All posts by Gwenyth

I live on the outskirts of Whangarei, the northernmost city in New Zealand. I enjoy many things, ( writing amongst them), have been married to Keith for sixty-one years, have three married daughters, nine grandchildren and seventeen great- grandchildren who are scattered in various countries. No cats and no dogs as they would cramp our life-style.. We are obviously retired, but were farming further north before moving to the town over thirty-five years ago. We attend one of the local churches across the same side of town that we live.

Disappointments

         I’m sure you have all been disappointed at some time or other. There isn’t a person on earth that hasn’t experienced that let down feeling! These times often come just after a wonderful time, and we wonder why.

We can either become better for it, or bitter because of it.

If we think of the disappointment as a test to build our character, it makes it a whole lot easier to bear. Just as an exam has only two results…a pass or a failure, so these tests leave us with only two results…. becoming better from it, or filled with bitterness!

As for why it often happens after a great time, that time was given to us to make up for the disappointment that was just around the corner. As we remember the wonderful experience, it shows us that life will still have its high points, and that all is not darkness. There is an old saying that goes like this….. “This too, will pass”. Another one is “Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning!”

So get up, stand up and keep up!!!

Are You a Morning Person?

This question raises all sorts of possibilities in one’s mind, but what I’m asking is, “Are you a morning person or do you function better in the evenings?”

For myself, I’m a morning person, and have no trouble getting out of bed in the morning, feeling like getting on with the day. I have my Bible reading and prayer time first of all, and that’s my spiritual exercise. Next I have my physical exercise in the form of a brisk walk for about thirty minutes (unless it’s raining!). Then I’m ready for whatever the day might throw at me!

I find that if I don’t have this morning start, it feels as though something is missing. I’ve tried doing my exercise later on in the day, and it just doesn’t work. Other things crowd in, or the day gets too hot, and my start has all come to nothing. By night time, I’m flagging and ready for bed.

Perhaps you function better at the other end of the day. You find it hard to get moving in the morning but by ten in the evening, you are sparkling and still going. Whichever end of the day you function the best at, make sure this is the time you give to God. Read some Bible verses, think about them and maybe write down some notes.

Whatever happens, never miss this special quiet time during the day.

Foggy Morning

As I turned the corner during my walk this morning, the road ahead was swathed in fog and nothing was clear. I couldn’t help remembering times in the past when we had been boating and were caught in the fog. Nothing could be seen, and we had to edge very carefully along to make sure we were away from the shoreline. More than once, we found that we had been going in a huge circle and were back at where we had started from!

We are often like this in life and when things are dim and unclear, we find ourselves groping around and very often end up where we started from. We’ve made no progress at all!

But all is not lost! There is no need for us to grope around at these times, if we wait patiently, the fog will lift eventually and we will see our way clearly once more.

Another thing about the fog, is that as it begins to lift, it swathes itself around the highest points leaving the lower areas still in its mantle. This often makes for very interesting photos. So it is in life. As we come out of these foggy experiences, the things we have learned are to our benefit, and we can see what the Lord was teaching us as we groped our way through these times. Let’s make sure that we don’t stay in the fog, but keep looking up until it lifts and we are once more in the clear sunlight of seeing all God’s blessings that He has given us!

When Ignorance is NOT Bliss!

Ignorance is bliss so they say. But this is no excuse as far as the law is concerned! One day a new “Stop” sign was erected on a road I didn’t use much, and I slid over it as usual after checking that no cars were coming. Alas for me, a traffic officer confronted me around the corner where he had been waiting to catch the unwary offenders. My ignorance was no excuse for getting out of the ensuing fine, and it was large enough to hurt my pocket. I ruefully thought of the shoes or whatever else that I could have bought with that amount!

It made me realise that just as the law accepts no excuses for being broken, that God’s law is just as inflexible. He says on one hand, “The soul that sins, shall die!”

On the other hand there is the verse that says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only beloved Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

First Post

Hi there! I would like to make my posts a bit more personal, more in the line of a collection of thoughts as they come to mind. Just as if we were having a visit together. Life is so interesting, and a real conglomeration of ideas and events. Life is never static, something is always happening.

There are so many things to find interesting, and so many lessons to learn from things around us. We all have different interests, and some of mine include reading, gardening, music photography and camping. and of course my trusty computer!  How is that for a melting pot of interests?

But in all of these, I try to find the real meaning of life in the God of Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ which we learn about in the Bible.