God Is Awesome

Hello everyone,

I've been trying to check my e-mail all day but it doesn't seem to be working. Is anyone else having problems with Yahoo today? We had two power cuts (outages) today but they didn't last long so that was good.

We had two lovely gorgeous couples come over last night from Mahome Bay. They led worship today at church and gave out prophetic words to people that were so spot on. The pastors spoke a little and really encouraged so many of us in our church. I really enjoyed hanging out with them and with the Holy Spirit this weekend. I love those guys. I put a link to their church 'Bethel Outreach Church' on my sidebar - check them out sometime! God is really so awesome. I'm so excited about His plans for this place and just so excited about Him. He is just sooooo cool!

And Ken, Shelly, Andrew & Michelle - if you guys are reading this, I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for coming to visit with us. You are such a blessing and I love your hearts for Jesus. Can't wait to see you again.

We had so much good food too. Everyone brought something. My absolute favourite food that I ate today though were this spinach leaf, with strawberries and blue cheese salad that Jo made and also this absolutely gorgeous home-made banana bread that I think Jo also made. There were three slices of the banana bread left over today, so I had those for dinner. They were gorgeous. Anyway, I'll stop talking about food. Hope you all had a great day too, and if you don't know Jesus, I really hope that you will one day, because He really is the BEST and He just LOVES YOU so much.

Love Ash x

I Hope You Dance

Yet another one of those things I received on e-mail that I thought was cool enough to share with you:

When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other. My eyes drew back to the word Guidance. When I saw "G: I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i".

"God, "u" and "i" dance." God, you, and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday. May you abide in God as God abides in you. Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached. If God has done anything for you in your life, please share this message with someone else, for prayer is one of the best gifts we can receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards; so let's continue to pray for one another.

And I Hope You Dance!

George Carlin's View on Aging

George Carlin's View on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life .. . . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 And your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70!

After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90's, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!" May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them!"
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. And if you don't send this to at least 8 people - who cares? But do share this with someone. We all need to live life to its fullest each day!! Have a wonderful day!!!!!!!

n

My Comments

I disagree with point number 6, in that, there is someone with us our entire life, and that someone is Jesus.

My favourite point is point number 9.

The Invasion Of The Bat

Last night when I got home from visiting a friend, Jake the dog was besides himself jumping up and down wanting some food. So I went straight to the kitchen to get his food. I was just preparing his dinner when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a real live black bat flying about in the far end of the kitchen!

Well, I've never seen a real bat before in my life. I didn't exactly freak out, but I think I was in a bit of a shock as to how on earth a bat could've gone into the house. Fortunately, some friends were not too far away, so I quickly went out again and got them and they managed to catch the bat for me and take it out of the house.

What a relief. Jake finally got his dinner and after that I was so tired, I went straight to bed. I was trying to find a picture of a bat on the internet and the one above is the closest one that I could find that looks like the one that got in the house yesterday.

I never knew before today that bats come in different colours. I thought they were all black, but apparantly some are brown and there are some that are grey too. In Nova Scotia apparantly there are 7 different species of bats, 3 of which are more common. Some are little and some are big. Some even have long ears!

Did you know that: 'Bats are protected under the BC Provincial Wildlife Act and special permits must be obtained to kill them. The chance of being "attacked" by a rabid bat is extremely rare in B.C. As a precaution avoid handling bats altogether, but should it be necessary, thick leather gloves should be worn to touch live bats and disposable plastic ones to deal with dead bats. ' ?

Well, we don't live in British Columbia, but we didn't kill the bat. However, we didn't use leather gloves either. We just used an empty yogurt pot to capture it and then released it once we were outside the house.

Also apparantly, 'Female bats give birth to only one or two young annually and roost in small or large numbers. Males may live singly or in small groups but scientists are still unsure of the whereabouts of most males in summer.'

This bat was on his own, so maybe he was a male. I guess some male bats might try and sneak into people's houses in the summer, hmmph! Well, I hope none of them try to come in here again. Bats are definitely NOT WELCOME in this house! There's enough animals here.

Happy Birthday Clare

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLARE & RACHEL

Today is Clare's birthday. Clare is a very dear friend of mine. If you don't know Clare, then you are missing out and here is why:

1. Clare and her twin sister Rachel are unique.
2. Clare has the hugest heart.
3. Clare is one of the friendliest people I know.
4. Clare is a very faithful and loyal friend.
5. Clare will love you no matter where you come from.
6. Clare is smart, sophisticated and BEAUTIFUL.
7. Clare is intelligent, fun-loving, and extremely generous.
8. Clare gets on with people of all ages.
9. Clare is funny.
10. Clare will make you laugh.
11. Clare gives wonderful hugs.
12. Clare is a true English rose!

Clarey I love you babe! Thanks for being my friend. Have a wonderful birthday!

It's Been A While...

Hello,

I am sorry for my absence from the world of blog for those of you who occassionally do stop by. I have no idea what to tell you. So I'll just write whatever comes into my head and hope that there might be something of interest. At this precise moment, I am listening to my favourite singer of all time. Her name is Fayruz (my sister was named after her) and she is a Lebanese Christian and a legend all over the Middle East. Here is a photo of her for you...


Although she is quite old now and rarely performs any more, her beautiful songs are all-time classics and loved by many generations. In fact, if you ask any Arabic person about her, they will know who she is and probably have her music in their home too. Yeah, so I am enjoying listening to her truly unique angelic voice while writing to you.

I have the house to myself at the moment. Gary and Rachel and the girls are all in England at the moment for 2 and 1/2 weeks. I am house sitting for them and looking after Jake the dog, Bridget the cat, Max the guinea pig, and Nemo, Mo, and Flo the fish. We did have another fish called Glo but he/she (how do you tell if fish are female or male?) died and I buried it in the garden yesterday.

There's been a few changes in my life recently:

• I am insured to drive the car now and went out a few times with Rachel before they left. I drove into town on my own yesterday, so that was cool. It's really good for me to get some practise driving on my own to build up my self-confidence.

• I am 28 years old now. It was my birthday last week and Gary cooked me a lovely curry for my birthday and I had a great day. I am really excited about all that God has for me in this coming year of my life.

• Our church moved from the building and into our home. I've always wanted to be part of a house church and now I am. For the next two weeks while Gary and Rachel are away, I am pastoring and looking after the church on my own. Just as well I have God with me :)

• Speaking of God, I decided to give up my morning sleep and spend my mornings with God every day, so ever since my birthday, I've been getting up at 6am every morning (which if you know me, you'll know that I'm not exactly an early bird) and spending every morning with God until 12 noon. Although, I don't like getting up early, I have to say, that once I actually get myself out of bed, I really enjoy my time with God so much, that I am truly looking forward to every morning. And now I have two whole weeks to spend as much time as I like with God, it's so cool. He is sooooooooo cool!

I've been trying to start a fire in the furnace downstairs in the basement, but it is taking sooo long to get going. So I better go and check on that soon. Well I guess that that is all for now. Hope you didn't get too bored and hope you come back soon.

Love Ash x

Canada Day

Yesterday morning was terrible because England lost their chance of winning the world cup. To say that we were very sad is an understatement.

However, yesterday was also Canada Day and we decided to have our church service yesterday instead of today so that we could celebrate Canada Day and pray for God to bless Canada.



It was a lovely service. It was at 3pm and everyone brought food with them that we cooked on the barbecue after the service and everyone stayed for a lovely barbecue. It was also special because it was the first service of our house church. Yes, we have decided to have church in our house instead of in the building we were renting. I think it's really cool to be in a house church and am really excited about it. It reminds me of when the Christians in the New Testament used to meet in each other's houses. I pray that it will help us as a church family to grow in community with each other.


The kids had a great time too as the Lord blessed us with a new swimming pool and we also have a trampoline so many hours of fun were a result. A couple of little girls went for a walk in the garden and came back with two frogs that they found. I let them take the frogs home with them and they were really pleased.

Love to everyone and may God bless you!