There was a Scottish painter named  Smokey Macgregor who was very interested in making a penny where he could, so he often thinned down his paint to make it go a wee bit further.

As it happened, he got away with this for some time, but eventually the Baptist Church decided to do a big restoration job on the outside of one of their biggest buildings..

Smokey put in a bid, and, because his price was so low, he got the job.

So he set about erecting the scaffolding and setting up the planks, and buying the paint and, yes, I am sorry to say, thinning it down with turpentine..

Well, Smokey was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job nearly completed, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder, the sky opened, and the rain poured down washing the thinned paint from all over the church and knocking Smokey clear off the scaffold to land on the lawn among the gravestones, surrounded by telltale puddles of the thinned and useless paint..

Smokey was no fool. He knew this was a judgement from the Almighty, so he got down on his knees and cried:

“Oh, God, Oh God, forgive me; what should I do?”

And from the thunder, a mighty voice spoke..

“Repaint! Repaint! And thin no more!”

I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. Psalm 86: 12

for:~

• Answered prayer for my husband – his spots are healing, and his pain relief seems to be working this time. Praise You, heavenly Father that You have heard the prayers of Your people and that you have been swift to respond. Your Word says that You will never leave us nor forsake us, and God never lies.

• Our children, who have been a tower of strength through the difficult times – milking, feeding animals, doing dishes, cooking, ironing and generally helping whenever help is needed, but especially for the hugs and words of encouragement and affirmation that mean more than anyone could ever know.

• Friends – blogging friends , internet friends and real-life friends who are true prayer warriors, picking up the challenge and being prepared to pray for my husband – from the bottom of my ♥, I thank you all.

• A good hospital and doctors in our local area – this is so important at times like this.

• Our church – praise God that our church building will be going ahead – thank you Lord, once again, for answered prayer.

• Our home – warm, comfortable beds; food on the table, protection from the elements, fresh goat’s milk and a place where we can say that we truly feel close to God, as He brought us here.

• The ability to be able to homeschool - In Germany it is illegal to homeschool, and Sweden seeks to introduce a law stating that homeschooling will only be allowed under “exceptional circumstances”. Please pray that God will work with the authorities to block this law, and that Swedish homeschoolers will have the ability to be able to homeschool openly. I pray that God will open the eyes of the authorities to the benefits of homeschooling. Praise God that we, in Australia, have the freedom to be able to homeschool openly!

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Psalm 90

for…

• pain relief for my husband’s knee – may it continue until August when he has a total knee replacement.

• for the prayers for my husband’s knee and relief from the pain – please know that your prayers are very much appreciated!

• our children’s commitment to helping around the home, making life a whole lot easier for my husband. This is the first commandment with a promise – that it may go well with thee and that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

• that our church building application has been approved – YIPPEE!

• FRIENDS – who make our lives that little more special just by being a part of it – for new friends, old friends and old friends become new again!

• all of the things that You do for us – the things that go largely unnoticed, such as the wonderful change in the weather, keeping our bantam chickens safe, for the food that You provide us with, the money to pay the bills and the people that You place in our lives.

• our church – although we can’t be there today, there will be lots more todays in the future.

• that we get our new tyres fitted on Monday, and hopefully that will be the end of our punctures – the road that leads to our home is blue-metal, and is very sharp – we have had three punctures in the last couple of weeks, and it is becoming increasingly more difficult for my husband to change and mend the tyres. I only travel at 40km/h and we still manage to get punctures.

Did you know that the average person has only about 18,000 days in which he could apply his life to eternal values? It is therefore of vital importance that we be “Redeeming the time”. Ephesians 5:16 (The New Defender’s Study Bible) Time is ticking away rapidly!

• Jennifer, who hosts this Meme each week, so that I remember to give thanks to our Almighty God for all of the things that I forget to give thanks for at other times. Care to join this Meme, visit Jennifer at My Chocolate ♥ .

Today our church had a barbecue so that we could have fellowship one with another and become acquainted with our fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ. This GIGANTIC tree was in the park where we had lunch, and it was very statuesque. For lunch we could have hamburgers or sausages – with or without salad at no extra cost.

After lunch there were some games to break the ice, such as:

• Tug-of-War – My daughter’s side won this, although my son said that they cheated – um, they did have a few more contestants.
• Sack Races – My daughter won her sack race – it was hilarious watching the contestants try and run in a sack, especially the adults.
• Egg and Spoon Race – The eggs were hard boiled and had the shells on, but this didn’t stop one of the eggs from being splattered all over the GIGANTIC tree in the photograph.

We took salad with us, as we weren’t sure what they would have there, in the way of salads. My husband also made a Boiled Chocolate Cake and a Carrot Cake – needless to say the Chocolate Cake didn’t make it home. It was absolutely scrumptious, and I haven’t found anyone, yet, who can resist my husband’s home made Chocolate Cake. It was wonderful being able to catch up with friends after church in an idyllic setting such as this. Praise God for a wonderful day!

Bible verses used:

Acts 9:1-20

The only way that you can make sure that you are heading in the right direction is to keep your eyes focused on the one true God. We need to stand on God’s promises. God is the author and finisher of our faith. God says that He will bless those who trust in Him. We need to do what God calls us to do. Every day someone comes across your path who needs Christ.

We need to become infectious. The youth of today are the future of tomorrow, and they are witnesses to people from near and far. If our shoes (spiritual shoes) don’t look comfortable, why would anyone want to wear them? Our spiritual shoes need to look comfortable to those outside the church, so that they will want to…

…step…

…into our shoes.

When Saul had his life changing experience, it was for a purpose – as God’s messenger to the Gentiles.  The Bible tells us to be filled with the Spirit, and that we are filled for a purpose. We are to be His servant and His witness, and we are equipped for His purpose.

In our youth group, one of the youth were talking about Lazarus, and how Jesus asked Martha to roll away the stone, but her reply was that Lazarus had been dead for four days and he stinketh. Jesus said that if Martha would believe, she would see the glory of God. It is like that with us, also, for we need to roll the stone away, knowing what is behind that stone. Yes, there will be things that “stinketh”, but the longer that those things are left there, the worse the stink! We need to grant the Lord access to our own lives, and we need to roll away the stone so that God may be glorified in us.

God makes wounded people whole. One of the things that we need to do is to guard our tongues, as gossip destroys faith. When you are sitting around your table, guard your tongue, as the youth of today don’t need to hear all of the gossip about the church that you are in – it destroys faith!

When David was called, he was tending the sheep, but he didn’t go straight to be king in flowing garments – he went back to tending the sheep. He was marked out as Israel’s next king, but in the years before he became king, he matured in mind and body, becoming skilled in speech, writing and music;  developing his brave fighting skills and defending his flocks from the wild animals and marauding Philistines. God had a purpose for David, but he had to mature into the sort of person that God could use. It didn’t just happen overnight.

Nothing speaks louder to an unbelieving community than a large youth presence in church, and God will prepare them into the sort of people that He can use. The youth of today are the future of the church and this country.