The unexpected.

Well now my car is making noises, a noise that I do not want. My oh my. This morning we got up to a crisp frost yeah. I have never seen children so happy. The north got dumped with snow. I guess our lives can be compared to the unexpected snow in the North east of America. There was no warnings and temperatures just dropped. So it is in life sometimes it is a crisp wonderful day and your car breaks down and then it seams that one thing after another happens. One thing it has taught me is to have compassion. Many turn their backs on people when unexpected storms come. It is not the time to run from those people it is the time to comfort those.

It is easy to love the lovable not so easy to love a person like the hunchback of Notre dame.

But perhaps if we did we would see really beauty and accept real love.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

A blackbird morning.

Well sorry for the lack of posts. You know I must not be well if I am not posting on here. I love writing so I am sorry. I am still not feeling my best. So I ask all who read this to be in prayer that something is sorted out soon and that God provides the money for any bills that are associated with it all.

Well today when we got up and the temperature hadchanged a lot. We saw hundreds and hundreds of black birds my younger daughter said " we know it is near Halloween Mum". I will have to say I do not like black birds or crows at all. But as I watched them go from garden to garden I could not help but think of how these birds keep together. How many of us keep together like that? It is like they all knew that there was food and as a family they stuck together. I know reality is that animals kill each other. But we can learn something from this black bird morning. It is better to stay and look after a friend in need than turn your back and move on to something else. Better to take a few more minutes and care than to miss an opportunity in life.

It is so easy to fly away but the blessing is in staying.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Doing what is right regardless

Hi Cornfield Dreams, I have not been very well this week. One thing I have learnt through the help of a good friend is that sometimes you just have to let go of things. As I sat on my couch feeling very sick I truly thought of what she had said. She was right somethings in life are just not worth the fight, the energy and all that mess that goes along with it. In fact as laid down my guilt feeling about not going home for my brothers funeral, and more feelings I felt a weight lift off me. I may still feel sick and have a pounding headache but inside I know I have done the right thing. It does not matter what the world thinks it is truly you doing what is right what matters.

So try it, it might well save you from a migraine, stress and many other illnesses in fact it may give you life.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

The Right Doors Open

Here is a saying that someone emailed me. It is so encouraging.

The Right Doors Open
You try one door after another, yet no one responds to your résumé. No university accepts your application. No doctor has a solution for your illness. No buyers look at your house.Obstacles pack your path. Road, barricaded. Doorway, padlocked. Do you know the frustration of a blocked door?God uses closed doors to advance his cause.He closed the womb of a young Sarah so he could display his power to the elderly one.He shut the palace door on Moses the prince so he could open shackles through Moses the liberator.He marched Daniel out of Jerusalem so he could use Daniel in Babylon. And Jesus. Yes, even Jesus knew the challenge of a blocked door. When he requested a path that bypassed the cross, God said no. He said no to Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane so he could say yes to us at the gates of heaven.It’s not that our plans are bad but that God’s plans are better.“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isa. 55:8–9 NLT)
Your blocked door doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you. Quite the opposite. It’s proof that he does.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Oh to Autumn

I actually got some energy today. Yeah. It was so nice to walk around my garden and see the wonderful colors of Autumn. It is almost as though God created a unique patchwork in every leave. My sister use to make patchworks and I loved how all the colors looked together. The sunsets in the Autumn remind me of the crocheted blanket that I made at school, the colors making a symphony of warmth to entice the coldest person in and warming up the coldest soul.

I love the sound of the crisp leaves underneath my feet. Oh I so remember raking up leaves as a child and the sounds of those leaves all rustling together, as though they themselves were trying to keep warm.

I love looking for mittens and pulling out winter coats. The summers here are oh so long. I am sure I said in England oh the summers are oh so short and the winters are oh so long.

Well I hope your week is going well, take a walk and enjoy this season.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

England

I have not been feeling great for the last few days so I am going to post some photos of when I was last in England. Oh how I miss it. Sigh hope to go home one day.

Enjoy hopefully I will back up and perky here again soon.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Phony or Real?

Through different times in middle school, high school, and life I have realized that somethings aren't always what it seems. The popular people don't really have it all. It is really those people who are true to themselves and are that same way at school and at home- to friends and to their parents who are the real "popular people." It might not seem like "the place to be" but time will show that you are the one that others will remember and want to stay in touch with, because they can trust you and know who you really are.

It's that time when you realize that the friends you had weren't real, and you realize you are glad that they are just acquaintances now.It's that moment when you are jealous of those popular kids who have it all- but really had... well... have absolutely nothing.The moment when you are upset with the people who can be one minute the nicest of people on the planet and make you float on cloud nine, but the next minute make you feel like dirt, that you realized you are worth better than being and listening to them.It's in life, that you find that not always the title of Miss Top Cheerleader-who has the boyfriend, the money, the so called millions friends, is the place you want to in.

You realize you'd rather be real and people to see you for who you are instead of being a phony in pretty outfits.

It's then that you realize You Are Worth WAY More and well, ARE Beautiful Just the Way You Are.

Emily

Please have a cup of tea with me.

Fake Christian or Not?

Saying and telling people that you are a Christian does not make you a Christian. Anyone can put on make up, wear a good suit or dress. Anyone can memorize verses and talk the talk. Tell me if you can do that when your world is falling around you or if you have gone through trial after trial. You name the people who will then come along and encourage you. I tell you, where were they when Jesus was been persecuted? It is still the same today, as it was back in Jesus's time they all scatter.

Let us not be those people. Least we find ourselves with blood on our hands.

We need to support each other. walk along the road with one another and carry each other.

What will you be.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Don't forget us God.

We came across this song really by mistake. No one remembered who had saved it, so I guess God sent it our way tonight. I will have to say for months now I go to sleep crying out to God, wake up in the night crying to Him and wake up in the morning crying out. "God don't forget me"

So many people simply are to busy, when problems run for months and years. I recollected today who came when my Brother died, who came when my divorce was finalized and then I had to reflect that none of my family has ever come to see me. None always an excuse.

I so cry out to God I think this song so exemplifies how so many hurting Christians feel, often they feel left out in their church, with friends and family and all they do just like me is cry out to God.

"Don't forget me God"

I hope all those hearing this song will hear their heart continually crying out to God. Don't give up.

Don't let anyone do that to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6VK-KBgQI&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL62EF9A0C5FB7EA1C

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

More than Just Words

We see famine in other countries and even in the ones we live in. We see people begging for food and some send a few pennies in, maybe they truly give, maybe some give to ease their conscience. However perhaps, there are people dying all around us. Emotionally drained, emotionally crying out, and are just shoved from pillar to post. I hate it when people say oh you know you are in a bad situation. No da! People would not be seeking help if everything was alright! It's almost as if people think by telling you that you that you are in a bad situation that they are helping. Let's face reality it does not help, it makes you feel like dear God perhaps I do have leprosy. I wonder if some people walked a mile in another's shoes would they be saying the same. Come on, I surely would have had more sympathy for my brother if I had known and walked in his shoes. So what makes us actually help instead of actually hurting people more. People saying at times you have not because you ask not, or they sympathies with you what does all that mean unless we as humans put into actions sharing others burdens.

It is simply words blowing in the wind. Like a tree blowing around to get rid of it's leaves and nothing falls.

There are so many hurting people. I see them all around me every day. I never understood people who had lost someone until my Brother, never understood how hard it was to be a single parent, never understood how homesick a person could be, or see the stress in my children's eyes until I walked down these roads. I do believe people can have compassion and help but it is more than words.

Don't let your words be an excuse not to go the full mile of helping someone.

Please have a cup of tea with me.

Pockets of laughter

Do we ever take a minute in our decisions to think of someone else other than ourselves? I am terrible at making decisions. I am usually double guessing myself. I try my best with daily choices to think of other people. I try my best to praise people in the stores, ask if people need help. But at times I get caught up with how others feel and forget how they may respond to it and my heart is smashed. I can't be the only one. This is where turning to God and having a few amazing friends can help you. Often a smile can help you feel like a million pounds in a continual stressful situation.

I think we need to consider how our actions and choices will affect others, but really seek advice because someone who is not in the situation can probably see it more clearly.

If all else fails put on your favorite music, laugh in the rain and take a break.

Laughter is a huge medicine.

As I sit here typing my daughters are making me laugh and I thank God that He sends pockets of laughter my way.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

To avoid hurting people or not?

I guess I never sat down and thought what life would be, to be divorced. I saw my parents divorced, my that was interesting. If anyone thinks it is easy they are truly insane. I do not like roller coasters, so imagine you are on a roller coaster that never stops. The one amazing thing through this I have seen is that I have meet some amazing people. Many people simply do not know what to say to you at all. It is though you, dare I say it have the "Black Plague" add into that equation children and every holiday and yes for sure you have the "Black Plague". The problem then arises how does society as a whole deal with these people. The "Black Plague" had an end but those divorce people, issues carry on.

I think we have to understand and be real everyone has issues just because I am divorced does not mean I am any less of a person. In truth it has given me more compassion. If only we could see people who are divorced or going through situations as people we should not avoid instead a huge blessing that we could help. I wonder how much it would impact those families lives.

Life is not about avoiding the hurting people,it is actually about helping those in need and who are hurting.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Giving with no Praise.

When I was at school I won the Hick cup for politeness. I never ever have presumed in my life that I would win a cup. I do not like to receive recognition.

It amazes me how many people Christian and non Christians want the spot light totally on them. Wanting everyone to praise them and thank them and never forget what they did.

I don't think this is true giving in any sense of the form.

I think true giving, true compassion and true serving is done when no one gets the credit. At school I was not polite because I wanted the praise. I truly did it because it was the right thing to do.

How many of us do that? It seems that in the world we live in more people, want the praise than doing things for others without anything in return.

Mothers are one of the hardest working people on this planet I believe. I don't say that to get praise. How many of us have ever gone back and thanked our mum's or a friend for something they had done, it might of been years ago. I bet it would mean a lot to those people.

No praise for ourselves. Come on we can do it. A little giving makes this world just a more humble place.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Compassion to listen.

It's amazing how some people in life just have an expertise to say the wrong thing. You know what I mean you put your foot in it, so to speak. When my brother died some people would ask me after a week, if I was over it. A year latter someone said, oh you are still upset about your brother. From oh it's easy to get a job, to wow you miss home. Or people just look at you when you say you are divorced or a single mum. You know I did clean my teeth and I did put deodorant on. It's almost as if some people just do not know what to say at all. I think in life a lot of times people just want people to just listen to hear their heart crying out.

Ever just cried from the inner parts of your soul and just ached inside. If you ever have then you will know what I am talking about.

Life is a road of mountainous valleys for sure. But to listen and truly hear someone's heart cry is like watching an eagle soar. So easy to walk away. Not so easy to be still and hear them.

I wonder if we listened more perhaps, all of us would have more compassion, more grace and a lot more understanding for one another.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Jesus take the wheel and send the rains of relief.

I wake up and go to sleep praying in my mind Jesus send the rain. When Carrie Underwood wrote the song "Jesus take the wheel" I instantly loved it. I so feel like that in my life. It is such a cry for a mightier one to come and help us.

My cry today is simply that Jesus take the wheel and send the rains of relief.

Whatever life is shoving your way I suggest you cry out just like I am.

Below are the words to both songs.

"Jesus Take The Wheel" by Carrie Underwood

She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve
Going home to see her Mama and her Daddy with the baby in the backseat
Fifty miles to go and she was running low on faith and gasoline
It'd been a long hard year
She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
she was going way too fast
Before she knew it she was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn't even have time to cry
She was so scared
She threw her hands up in the air

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder
And the car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the backseat sleeping like a rock
And for the first time in a long time
She bowed her head to pray
She said I'm sorry for the way
I've been living my life
I know I've got to change
So from now on tonight

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

Oh I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
From this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
Oh take it take it from me
Oh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcR8N_v0ymQ&feature=related

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Sahara Desert of life.

I have never lived in a desert but at times I sure felt I have. I am sure you have seen in the movies a person walking aimlessly across a desert looking for water. How true that is often for life. We walk for months sometimes years, seeking for that water, that refreshing drink to clear our parched throats . Almost in a mirage we think at times that we are at the lake only to find, it is nothing but dry and empty sand.

It feels like that there is nothing out there but harsh winds blowing and no one to hear our cries. It is true I believe like the poem footprints at those times, that God Himself carries us.

So in your dry Sahara Desert moments remember, that there is someone carrying you to the water. It is holding on with all your might. That will get you through.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Spin cycle of life.

Well this week has been another whirlwind.

Front load washing machines were not in the States when I first came here. My girls eagerly sat watching ours when we brought one about five years ago. I think life is often like a washing machine churning us around. Unfortunately for some of us we get stuck on the spin cycle and it just never seems to get off that. Oh if only a magic person would hit the top, like when the telly would go on the blink.

The good thing is that one day some how we do push through. There is a mighty God who I do believe see's it all.

One of my favorite songs says " better things are yet to come"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGkEE5dwmdY

So to all of us who are in the spin cycle of life just remember.

Better things are yet to come for you.

Please have a cup of tea with me today

Safe in His Arms, Even in a Valley

My daughter had this sent to her. It made me cry. In all our journeys and valleys and remote places of our lives, it is surely good to hear that we are not alone. I hope it touches you as much as it did my family.

Here is the lyrics and the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6c3CYdqTG8

Safe Lyrics

(Feat. Bart Millard)

Verse:
To the one who's dreams are falling all apart
And all you're left with is a tired and broken heart
I can tell by your eyes you think your on your own
but you're not all alone

Have you heard of the One who can calm the raging seas
Give sight to the blind, pull the lame up to their feet
With a love so strong he'll never let you go
oh you're not alone

Chorus:
You will be safe in His arms
You will be safe in His arms
'Cause the hands that hold the world are holding your heart
This is the promise He made
He will be with You always
When everything is falling apart
You will be safe in His arms

Verse 2:
Did you know that the voice that brings the dead to life
Is the very same voice that calls you to rise
So hear Him now He's calling you home
You will never be alone

Bridge:
These are the hands that built the mountains
the hands that calm the seas
These are the arms that hold the heavens
they are holding you and me

These are hands that healed the leper
Pulled the lame up to their feet
These are the arms that were nailed to a cross
to break our chains and set us free

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Hero's

Today I listened to a lady say how she had cancer and survived, how she had just wanted to be a mother and a wife. She had been blessed with a daughter before she was told she had cancer. My heart fell a little low, oh I so wished Rita had lived, another oh that is all I wanted to be a wife and a mother. Instead of staying in my "oh poor me" I listened how she said how blessed she was and how God had a different road for her. She seemed content and happy.But also knowing that it had not been an easy path.

To me she is a hero. One who has traveled a hard road in life, yet willing to look back with positiveness and wanting to bless others.

Hero's are all around us if we just listen instead of turn the story to all about us and we listen to hear openly about another.

You will never know what blessings are just around the corner if you don't take the time to listen.

So listen to another person catch that blessing and I believe your life and mine will be changed.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Seeing the good

I am so tired tonight. But I love my blog so I am going to quickly type. I have become friends with a lady. Her and her husband are like a perfectly composed score of music. I watched her in my Sunday school class as she sat crocheting. I thought of the wife of noble character in the Bible found in Proverbs 31. I watched her husband throughout the weeks as he has treated her with love and respect.

She is so giving and jolly. She is like a warm cup of tea and a cozy blanket. They are very sweet.

In it all as I watched them, I saw how silly at times I had often criticized others. I would of criticized her a few years ago, but here I sat seeing the goodness in her, the amazing blessing that this couple bought to the church. I was in and the amazing blessing they have been to others.

So easy to often judge, it's like seeing a glass half full.

It is not always easy to see the good, but when we can it is like seeing an amazing rainbow.

Please have a cup of tea with me today.

Courageous?

Well this weekend saw the opening of a movie called "Courageous" it is about men standing up and being real dad's and husbands. I have not seen the movie yet however, this movie comes from the movie makers who made "Flywheel", "Facing the Giants"and "Fireproof". This Christian movie company "Sherwood Pictures" has surely come a long way and is impacting many lives.

So what do you think it takes to be a courageous Dad or husband? Wow what a question.

I have seen good and bad in many couples. Some are seen, to the outside world very perfect, yet on the inside they are hurting people.

I think we have to think deeply what courageous means to us. To me a courageous dad or husband is one who says sorry, is humble and is willing to change their lives even when the world is not watching. It is wanting the best even if the spot light is not on them.

Many have fallen on this road.

I know a man who has been divorced, who went back to his ex wife and his children and sought forgiveness for the mistakes he had made. Today that man is leading a group to help others and in my eyes is a man of courage. Take the Pastor or Vicar who has made mistakes but seeks forgiveness and works diligently to gain respect back, that is courage.

Woman alike to can be seen in a place of courage, the single mum or the widowed wife. The battered woman who has escaped from a home of abuse. Men, women and children who fight daily to overcome struggles and illness.They are all courageous. Men and women fighting in battle, serving countries, doctors and nurses, police force and fireman the list could go on. We are all courageous in some way throughout the day.

So what does Courageous in a man mean? To me it means simply Humility. To me, that is the first step to any of us being better people.

So I hope you will go watch the movie, but I ask you this in closing when the emotions of the movie are all over what will be found?

Please have a cup of tea with me today.