Half empty?

Following on from Lythan's post two week's ago about Lent, I (Pauline) wanted to share today a little of what I've been doing this year. I decided that rather than give something up for Lent (mainly because my willpower is appalling) I would instead make an effort to Count My Blessings by using Christian Aid's make Lent meaningful suggestions. The idea is that you take the opportunity during Lent to celebrate and give thanks for even our smallest blessings, and to think about those in need around the world. The aim is to help people reflect on what is good in their lives and think of others for whom life is very different. You can read more about it here.

This week the focus has been on work, thinking about minimum wage (even earning the British minimum wage, you would be among the richest 11% of the world), those who have little or no choice over the way they earn a living or the number of children around the world who have to work to support their families. There are a few niggles at my work at the moment, nothing major, but I think both staff and pupils are ready for a holiday. However, I have tried to focus on how fortunate I am to have a job that I love while the majority of those I studied with 2 years ago are unemployed or in very short term positions.

I find it all too easy to focus on the negative things in my life - I'm definitely a glass half empty sort of person. I struggle with this, knowing that I am very fortunate in comparison to others and yet still finding minor complaints about daily life. By choosing to focus on the blessings in my life I've been able to focus on all that God does in our lives and how good He is to us. Psalm 100 says, "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God."

It has been a real blessing to me to NOT give up something for Lent this year, but instead to focus on all the good things in my life.

Trust

Today's challenge is about trust.

It's Hazel here - some of you know that my husband, John, is registered blind. He does have a little vision in his left eye, but nothing much.

Some years ago he applied for a guide dog - his first dog was Oscar, a golden retriever, who actually had to retire when he was only six as he lost his nerve and was unable to work properly. We still see him from time to time - his retirement owner brought him over to see us the day before his 13th birthday. Then John trained with Josey, a yellow labrador - they made a very good partnership, but, sadly, because of health issues, John had to say goodbye to her some three years ago and she is now enjoying early retirement with a couple in Sittingbourne.

As someone who needed to be guided, John had to put his trust in the guide dog to lead him correctly. I have to confess that I would find it hard to do that.

But, as Christians, that's exactly the relationship we should have with our Heavenly Father - put our trust in Him to lead and guide us through life. There are many scriptures that encourage us to do this, particularly in Proverbs and the Psalms, such as:

'Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.' Proverbs 3:5-6

and

'Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.' Psalm 143:8

Just like the blind person who is being led by the guide dog, we are not aware of the dangers that we might be about to encounter, but out Guide is and He will lead us aright if we put our trust in Him.

Perhaps you would like to reflect on these verses:

'Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.' Psalm 25:5

'For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.' Psalm 48:14

'If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.' Psalm 139:9-10

Here is what the team have crafted in response to this challenge.

We would love you to join in our challenge and create something in response to reflecting upon 'trust' - please leave us a comment with a link to your post so that we can some and see your creation.

Hazel

Pauline

Stacy


Lythan


Ruth

Forty Days

If I had remembered in time that it was my turn to do the thought in the middle then it would have been the second day of Lent. As it is, it's a few days later... but I still have Lent on my mind. Early on in Salt history I set Lent as a challenge theme and discovered that not every Church celebrates it. That is the wonderful thing about bringing a diverse group of Christians together creatively - you learn so much!
Lent is the 40 days (plus Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and Easter Day which act as a kind of preparation to meet the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus. It is a time of discipline that is to model the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for his ministry. A friend linked a wonderful animation of drawings about how Jesus spent his time in the wilderness that has echoes of the readings for the first Sunday of Lent - Genesis 3 and Matthew 4:1-11.
And so I want this video to speak for itself - to help you reflect on Jesus time in the wilderness and how it resonates for your preparation for Easter. Forty days is a long, long time
Watch here

Attitude

Have you noticed the Attitude change in people? I know there are many reasons for a person's perception in life the way they go about it and how they handle it. But have you ever caught yourself being sucked in? I do a lot lately to much negativity and stress makes life harder then it needs to be. I have been praying that God would fill me with joy and love in my heart so i can show people the positive. I read today something so simple and child like but I know it works " if your nice to me , I am nice to you if your mean to me , I am still nice to you". Gods says in

1 Kings 11:11 (The Message)

^11-13 God said to Solomon, "Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I'm going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. But out of respect for your father David I won't do it in your lifetime. It's your son who will pay—I'll rip it right out of his grasp. Even then I won't take it all; I'll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem." So because of Solomon breaking the basic demands of the convenant and there by severely underminding the entire convenant relationship between God and his people. God took away the kingdom.

He also says in Romans 12:3 " For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you , Do not think of yourself more highly then you ought , but rather think of yourself in sober judgement in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you."Because God has given the power there can be no basis for a superior attitude or self righteousness. We have been working on our 9 year who is very set in her ways , very bossy and kinda overbearing . I know what your going to say "already at nine??" I said to her today after Ruth had mentioned this verse, that she should think on it and pray.this quote kinda says it all "Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?" ~Dennis and Wendy Mannering. Can't wait to see what you come up with.....


Stacy

Pauline


Hazel

Ruth

Lythan

Truth

TRUTH - such a powerful concept.

So rooted in the character of God, important enough to make it one of the Ten Commandments yet so easily dismissed in day to day life. I've lost count of the times when people have told me they had to tell a 'white' lie, or when I have exagerated or underplayed a fact so save face. Often we try and justify these things but u

ltimately they do offend our Holy God who knows the truth and wa

nts us to be truthful about ourselves and to speak truth.

The meaning of the word truth has been slightly twisted by the way it is used. In a recent sermon I heard the preacher explained that the phrase 'being true to yourself' was often an excuse people give to why the behave in a certain way. Yes we should face the reality of our sinful motivations, and acknowledge when we have failed God, but the truth is we must not excuse it.
The TRUTH is, that God has created a way in which he will remember our sin no more, and that truth can set us free from the bondage of UNTRUTH. Our enemy the devil will so often through untruth at us and ultimately he does this so that our faith will weaken and our winess become useless. How we must keep reading the word of truth to remind us of the wonderful promises of God that he has never broken.
Please enjoy the pieces that myself (Ruth) and the team have created for your inspiration. Please meditate on how the Truth of God is a reality and how we can practice being truthful and speaking truth in love to others. We would love to see any creations you make on this theme, please leave us a comment and we'll pop by!

Ruth

Kim

Hazel

Pauline


Lythan

God's everlasting love

Hi, Hazel here with the 'in between' post. In a few days' time it will be Valentine's day and there seems to be a lot of love around atm - in crafting challenges anyway!

Our own current Salt challenge is about love - love for our enemies - you will find the post here - and it's not too late to create something and link for our challenge as we still have a week until the next one.

It doesn't come naturally to us to love our enemies - 'We love because he first loved us.' (1 John 4:19).

Sadly, human love can sometimes let us down, but God's love is everlasting - Psalm 136 is a testimony to this fact - so many times throughout the Psalm the writer says: 'His love endures forever'.

And He is so generous: 'See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! ' (1 John 3:1).

'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.' (John 3:16)

'Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.' (John 15:13)

We pray that you will respond to God's love and accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.

Loving our Enemies

Hi, it's Pauline with this week's challenge. I asked the SALT team to reflect on Luke 6:27-36 where we are challenged to love our enemies. I had an interesting discussion with some teenagers recently where they were talking about how we behave when we are with friends, and how differently we behave when around people we are less comfortable with or who we don't like. Being in a Religious and Moral Education class, the talk inevitably turned to religion and it was suggested that people who follow a command such as 'love your enemies' are pushovers, weak-willed people who cannot stand up for themselves. However, one pupil, summoning every ounce of courage they had, said that they thought the strongest person was the one who could rise above what people were saying to them and not end up in a fight at lunchtime. As a side note I work in a school for pupils with additional support needs and behavioural issues, so fights happen regularly and not just at lunchtime!

"Turning the other cheek" has made it into the English language as an expression meaning to go out of your way to avoid a nasty confrontation. Even though provoked, instead of lashing out, you turn the other cheek. The natural human reaction is to retaliate. On an almost daily basis we have pupils getting into fights over the smallest comment. We work with a restorative approach where we try to help the pupils understand their own behaviour and why they reacted the way they did.

People who have known each other for years can sometimes get into arguments (parents with children, couples, friends etc); tensions that may have been simmering for years boil over once again. And with the boiling comes anger, and with anger a willingness not just to defend, but to strike back. To get an advantage. To have the last word. To wound.

Though Jesus' instruction to turn the other cheek is intended to mean when dealing with a sworn enemy, the principle applies to every area of our lives. Don't retaliate. Don't hit back. This isn't easy though! My layout shows a class photo from when I was in my final year at school. Not all the people in the photo were friends, some went out of their way to make me miserable (or so it seemed at the time). It has taken me a long time to come to a place of acceptance where I don't find myself bearing a grudge against people who made me unhappy. I can't say that I've necessarily reached the place where I can love my enemies, but I believe that I have reached a more healthy stage.

I hope you enjoy the team's creations on the theme. It's not an easy one to contemplate and I really appreciate their willingness to think about things that are not necessarily happy things to contemplate. Remember to link back to us if you create something on the theme. We'd love to see your interpretations.

Pauline
Stacy

Kim

Lythan

Hazel



Ruth