Earth is crammed with heaven

If you haven't read Monday's blog Have a quick look here http://karensandford.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/on-dr-foster-went-to-gloucester.html This is a postscript to that. I parked the car at the view point on Reigate Hill this morning. I'd had a tricky hour or two, and they do good coffee there. So I sat with my 'flat white', Snuggled under the blanket off the back seat, And I surveyed the scenery. A song was going through my head. An old song that I hadn't heard for over 20 years (I was 10 at the time....) 'In the testing moments of my life, when the way is hard to see, Then my Saviour stands and gently speaks Eternal words of grace to me.' As I sat in God's presence I thought about that phrase Eternal words of grace. I thought. And I prayed. And I looked. And I remembered a little-used app on my phone. It not only has lots of versions of the Bible on it, But some of them are spoken aloud. I wanted to hear... Not just read

Dr Foster went to Gloucester in a shower of rain. He stepped in a puddle right up to his middle and never went there again. I had a Dr Foster moment today. We were walking with friends. The men were in front.... We were bringing up the rear. We were talking... Except when we went up hill then we gasped the odd word  And waited until the ground levelled off. "Watch this bit it's muddy," the men called back as they climbed and balanced on a steep bank to pass the muddy bit. But we women, seeing clearly, decided to go on the other side. It was less steep. And wider. What I hadn't noticed was the branches sticking out. We had to shuffle sideways. Heads down. Shoulders hunched. I spied a place to stand before jumping to the other side. Only it wasn't a place to stand. It was like quicksand, sucking me down to its depths. Well, down to my knee anyway. I screamed. They laughed. I retrieved my leg, with my boot still intact surprisingly, then

I had a 'moment' earlier on. It was just towards the end of my allocated work time. The tears took me a bit by surprise. At first I thought OK. I'll stop. Time for a warm drink, a snuggle on the sofa and maybe a biscuit or two. And then I thought. I know. I'll go for a walk in the snow. End up at Tesco and get something nice for my lunch. See how food often features? And then I remembered the boys laughing at me yesterday. Four of them in total. They'd made a tortoise in the snow. Well that's what they'd called it, but it didn't look much like one to me. More like a mound of snow. I asked them why they hadn't made something simple like a cat. They seem quite popular this year for snow sculpting. So they laughed. So my third and final option was to show them. Off I went, into the garden, and transformed their tortoise into a cat.  Sidney, my snow cat.  As I picked up and sculpted the snow, (It wasn't that d

I went to the hairdressers today. I've been going there for a long time so they know me. I feel comfortable. My stylist has cut and highlighted my hair since she first started training. So she knows without me telling her that Sometimes I leave it curly. Sometimes I like it straight, but not straightened. She knows my fringe is sacred. Never too short. I have a calf-lick at the front of my hair, so it has to be tamed. I don't like to show much forehead. She has a list of the colours I have in my highlights. She knows I drink coffee. She always puts me at the middle sink if she can, As that's the one with the massage chair. She knows I'm happy to chat and catch up for a while, But not for too long, as I like to read and browse the magazines. She knows that I don't talk during the final rinse, I like to enjoy the head massage with my eyes closed. I sound demanding. I'm not. She just knows. But still checks that I want things the way the

Today is known as 'Nothing Day' Apparently the 16th January is the day when nothing happens. Christmas has passed and we haven't yet got round to planning anything significant. When I heard, I decided to declare it 'Drink coffee and eat chocolate biscuits day.' Thanks for joining in if you did. So I guess my question is What did you do today? I walked Nath to school. De-iced the car and remembered the wife who phoned to tell her husband that windows had frozen. He told her to pour water on them. After a moment she said, there's smoke coming out of the keyboard now too... (Sorry) I drove to Redhill and enjoyed seeing the heavy frost on the trees and fields. I prayed. I talked. I cried. I coughed, took my puffer, and my antibiotics and felt lousy. I read. Placed an order. Watched telly. Read the Famous Five with Nathan. Ate chocolate biscuits and drank coffee. Hardly a Nothing Day. Some of it was quite significant. Especially the talki

We watched 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' yesterday It's a good film, with an interesting story, about a sheik who loves salmon fishing on his estate in Scotland. So he wants to transfer it to the Yemen, his homeland. It's more than just a selfish, hare-brained scheme. It's about taking fresh water to his people too. There were plenty of people who said it couldn't be done, Of course there were. But he, by his own admission, had faith. He says: “ Faith is the cure that heals all troubles. Without faith there is no hope and no love. Faith comes before hope, and before love ." (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Zaidi bani Tihama) Paul Torday , Salmon Fishing In The Yemen We returned to our church today. It's been a long while, but it was time. I shared with them the words that God had given me back in March last year. The words I'd put on post-it notes all around the house. "Trust me." What God didn't say was what we had to tr

My word is content #OneWord365 But today it's hard. So these are the scriptures I'm remembering. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold my life; of whom shall I be afraid?     Psalm 27:1 Your sun will never set again,  and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light,  and your days of sorrow will end. Isaiah 60:20 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

I ate a walnut whip. Just now. It's been a long time. But I still remembered the rules... 1. Turn it upside down 2. Eat the chocolate base. 3. Eat the fondant centre, leaving the chocolate shell intact. 4. Eat the chocolate shell until you're left with the walnut And a decent amount of chocolate. 5. You may now eat the walnut. They're the rules. Don't tell me I'm wrong. I might smile and nod. I might even show some interest in how you eat yours. But secretly I'll smile to myself And feel superior. There's only one way to eat walnut whips And that's my way. Today has been an odd day. I woke quite late after a bit of a nightmare. The cottage I was renting was in danger of being over-run. No-one was listening to me. Lots of people were trying to take over. I was misunderstood Berrated Shouted at. Psychologists would have a field day. Then a quick remark from me upset somebody I love. (I was awake by now.) My day has progr

I love being on twitter. The combination of people I follow make me smile, laugh, cry, pray, and want to punch something. I have also linked up with wonderful, godly people. They are mainly, but not exclusively women. Their blogs challenge me, resonate with me, and make me want to shout  "Yes!" I'm not the only one. As we go into the New Year I'm going to do two things that I've discovered in the last few days on Twitter. First, I'm going to join in the #1000gifts. I've downloaded the app. It will bleep 3 times daily. And I will think of one thing to be thankful for. Right then. In that instant. 365 x 3= 1095 gifts/blessings by the end of the year. But #1000gifts is much more catchy. Join me?  Second, I'm going to do One Word. The idea is you choose one word for the year. You don't get stressed or hung up about it, but you allow it to shape your approach to life. My word is 'CONTENT' Those who follow this blog