heavenly elevenses

God has been saying these things to me the past few months.
And now He is confirming it again.
He makes All Things New.
And me, I am a new creation.
Praise Him!!!

“This is a new day; it is not like the days of old gone by. Forget the former things, forget the difficulties that have kept you barren and bound. Do not compare what you perceive to be your own inabilities against the magnitude of the mountains that you face. This is a new day and I am doing a new thing.

Look up into the heavens, look up with the eyes of your spirit and see what I am doing!

Look up and see: My Glory arises above you, it is ever so near. My Glory arises above you, so pull it down, pull it down!

Pull it down into your circumstances and the situations that you find yourself in. Pull it down into your relationships and see restoration. Pull it down and see hard hearts melting. Pull it down and see salvation. This is a new day and a new season.

Isaiah 60:1-5
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms. Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.”

Yes, yes, yes and AMEN…!

…because sometimes, you have to.

The pace has picked up quite a bit these past few weeks.

My involvement in the prayer and worship ministries at church has gone up one level, and I am slowly taking much more of an active role in those areas… this delights me, and thrills me and yet also humbles me because I am seeing God at work in my life and in people’s lives around me like NEVER before.

Outside of church and home life I am becoming more established as a classroom helper at this school, and hoping – no, asking (God…!) for some kind of job to come up there as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly I am also facing the prospect of returning to language teaching. This is not something I ever thought would happen but it seemed God had other ideas!
There are numerous language schools here in Torbay and as the milder weather arrives, hundreds of students from all over Europe and the Middle East (even the Far East) start flocking to our little part of the UK in order to learn and improve their English and experience life here in all its glamour and sophistication.

And so, just like that, an opportunity has come up for me to try my hand at teaching conversational English to groups of (mostly German) students who are starting out in their adult life (…in other words they are no longer snotty teenagers – which is the age group I have vowed never to teach ever again, at least not in a classroom context. Teenagers in school groups are mean, spiteful, obnoxious and crafty little buggers, and I’m just not cut out for teaching them. End of. Nothing personal…). I’m told these students are motivated, and polite, and respectful, and eager to learn. I guess we’ll find out how I get on in April when I start teaching in earnest – for now I am preparing, observing, and praying for a huge dose of peace and supernatural, God-given confidence. The company I’m working for seem to be extremely supportive, encouraging, and very laid back in their approach. Just what the doctor ordered.

Needless to say it’s pretty intense, emotionally, as well as physically, as my routine radically changes from a fairly sedentary stay-at-home existence to a progressively more active, working lifestyle. I have been praying for this to happen for years, and it’s finally starting to happen. I’m excited and exhilarated but to be honest, I am also exhausted by the transition. And this is rapidly turning into an exercise to see how many more verbs beginning with ex- can I use in one sentence.

Incidentally while we’re on that subject, what does “exhaustipated” mean?
It’s when you’re too tired to give a shit.

Sorry.

So today I am having the day off. I’ve cleared my diary, have decided to see no-one and go nowhere except for the obligatory drop off and pick up at the school gate – and a walk with the dog at a nearby country park. Time ALONE with God. Long overdue, much needed time out. It feels good.

I’ve had a proper home made coffee. Well, latte, to be precise.
I know. Get me.
Did some drawing.
Cleaned my kitchen whilst listening to some godly stuff on podcast.
Played with my dog.

Oh, and I found flowers.

First, camellias – how can I ever get bored of camellias?!

Followed by a cute, perky, cheeky little cluster of mini daffodils.

Snow drops? They’re still everywhere. A reminder that spring is really only just beginning…

Then, a magnificent magnolia tree which has only just started to blossom. What bliss.

Buttercups, heavy with a recent downpour…

And finally a glorious carpet of purple crocuses.

What more could a girl ask for…?
(Don’t answer that.)