I keep meaning to put in this picture of the Alstromeira in the garden here, it's been magnificent since I arrived. It's my friend Molly's favourite flower so it reminds me of her each time I admire it.
Unfortunately Simon wasn't feeling great this morning, he'd hardly slept, so he put his feet up on his comfy sofa whilst I went to church and he managed to dose off again.
Yay I knew one of the songs this morning it was 'Nothing can separate, even if I run away, Your love never fails'. Paul the Pastor spoke about what the Lord had shown him in the middle of the night earlier in the week. He was shown how there is a need to bless others and the words that were going through his head when he woke up were "you know Paul it is ok to bless God".
He felt prompted to read Psalm 103 which starts with "Bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord oh my soul and forget none of His benefits....." God reinforced to him 3 things concerning blessing, thanking and praising (it's easy to get them all mixed together so I found these explanations helpful)
1) Blessing affirms identity - we bless God and others to affirm their identity. That's the nature of God put into us when we were created
2) Thanking affirms appreciation for things done or words said - we thank God and others for what has been done for us, or said to us, by them
3) Praising affirms achievement or completion of a task done - often we will tell others of a person or job done well, but forget to tell or praise that person, or even God Himself.
Paul suggested it would be beneficial if as indivuals we got into the habit of blessing God daily for who He is, rather than what He has done for us. As we do that thanks and praise will follow and then flow out to others. We will begin to see the world changing around us.
When I got back Simon had just woken up so we had a cuppa and light lunch in the garden. We did another crossword together, then read and relaxed until it was time to pop down and see Nicholas briefly. Bless him he was hanging tired after his full on weekend in the great outdoors, but was so pleased to see his Dad. We only stayed a few minutes just dropping off things he needed for the start of the week. Philippa agreed I could take him to see Transylvania 2 when I collect him from school on Tues, he was very excited at that prospect.
This is the High School Simon is hoping Nicholas will attend when he's a bit older. It's on the training circuit we walked yesterday so it will be easy for him to walk their from 904. I don't know who Art Williams is but this is a good statement for when someone needs to push through a challenge. We walked the circuit the opposite way tonight and it took us 10 mins less!
It's been a lovely slow-paced weekend, just what Simon needed before his pressured week. During the evening we watched the second episode of Newsroom, I am finding it compelling viewing.
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