Visit to the Physio.

My frozen shoulder is now well healed and I have excellent movement in it and no pain! When I think of how it hurt when I moved it in the wrong way...it is nothing short of a miracle that I move it freely now.
But...and there is always a but isn't there?!...but, I now have a problem with my left knee which has nothing to do with the problem I have with my "bulging discs" in my lower back! The physio says that he thinks I need to see the doctor and that I need an X-ray! So the problems seem to be jumping about my body like they're in a mad game of hide and seek!
On leaving, I showed the physio my swollen right index finger; the top joint has been giving me pain and is twice the size of my left index finger.
"Oh, that's arthritis!" he said immediately!
Joy!

Must See!

We went to see The King's Speech yesterday and came out knowing we had seen an excellent film. The standard of acting from all three main characters was brilliant and Timothy Spall made an excellent Churchill! The film is a long one, some two hours but I could easily have taken a toilet break then sat down and watched it again!
The fact that is's based on a true story adds to it as you learn things about life behind the scenes that surprises you.
To portray the acute difficulties and extreme frustrations of a man with a stutter so well was shere brilliance on the part of Colin Firth and will surely lead to a reputation which far outreaches that of the "rom. com.pretty boy"! This man is a very talented actor and will well deserve all the awards he is sure to get!

Out of Context!

We are so often told that it is dangerous to read certain passages of the Bible out of their original context as we tend to bend them to fit our own desires and purposes rather than following the word of God. I came across a very good example of this today in Isaiah 22 which is today's reading from our Daily Bible Reading Plan.
Verse 13 says *Let us eat and drink...for tomorrow we die!" How often I have heard this quoted, usually with "and be merry" tagged on the end. That's before reading on IN context though. Verse 14 tells us: "'Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for,' says the Lord, the Lord Almighty."
Revelling to enjoy what is left of our lives is so offensive that God himself said he would not forgive this attitude!
Makes you think!

Right Brain/Left Brain

Here's an interesting one. How long does it take you to find the man in the picture?

Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, the right half of your brain is better developed than most people. If you find the man between 3 seconds and 1 minute, the right half of the brain is developed normally. If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more protein. If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of this type of exercise to make that part of the brain stronger!!!

And, yes, the man is really there!!
Simplistically, in a nut-shell, as I have been told, left brainers are more practical,logical, scientific whereas right brainers are the opposite, more creative/artistic, free thinkers with greater intuition.

Is this right for you?

Grace!

I used to think grace was just about posture and the way you managed your body. Graceful - like a ballet dancer - not at all like me.
I went to a very small Primary School and when anyone new joined they stuck out like a sore thumb, and none more so that Grace Bullock. Her name was a contradiction in terms to my young mind. She was more of a bullock in her movements than a grace, until, that is, she was asked to read out loud in class. We were all mesmerised by the way she could read anything, from a text book on the Grimsby fishing industry to a Bible story about Jesus feeding the five thousand. She flowed. She read effortlessly, no stammering, no hesitation and she made it all sound interesting. She was the best reader I had ever heard and I was very jealous as I had had that title before she came and I was the one who was usually asked to read in class.

So now that I am much older and a Christian I understand something far different about grace. Grace is undeserved favour from God. He loves us and forgives us because of His Son, Jesus, and the fact that He went to the cross in our place.

I don't deserve God's favour but I have it just because I believe in His Son and that He died for me.

We listened to a brilliant sermon today and the Grace of God was explained to me very clearly. Imagine a young child playing and he accidentally bats a ball at a precious and highly expensive ornament and it falls to the floor and shatters into a million pieces. The father who knows the value of the ornament leaps to his feet and is about to beat the child when the boy's older brother stands between them and says: "Dad, my brother is more precious than the vase!" This makes the father think twice and he sits down chastened.
This is what Jesus does for us; he is like the older brother who steps between the punishment that God could deservedly mete out to us and reminds Him that we are more precious and God agrees with Him because we believe in His Son. Amazing. That's grace.

We are in the New Covenant. The Old Covenant was between God and the Israelites and they failed. They were bound to - there were too many rules and they could not possibly succeed. So God made a New Covenant between God the Father and His Son. We get in on that because we believe in His Son; we cannot fail. We think we have to earn it but we receive it by grace, through faith. We feel it's our performance that earns us God's Grace but it isn't! God declares me righteous because I believe in His Son.
Grace is a gift of God. I don't deserve it but I believe in His Son so He releases grace into my life. What a great deal. Why do so many people turn it down?

Stats!

I have been clicking around some of the other buttons on the blog site and came across the "Stats" section. Absolutely fascinating! Do you know that 18 people have looked at my blog today? Incredible! That is very gratifying but also it makes you think about the importance of what you write, as those 'hits' have been from UK, Canada, North America, Europe and South Africa; so my audience is wider that I perhaps expected!
It would be even more exciting if more people would leave comments as I love it when an e mail tells me someone has left a comment for me.
So, many thanks to my faithful readers and I see I have a responsibility to write a fresh message more regularly!
Keep reading!

The Poet!

Happy New Year to all my followers and apologies that there hasn't been a new post in 2011 - until now!
The postman has just delivered our copy of The North Magazine, which is a celebration issue of 25 years of their published poetry. They have made a selection and have chosen one of Duncan's poems to be included. We were informed that he had a poem in this edition back in December and were both excited and curious as to which poem it would be. I was surprised by their choice - we had both speculated on this - but the chosen one is a very good choice! However, he did write this many years ago; years before he ever knew me I think. He has written more since, and even better poetry and today's post has made me determined to encourage his gift even more.
My husband is a very talented man as well as being, actually, the nicest person I have ever met! I feel I can write this as he is out at the moment and won't be able to stop me from pressing the "Publish Post" button! So, well done, Duncan and just keep on keeping on. I am very proud to be your wife - and not just because you're a published poet but because you are you!