Recycling and People-Pleasing

I didn't realise it would be such a source of happiness and celebration until it happened...this week we've FILLED our recycling bin!!! I was pretty chuffed at how "eco" we are as a family - and I admit I am getting a bit obsessed about putting all the paper and cardboard into it.

But then I read these words in a chapter called "I am a People Pleaser" in my new favourite book* "So, for those of us who live to please, life has become a road fraught with anxiety and disappointment. If people don't like us, we can't seem to get happy.

Take, for example the garbage man. I would like him to think that I take care with the garbage. Or that I'm a good recycler...So if I feel this deeply about what the garbage man thinks about me, what about the people that I actually come into contact with?" And it hit me there and then that I wanted the (unknown) bin man to be pleased with me and with my recycling efforts. My motives had been exposed.

Like Paul, I really want to live for the approval of the One who created us:

"I'm not trying to be a people-please! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's servant" Gal 1v10

* "All I need is Jesus and a Good Pair of Jeans"by Susanna Foth Aughtmon

And if you gave me a copy (by leaving it on my seat at Church last Sunday evening) then THANK YOU X

However, If you have lost your copy because you left it on a seat at Church last Sunday evening and someone (me) swiped it, then SORRY - and I will return it! x

Guest Blog: Esther in Indonesia

I'm delighted to welcome Esther Ross-Watson to my Blog today! She is a dearly loved member of our Kerith family. She and her late husband Michael served as missionaries for many years. Esther bravely made the decision to travel again, and she has recently returned from Indonesia. Here's her story: Whilst Michael was on his last days on earth in August 2017 he received a request from the Island of Madura, Indonesia asking us to return to the town of Pamekasen, Madura, Indonesia where we had begun our Missions work in July 1973 exactly one year after we were married. They were keen to have us see what God had been doing in the years since we’d moved on and we excitedly said ‘Yes’ we will come! Obviously that had to go on hold for a while because I didn’t feel I could, or even wanted to go alone! Anyway around March/April time 2018, I begun to feel a gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit urging me to think some more about it! It was like a feeling of wanting to know

Comparing

"... Nobody has a perfect life - everyone else's life looks great ..but everybody has challenges. We're constantly judging our insides against everyone else's outsides " Ruthie Henshall on Woman's Hour last week So true!

3 Little Bottles

Thought I'd mix it up today and do something lighthearted here. I popped into town this morning (as an aside, anyone else still incredulous that "new Bracknell / The Lexicon is so great and that it's really here to stay?!) Anyhow, I popped into town for a quick wander and bought 3 "essentials" I'd run out of, so I thought I'd share them with you - and of course I'd love to hear about your 3 recent essential purchases. 1 Contact lense solution I've worn glasses since Secondary school, and contact lenses since I left Uni. Gas permeables - great for me - slightly perilous in swimming pools / the sea / other people's sinks (£80 to replace). They work for me - and so a couple of bottles of solution each month keep me going.I ran out a couple of days ago, so it was £4.70 well spent for clean lenses and clear eyesight. 2. "Buffet" by The Ordinary This was a new one for me, a present I received last Christmas. I LOVE it and can

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