The one with the Teabag

I am very blessed.  Yes, I know it.  You see, most mornings one of my sons will bring a cup of tea up to me in bed.  Some mornings I might even get two!  Life is good.

The other morning however, it was not so good.  My alarm had gone off, and been put on snooze, and there I lay, drifting in and out of sleep, waiting to hear the familiar 'chink' as a cup is placed on my bedside table.  It seemed a long time coming this particular morning, but it did arrive.  I slowly sat up, picked up the new Starbucks mug that had appeared, and with a content sigh, I took the first sip.  MMmmmmm ......

BUT - the MMmmmm soon turned into Ewwwwwww.  Something was wrong.

It was still hot.  It looked the right colour.  It was in the right mug (yes, that does make a difference!) - So - what was the problem?

It just didn't hit the spot!  Something was different.  Somehow, something seemed missing.  And then it dawned on me ....

Caffeine!  Or rather, the lack of it!

Somehow, the teabags must have been mixed up in the cupboard and the teabag my son had used was void of caffeine.

Not so good first thing in the morning! Thankfully, I still had time to have a 'proper' tea before leaving the house.

Later on that morning, I met with a friend (yes, you guessed it, for tea!), and I shared my early morning experience with her.  After laughing at how I can make such a big thing out of tea, she explained that she wouldn't have known the difference.  This got me thinking ...

How did I know with such assurance?  After all, it was early in the morning and I was still very sleepy and decaf tea doesn't really taste that different to regular tea.

But ... I knew.

The one with the handful

'Take a handful!'

Over the weekend one of our guests kindly offered my youngest son some of her Minstrels.  Being a chocolate lover, his eyes widened at the sight of the large bag of chocolates.   Before reaching into the bag, he looked at our guest as if to silently ask 'how many am I allowed to take?'  With astute perception she innocently answered 'take a handful'.  And that is what he did!  A rather huge handful!  Kids!  

 This incident triggered numerous giggling fits  as pictures of my son attempting to effectively hold and eat the chocolates flashed through our minds.  It really was comical.  

Throughout the weekend we discussed my son's literal interpretation of the direction to 'take a handful'.  To him this provided an opportunity to scoop up as many Minstrels into his hand as he could physically manage.  Why wouldn't he?  He loves chocolate!  It makes sense.  

However, to most adults (myself included) the same phrase brings about a different response.  'Take a handful' - becomes interpreted as 'take a few because you don't want to look greedy.'  The consequence of this interpretation results in the adult taking their hands out of the offered packet with only two or three chocolates.  How polite.  

So, whilst the children get to enjoy their acquired feast of chocolate, the adults are left with a tantalising taste of chocolate in their mouth.  Politeness aside - why do we do this?!  If we are offered a handful of chocolates, why do we not take it literally and grab as many as we like?  After all ... they were offered and we love chocolate!

As I have reflected on this today, I have realised that the inclination to settle for less does not stop with chocolates.  It may have an impact on an untold number of experiences in our lives.  Sadly, our ability to learn, to enjoy life,  or to love and be loved may be hindered as the 'take only a few' reaction kicks in. 

We may tell ourselves that we are not good enough.

We may believe that we do not deserve it.

We may assume that the offer is not really meant for us.

Rubbish.

These incorrect understandings are often deeply embedded in our lives and can result in mediocrity being accepted as norm.  However, as mentioned in a previous post - Jesus came to give us 'life to the full' (John 10:10).  This fullness of life includes being offered total forgiveness of sins, unconditional love and full acceptance into God's family.  Amazing!  

And yet,  our 'take only a few' response can sometimes result in us being unable to fully accept this.

Let's find out and understand what it is God is offering, and reach in and grab all we can.  Jesus died in order to make this possible for us.  God will not be offended or think we are greedy if we 'take a handful' - because when he offers it to us - he really means it.  He loves us and wants us to accept all he has for us - so we can live our life to the full with him :) 

Ready to grab a handful? :)

The one with the flat tyre

After the morning school run I sat quietly in Costa (yes, sorry Starbucks but if you had a store in Chineham I would be there!) enjoying a much needed cup of tea.  As I sipped, I flicked through the first few chapters of Jeff Lucas' book - 'How not to pray'.  On the whole I don't find writers funny - but Lucas is an exception.  I already have 'Lucas on life' and despite having read it several times, I still laugh out loud as I imagine myself in some of the situations about which he so humourously writes.  With great wit and a brutal honesty he explores the Christian life in such a way that encourages you to laugh and learn!  If you have yet to experience Lucas' writings - you are missing out.  Seriously - go to  Amazon and order one of his books.  Treat yourself to an early Christmas present.

Anyhow - enough of the advertising!

Back to Costa, with my tea and book ...

In the first few chapters Lucas looks at prayer - and admits that despite being a Christian and knowing Jesus loves him, he doesn't actually find prayer all that easy, and in fact, at times he even finds it boring!  Shock!  You know what though, I can empathise with him.

So, in a rare moment of quietness I reflected on how I really felt about my prayer life.  This reflective process left me in no doubt about my current experience of prayer ...

Flat.  Yes, that is it.  Flat.

A car with a flat tyre is an apt pictorial representation of how I feel about prayer right now.  The rest of the car is functioning well, but cannot perform effectively because the tyre is flat.

Recently I have felt as though I have just been plodding on in prayer.  Nothing new.  Nothing exciting.

Like a tyre with a slow puncture I have gradually become flat.  Am I alone here?

Prayer is my 'flat tyre'  - but yours may well be something else. It could be your bible reading,  your fitness, or perhaps your commitment to work or enthusiasm in relationships.  I guess we all have areas in our life that go flat from time to time.

Are we destined to live our lives in such a way?  Will our flat tyre continually impede our performance?  This, I believe,  is up to us.

I can see three obvious solutions to the 'flat tyre' problem.

Firstly - we could pump the tyre up.

Simple.  Well, simple this may be but it still requires effort.  If I want my current experience of prayer to change, it's unlikely to just happen.  I need to put time and effort in.  I need to push through the barriers (boredom, lack of time etc) and commit to seeing things change.


Secondly - we could locate and fix the puncture.

We might find that simply pumping the tyre up has no lasting impact.  There might be an issue we need to fix first.  In my example of prayer, this could include cutting my facebook hours down so I have more time to pray.  Whatever the nature of our 'flat tyre',  a slight lifestyle adjustment may be necessary in order for the tyre to remain inflated. 


Thirdly - we may need to give up and fit a new tyre completely!!

Let's face it - some tyres just aren't worth fixing.  They may have been fixed so many times before that they are never really going to perform efficiently.  We may need to remove the old tyre and discard it completely.  We can then fit a new tyre and full performance can commence :)  I may need to put aside my old struggles with prayer and start something new and find a new way of praying.   There is something incredibly refreshing about turning over and starting a fresh page. 


If like me, you have a 'flat tyre' - can I encourage you to do something about it.  Don't accept  performance under your true ability.  Don't put up with mediocre.   You, and those around you, deserve more!

Prayer may be flat for me at the moment - but I am going to do all I can to fix it!  Feel free to challenge me on this and make sure I am working on it :)

Jesus said - 'I come to give life, and life to the full' (John 10:10).  We cannot live this full life with Jesus if our tyre is flat!   I, for one, want to experience all that Jesus has for me.  Do you?

The one with the school PE experience

So, onto day three of blogging.  I have to admit - this isn't turning out quite as I expected.  I had envisioned these blogs to be an opportunity for me to entertain and show the funny side of life.  However, the first two of my blogs have neither been entertaining nor funny - but a realistic down to earth look at our life with God.  As much as I try to steer back to my original plan it seems that this third blog will be no different.  I think maybe God is trying to tell me either that I am not really that funny - or perhaps there are just one or two things I need to focus on first?  I will go with the latter!!

This morning 'The Ladies' invaded my house for the first time.  This wasn't just an opportunity to drink tea and chat - (which I am totally up for!) - but to spend time encouraging and supporting each other in prayer.  It seems I am not the only Christian who struggles in their prayer life.  I guess most of us at times feel as though there is a lot more to prayer than we are currently engaging in.  Maybe we want to be able to pray for longer,  be able to pray out loud with confidence, pray without our minds bouncing all over the place, or quite simply - pray at all!  This is the first point of today's blog - if you are struggling with prayer - you are not alone!  I find this quite comforting :)

So, with all ladies tea'ed up, I shared my thoughts and plans for the morning.  As we were focusing on prayer, I wanted to begin by reading a few good scriptures on prayer.  Good plan.  However, I couldn't move on any further than John 15:16 -

'You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.'

Whilst you would be right in seeing the prayer link in this scripture - it was the first part that really struck a chord with me.  'You did not choose me, but I chose you'.  Wow.  God chose us.  Even though he knew what we would be like, what we would struggle with, what are weaknesses would be, where we would mess up, where we would be disobedient - he still chose us!  

Can you remember your school PE days?  Standing out in your PE kit on a muddy field in freezing cold weather?  Right at the beginning of the game, two team captains are chosen and instructed to pick their team.  All is fine if you happened to be a sporty and popular person.  But what if you aren't?  You shrink back, hide behind the more confident and sporty kids, and pray for torrential rain in the vague hope the games will be called off!  You are always one of the last to be picked.  Always.  No-one really wants you on your team because you can't run fast or kick a ball straight.  Can you imagine it?  Maybe you don't need to imagine it, because you remember it well.

But ...

Right at the beginning of the team picking - you hear - 'I choose you' and look up to see a finger pointing straight at you.  There must be some mistake?  They must mean someone else?  But no, they have picked you, and not as a last resort - but first!!! 

This is what God has done.  He has picked us!  He doesn't look for someone else when he sees all our weaknesses and insecurities.  He doesn't look for someone more able, stronger, prettier, slimmer, intelligent.  He wants us - weaknesses and all.  


So, be encouraged today.  God chose you.  He chose you because he wants you on his team.  He sees the good in you, he sees your potential, he sees you as he created you.  He loves you.  


Amazing :)

Now we need to work through the rest of the verse ... but that's for another day :)