From fasting to feasting...

Last week, our little church here in Alhaurin had a week of prayer and fasting. Every night we gathered in a different home to pray for our town, our neighbours, the young people and families of the church, the outreach initiatives planned for the year ahead... Some people chose to fast a meal now and then, as part of their commitment to prayer, while others fasted something specific - such as coffee, chocolate or meat. 
Next weekend, in complete contrast to our week of fasting, we'll be having a special buffet meal together to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the church. Almost every church anniversary has seen us in a new location, as we changed homes in order to meet the growing needs of the congregation. We're thankful that we've now found a new property in the centre of town. We've been able to renovate it to meet our needs and have signed a rental contract for the next five years.

Every one is unique and uniquely loved

One of Gabriela's school friends asked her how she could possibly tell the difference among our three cats. "How do you know which is which?" she asked. 
This question seemed incomprehensible to Gabriela, who thought it was perfectly obvious that the three cats are completely different. Tobi is tiny, beneath all that fluffiness, and has widely spaced green eyes that always give her a faintly surprised expression. Tamba is short-haired, soft as velvet, and has yellow eyes like round copper pennies. And Teddi, Gabriela's special buddy, is twice as big, twice as fluffy, and almost twice as heavy as either of the other two. To Gabriela's friend, a visitor to our home, they are simply three black cats that are not particularly distinguishable one from another. Gabriela, however, who is very fond of our three fluffy friends, simply can't imagine how anyone could think that all three look the same.

This reminded me of a conversation I had many years ago with a young person at a KKI camp in South Africa. I had been teaching about how each person on earth is "special and unique," and of infinite value to Father God. "But how can that be possible?" asked this teenage girl. "There are six billion people on earth. How can each one of them have a special place in God's heart?" In response, I told her the true story of something that happened to friends of ours. Their youngest child, aged only two years old, had fallen into a swimming pool and drowned. When friends and family gathered for the funeral, one lady - no doubt in an attempt to comfort them - said, "I am so sorry for your loss, but at least you can take consolation in the fact that you still have three other children at home." These words, although well intentioned, did nothing to lessen the sadness of those grieving parents. It was true that they had three other children, whom they also loved dearly.... but the existence of three others didn't in any way cancel out the loss of the precious child who had died. Each child held a unique and special place in the hearts of those parents.

"And it's exactly the same with God," I told that teenage girl. "Even if several million or billion people on earth are loving and serving God, He will still miss YOU if you mistrust Him or turn your back on Him. You have a special place in His heart that no one else can fill." For some people, the earth's inhabitants are just six billion faceless individuals - as indistinguishable from one another as those three black cats are to Gabriela's schoolfriend. But to a God who created us (and who loves us  even more than Gabriela loves those cats!) each one is known by name and is a unique and special individual in His sight.

Learning to walk again...

After sixteen weeks in hospital, my Dad's progress is still painfully slow. He can stand for a few minutes at a time - with the help of a hoist - and sometimes that makes him exhausted for the rest of the day. This week, he took four small steps - also with the stand-aid to help him. I am so thankful that my Dad has a generally positive personality, but I am also praying that he'll know God's strength and grace, so that he doesn't get discouraged with the very slow rate of progress.

I think those are my shoes....

Teddi took a sudden interest in my (new-ish) shoes today and kept sitting close to them. Either he liked the smell of the leather, or perhaps he saw the make and thought the shoes had his name on them!!

Don't give up..... Give out!

In just a couple of weeks' time, it will be the beginning of Lent - a period of forty days leading up to Easter, the time when we remember the death and amazing resurrection of Jesus. In countries that are traditionally Catholic, like Spain, it's often a time where people decide to "give something up." Maybe they do without sweets or coffee or television as a sign of their allegiance to the Christian faith.
Last year, a UK based charity called Stewardship Services launched an initiative called 40 Acts. With the slogan, "Don't give up; give out," they encouraged people to see Lent not as a time for asceticism and giving things up, but rather as a time for remembering God's extravagant gift to us and reaching out to others through acts of willing and sometimes random generosity. This year, they are promoting the initiative again, and you can find out more or sign up to get involved at the
40 Acts website (click here) or Facebook page.

What could you do to make the forty days of Lent a season of intentional generosity this year? You could reach out with a different act of generosity every day... or perhaps there's a particular theme or challenge that would be just right for you: like making a cup of tea/coffee every day for someone in your family or at your place of work. How about visiting and/or praying for some of the elderly and shut-in people in your church or neighbourhood? Or writing 40 thank you letters, texts or emails - one to a different person every day? Lent starts on 22nd February. Let's start thinking about how we can "do Lent generously" this year.

Chicas y chocolate

Some friends in Torremolinos have invited me to a "ladies night" this weekend, and I heard that there was going to be a theme for the gathering. Hmm... I wondered what the theme would be. Women in missions? Women and prayer?
When the email arrived, I opened it up, and discovered that the theme was going to be: chocolate! Each of us is to make and take something chocolatey with us to the party, which will be an opportunity just to strengthen friendships and watch a movie together. A friend of mine is taking a chocolate fondue pot, and another is making a chocolate cake. I'm trying to decide whether to make chocolate mousse or chocolate truffles.  And perhaps I should take along some invitations to a slimming club??!!

Fresh Produce....

"Fresh Produce" used to be the brand name on some of my clothing. When I lived in South Africa, I often bought T-shirts or pyjamas from Pick 'n' Pay's clothes department and that was the logo on the clothing. Today, however, "Fresh Produce" took on a whole new meaning when I went to do some shopping at our open air market in Alhaurín.
I had been up bright and early this morning (or, to be more accurate, it was dark and early) because I had to access the internet at 7.30 am and get ready for an 8 o'clock coaching session. I watched the sun rise, as I chatted by Skype with someone in Hungary, and by the time we finished, it felt as if the day was well underway. Remembering that it was Wednesday, which is our local market day, I decided to drive there and pick up some fresh fruit and vegetables. Although I still miss the summer fruits that were so delicious in Cape Town, February in Spain is a good time to pick up bargains in winter fruit and veg.
Armed with my wheelie cart, just like all the Spanish ladies, I picked up 5 kilos of juice oranges, 4 kilos of tangerines (naartjies), 2 kilos of kiwis, 2 kilos of tomatoes, a kilo each of red and green peppers and a kilo of strawberries, as well as a huge cauliflower and some sweet potatoes! My display of "fresh produce" was so impressive that Nicole (a young American who's spending a few months in our home) came out to take some photos. Not in the photos are our lemons, which were picked this week from a friend's tree.
Twelve year old Gabriela is still in bed with 'flu, and wasn't too impressed yesterday with a (supposedly mandarin flavoured) vitamin C tablet that I gave her. So this morning I made her up a plate of "fresh produce vitamins" and these were received with considerably more enthusiasm. With my shopping done for the day, and my emails answered for the morning, I'm heading home again now to use some of the vegetables in making us a chicken curry for lunch.