Lent: The Story so far

I used to use the story of a potato as a sermon illustration.
It was about a man asking God for some sense of meaning in his life.
He thought and prayed about it
Until one day he was in the kitchen,
And he heard God say

"What have you got in your hands?"

He looked down
And there in his hand was a potato.
His first thoughts were quite limited.
What can I do with a potato?
Chipped
Boiled
Mashed
Roast
Saute

Then

Potato printing
Stain removal
Peelings in the garden

And so he went on
Until,
legend has it
he wrote a book entitled
'101 uses of a potato.'

The beauty of sermon illustrations
is we never let the whole truth get in the way of a good story...

Of course we would never wilfully lie...
However:

Lent has been a bit like that for me so far.
You may remember a decision I made on Shrove Tuesday,
that every day of Lent I would de-clutter something
Physically
Emotionally
or
Spiritually.

You can read about it here
http://karensandford.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/taking-up-not-giving-up-for-lent.html

And the exercise has led me to keep on considering the question
What have you got in your hands?

What has God given me that I don't use?
It's brought me to the food-stuffs that inhabit the depths of my freezer
And dwell at the back of my kitchen cupboards.
The toiletries I stock-pile and keep for a special occasion that often doesn't arrive.
The books I haven't read.
The 'stuff' I buy on impulse.

And I've found myself taking time every day to just
stand
and stare.

Virginia Water Spring 2014















Seeing my life with fresh eyes
And a different perspective
can only be a good thing as far as I can see.

An English Springtime

Every day has brought something new.
A realisation that God is in this life I live.
Every little detail.
I have a veritable treasure-trove at my disposal.

It's Him.
All Him.

And just as a postscript.

This is my 100th post on this blog.
With every post I've shared something of my story and God's.
And how they intertwine.

'My life is hidden with Christ in God.'
I had no inkling of what that meant when I started.

Now I know.

How I know...

His grace
His love
His comfort
His blessing
His leading
His joy
His silence

Have all shown me that

'Earth is crammed with heaven
And every common bush afire with God
But only he who sees takes off his shoes...'
(Elizabeth Barrett-Browning)

Reigate Hill, Surrey, February 2014

Looking forward to continuing the journey with you

My fellow 'seer'

My fellow 'shoe-remover'

My fellow-traveller.

Comments

Unknown said…
Love this! Thanks for sharing!
4 April 2014 at 16:26
~Karrilee~ from Abiding Love, Abounding Grace said…
This is gorgeous... the photo's, of course - but the words too!
4 April 2014 at 18:09
Jerralea said…
Yes! I'm a fellow shoe remover and fellow traveler. Glad I came across your blog.
4 April 2014 at 21:27
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