relief - I have really bad hayfever which ruins my enjoyment of this lovely weather so I am thankful that I have access to medicine which can help relieve these symptoms.

Love Collette x

Sleep is for the weak!

I am exhausted! I could fall asleep standing up today. You see my youngest, Emma is 2 and a half and thinks she doesn't need to sleep much at all!

When she was born we brought her home from hospital and she was a great sleeper and we thought we had the gift of a child who loved to sleep. Jacob my eldest was never a good sleeper to begin with. Now he is great at night(thank the Lord, not two poor sleepers, ugh!). I have vivid memories of walking about with Jacob in a tartan (don't ask me why I chose tartan) sling to get him to sleep. Then when he did it was only for 40 minutes and we had to do this 3 times a day!

Now Emma will nap during the day but nighttime is a different ball game altogether. Take last night, she hadn't napped all day so was in bed for 6.30pm, slept till 9.30pm and woke wanting a drink and a "cudd", (cuddle), and then slept till about 3am. She woke up all bouncy and thinking "yay! I have had enough sleep and surely you should be up now mum!". Umm I don't think so little Miss and her daddy got up with her and sat downstairs so I could get some shut eye.

Then I had my little early bird, Jacob waking at 6am bright as a button so I had not a hope of anymore sleep!

Honestly I can count on all my fingers and toes how many times my lovely daughter has slept through the night. I have literally tried every technique there is out there, you know the ones: Controlled crying(hated this), sharing a bed(works sometimes), comforters and so on and on and on.

When all is said and done I have just resolved myself to the fact that I have one great sleeper and one terrible sleeper! She has certainly got a lot better over the last month or so, only waking once at night now and very briefly. It is still so tiring though as it is broken sleep.

God has given me this unique little girl for a reason, I have yet to discover what that is, maybe a test of stamina or something? Of course I wouldn't change her for all the tea in China. She is a little ray of sunshine on a cloudy day when she sings and cuddles, and it is such a short time in her life that this will be happening. I need to look at the bigger picture and be thankful I have her!

VERSE OF THE DAY!

Hello!

I have a new feature which I think will be a blessing to all of us. It is a verse of the day courtesy of the lovely Bible Gateway.

I hope you all enjoy using this feature! I really enjoyed reading this verse today and am encouraged by it. Isaiah speaks of our 'hope' in the Lord and that we are 'renewed', we 'run' instead of walking. To me these have been the results of reading God's word. When I read and study the Bible I feel refreshed, my soul renewed and God always gives me enough energy to deal with the day even if I am up at 5.30am, (not through choice but because I have two very early risers called Jacob and Emma!).

Todays verse also reminds me of the famous Psalm 23;

3"he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake." Psalm 23:3 NIV.

Before I took Jacob to nursery this morning we were all listening to some lovely songs about God. The kids were really enjoying them and watched the video that accompanied the song. They had been fighting a bit this morning, which is not all unusual for them and makes me feel very sad because I so want them to get along. However, I have a brother and know this isn't always the case! So we were happily watching and listening and then Jacob puts his arms round his sister and gives her a big hug, Emma then hugs Jacob and then I get a lovely cuddle from both of them!.

Now don't get me wrong, we are a very affectionate, cuddly household but this really touched my heart. It was as if God spoke to them through the music or something, I don't know what he done, but it was definitely a moment to be treasured. It also helped me realise that they really do love each other and wouldn't be without the other!

Thank you Lord for the gift of my children. Even when I find things hard, the Lord does something in my day to show that it isn't all a struggle and that they are a gift from above.

His love endures forever!

My little boy Jacob will be 5 on the 1st September! Where has the time gone? Isn't it amazing how quickly time passes once we have children?

Over the last few weeks Jacob has been having several visits to the local primary school. He will be starting after the Summer holidays in August! So this week is his last ever at nursery.

I truly can't believe it! He is really looking forward to school as all his friends from nursery will be in the same class. He thoroughly enjoyed his visits and meeting his teacher as well.

This has caused me to think a great deal about change. This will be a big change for Jacob and all of our family. We are used to having him at home for most of the afternoon after nursery but once he goes to school the house will be a whole lot quieter. Although I am sure Emma will more than make up for that!

The world is constantly changing. Technology improves, countries situations alter, political changes and environmental changes. We are always striving for change and life naturally changes as we age.

Isn't it wonderful that we have a God who never changes?

" 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

HEBREWS 13:8 (NIV)

This verse is reassuring to Christian Believers. I am thankful that God never alters in an ever changing fast world!

Some people view the Bible and God as "old fashioned", however, I like what this man had to say on that matter!

Bible Society’s Chief Executive James Catford said, ‘Poverty and justice have always been on the heart of God. The Bible is not full of rules, finger-wagging and old-fashioned ideas. It has something to say about life and, in fact, there’s nothing on earth that we can experience that the Bible doesn’t tackle.'

I was reading my bible several days ago and came across a Psalm that made me think about a God that never changes and the security and peace that brings.

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving thanks.

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

² Worship the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

³ Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

(NIV).

I find it so comforting to know that while the world all around me is in turmoil, is fast paced and people are innovating all the time, my God is always there, always steadfast, faithful and loving.

There is a song we sing in Church which sums this up really well. "Yesterday, Today and Forever" by Vicky Beeching. You can listen to it here

Feel free to give your thoughts on this topic and song!

Love Collette x

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Happy Fathers day to all the great Dads out there! Jacob and Emma made cards for Colin yesterday and Jacob paid special attention to drawing things his Daddy likes, such as dinosaurs!

I spoke to Jacob about our heavenly Father, God. This was a great opportunity to talk about how God loves us like a Dad loves his children.

Matthew 7:11

• So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him."(NLT- New Living Translation).

• Matthew 6:14
  “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you." (NLT).

THANK YOU GOD FOR SNAILS!

A few days ago when we had a lovely dry spell of weather the children and I discovered a snail on their rocker horse! They were really excited about this and so was I. So much so that I grabbed Colin's camera and snapped away. It was great to see it so close up and it was on the horse for ages!

Jacob was especially fascinated but Emma's interest lessened as you can see from the photo with the kids in.

Genesis 1:24
And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.

Thankful Thursday!

Hello! Today is Thankful Thursday hosted by Sonya Lee over at Truth 4 the Journey. We are asked to list 5 things we are thankful for each week. There are so many things we can thank God for so I find this hard to narrow down.

Anyway here is my list of 5:

1) Freedom. In the UK we are free to worship in Church, we can have as many bibles as we like in our homes, people can preach the Gospel on the street if they wish. Yet in countries such as Iran and China people are persecuted for being Christians and suffer extreme violence because of their beliefs. We should never take our freedom for granted.

2)The Bible. In some countries bibles are banned and as a result of this are smuggled into the country. I am thankful that I can open my bible and reach into the word of God whenever I wish and as often as I want. I have never read my bible so much in recent years since starting this blog and am thankful that God is leading me in this way.

3) Encouraging posts from fellow bloggers! This week I have been particularly encouraged by other blog posts in areas such as my prayer life. So much so that I am now praying more and thinking of ways to make my prayer life more regular.

4) Fellowship with Christian friends. I had a lovely lunch today with some close friends from Church. Wehad most of our kids at my friend's house. In total there were 7 kids ranging from 5 months to 4 years old!! It was chaotic but lovely and I am thankful to God that all the kids get on so well together and play together giving us mums a chance to have a catch up!

5) My husband Colin. I lean on him so much during the week. He works backshifts so is around during the daytime and helps me out with the kids. He picks Jacob up from nursery and even lets me get a break from the kids in the afternoon for a nap or something. I pray that I never take him for granted.

Phew! You think you don't have much to write and then bam! it all comes pouring out.

Pray, pray and pray some more!

Do you ever feel like there are just not enough hours in your day?

You wake up and have a mental to do list which you never complete? I am constantly saying to myself, " A woman's work is never done!". My husband always looks at me oddly when I am on my soapbox!!

It's true though! By the time we finish all the rooms in the house the first one we cleaned needs done all over again. I do find it hard to be joyful in my role as a homekeeper!

I often feel guilty about so many things and know I shouldn't. I spend too much time on chores and neglect time with the kids or vice versa!

(Jennifer over At the Well today has some great practical advice on how to organise our homes, take a look !).

So I need to take practical steps to achieve a more organised home but also I think my prayer life could do with a spring clean! I really have no regular times in which I make a point of opening my bible and spending time with God. This blog has helped tremendously and reading other wonderful blogs. The excellent writers of them refer to scripture which I then delve into!

So what is the answer? I need to pray! More and regularly. I have been thinking about how my prayer life affects my daily life recently. Of course the two go hand in hand.

Michelle on her blog She Looketh Well has spoken about praying and specifically for our husbands. She posed a challenge of praying for our husbands every day for a month! I am going to give this a shot.

I also need to pray for my children much more than I do. I have my eldest, Jacob due to go into the big wide world of school in August. This is probably more scary for me than him!

Of course there are countless things to pray for, too many to list here. However, I think these are good starting points in attempting to make my prayer life more regular and structured.

I think it would be useful to blog about how priortising prayer affects my day to day life.

I say I love the Lord with all my heart and am so thankful that he saved me but I need to tell my God that also. He wants me to communicate with him through prayer. We neglect friendships by not speaking regularly to each other so we should absolutely make a priority of speaking to God!

³⁵Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35 NIV.

I typed this verse in red deliberately. Jesus made a point of praying! Jesus! The Son of God! Jesus who saved us!

So really I have no excuse! Prayer is not just about us and what we need to pray for. It is a way to praise our Lord, thank him for all he has done, and ask for forgiveness of sins. We should pray out of reverence to our God. We should fear God!

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30 NIV.

Give me Jesus

This beautiful song has been running through my head over the last few weeks. I first discovered this song at my first Sunday school Camp and again at our Church young peoples' prayer meeting.

I have included the lyrics and just wanted to share this touching, prayerful song with you. When I sing this song it soothes me. I feel lost for words when I hear this. Hope you like it!


In the morning when I rise,
in the morning when I rise,
in the morning when I rise,
give me Jesus.

CHORUS
Give me Jesus,
give me Jesus,
you can have all this world,
just give me Jesus.

When I am alone,
when I am alone,
when I am alone,
give me Jesus.

When I come to die,
when I come to die,
when I come to die,
give me Jesus.

Be an efficient homeWORKER!

Hello and welcome to our online discussion with the wonderful "At the Well" ladies!! This is my second time here and I am very excited about all the discussions we are yet to have!

Today Lisa Metzger has written a wonderful article on how to "be an efficient homeWORKER".

When I think of being a homeWORKER I immediately think of Titus 2 and Proverbs 31 like so many of you I am sure! However, how many of us actually think we measure up to these ideal descriptions of a woman's role in the home?

I certainly fail on many fronts! I agree with Lisa that when we read these passages we should apply them to our daily lives and ask God for his help in achieving them. I do think that we must be cautious not to put unnecessary pressure on ourselves to achieve them though. We are by no means perfect and have not failed if we don't tick all the boxes according to the above passages.

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Phillipians 1:6 (NIV).

I strive to be a Godly woman each day and want to have an orderly home. I recognise that God wants me to stay at home, look after the kids, my husband and my home. I don't particularly have verses I think of when I am lacking motivation to keep my home in order. Although I quite often think of this acronym: J - Jesus

O - Others

Y - Yourself

This reminds me that I am being a homeworker for Jesus and my family and it also urges me to spend more time with God.

One of the tools God has given me to use to create the kind of home he wants me to have. I love my dishwasher and wouldn't be without it! We never had one until a few years ago and it gets used every day. This actually means I get extra time to spend with the kiddos and hubby! I load it up throughout the day and then switch it on after dinner and no longer need to spend all my time doing dishes. Instead Colin and I spend the evening with the kids before they go to bed!

Glory to God for this provision! I have been thinking that I should get the kids to help out more around the house as well. We are called to "train" our children and part of this should be learning chores and responsibilities.

So now I have a plan and with God's grace I can work towards becoming the kind of godly woman he wants me to be!

Mum, why does God love us when we are good and bad?

Jacob, my son asked me this question one evening recently before bed. As you all know he has been probing my mind for the answers to many questions about God, Jesus, creation and the Cross. The conversations generally follow a pattern, for example;

Jacob; "Mum?, mum?, mum?(and so it continues until I give a verbal response).

Mum; "Yes, Jacob?"

Jacob; "Muuuuummmm, why does God love us?"

Mum; "Because he made us". (Try to keep it simple!).

Jacob; "Did God make my light switch?"

Mum; "No, but God made people, so a man or woman made your light switch".

Jacob; "Mum, why does God love us when we are good and bad?", followed by

"why does God forgive us?".

The above is the question I have been thinking about over the last few days. Is it only me that finds this a hard topic to explain to my child?

When I discuss this subject with Jacob I explain that God doesn't like our sinful behaviour and that he loves you, Jacob, or me Mum, but it makes him sad when we do bad things, sinful things. We then need to ask for forgiveness of the bad things we have done. This usually leads on to questions about Jesus, the Cross and the Resurrection.

I try to demonstrate the concept of forgiveness practically at home. When Jacob has done something he shouldn't, then I discipline him for this and ensure he apologises for his behaviour. I then explain how I accept his apology and forgive him for his bad behaviour, usually followed by a massive hug. I explain that this is similar to how God forgives us.

When I think about forgiveness on a personal level I am astounded by why I, Collette Howie am forgiven. I don't believe I deserve it and yet God wants me to have his forgiveness through Jesus. I cannot begin to imagine the suffering endured by Christ on the Cross all for us!!

Isaiah 53 gives us a glimpse of what this must have been like but we will never know fully. (I have linked this chapter rather than including the scripture here due to length).

"10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 13As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him..." (Psalm 103, v 10-13, NIV).

When I read these verses a few weeks ago I had been having a difficult time trying to get Emma, my daughter to bed. Most nights tend to be hard as she is a terrible sleeper but this night was particularly trying. I was quite angry, actually my blood was beginning to boil, so I walked away to my bedroom and opened Colin's bible. The above verses literally jumped out at me! I am learning more each day about our Lord because of my children. Through my forgiveness of their negative behaviour I am learning how merciful our God is to us and the compassion He has for us is like we have for our children.

"9Who can say, 'I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin'?" (Proverbs, 20 v 9, NIV).

The only person who can claim this is Jesus Christ our Lord. Each and everyone of us has a sinful nature. If we are believers then the following verses are noteworthy;

"11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." (Romans 6, v 11-14, NIV).

I hope that I can continue to lead Jacob and Emma by example and practical applications of God's word in our daily family life.

Love Collette xxx

A NEW LOOK!

Well my blog now has a new customised look! I hope my fellow bloggers and friends like it?!! I think I prefer the layout of this one and the colours but if anyone doesn't like it then please let me know!!

Love Collette x

Thankful Thursday!

Well here goes with 5 things I am thankful to our Lord for!!

1. Blessing me with two wonderful strong willed children who can test my patience but are beautiful, funny and a gift.
2. Giving me a loving husband who recognises how important it is for mums to stay at home with their children wherever possible for the early years of their life.
3. For saving someone like me!! I didn't discover Jesus until my late twenties and am not proud of my lifestyle previous to being saved. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving a wretch like me!
4. Providing all my material needs, even when things are tight and I need to think more frugally He always provides food on our table.
5. God's word ; like a tonic which restores our soul and through his guidance I am getting better at regularly reading this. There is an excellent post over at CWO Internet Cafe on this.

Thank you for the chance to share these with you.

Love Collette xxx

Taming the tongue

Today I am up far too early! The kids are happily watching some early morning CBeebies until breakfast and I have just finished my first cup of tea so thought I would grab the chance to pop onto my blog.

I was thinking what shall I write about today? I have so many things God is bringing to my attention just now but one keeps coming to mind.

'Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.' James, Ch 3 v 5-9, NIV.

This is serious stuff!! 'A world of evil', 'full of deadly poison'. Verse 9 is a harsh truth also. Colin and I have been thinking about how what we say to our kids, Jacob and Emma, can affect them positively or negatively. We are learning the hard way how what we say to the kids matters. I am sure all of us have said things to our children we wish we hadn't. I know I have and yes, I am ashamed to admit that I have said 'go away' and 'shut up'. I shudder as I think about this!

However, I think I use more postive words than negative and certainly strive to do so. Our children look up to us,(literally), imitate us and want to please us. When I say something I shouldn't to my two I instantly feel crumby inside. God pricks my conscience, the Holy Spirit inside me groans and tells me that was wrong. The very behaviour I discipline in my children is sometimes displayed by me and I wonder why they don't always speak as they should to each other!

I also need to be watchful of the conversations I have in front of my kids as they get older. Jacob is almost 5 and could hear a pin drop. He is always listening. Even when we think he is not! So Colin and I are learning how we need to be wary of what we talk about at the dinner table, who and that we talk in love.

'The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to man's inmost parts.' Proverbs, Ch 18, v 8, NIV.

You and I know that it is wrong to gossip about people. I am sure we have all done it at some time or other. I know I have!! Again something else I need to be careful of and especially in front of the kids with little pricked up ears. I am sure we all know the dangers of gossip and it is hard not to be drawn into conversations about others that maybe aren't based on fact and are just idle speculation.

I know this is something I need to ask God for help with. Don't get me wrong, I am not the local daily gossip newspaper or anything but I do speculate and am guilty of talking about others.

I have so much to learn from God on this subject and am thankful that he wants to show me areas in my life which I need to be mindful of. We are all works in progress and God is thankfully pruning us all the time.

Please let me know your thoughts or experiences on this topic if you wish.

Love Collette xx

Overlooked!

Today in At the Well, the subject of being overlooked is discussed. I think we have all experienced this in some way or other. I remember Colin, my husband being publicly given credit for something I had done all the work for. You have a few choices in these situations I think. You can become bitter about it and have feelings of "that's not fair", I should be acknowledged I did all the work. Believe me these thoughts fleetingly went through my head!

However, I very quickly reminded myself that I am here to serve our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Does it really matter if someone else gets the credit? Everything we do in our lives and service is for the glory of our great Lord.

This verse came to mind - " ³For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Romans, Ch 12, verse 3(NIV).

This verse from Romans is quite humbling and reminds us how important it is that Jesus should be the centre of everything, we don't deserve his love but he has mercy on us and through grace we are saved not through our works.

In our current celebrity culture we can sometimes slip into modes of selfishness and boasting. Maybe these moments when we are overlooked are a small reminder from our Lord to be careful of our thoughts of why we serve and do what we do?

Love Collette x

Visit these blogrolls! Hoping to be listed soon!

This is a great site linked to one of my other favourites. It is so good to discover like minded women out there! The other blog link can be found here.

Titus 2

Hello! I haven't been blogging over the last few days because Colin has been off work. So I have been spending some good old quality time with him!



Our family has had a busy few days and God has been giving me lots to think about.

• Creation - Out in the glorious sunshine in our garden Jacob has become fascinated by how the earth spins slowly round the sun and we have been looking at solar system models on the web.


• Forgiveness - Jacob has been learning how we need to say sorry to God for the naughty things he does as well as mum and dad and he has been doing this by praying!

What I wanted to think about tonight was Titus 2.

3Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Yesterday I thought it would be a surprise to tidy Colin's computer cupboard. It was a bit of a state and he was complaining about it the night before. I could have thought to myself "it's some of your mess, tidy it yerself", in fact I did think this!! I just managed not to say it aloud. Practicising taming the tongue!!

(Just off the phone to Colin, read him the above and he suggested that I contributed to the mess too and stress this to my readers, hence this!).

I cleaned it from top to bottom with the kids trying to help but mostly hindering and then squabbling. I felt so excited about my lovely hubby coming downstairs and discovering his nice clean cupboard and I loved seeing his face looking pleased with what I had done.

Now some people may see that as a bit sad, but as a Christian woman and wife I want to please my other half and this simple act of love and service helped me realise how enjoyable it can be. I think God has been showing me that, yes of course my children are a top priority but that my husband needs me too. It is so easy to get caught up in the biz of kids, Church and family but I am learning that God wants me to be more selfless, patient, loving, and aware of needing to invest in my marriage in small acts of love.

Love Collette x

please feel free to add comments to what you think about Titus 2.