Yesterday was Baptism day in church. Nothing beats this for making you go through every emotion possible as you witness this amazing event.Having been recently baptised (January 2012) I know that however much emotional pain that person is in whilst giving their testimony that they are moments away from being re-born.
Nothing prepares you for the total elation of having your slate wiped clean, burying your old life and starting a new one. Forgiven.
Yesterday certainly did not disappoint and it was great to see the great big smiles on the faces of my 2 friends that were among the baptisms yesterday. I told them they would feel amazing afterwards but amidst the nerves of the preparation they didn't believe me.
I couldn't help but let a little 'I told you so' slip out of my mouth :)
Esther xx
Monday, 28 May 2012
Sunday, 20 May 2012
What defines you?
I was sitting next to a friend at church this morning & we were joined by lady neither of us had met before. My friend asked what the other lady did for a living & then she asked my friend the same question.
This is the thing that touched my heart. The first thing on her list was being a Grandmother to wonderful children, a wife & mother. Dispite there being many other things on the list of things she 'does' being a Grandmother, Mother & Wife were the most important thing, and quite rightly so. I wonder how many high flying business men and women would list being a father or mother as 'what they do' if they were asked.
Being a parent is the most important job in the world & something that links you to another person forever. Even if parents divorce they will still have a bond for life in their children.
The same goes for God. No matter what happens we are still his children for life, it's a bond that cannot be broken.
Esther xx
This is the thing that touched my heart. The first thing on her list was being a Grandmother to wonderful children, a wife & mother. Dispite there being many other things on the list of things she 'does' being a Grandmother, Mother & Wife were the most important thing, and quite rightly so. I wonder how many high flying business men and women would list being a father or mother as 'what they do' if they were asked.
Being a parent is the most important job in the world & something that links you to another person forever. Even if parents divorce they will still have a bond for life in their children.
The same goes for God. No matter what happens we are still his children for life, it's a bond that cannot be broken.
Esther xx
Thursday, 17 May 2012
The Rabbi, The Bishop and Me
I had a very interesting evening yesterday with my first visit to a Synagogue. My Dad invited me along as the Bishop of Reading was going to be preaching there & members of the congregation had been asked to invite Christian friends along.
The Bishop spoke of how so many that would call themselves religious actually live as Atheists Monday to Saturday living out of the church, only stopping to consider their Faith during Church on Sunday.
In his opinion clergy were also finding it hard to find time & that he himself works an 80+ hours week. The sad reality is the church are less able to give time and love.
So he asked 'how do we recover ourselves as people of Faith?' One of his suggestions was that the building we worship in shouldn't become the centre of our Faith and that we should recover a sense of sacred time, taking the time to read & I guess just spend time being with God. He recently met the new Bishop of Winchester (I think) and he had scheduled in one day a week to spend in his study just reading & if he felt like a nap he would nap! Sounds great! Also we must spend time together as a Faith community outside the usual service. This is something Kerith does extremely well in Life Groups and so many other ways that we can meet in small groups. A Rabbi from reading commented that the word 'Congregation' should be changed to 'community'
The other issues are how do we engage our children with God? The Bishop made an extremely valid point in that many children & teenagers are busy with sporting activities which leaves no time to attend church if the two things clash so he urged that there needed to be more than one meeting. I know I'm being biased but this is another tick in Kerith's favour as there are 3 meetings. Funnily enough I'm normally at the 9am meeting as my children have swimming lessons at 11.30am! Another sad fact is the lack of family time in the form of sharing a meal together. A newly ordained Vicar said he'd gone into a home where there was the most enormous television taking pride of place but absolutely nowhere to sit and eat together. How tragic that we are slaves to the TV. The Jewish faith probably has these issues less as they share their Shabbat meal on a Friday evening. I'm very blessed because we sit down as a family every evening at the table to eat. I can't say they're always spent in perfect harmony but that's family life! When the floor was opened for questions the general consensus was that children had no idea what the 10 commandments are & that was the way it would stay. I would have to disagree. If I didn't think I could bring my children up to know them I might as well throw the towel in now. Religious or not, they're about living as good human beings.
All in all it was a good evening & great to hear from other Faith groups and to have Christianity respected through out. From what I can gather this is something they do regularly so do come along next time. Oh, and I invited the Bishop to the Kerith and he seemed quite keen!
Disciples never graduate not am I perfect yet but I am still following.
Esther xx
The Bishop spoke of how so many that would call themselves religious actually live as Atheists Monday to Saturday living out of the church, only stopping to consider their Faith during Church on Sunday.
In his opinion clergy were also finding it hard to find time & that he himself works an 80+ hours week. The sad reality is the church are less able to give time and love.
So he asked 'how do we recover ourselves as people of Faith?' One of his suggestions was that the building we worship in shouldn't become the centre of our Faith and that we should recover a sense of sacred time, taking the time to read & I guess just spend time being with God. He recently met the new Bishop of Winchester (I think) and he had scheduled in one day a week to spend in his study just reading & if he felt like a nap he would nap! Sounds great! Also we must spend time together as a Faith community outside the usual service. This is something Kerith does extremely well in Life Groups and so many other ways that we can meet in small groups. A Rabbi from reading commented that the word 'Congregation' should be changed to 'community'
The other issues are how do we engage our children with God? The Bishop made an extremely valid point in that many children & teenagers are busy with sporting activities which leaves no time to attend church if the two things clash so he urged that there needed to be more than one meeting. I know I'm being biased but this is another tick in Kerith's favour as there are 3 meetings. Funnily enough I'm normally at the 9am meeting as my children have swimming lessons at 11.30am! Another sad fact is the lack of family time in the form of sharing a meal together. A newly ordained Vicar said he'd gone into a home where there was the most enormous television taking pride of place but absolutely nowhere to sit and eat together. How tragic that we are slaves to the TV. The Jewish faith probably has these issues less as they share their Shabbat meal on a Friday evening. I'm very blessed because we sit down as a family every evening at the table to eat. I can't say they're always spent in perfect harmony but that's family life! When the floor was opened for questions the general consensus was that children had no idea what the 10 commandments are & that was the way it would stay. I would have to disagree. If I didn't think I could bring my children up to know them I might as well throw the towel in now. Religious or not, they're about living as good human beings.
All in all it was a good evening & great to hear from other Faith groups and to have Christianity respected through out. From what I can gather this is something they do regularly so do come along next time. Oh, and I invited the Bishop to the Kerith and he seemed quite keen!
Disciples never graduate not am I perfect yet but I am still following.
Esther xx
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Let it all out.
When traumatic events happen we deal with them in whatever style we use & then get on with life thinking it's done & dusted. Then something will happen & out of the blue there will be tears streaming down your face because it's far from over, it's just buried in that secret place that we store the bad stuff. This has happened to me the last 2 meetings at church when debt has been talked about. You see, amost 8 years ago debt fell on my family in a big way. It was my father & in trying to set up his own company things went very, very badly wrong & we almost lost him. I wont go into the fine details because I don't feel it's appropriate but please don't think for a minute that it's out of shame it's purely because it's not my place. My point is that there is no need to feel shame this only adds to the isolation & going it alone is the worst thing you can do. So I've learnt that we really need to work through things in the first place & not to just put a brave face on things. The one thing that I have now that I didn't have 8 years ago is faith. I'm going to pray into the issues that are locked away & I know I never have to walk this life alone again.
Esther xx
When traumatic events happen we deal with them in whatever style we use & then get on with life thinking it's done & dusted. Then something will happen & out of the blue there will be tears streaming down your face because it's far from over, it's just buried in that secret place that we store the bad stuff. This has happened to me the last 2 meetings at church when debt has been talked about. You see, amost 8 years ago debt fell on my family in a big way. It was my father & in trying to set up his own company things went very, very badly wrong & we almost lost him. I wont go into the fine details because I don't feel it's appropriate but please don't think for a minute that it's out of shame it's purely because it's not my place. My point is that there is no need to feel shame this only adds to the isolation & going it alone is the worst thing you can do. So I've learnt that we really need to work through things in the first place & not to just put a brave face on things. The one thing that I have now that I didn't have 8 years ago is faith. I'm going to pray into the issues that are locked away & I know I never have to walk this life alone again.
Esther xx
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
The right to judge?
Christianity comes with responsibility, I get that. The responsibility to always think & act in the right way. The simple truth is that we're all human and mess up a lot of the time.
For me it was the actions of others that we are friends with that has been the subject of discussion in the last week. What do we do about friends that are essentially sinners in the way they lead their lives?
I was asked how I can 'claim' to be a Christian without condemning people for their actions. I guess it's a good question but I'm still offended that I'm seen as a person that should go around pointing a finger of disapproval at people.
My role is to love people no matter what their personal circumstances are, I can do that AND be a Christian. God is the judge of people not me and whilst he does not forgive sin he does forgive sinners.
Lets be a people that helps & guides people, that is what Jesus would do.
Esther xx
For me it was the actions of others that we are friends with that has been the subject of discussion in the last week. What do we do about friends that are essentially sinners in the way they lead their lives?
I was asked how I can 'claim' to be a Christian without condemning people for their actions. I guess it's a good question but I'm still offended that I'm seen as a person that should go around pointing a finger of disapproval at people.
My role is to love people no matter what their personal circumstances are, I can do that AND be a Christian. God is the judge of people not me and whilst he does not forgive sin he does forgive sinners.
Lets be a people that helps & guides people, that is what Jesus would do.
Esther xx
Sunday, 18 March 2012
Happy Mother's Day!
Despite my title, this morning in church I also had a reminder that Mother's Day isn't a happy day for everyone. It also reminded me that I shouldn't get so stressed with my children or worry so much about school reports etc. They're here, they're healthy (praise God) and they're happy.
My Husband & I hadn't been together very long when we discovered I had medical issues that might mean we would never conceive naturally so at the age of 20 & 23 respectively we had already decided we would adopt if necessary.
In 2000 I thought I might be pregnant but none of my pregnancy tests were positive, but just k knew something wasn't right. Finally I had to have a blood test to work out what was wrong & my GP said he thought I might be right & sent me for an ultrasound. The scan revealed a baby, but no heartbeat. I was completely devastated.
In 2001 my first little miracle, Luke, arrived. Wow, how I fell in love at first sight! I had conceived very easily but due to my condition Luke was born with hip dysplasia. He spent 2 weeks on traction, 23 hours of the day with only 1 hour off for cuddles & baths. If he cried in the night I couldn't cuddle him. After traction came an op & the almost 4 months in a hip cast which came off when he was 13months old. Luke also had a large strawberry birthmark on his left eyelid. This started to impact his vision as it was making the eye an irregular shape so had to start a series of patching the good eye to strengthen the bad. The strawberry mark was eventually removed by a remarkable plastic surgeon at Great Ormond Street hospital when Luke was 3.
Miracle number 2, Oscar. Also very easily conceived but a difficult pregnancy with lots of scans as I was bleeding. I felt very sick most of the time too. I went into premature labour at 34 weeks & Oscar was born by emergency c section as he was in respiratory distress. When he was born he took one breath then stopped breathing but thankfully he started to breathe again. I didn't have my faith then but I remember thinking 'why have you let me come this far to take him from me now?' It occurred to me very recently that I must of been talking to God. I didn't meet Oscar until the following day as he was in special care & only had a Polaroid picture. My Husband pointed out how his leg looked really turned in & as we had already been told by Luke's orthopeodic surgeon that all my babies would most likely have hip problems we assumed Oscar did too. A scan when Oscar was 12 weeks old revealed he has too healthy hips, yay! We did later discover that Oscar had a congenital nasal defect & one nasal passage was blocked. He had 2 operations to sort that out.
During our many trips to hospital we encountered very sick children & all of them had completely remarkable parents. We would be in awe of them & it proved how trivial our childrens ailments were in comparison.
I believe God chooses who faces these challenges because he knows that they will use their experiences for the good.
Texts for life
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Happy Mother's Day all,
Esther xx
My Husband & I hadn't been together very long when we discovered I had medical issues that might mean we would never conceive naturally so at the age of 20 & 23 respectively we had already decided we would adopt if necessary.
In 2000 I thought I might be pregnant but none of my pregnancy tests were positive, but just k knew something wasn't right. Finally I had to have a blood test to work out what was wrong & my GP said he thought I might be right & sent me for an ultrasound. The scan revealed a baby, but no heartbeat. I was completely devastated.
In 2001 my first little miracle, Luke, arrived. Wow, how I fell in love at first sight! I had conceived very easily but due to my condition Luke was born with hip dysplasia. He spent 2 weeks on traction, 23 hours of the day with only 1 hour off for cuddles & baths. If he cried in the night I couldn't cuddle him. After traction came an op & the almost 4 months in a hip cast which came off when he was 13months old. Luke also had a large strawberry birthmark on his left eyelid. This started to impact his vision as it was making the eye an irregular shape so had to start a series of patching the good eye to strengthen the bad. The strawberry mark was eventually removed by a remarkable plastic surgeon at Great Ormond Street hospital when Luke was 3.
Miracle number 2, Oscar. Also very easily conceived but a difficult pregnancy with lots of scans as I was bleeding. I felt very sick most of the time too. I went into premature labour at 34 weeks & Oscar was born by emergency c section as he was in respiratory distress. When he was born he took one breath then stopped breathing but thankfully he started to breathe again. I didn't have my faith then but I remember thinking 'why have you let me come this far to take him from me now?' It occurred to me very recently that I must of been talking to God. I didn't meet Oscar until the following day as he was in special care & only had a Polaroid picture. My Husband pointed out how his leg looked really turned in & as we had already been told by Luke's orthopeodic surgeon that all my babies would most likely have hip problems we assumed Oscar did too. A scan when Oscar was 12 weeks old revealed he has too healthy hips, yay! We did later discover that Oscar had a congenital nasal defect & one nasal passage was blocked. He had 2 operations to sort that out.
During our many trips to hospital we encountered very sick children & all of them had completely remarkable parents. We would be in awe of them & it proved how trivial our childrens ailments were in comparison.
I believe God chooses who faces these challenges because he knows that they will use their experiences for the good.
Texts for life
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Happy Mother's Day all,
Esther xx
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Do we really realise how Jesus died?
As a relatively new Christian this is the first year that I've really read the accounts of how Jesus actually died.
We're so used to romanticised images of Jesus on the cross that we either don't know the true extent of how horrific his death was or, like I was, are completely unaware.
Taunted, tortured then made to carry the cross of his crucifiction before being nailed to the cross, a crown of thorns placed on his head & stabbed.Let's not shy away from the facts, we owe it to Jesus to face these facts head on.
I haven't been able to get the image out of my head, I love my saviour more than ever & want him to know that I will never be worthy but will let him know daily that I am forever grateful.
Esther xx
We're so used to romanticised images of Jesus on the cross that we either don't know the true extent of how horrific his death was or, like I was, are completely unaware.
Taunted, tortured then made to carry the cross of his crucifiction before being nailed to the cross, a crown of thorns placed on his head & stabbed.Let's not shy away from the facts, we owe it to Jesus to face these facts head on.
I haven't been able to get the image out of my head, I love my saviour more than ever & want him to know that I will never be worthy but will let him know daily that I am forever grateful.
Esther xx
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