The Little Things

It's been a grey day.

You know the ones. Nothing's quite coloured, or memorable. Everything's dulled, it feels as if everything's in shadow. Your sunshine is nowhere to be seen behind the thick grey cloud. And the monochrome is tiring. It's all a little too sharp, but never sharp enough.


I felt stuck in those shadows in a big way today. But what got me through was the little things.


A blackcurrant Soother from a very lovely person indeed for my sore throat. An uplifting song on my mp3 player that I sat listening to on the bus, dreading the day ahead. Rehearsing a song at my concert band that brought back pretty memories. Sitting on the sofa with my tortoise. Somebody singing a crazy song and making me giggle in maths, though before I had felt more like crying. A hug from someone wonderful. My watch matching what I was wearing in the evening.


There were times I felt, frankly, completely rubbish. But all of these things put the colour into my day. We can't live in black and white. Colours are vital in our lives - they help young children to develop and directly influence how we feel and what we do. And it's the little things that shone a beautiful spectrum of colour into even the deepest of the shadows. I didn't feel 100% - I was ill, exhausted and next to nothing was going right.


I love this quote. I'd love to say that the name of my blog was inspired by it, but when I saw this quote, my blog had already been up, named and running for a few months.


"Someday all you will have to light your way will be a single ray of hope and that will be enough."
Kobi Yamada


I love this.


It might be all dark, it might be colourless. But we've got to get through. We're not always blessed with a huge, amazing source of help, but we've often got something more powerful - or more likely many, many things that together are more powerful that will get us through. Even in the darkness, a single ray of hope - because hope is that strong and beautiful - is sufficient to light up the path.


It mightn't be entirely clear, but it's enough to get you through while you search for a lamp.

I wanna be... shiny! :)

Mmm... I like shiny things :)

I like pretty pieces of silver jewellery that catch the light, with delicate chains and smooth pendants.

I like satin, it's gorgeous drape and the way it falls so elegantly.

I like the stars in the sky, and the calm feeling I get when I look up at them as I let my worries just drift away - a calm, clear, warm evening, knowing I'm not alone.

I like tinsel! I love the "nearly Christmas" buzz that goes with it.

I like conkers in Autumn, crunching through dry leaves with a coat on.

I like gel pens and how they look so pretty, whatever you draw on.

I like tin foil that hasn't been creased or crumpled... it's so perfect and pretty!

I like rippling water on Summer evenings, catching the sunlight, catching my eye.

I like sweet wrappers and those little silver balls you get on cakes.

I like colourful jewels and stained glass windows, I like golden candlesticks and dewy droplets on blades of glass.

And you know what? I strive to be shiny.

She's really lost it this time... I knew she was a little weird, but really, what is she on about? 

I'm not talking about taking a pot of ceramic silver paint and painting myself from head to toe. Though I wouldn't mind a silver nail polish... but that's not what I'm getting at.

As followers of Jesus, we've been given a light.

""You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven...""

I love this verse. Let's take it apart.

When we became followers of Jesus, a light was bestowed upon us. Firstly, what the flip does that mean?

"Light." What's light in itself? Light's what keeps the world going around. It's what keeps us all alive. Don't we describe sorrows and depression as living in darkness? Well, light is the opposite! Light is what fills us up. Light is what helps us to SEE.

In holding light, we help eachother to find the truths we all seek.

Light is what leads us, and others. Light is what's leading us into the arms of Jesus.

And hiding our light is totally unproductive, and... perhaps even ungrateful? It's a beautiful gift we're blessed to have been given by God!

But that's what Jesus is going on about when he says "Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl." It's true. Imagine you've been given a torch. You and your friends are out at night - do you turn the torch on and put it in your pocket so neither you nor your friends get any benefit from it? That helps no-one - you're just wasting the battery!

No, you get the torch out, and you all walk home safely. You benefit from the light.

""In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven...""

You get out your light and people are grateful. People are glad, and maybe next time, they'll remember to bring a torch too! And the more light, the safer and easier it is for you and your friends. It doesn't mean the dangers aren't there, but you are in a much better position to deal with them.

Another thing about you and your friends? You're in this together. You're shining your light for them to see, you're inspiring them - but you're together, and that's important. God loves the church - and church just means people coming together for God. He loves fellowship and it's important for our faith to stay strong. 

Modern technology can be such a pain! Being young doesn't make it any less complicated, though people sometimes think we must have it easy. But that's not the case and for a lot of us, the problem is switching on the torch. You've fiddled about with it for ages, you've tried everything. But you really don't know how to switch the light on.

Well. The answer is nice and cheesy :)

LOVE

Told you so! There is SO much material in the Bible about love. Because, as 1 John 4:16 tells us, God IS Love. So switch that torch on by the means of love. It's about the way you look on life and treat other people. It's about talking to that girl who no-one else speaks to, as Jesus would talk to those with leprosy or outcasts, though no-one else would. It's about being unconditional in our forgiveness, it's about seeing past appearances and peoples' pasts and simply having a place in your heart for everyone.

Does that sound difficult? Maybe. Do you need a big heart? Yes. How do you make your heart bigger? Let the Holy Spirit into your heart.

Get inspired - read 1 Corinthians 13. It's a gorgeous chapter, you've probably read it before.

Get your light out - put it on a lampstand and shine for the world.

• This Little Light, LZ7 - it's a wonderful song, which, awesomely, is about what I have written today. I love it! LZ7 are pretty cool.
• Scripture Union Holiday Camps - these are AMAAAZING! I went to Bcoz Ur Wrth It a while ago, and this Summer I went to Get Real! - it was the best birthday I've ever had and pretty much the most amazing week of my life. I loved it - SO MUCH! :D Brits, check it out. They are well worth going too.
• RISE, Rachel & Jason Gardner - A book I recently bought, which is excellent - for any Christian - young or old, male of female, at any stage in your walk. Rachel's Cherished is equally wonderful. I'd recommend Cherished for girls aged 11 - 18. It's great!

Forever Protected

Hey!

Firstly, I apologise sincerely. I haven't posted anything in an extremely long time. I've been busy away on some fantastic trips and holidays... perhaps more posts on that later :)

So, when I finally got time to put pen to paper, it took ages to gather the inspiration to write a post, and I still hadn't thought of anything... when I went on holiday again - an adventure camping holiday in France, canoeing down the Ardèche river, climbing, kayaking, abseiling and more. The long and short of it is that I was, once again, very busy.

However, inspirations struck when I was sitting at a wobbly wooden table in a cold, windy marquee one evening in France. Outside, it was dark and pouring it down, a violent thunderstorm shaking the trees - quite a difference from the 40º dry day heat on the river.

But in this appalling weather, I was sitting with a pack of cards, precariously balanced in a pyramid formation, where I slowly built the tower taller, wider. It wasn't easy, what with the wind making the table tremble, and my shaky hands doing everything possible to salvage my tower. Whenever it fell, I sat back down, and started again.

It looked a bit like this, only bigger... and maybe not as neat :)
I would have taken my own photograph, only there were cheeky  11 year old boys running around, and I couldn't risk going to get the camera for fear of them ruining it in my absence.
This picture does not belong to me

It reminded my of these song lyrics...

"The way you move is like a full on rainstorm and I'm a house of cards."

This is from Taylor Swift's Sparks Fly, which is a song on her latest album Speak Now. Though, unless I'm very much mistaken, it was around before, but only a live version was around, the studio version came about on Speak Now. But whatever, I might be talking complete fiction here. I'll get my research guy to look it up for me. Oh, wait, I don't have a research guy. I could do it myself but I'm very pushed for time writing this post, I'm nowhere near done and here I am rambling about facts I don't know are true, and whether or not they are true. And researching it would have been quicker, or perhaps not mentioning at all would have been best. WHAT AM I ON ABOUT?

ANYWAY, I digress (just a little...) ;)

Do you ever feel like a house of cards in a rainstorm? I certainly do. Sometimes the world seems just a little too big, too strong, too powerful, and we're so tiny in comparison to the day's events. Sometimes a situation looks more like a vast rockface, with risk of avalanche at the single touch.

And you're shaking violently. The wind is beating and sending tremors through you. And the table beneath you might give out any moment.

But whenever the house of cards is shaking, is there not someone leaning over it, protecting it from the wind? If a card is to fall or slip out of place, is there not someone slotting it back in, in fact adding more cards as reinforcement, strengthening you?

Readers, I'm writing this because I want you to know that God is there when you feel like a house of cards in the rain. He's protecting you at every gust of wind, he's making you stronger every time you are damaged.

If you fall, you don't need to worry. Because he's going to pick you up, and start all over again. And you're going to be three times as strong.

"Is he not strong enough? Is he not pure enough to break me, pour me out and start again?"

-- Strong Enough, Stacie Orrico

You can start afresh. You can begin again, and he'll build you up, so beautifully, carefully.

Don't be afraid of climbing higher and higher. God is completely in control, and if you fall, he's always there to pick you up. It's easy to feel that the higher you climb, the further it is to fall. I disagree. Think of a house of cards, and their pyramid formation. For your house of  cards to get taller, the base has to get bigger, stronger. Harder to break. So you won't fall as far.

And sometimes, God takes us back to nothing, when we think we're doing so well. Why, you think? Why would my loving, beautiful God be so cruel to me? It makes us all doubt our faith at times, but it's OK. You DO have a loving God - he's not hurting you, but making you better, perfecting you to be the person that he planned you to be.

""For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.""

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Are you hurting? He has his plans. "Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways", Proverbs tells us. A new perspective, new friends, renewed thinking and relationships can all be gained through experiencing pain. A fresh start sometimes means breaking walls down first.

Another bit of wisdom from Proverbs that is very much adored by a friend and I is this:
"The Lord has determined our path, how then can anyone understand the direction his own life is taking?"

Proverbs 20:24 (GNB)

He's got our plan in his hands. You don't need to analyse why he might be doing it, it might not come clear for a very long time yet. Step back and trust God to carry out his plans.

You are protected.

This picture does not belong to me

• Strong Enough, Stacie Orrico - as quoted above - this is a beautiful song. It gives me hope, remembering I can start again, and my sins are forgiven, because of God.
• Lead Me To The Cross, The Rubyz - There's a few versions of this song, I think that The Rubyz do it very well.
• The Reason For God, Timothy Keller -This is a great book. You know those religious questions that bother us all - how can a kind God punish people? How can there only be one true religion? It answers it all in great detail. It can get a bit complicated, but it's an excellent book, I just bought it. I would recommend this for people with any religious belief - Keller is very respectful of any other religion, just as he promises to be in the Foreword. It's not really directed at Christians, just EVERYBODY, answering the questions that we all ponder.
• Sparks Fly, Taylor Swift - Again, I quoted this song above. Have a listen, I think it's a good song.