Out with the old......

I have to admit to being a bit of a hoarder. Every now and again I try to have a clear out but I just hate throwing things away.

Now that we are now environmentally aware I always think that I can use pot again or I can give that to someone who maybe able to use it. The bad thing about it is often I just put the thing somewhere out of the way with the intention of giving it to that someone or of using it again. And when I come to have that clean the next time I come across it again!

We'll be leaving Ghana very soon and so again I am having to sort out 10 years of stuff. It's taking me ages as everything I have has a memory or occasion attached to it even Christmas cards which friends have taken time out to choose and send to me, so it is taking me a long time.

I think we like the familiar and as such we are reluctant to get rid of that which we know and are attached to. What a wrench it must have been to Abraham who was told to leave everthing which he was used to and familiar with and move to the unfamiliar and the unknown. He could have chosen to play safe and stay where he was or to make room for new blessings, new experiences. Throwing out the old makes way for the new. Holding on to the old inevitably leaves less space for the new.

So I will take that old suitcase, those clothes that I haven't worn for years and give them away or throw them out.....I will.

Party Time!

Yesterday I threw a surprise party for my husband. He was totally unaware of anything. We had some friends visiting from the UK who were leaving that day and though we would have really liked them to have been there, they were the perfect reason for getting him out of the house. I asked them to insist on being at the airport early. When he left for the airport things began to move. With the help of family and friends we put up lights, set out tables and chairs, put the food out, and most importantly friends came to help us celebrate. He was to use a English expression 'gobsmacked'.

I'm not sure what I feel about growing older, younger people see 40 something as ancient, while older people feel that 40 something is still young. There are days when I am at peace with my age, when I bask in the freedom to do exaclty what I want as the years have given me that right. Then there are days when I feel that if I knew when I was younger what I know now I would have made some different choices.

Often I have to remind myself that the gift of life, health and strength is what I should focus on. Using those three gifts to make the most of the opportunites and time I have right now as I don't know what tomorrow will bring.

I was inspired by the a Ghanaian woman - Georgina Woode - who at the age of 60 has been nominated by the Ghanaian president, John Kufuor for the office of Chief Justice, the highest juidicial position in the land. Reading through her interests I was struck by the fact that she was the leader of her church choir - Assemblies of God. God has a way of using you what ever age you are as long as we make ourselves available for use.


Remember ...... pray one for another.

A reason for living

On a recent trip to one to the poorest regions in Ghana I was challenged by women who smiled, sang, danced, laughed, chatted, questioned but who by 'developed country' standards had so little. Their clothes weren't coordinated or fashionable, but clean nonetheless. They walked everywhere unless they were rich enough to own a bicycle.

A lady who lived in Kumasi, Ghana's second city (first of course if you are Ashanti!) tried to prepare me for the experience by saying to me '.....we are not poor here (Kumasi) go to the North that's where you'll see poor, when I go there I want to take off the clothes I'm wearing it to them.'

I wasn't prepared for what I saw and felt. My task was to speak to these women. I questioned myself and God what could I say that would make a tangible difference to the dire circumstances these women lived in, trite words and cliches would be insensitive and demeaning not only to these wonderful people but to myself.

I don't know if what I said made any real and lasting difference, I leave that to God. What I took away rather was that the will to live, to get up every morning and face poverty, no running water or sanitation, is the strongest force of all.


Remember .......Pray one for another