Nicodemus Comes to Jesus by Night.

20th April 2020

Today's Gospel:
John 3 1-6

There was one of the Pharisees called Nicodemus, a leading Jew, who came to Jesus by night and said,
"Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God, for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him"
Jesus answered: "I tell you solemnly, unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus said, "How can a grown man be born? Can he go back into his mother's womb and be born again?"
Jesus replied: " I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born through water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God; what is born of the flesh is flesh; what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised when I say you must be born from above. The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. This is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit."

My thoughts:
I wonder firstly why Nicodemus wanted to visit Jesus in the first place. His words and actions had attracted him,maybe. He goes by night, telling me he is a bit frightened to show his interest in this popular leader. How long did he think about this meeting before he snuck out to find this man in the middle of the night.
I am with Nicodemus here. Sometimes I find it hard to admit in broad daylight my huge interest in Jesus, how much I love Him.  What will people think of me? Nicodemus says  some very complimentary things to Jesus. He recognizes that He comes from God.
But Jesus tells him that he needs to be born from above,  Born of the Spirit, before he can see the kingdom of God.
Again I need the same thing. This new birth. And every day. It is being born of the Spirit that will give me the courage to meet Jesus in the daylight. To live with Him and for Him in the joys and sorrows and little difficulties of my daily life. Being a Christian means staying close to the fire.
Come Holy Spirit live in me this day. Thank you Holy Spirit for coming to live in my heart.

Day 30 - Who Am I

30th Oct 2019



Day 30.
And only one more poem to go for the challenge.

Who Am I?


No, I am not a nurse
though I tend you when
you're ill,
cool your heated brow,
softly bandage your bruised
pride,
soak up the spillage
of blood.
No, I am not a teacher
though I help you
understand about
the world we live in,
show you how to
master life's problems,
sit with you throughout the night,
till finally you get logarithms.
No, I am not a chef
though most days
I dish you up your favourite
tasty delights.
Occasionally I go the extra mile
and create an exciting
new recipe.
No, I am not a cleaner,
or office manager,
or football coach,
or taxi driver,
or fashion guide,
or relationship coach,
or driving instructor,
or an expert in writing cv's,
or a money making tree,
No, I'm just your mum,
that's me.

Octpowrimo Days 1, 2, 3

15th Oct 2017

So, yes, it's been ages since I posted anything on the blog . To be honest it's been a fraught few weeks with family needing my attention .
I had intended to join the OCTPOWRIMO challenge of a poem  a day for the month of October but here we are on the 15th of the month and i haven't even made a start.
So, what to do?
Shall I just pick it up from here and write to  today's prompt?
Shall I go to the prompts from the very beginning and try to catch up?
Shall I not bother and go do something else?

Trying to catch up seems like a mammoth task, but ....
So the prompt for the 1st Oct:

How did I get here...

Look at her tiny, chubby fingers
holding her grandad's thumb.
Look at her bright blue eyes
searching the face of her mum.

Look at her whispy,  fair curls
like many of our grandbabies had.
I wonder, how did I get here
great grandmother-proud and glad


And the prompt for 2nd Oct:

We Write Because We Must...

How many times I wished we didn't have to.
She never had a problem , writing
came easy to her.
I would stare at my white, clean page,
maybe put a heading at the top,
copied from the board,
always with mistakes, but she would have
half a page written before I looked up.
I would steal her rubber and hide it under
my bag,
I would move my pencil case around
on my desk
putting it in her way
She would get cross and push it back
She was concentrating
I would doodle in the corner of the page
She would turn over
and start a new one...
and then the teacher would notice me
and tell me to get on.
So I tried and sometimes the page
was half filled with words by the end
of the lesson.

And the prompt for 3rd Oct:

Taste Of Metal...

It was always one of the first signs
that metallic taste in the mouth.
All nine times, it brought the joyous
expectation  of new life.