Introducing Steve

Adam and I have discovered a variety of nibbled things in the house recently, including 2 Mars bars (nearly nibbled in half) and a creme egg! Late one evening he was spotted running across our living room and it was confirmed, we have a mouse!

Having christened it Steve McQueen in honour of Hugh Laurie's character from House, we set a humane trap of peanut butter & partially nibbled creme egg. Dead tasty!

It appears Steve really was a sucker for chocolate and peanut butter though as he was safely caught in 1 night after nibbling was heard (ironically, while I was watching House) and was discharged in the morning with a clean bill of health.

He shall be missed though. Oh to be able to keep pets! Maybe one day. I wonder what Cat would think of that...

TheWeeScottie

---------------------------------------------------------------

weird is just your own personal brand of normal

Good Friday

I'm loving Jesus. I love how he was willing to go through much pain, rejection and emotional/physical/spiritual suffering for me. I'm bowled over by his sacrifice and willingness to be spiritually cut off from God.

This came out of meditating on what Jesus went through ~2000 years ago:

Good Friday

This is the day my saviour died
and history bears he was crucified,
unfairly ruled and beaten raw,
dragged through the streets in sight of all,
carrying the bar of his own cross,
taking spits, abuse and other dross,
led up the hill called the place of the skull
tired and bleeding, humble, docile,
cried in pain as nails bit deep
no doubt causing him to weep,
slung up high and strung in place
forced to endure the worst disgrace,
and died, calling in full ear & view,
"Forgive them father, they don't know what they do."

I desperately want finish this off, but that's where my want to write stopped. It's very easy to think of Jesus dieing on the cross as a simple flick-of-the-switch act, but in truth it wouldn't have been. It does us good to stare on the rugged cross and walk Jesus last hours with him. It reminds us how much he was willing to go through, and how much he chose to endure for us. Mind-boggling, when you think about it. Bring on Sunday :)

TheWeeScottie

---------------------------------------------------------------

weird is just your own personal brand of normal

Huzzah!

The easter holidays has finally dawned and I'm looking forward to a spot of rest in between trips into school to get the Summer term ready!

Having dropped Cat off at Luton on Saturday morning (she's off to Poland for a week's mission at one of their universities) I spent the afternoon at a friend's house playing board games. Fab fun and wonderfully relaxing. Spending time with other people reminds me why God's made us his church, rather than his call centre; a group of people serving him together, rather than individuals in claustrophobic booths not dependant nor working for eachother. Fellowship is so important and is such a wonderful blessing! How great it is that we're the body. rather than the fishfingers of Christ.

Looking back over the past 3 months, it's been a testing term and I've now got a tough decision to make over the easter hols re: school following my mid-point review. Prayer would be muchly appreciated and I'll happily share what the decision entails with you if you give me a phone or drop me an email. Thanks.

Right, time like me is short so I'd best put my washing on and prepare for the church! Big blessings to all of you.

Rock on in Him :)

TheWeeScottie

---------------------------------------------------------------

weird is just your own personal brand of normal

At the cross

Cat's recently blogged on Staying at the cross and how it's so vital that 'As Christians we need to stay at the Cross, no matter where we are in our Christian walk. The Cross is important.' She also quotes John Stott:

"The essence of sin is we human beings substituting ourselves for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for us. We…put ourselves where only God deserves to be; God…puts himself where we deserve to be."

In short, we need to get our eyes off ourselves (our job, family, responsibilities, worries) and get them back where they need to be: on God. The source of our peace, joy and salvation!

As I read Cat's post, I was in the middle of writing up my planning for next week's literacy for my kids; and we're going to be doing Kennings (Norse-rooted poems where each line has 2 words, and the lines pair together as rhyming couplets). This poem is what came out of meditating for 5-10 mins on the cross & what Jesus did:

At the cross

Wood-beam bearer
Suffering sharer
Resolutely staying
Father obeying
Sin receiver
Burden reliever
Pain enduring
Life ensuring
Spirit released
Wrath appeased
Curtain torn
Hope reborn
Powerful raising
All tongues praising
Death defeated
By Father, seated
Glory owning
So much owing
Victory mine?
Take this lifeline?

I love how God takes the ordinary, in this case, my literacy planning (!) and uses it for his glorious purposes. Literacy has just served as a tool to focus me back on Jesus. Our God really is a God of the mundane as well as the miraculous. How great is our God!

TheWeeScottie

---------------------------------------------------------------

weird is just your own personal brand of normal

Making time to worship

I've felt quite challenged recently by worship and what this really means to me as a christian. I think it's very easy to get into the firm mindset that worship is 'singing' or worship is 'prayer', ending up limiting worship to one specific thing or another. But if you look at David in the psalms (and in 1 Samuel too) you see him praising God in all kinds of ways. Across all his musings and praise, David's aim in worship was always to give God glory - to tell him how awesome he is, to extol (tell out) his virtues and effectively take his focus off himself and stick it firmly on God.

It's also made me think, 'how much time do I spend making time to worship?' which for me includes writing poetry and singing along to my guitar from worship books, but I know for others will include other things as well.

As I got into bed this evening, I found myself split between the powerful urge to kiss the cat goodnight (a long-standing habit) and go straight to sleep, or to spend a little time turning my thoughts to God. The words to a Delirious song came to mind and before I knew it, a verse started writing itself in my head. This poem is what came of it. I've tentatively named it 'Wash me anew', but if you can think of another name, please do leave it as a comment:

Wash me anew

Kneeling, aware of your grace,
oh how I want to stay here
in this holy place.
I don't want to be anywhere else
away from you.

And the day fades away,
dissolving into shadows
as I turn to your face
and gaze into the depths of your love;
darkest depths that burn with holy fire,
dispelling the shadows & piercing the doubt,
lighting all the corners of my mind;
my heart intertwined with yours.

Then it washes over me,
rushing like a mighty flood,
the monsoon of your peace,
drenching every corner of my soul.
The open thoughts & hidden secrets
laid bare before you.

Oh wash me anew!
Cleanse me and know me,
focus now my selfish heart of you.
Wash me anew.

I love how worship can be as simple as a word, and as profound as the most marvelously practical wisdom. I love how God accepts our worship - despite how it never manages to truly capture his awesomeness. I love how he can take the events of the most trialling of days (and I'm having a few at the moment) and dissolve them into nothingness in the face of his perfect plan and all-encompassing peace. Worship is a truly awesome privilege. Let's give it our all.

TheWeeScottie

---------------------------------------------------------------

weird is just your own personal brand of normal