6 things i'm looking forward to this week...

Not in any particular order...

1. Going to Primark and Wagamamas tomorrow with Alix

2. Seeing many of my gowgous friends on saturday

3. Eating Thai Sweet chilli flavour sensations

4. Youth group on friday night

5. Going for dinner with steffy thurs, having coffee with Geoffrey tomorrow

6. 121 with Kate Bailey on thursday

Marital Bliss!!!

Soooo we have finished our marriage course we've been attending at HTB for the last many monday nights! What did we think? Some useful tools from some wiser Christians for a happy and godly marriage. What did we learn that we didn't know already or had forgotton? We so often have too high expectations, i am a rhino (watch it!!!) and Matt is a hedgehog in terms of how we express or don't express anger, keep your drains unblocked (ask for clarification), invoke the ten o'clock rule (again ask if you want to know), my main love language is acts of service, Matts is words of affirmation, forgive quickly, say sorry even quicker, communicate communicate communicate, our marriage is just an itsy bitsy teeny weeny messy picture of an eternal, wonderful, fulfilling, perfect, intimate, committed, secure, passionate marriage between the Lamb, our Jesus, and the church, us who believe. Wowser, what an important role we have then as marrieds! We need to show Gods commitment and love for his church as best we can!

John Piper says that due to this great truth, adultery and unfaithfulness are actually rejections and offences against Jesus! If we settle for these we are lying about Jesus, we are lying about his commitment and passion for the church. Because marriage is to show Christ's relationship with his church... wow - serious stuff!

Friend sick

Feeling an overwhelming sadness and distress and loneliness, like a wave that overtakes you and you go under for a few minutes. Pangs that seem to pierce the heart. I miss my friends so very much, it hasn't been so acute as this really since we arrived in London. But right now its a deep longing for my good pals, for friends who really know and love me for who i am, not for who i pretend to be. And relationships that change, due to someone else taking a loved one or family members affections away from me. Ok that sounded awful and selfish but i am realising that relationships, even the dearest best friend or sister brother relationships become more distant and strained, even though you don't want them to and try your best not to let them. They change. It's a heart crusher. But we have the Lord Jesus Christ, closer than a brother, who never moves away from us, despite us moving often from him. It's good then, that the frailty of human relationships changing and distorting keeps us longing for heaven, where we will be with our God in deep passionate relationship forever. But it still hurts the heart for now...