It is my turn to set the Friday Five for Revgals,and in a more upbeat mood than of late I have been pondering the need for the place of thankfulness in our lives, and in my life in-particular, when things seem black it is easy to forget the rays of sunshine we are offered, so here is the Friday Five I set:
Following on from Thanksgiving, and picking up the "Black Friday" theme of boycotting the Christmas rush for bargains I thought it would be good to set a simple Friday Five yet one to get you thinking. I am sure that you'll agree that some of the best gifts we receive do not come in fancy wrapping paper but might be the gift of an unexpected afternoon with a friend or coming across a long forgotten photograph, or- well the list is endless...
+
+
+
1. Well in no attempt to be cheesy or even profound I have to say that the gift of prayer is amazing, that said there are times I struggle with it, times I don't know what to do with it, and times that it is an absolute joy and delight. Sometimes it is accompanied by praise and thanksgiving, and sometimes with tears and lament. It can be loud, it can be silent, sometimes I have no words at all, and even in the dark times when I feel that God is far away and unapproachable it encourages me to hang on in, to press on and it never lets me go!
I can really relate to what John Pritchard says in his book God Lost and Found;
"prayer is harder to stop than belief- and my encouragement would be not to try. Praying into the darkness might seem futile at one level, but it keeps open the possibility that normal service will be resumed."
So I am thankful for prayer, and still mystified by it! +
+
+
+
+
2. The gift of the seasons, the changing moods and times of the year that remind me that life has a cycle, and that change is possible, I realise that I am fortunate to live in a place where those seasons are obvious, more and more I have come to appreciate winter with it's promise of spring!
3. The beach and sunsets, this picture was taken on a perfect summer evening when Tim and I wandered down to the beach from our holiday cottage in Norfolk taking a BBQ with us- the sun, waves and sand made the setting perfect!
4. Family! Sometimes we drive each other mad, sometimes we get cross with one another, but family is special in so many ways; these pictures were taken at my daughter Joanne's wedding last month, it was a wonderful day, and a reminder how special family is!
proud dad walking his daughter into church
Chris, Jon (Jo's twin), Jo and Dave, Emma and Paul- siblings and new husband/ brother-in-law
Proud mum and Dad!
5. Music- music of all kinds, it has the power to reach what nothing else can for me whether it be classical, jazz, pop, worship music again of all kinds. Yesterday this had me in tears and filled with joy at the same time!
