Sweet Nothings

Been very busy recently what with one thing and others and veering very quickly towards being quite stressed by everything.

Been coming in early to work (and going home late) and so I haven't been giving enough time to the rest times with God that I'd been previously building into my morning during the time of abiding at church. Managed to get a good amount of time in this morning and hoping that it helps me to be more aware of God through the day and react to pressure but avoid stress.

Funny how when the pressure kicks in from all sides that I squeeze out my time with God. Need to learn new reactions to stress and pressure....

Posted by susieb at 8:35 am | Permalink | Comments

I have been a bit under the weather recently. First there was the viral bronchitus which kept me off work for a week and a half and fatigued for much longer. Then, a week later and the day before my holiday, I sprained a ligament in my knee and end up in quite a lot of pain and really struggling to walk.

Last weekend was a real breakthrough for me. God's been answering prayers, I feel like we've started to engage with things a bit more and I really feel like God's on the move and I am more positive than I've been for ages about lots of things.

Which is good, great in fact, but I woke up this morning with the same cough as I had when I had bronchitus and my knee has started to hurt a lot more than it's done for a week at least.

So to the select few that read this blog, prayer would be very gratefully received.

Posted by susieb at 12:08 pm | Permalink | Comments

What a great weekend. Saw lots of friends over the weekend - dinner and cinema on Friday night, a wedding Saturday afternoon, then chilling with friends over homemade milkshakes and finally the evening reception. Sunday brought lunch with friends at the Three Merry Lads and then Radiate which is always a great chance to catch up with people you haven't seen for a while.

An extrovert's paradise!!

Really good to catch up with people and hear what's going on. Also makes me feel incredibly blessed remembering the people God's blessed me with as friends in the past, the people He's blessed me with as friends at the moment and the people he's going to bless me with as friends in the future.

I really value friends, they're who I revitalise myself with, I love meeting God with them, I love sharing my life with them. About two years ago I went through a period where God really opened my eyes up to the fact that His provision is for the things I need and that this isn't limited to money or a home. Given the way God made me, he was teaching me that His provision includes provision of people to share this walk with and that I could trust Him for this.

This weekend was a really timely reminder of that. A reminder that God has provided previously, he is providing today and will do so tomorrow.

Posted by susieb at 8:47 am | Permalink | Comments

Really down. Not appreciated and not listened to. Pants.

Posted by susieb at 4:35 pm | Permalink | Comments

Back home after a week's holiday.

The holiday was good. Although it rained and stopped us doing a lot of the usual holiday stuff, it was also a well needed break. It's been a hard month - first getting viral bronchitis which really wiped me out for a few weeks and then, a day before we went on holiday, spraining a ligament in my knee which basically put me in a lot of pain, destroyed my sleep and meant I could hardly move it.

So a week away in which to recover was actually very useful and well timed! My leg is much better in that I can actually bend it, but I still struggle with full movement and am still in pain most of the time so prayer would be appreciated.

The holiday was also a good time for Chris and I to process some things together.

Richard England's talk last night was really good, I thought. It was on the parable of the sower and there's a tendancy when someone reads a well known passage to think that you've heard all you can on it, but it was really clear and helpful. So still processing that one.

Early on in the worship I felt God asking me to 'lay down by the streams of living water'. Think it wasn't just for last night though. St Tom's is starting to enter it's usual time of abiding over the summer. Whilst I traditionally find this a very difficult time because my life doesn't stop over summer, and work certainly doesn't, I'm going to try to embrace it this summer by practising resting in God's presence more, laying by his streams of living water.

Anyway, that's about it really. Obviously we heard about the London bombs whilst we were on holiday. What can I say? Not much, other than praising God for the safety of a friend who moved to London last year. The blasts were on her usual line and she also walked past the site of the bus explosion only minutes before it occured.

I don't know why some people survived and others didn't, but I praise God for the fact that my friend is safe.

Posted by susieb at 11:22 am | Permalink | Comments