Anglican liturgy is dull, (and other assumptions to question..)

Sharing contemporary Anglican resourses:

Morning Prayer v3
</aHoly Communion v3

Well I’ve just completed some new designs of the Anglican morning prayer and Holy Communion orders of service.

I’m not really an Anglican, just a follower of Jesus, but as I’d previously suspected, there is some incredible words of truth in the Anglican standard prayers, (probably cos a lot of is from the Bible ie word of God basically!  So that figures). 

It’s just if you’re anything like me there are too many memories of leafing through p142 section C1 and” then we’ll pray togehter the prayer on the middle of para 14.2 on p169″.  And I know lots of growing church dispense with much of it all together  which is great if you can do excellent stuff in its place consistently.

Anyway, had a hunch if i got rid of the presentation obstacles, I could make a big improvement for people.  And they’ve been very well received so far.  So please use them for ideas, and also forward me your good stuff.

Why are we so timid?

We’ve not been given a spirit of timidity! But of power, of love, and of self discipline.

Why are we so timid?  I think I’m only really just starting to get to realise again what following Jesus really means, and the huge, exciting, supernatural adventure it is.  Jesus can be everything, and his Spirit is really powerful! And actually it’s hard to be timid when you’re up close to that.  Anyway hopefully will get chance to reflect further on this soon but tons to do and be….XX

OK it went like this …..

Today, (as most days at the moment), was fairly important.  It was my son’s birthday party, and also pinned to that, it was the first event with the other mothers of the other boys in his new Pre-Prep school.

Somewhat crazily, in a flip a coin, shall we shan’t we sort of way, I’d decided we would do his party at home in our garden.

Yes you may have already guessed most of the rest of this story by now – !  Anyway somehow 14 boys and their associated mums, nannies, and siblings were in the garden, football was going well, (though I should have thought to dig out the whistle for my husband), the BBQ was lit, tea had been made for the adults with chocolate fingers too, and all was running fairly smoothly as I took over the games.

The ‘build a rocket’ in two teams out of giant ‘Home Bargains’ bargains connectors was grabbing the boys interest and I’d managed to spin it out for quite a while.  But on completion of the judging, I noticed the food still wasn’t on the barbie and there was only 45 mins left to cook food and eat it and do the cake.  What could have gone wrong?  My husband was in the upstairs loo at the end of a trail of ‘mess’ !  How does she do it!!  My youngest daughterknows exactly when the worst moment is, and in the last 6 months the only times she’s done this is this time, and all over the house of some people who’d been generous enough to invite the whole family round to dinner!

The rest of the party got pretty hectic and also horror of unforgivable horrors the party bags ran out!  They hadn’t got much in anyway but to kids that it not the point! (Though I thought I had done about 5 spares, I hadn’t accounted for my girls taking one each unfortunately – ooops) The boys all had a great time and the mums were lovely, but I fear they have got to know me a bit better than I intended for the first occasion – to put it in a positive light.

And I only found out later that the incident began in a totally embarassingly dramatic way – with my 3 year old appearing starkers out of the french windows, people laughing and my husband asking her what was the matter, she then tuned round to reveal all smeared up her from her feet to her hair!  I know – it’s a bit much detail.  So I will now go down in school history as the mum who did the most scuzzy party with not enough party bags.  Boo hoo hoo can I really face everyone on Monday morning.

Check out new website!

Hi – I’m getting used to late nights at the moment!  Anyway thought I’d just check you’ve all had chance to see the website  for our local church St James New Barnet – all feedback / comments gratefully received, plus join the Facebook group if you want to keep in touch with how things are going in this outpost of God’s kingdom.  www.stjamesnewbarnet.com    (Also gotta get it up the Google ratings a bit so people can find us OK – come on we can do it!)

Really better go to bed now – ohh …………  I’ll just check Facebook!

R. I. P. Peter Rabbit

 

 

Well our newest addition to the family has gone!  This rabbit was very nice and after 6 weeks the kids were just getting used to having him around and getting confident with lifting him in and out of his hutch.  And visiting children were all enjoying seeing the rabbit and stroking his soft fur…  blub blub.  And they were all being really careful about not leaving the doors open, and the baby liked watching him and even I, a pragmatic pet-o-phobe on grounds of extra unnecessary work, was enjoying having him around!  But the large fox we’ve seen skulking through the bushes at the end of the garden managed to undo the door catches last night, and no more baby rabbit.

And we’ve all spent the day feeling very bad about this, and very sad for the poor rabbit as a familiar theme from cosy bedtime ‘FastFox’ stories has become a gory reality in front of our eyes!  And we’ve got no Slow Dog and today all supposedly ‘foxproof’ rabbit hutch designs we could find on the internet seem to have matching discussion threads of people with reports to the contrary! So we’ve all been quite deflated – will the kids have to give up on the idea of a rabbit?

But I am not going to see my kids defeated on this one, and as I was planning how I would somehow build the ultimate foxproof rabbit hutch with my son and I will not let this fox foil their hopes of pets, it occured that assuming the fox isn’t skilled with screwdrivers or saws, all we need to do is make sure the fastenings on the doors are able to be opened by the kids but not the fox.  This way should be a lot cheaper than a different hutch, or a shed to keep the hutch in.  SO current thinking is padlocks; probably key and number code versions for good measure.  And as long as the kids can keep a secret, and don’t tell the fox the code accidently……. !

Some piccies

IKEA update

OK!  Well the metal filing cabinet, (ERIK  £69 if you’re interested) I was trying to put together now had one plastic part which arrived broken and I tried to glue together rather than face a special trip to the returns dept of IKEA; about 8 of the metal screw fixings between 2 metal bits are too small for holes so don’t hold anything; and there are 3 metal parts which are unaacounted for and not mentionned in the instruction manual! 

I’ll have to stop with an unfinished filing cabinet and try to salvage it later.  promised my self a cup of tea and toddler a story before we have to set out to pick my son up and do TESCO!

As for the IKEA project upstairs – I hear power tools which is never a good sign in my experience!  We’ll see ….

Homeschooling

Well, it is Day 2 of homeschooling!  Due in part to no spaces at most local schools following our move from Newcastle to London, and in part by choice, I’m going to try to do homeschooling for 1 term for my 8 year old daughter before she hopefully starts in September at a school.

This morning was drawing out a timetable, and trip to register at the local library and collecting about 3 books on every possible subject – (in fact as many as would fit in the bottom of the buggy to be precise!).

This afternoon my husband has offered to do some teaching and is going to include in the curriculum that essential life skill in our modern world not normally taught at traditional schools: assembling flatpack furniture.  Well they’re just beginning….!  All is calm…!  Will keep you posted!

Turn my eyes

Last bit of broadband, and last bit of filing!  Found this poem I’d written a while back and thought I’d post it up here to save losing it in the move anyway!  Imagine night garden opening theme visuals! 

 

 

I’m a long long way from home now,

Amidst the sea so dark and wide.

Father help these sails hold the wind more tightly

Now.  Help me to the other side.

 

I see the clouds sketch out your face Lord,

The soft steady moonlight brings your words of truth,

Even the rain spells out your name

On our broken window pane.

 

We hear the voices of our brothers carry

On the breeze, and singing of the angels

Like a ring tone from my phone but..

I want to see them face to face.

 

Turn my eyes back to the deep

Where thousands never wake from sleep

I was dying and you saved me to

This boat.  Now help us to the other side.

Did the big chocolate Easter bunny get nailed to a cross? Did he?!

Is anyone else getting a bit sick of the emergence of a mysterious new celebrity in our culture?

Over recent weeks this year, more and more details of this shadowy figure are emerging and I keep thinking I’m going to have a nightmare about him soon!  The Easter Bunny!  Maybe this is just a North East thing but who is he?  From bits I keep hearing he’s about the size of a Yeti and he delivers all the chocolate Easter eggs to the boys and girls on Easter morning, like some jumped-up apprentice to Father Christmas I think!  (Yes he’s OK by the way!)

But I keep imagining this giant sized, faceless, Thorntons Easter Bunny rampaging through the green fields of England, leaping over daffodils and brooks, with two dozen fluffy yellow chicks in tow tossing out boxed £1.99 Easter Eggs to all the houses he comes across.

But where did he come from?  And can he heal sick people?  Did he touch people with leprosy?  Did he calm the storm at sea with a word?  And did he put himself in danger and pain till he was nailed up on dirty chunks of wood by ruthless Roman soldiers for me?  Did he?  Did he?

If he did fair play to him!  But I’m suspicious.  Where’s the historical evidence?  Where’s the evidence that he cares any more for people than just smashing their Weighwatchers points total right out of the water, and running off without even helping them do a few press ups!

I’m skeptical anyway.  He seems pretty carefree to me  – running around the place with his bevvy of yellow fluffy chicks!

So I’ll act like this Easter Bunny doesn’t exist this Easter, he’s freaking me out already!  I’ll just keep trusting my Jesus who made everything, and can raise the dead, heal the sick, calm the storm, and then cared so much for me that he was prepared to get killed as punishment for my wrong things even though he was perfect.  No Easter Bunny can pull my affections away from Jesus.