Family

The Parable of the Talents

/ cnongpluh / 3 Comments

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My cousin, Eleanor, sewed this tapestry by hand. It is absolutely beautiful.

Now I’m going to share a bit about my cousin’s life. Eleanor was born in Bradford in January 1974.  Later, the family moved to Leeds and Eleanor attended a special school in Bramhope, Leeds, called Hilton Grange.

She was a very strong and determined young woman who had a passion for sewing. She would sit for hours sewing various rugs and tapestries.

Eleanor had many limitations, and she spent a big part of her life battling an immune deficiency syndrome. Despite that, she had a loving family and later on, a son,  and still she kept on sewing. Eleanor sewed this beautiful tapestry of the Lord’s Supper.

Eleanor sadly passed away in August 2015 but her sewing is still here to inspire us.

I want you to understand today that you may have limitations in your life, but no matter who you are, God has given you talents. Read Matthew 25:14-30.You may have only one talent, you may have many. But, please, use whatever talent you have to bless others. Don’t let other people put limits on you and rise above your limitations. You have a blessing to offer us all.

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Love

/ cnongpluh / 1 Comment

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a says,  “Love suffers long and is kind;love does not envy; love does not parade itself,  is not puffed up;does not behave rudely,  does not seek its own,  is not provoked,  thinks no evil;does not rejoice in iniquity,  but rejoices in the truth;bears all things,  believes all things,  hopes all things,  endures all things Love never fails ”

Could you put your own name there instead of the word” love”? This is the sort of love we should be aiming to have.

On loan from the Lord

/ cnongpluh / 3 Comments

Today I will be finishing off a message that I will release next week at a Women’s event,  so I will just share a few thoughts today

My eldest daughter is away this weekend on a brass band residential and I’m really missing her.  This morning I looked in her bedroom,  saw her empty bed,  and wondered what she is doing.

It’s not the first time she’s been away without me and it won’t be the last,  and each time I have to content myself with a few sentences of text messages to give me a clue about what she is doing and how she is feeling.

Even when I dropped her off at the coach,  as soon as she had found her friends,  she told me. “You can go now!”

Really! After carrying this person around in my womb for ten months,  feeling every kick, praying and agonising about which name to give her,  witnessing her first steps,  first day at school,  first performance – now I am experiencing her first steps of independence and it’s a bit scary for me.

I remember her first day at secondary school when she got on the school bus and I was waiting in the car for the bus to set off so I could wave goodbye. Then,  ping! I got a text… “You can go now!”

It’s starting to be a familiar theme.

The. Bible says in Psalm 127 verse 3 that “children are a heritage from the Lord,the fruit of the womb is a reward”. What I also must remember is that my children are on loan to me from God.  God loves my children more than I could ever love them.  (And I love them a lot) . God has a unique plan and purpose  for each of my children. While they are in my care I am a steward of that purpose.I can never be fully in control of everything my children experience  I have to be willing to open my arms and entrust the unknowns to an all-knowing and all-seeing,  ever loving and wise God,  who sees into all eternity and knows the bigger picture for my children.

My child,  at some point in time,  will stand before God,  by themself,  and give account of their life.  This will be a journey I cannot make with them. I won’t be able to shield them from their mistakes or make excuses for them.  It will be them and God.

Today,  I entrust my four children to Almighty God.  I will endeavour to do my best to raise them in a godly way,so they will not depart from that later,  but I give all the things that are out of my control into the hands of my loving Heavenly Father.