Thunder and lightning

There have been some quite tremendous storms the last few days and waking at 5.30 a.m. this morning I could hear the rain pouring down from my guttering onto the patio. I knew the gutter was blocked but I hadn't had the heart to get rid of the bird's nest that was the cause of the problem. To be honest it wasn't just heart I lacked, it was also ladders. The birds had dropped rose bay willow herb seeds in the gutter and they had grown wonderfully well in the rich silt. They were rather like high up window boxes but they didn't help the flow of water down the drainpipe. I decided that as I was awake I would attempt to clean the gutter by leaning out of the bedroom window and reaching up. I am quite short and my arms are proportionate. I decided I needed something long with an angled end so I could attack the birds nest and willow herb. My thoughts led me to a sand wedge in my golf bag. I went downstairs and into the outside store and brandishing the golf club and a claw hammer I returned to the bedroom. The rain was heavy and as I leaned out of the window with the 56 degree lofted club, it occurred to me that the middle of a lightning storm was possibly not the best time to reach out of the window with a long metal pole and wave it in the air. Anyhow, as I'd come this far I began to shove the club head along the metal gutter desperately trying to remember whether I would hear the thunder before the lightning hit or whether it was the other way round. I dislodged quite a lot of the plant but didn't manage to clear the gutter. However I didn't get struck by lightning which was fortunate. I changed my soaking wet pyjamas and returned to my sleep. Removing blockages is often tricky without the right tools. A few months ago, my husband bought some drain cleaner and a long red plastic device for cleaning plug holes out. It was marvelously effective and excessively disgusting. I have found that there are sometimes things in my life which require clearing out. Old hurts can block the flow of peace, unforgiveness and bitterness can both be pretty disgusting if they're left to build up. I have found that my faith in God and my understanding of his love for me, helps me to clear blockages which have sometimes impeded my usefulness. The Bible says that Jesus Christ loved us and gave up his life for us to make us holy, clean and washed. There's no need to dangle out of window trying to clean up your own mess and wondering if God is going to strike you for all the things you've done wrong. Jesus came to get rid of the blockage between us and God so we can be free and clean and useful. It's a great blessing to live in the knowledge that it works. Let me recommend it.

Changing your title.

I recently decided to change my blog title. It took me til 2.00am but I finally found out how. The problem now, is that this is the title to the blog that says I can't change the title.
Change can be both exciting and daunting. I changed to a red jumper the other day and then saw a photograph of me wearing it. I would have returned the jumper to the shop immediately but I had worn it. I know people who have worn jumpers for one evening and then taken them back to the shop. That is wrong, However it is completely understandable if they look as bad in their jumper as I did in mine. The other reason I couldn't take it back to the shop was that I picked a printer up whilst wearing it and poured black printer ink all down the front of my new red jumper. Black printer ink is difficult to remove.
In 2013 I have made a mess of many things. I wont go into detail or this will cease being a blog and turn into a very long book.  Some of the things were easily remedied or easily forgotten some of them weren't.
As a Christian I believe in forgiveness and a new beginning. A New Year tends to be a time for looking back as well as forward but can I encourage you to especially look forward. The past is gone. The red jumper is a lesson learned, I don't need to rehearse it or repeat it. I am about to go out. I might buy a blue jumper. Blue is my favourite colour and generally speaking I look slightly less huge in darker colours.
I wish you a happy new year. My wish will probably not come true. Some happy things will happen and some sad things will happen. Some successes will occur and some failures will occur. As I write this I am reminded of some verses in the Bible written by Paul to the people who lived in Philippi, 

  
"All the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ - God's righteousness.
I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself.
I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back."