Category: Healing

This is church!

When we leave, one of the reasons I will be sad to go will be to leave our church.  (CITP) They are nuts in the best possible way (forgive me, (you have to). God always puts together a load of people who are completely different from one another and would never normally spend time with each other and makes them family together.

This is them at our wedding (also with our own family, who are also pretty cool, my mum and dad are standing next to me):

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These are our elders at the recent catalyst festival (click on the following link for YouTube video), (CITP elders) Note the use of team work and willingness to take instruction from the younger members. Notice the rhythm and dance moves!!! Notice the resignation that this is what is required of them and their grace as they get their groove on 😬.  Also notice that at least one of them is really enjoying it! They are brilliant.

Seriously, church is awesome, because of Jesus. I know that this is not everybody’s experience of church and I’m really really sorry if you have had bad experiences but church is meant to be goooooood. It will always be hard work in some way because there’s so many people thrown together, but take it from me, it’s worth it. When I’m getting fed up I always have to remind myself that we’re all human, only Jesus is perfect and through Him we can always check ourselves,  forgive if necessary and move on! Also, it’s family and families are hard work! But definitely worthwhile. This family have been there for me and plenty of others through thick and thin. They do awesome work in the community and with our new church building they will be able to do a whole lot more. They don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk too.

Did you know that the church is the people, not the building? That Jesus gave himself up for her (the church, his people) so she may be holy and without blemish (that’s us)? That He nourishes and cherishes the church? (Again, us) (Ephesians 5:25-29). And wants to nourish and cherish you? My perception of it used to be so wrong it was unreal. I thought all church people were up themselves, self righteous a..holes. Now look at me! Look at where God’s put us! In fact, don’t look at me, look at God!

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Well that was nearly 5 years ago, but you get the picture!

 

Thank you God for loving me, thank you God for loving me..and you…

 

Communication..Express yourself…

As a little aside, I’ve been thinking about communication.  I’ve discovered I can often communicate and express myself far better in writing than I can in person.  Don’t get me wrong, I can express myself verbally and non verbally….sometimes too forcefully, other times not enough… But I find it so much easier when writing.

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I’ve decided that this may in part be due to our expectations when conversing and of not being listened to or heard.. I don’t think we often let others express themselves properly. We try to correct and almost try to change what they think or are saying before we’ve listened to them and this in turn can stop people from being able to express themselves verbally and knowing they are being heard.

Although I suppose this may also encourage the development of other gifts, and ways of expression and creativity. With no challenges, few things develop… Also, I suppose that is part of why I love writing, no-one can really shut you up, it’s your writing with no interruptions. I am able to sort my head out without interruption.

When I’m with people, I really really do not want to do the superficial thing of  gazing intently into someone’s eyes as if they’re the most interesting person ever  whilst not listening at all.

I have never felt that God has told me to shut up or cut me off mid sentence. He has quieted me and told me to stop or slow down, but he is always there and listens carefully without looking over my shoulder for the next person to talk to and without thinking what he is getting from the shop later. But then again, He is God and present everywhere all the time, yet able to be with me one to one and care about me and see me. I am not a blurred face in a crowd, I am known personally and loved by almighty God and so are you.

I do also realise we are all different and express ourselves differently and for some, writing or other forms of communication for example art or music, are their lifeline, expression and a God given gift, it doesn’t have to be verbal. For me, I love writing and doodling, it charges me up and is therapeutic, but I do think we can all help in person by just listening, not correcting, at least not to start with and by valuing each and every person and just being with them. (this is not intended as a lecture, just me trying to put my thoughts in order). Also, wouldn’t we know others so much better if we just listened to them? I want to know people properly, not superficially (This does NOT mean I want to know all your secrets! well, unless you want to tell them)

This sums it up really:

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger (James 1:19) 

Enough said for now.

Over and out.

 

Welcome to our blog!

This is and will be our family’s story of moving to Ireland, from Derbyshire, and everything that goes with it, amongst other thoughts and stories. *This is our original welcome page, I’ve now done a new one on 5/6/19.

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If you go back to the start of our blog and read, we give our stories so far, our God testimonies and various ponderings. We hope you enjoy this. I (Cathy) have found through this a rediscovered love of words, the word and writing, I love it. I also love interacting with people so please feel free to comment, message, ask questions or just read!

The following scripture is from Revelation 3:20 and reveals what Jesus heart is like:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

This is what he did and does with us and it is what I pray everyone entering this site discovers. He is the best, the most exciting, the one and only God, the reason why we are all here, the reason for living.

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!

Cathy’s story

Sorry for the long one! But I think it is worth the read!

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My baptism in 2008

I was saved by Jesus in June 2008. Unbeknownst to me I had started working with a Christian in my job as a community nurse for a few months. On initially finding out, I thought he just went to church for a bit of social interaction and child care, then I realised his faith was real. This shocked me, as I tended to think at that point that no-one really believed any more.

God was working in my life without me even realising it, I was a big drinker and pretty messed up in a lot of ways despite having a good reputation as a nurse and being able to cover up my problems quite well. I was always looking for the next fix, like so many people, the next thing to make me whole, to make me better and used drinking to run away from my problems and the world and hide.

I suddenly became aware of my sin, I became aware of stuff I had done wrong, I became aware that I was wrong in so so many ways but didn’t know what to do about it (and this was without the Christian even saying much to me about it, God was working). I became bothered by traumatic events from years ago and went to a counsellor. Then, my friend invited me to his baby daughter’s dedication at my now current church. It is a charismatic Christian church with a good family vibe and God’s presence amongst us.

When I walked in I was terrified, I felt like people could see into my soul and see the dirt, but also, I could sense something in the room that I didn’t understand.  I now know it was God’s presence, people were raising their hands in worship and I cried all the way through the service. I went away and wanted to return but was frightened. I was then invited back a few weeks later, kept on going for a few weeks, then I was given a Why Jesus? booklet.  I went home and curled up in bed feeling very, very low and lonely, then I kept hearing the words of a worship song over and over again – “God stepped down and lifted me up” over and over again, kept trying to remember the rest of the words and couldn’t, then decided to read the booklet and ended up praying to Jesus and rose out of bed feeling so high it was unreal. I asked my friends what had happened and they said if you meant it, then you’re a Christian.

I was so happy, I was accepted and forgiven and just lighter, I bounced around for weeks. Then came a bit of a pruning session, where things started getting sorted out, and that is ongoing. But Jesus healed me of the need to drink and smoke, He made my mind clear, He healed me of past trauma and self consciousness, He makes the whole world brighter and joyeous. He died in my place, returned me to Eden, gave me the reason for living. Jesus saved me.

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9 (New International Version)

If you want to know this for yourself. Please message me or pray this prayer and message me. But please do know, there is nothing you can do to make God love you any less. This is for all.

Also, please know, this does not make me think I’m perfect, I am far far from it. I make mistakes (I am terrible for yelling) and I still sin, in fact this is why I actually need Jesus. As he says Himself, the well do not need a doctor, but the sick do. God restores us and gives us a hope and a future. Please ask Him if he is there and what He has for you if you don’t yet know Him.

Lord Jesus Christ,
I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my
life (take a few moments to ask his forgiveness for
anything in particular).
Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that
I know is wrong.
Thank you that you died on the cross for me so
that I could be forgiven and set free.
Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the
gift of your Spirit. I now receive that gift.
Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be
with me forever.
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen.

 

 

Chris’ story

Hello, I will give you a little background about myself.

Jesus broke into my life about 6 1/2 years ago after I left a failed relationship and moved back in with my parents. At the time I was addicted to weed and had been for years. I made a commitment to follow him and he immediately released me from my addiction and over a little time healed my heart. I heard about local church and just felt overwhelmingly compelled to go. 

Since then Jesus has healed my bad back, saved my father (wow) rebuilt my relationship with my parents, changed me from the inside out, from a people hater into a people lover and best of all he has given me the gift of a wife to love for the rest of my days and a home of our own so no more cramping the parents style. We got married in October 2013 and are enjoying life together. Never ever ever have I been so happy in life because now I have been given life and life in abundance, thank you Lord I will love you forever and ever.

There is probably a lot more to say but I’ll leave it there for now. There is #moretocome.

 

Our story

Our story together started five years ago, I met Chris on a Freedom in Christ course that I was helping to lead.  I ended up not finishing the course as I got asked to become part of a new church group instead…but the seed was sown.  I tried to convince myself I wasn’t interested in him, mostly because I was scared of getting involved. But we just kept meeting by accident…on a men’s dinner where I was helping out in the kitchen…in town when I was street pastoring…in my church when he and his family visited… We ended up becoming friends on Facebook and he asked me out. I said no, because I was going to my church small group that night and I don’t think he really understood and thought I wasn’t interested. However, he plucked up the courage to ask again and we went out for our first date which was a walk on Curbar edge in Derbyshire, it was beautiful and I can remember actually saying to him in surprise as we sat on the grass in the freezing March weather, “you’re actually really nice”.

We went out again the next afternoon and that was it, we got married seven months later. We seemed to have loads in common in spite of being basically very very different, we both love Jesus (he saved our lives), the outdoors, gardens, growing and we both wanted to be a proper family, a stable secure family, a safe place. We haven’t always succeeded at this, but will always keep on trying and learning.

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Since then, nearly 5 years has passed, we have had a lot happen, we lost one baby in pregnancy, which I really struggled with for quite a while, the grief was enormous. However, God then healed my womb and I became pregnant and have since had 2 gorgeous sons, one who as previously mentioned is three, the other nine months.

My husband and I also agreed on the fact that we would like a different, less rushed, less busy lifestyle and on googling discovered that property on the Orkney Islands seemed very inexpensive compared to England. Chris got very excited and we found ourselves on a family holiday in Sanday at Easter. We loved it, viewed a few houses, but there wasn’t one suitable at the time, but still decided we would love to live there. So, our house is on the market, we keep property searching…..the adventure awaits…. will it be Orkney or is God putting us somewhere that we’re not expecting????? I can’t wait to find out.