Lent 3014 - 22nd March: special places

Another simple pleasure from me... special places. There are many special places that I have already blogged on. Today I focus on The National Memorial Arboretum at Arelwas, Staffordshire. It is a special place for me for a number of reasons. My husband is ex-military and served with the Grenadier Guards whilst the Arboretum is not just about remembering those who have died in conflict, for me, this is a significant reason why I like to visit. The Arboretum is fairly close to where I live and one of the places locally that I feel at peace. It is quite exposed and can be rather chilly on windy days. It can also be rather wet under foot. I love going at different seasons and seeing the change in landscape both because of the season and because there is always something new to see. It continues to live, and breath, and grow on behalf of those who have died and are remembered in our hearts. 

The Arboretum pay only a peppercorn rent, of £1.00 PA I believe, for the land that has has the gravel extracted from it. As the gravel company extracts the gravel for the adjacent land it then gives the land other to the arboretum. This is such a generous act that again makes it so special. It is a place I can loose myself in for hours. The other reason close to my heart is that a friends name (a close friend of my husband) is written on the remembrance wall. It is a special place for remembering. If you have never visited I would urge you to do so. It is important to remember those we love. For me the Arboretum is a special place I hope it becomes one for you as well. Maybe you have your own special places where you can relax, feel at peace, and remember?

Lent 2014 - 21st March: home

There are many things to give thanks for and many simple pleasures. Today's simple pleasure is... home. Home is where I am happiest. There is nothing like coming home if you have been away for a while. I remember going to Spain with my parents as a teenager. We were away for only a couple of weeks and yet when we came back all the leaves on the trees had changed colour for autumn. It was utterly beautiful.

There is nothing like coming home and collapsing in a favourite chair with a lovely cup if tea. You will already know that both trees and a cup of tea are also amongst my simple erasures.

Home is where the heart is. The heart in the photo says it all and can be found pitched in my lounge at home.

What have you enjoyed today and can be thankful for as a simple pleasure in life?

Lent 2014 - 20th March: trees

Trees are today's simple pleasure whether it's climbing them, sitting under them, admiring them, or eating their produce. 

I could also add hugging them. 

One of my other favourite places to visit (I have already mentioned Slimbridge Wetland Centre) is Westonbirt Arboretumn, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, where these photos were taken. 

Oh yeah, how could I nearly forget? Kicking leaves around in the autumn (fall). A simple pleasure to be thankful for.

Lent 2014 - 19th March: feeding the birds

Today's simple pleasure is...

Wait for it....

Feeding the birds...

One of my favourite places to go is Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire. On the banks of the River Severn it is an amazing place. The birds love the mudflats there. It is a unique place. God's creation has so much to offer us including these amazing creatures. The simple pleasure of feeding the birds. It reminds me of the following verses:

'Therefor I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body? What you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or stow away in barns and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they are? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?' Mat 6:25-27 (NIV)

Lent 2014 - 18th March: Friendship and Good Company

 

There are many simple pleasures in life that we forget about. Blogging through Lent on this theme had helped me to realize everything I have to be thankful for in life. Today I am thankful for friendship and good company. Good friends are hard to find. Finding friends when you are pastoring a church in an area you don't know very well is very difficult. It takes time. Sometimes you think people are your friends but actually they are not. Sometimes good friends are made in unexpected places. I am blessed by many good friends. Some have known me since I was a child, others are new friends and we have only just got to know one another. I think it is in the difficult times that you work out who your friends really are, who you can trust and who you can't. 

This picture is of an ornament I have i my home. It reminds me of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It reminds me of the love that is shared between them and the need for each other. God is in relationship and we two need to be in relationship with friends and loved ones. We are not made to be on our own but to enjoy each others company. I like my own space but I need good friends. I am blessed and thankful for them today.

Lent 2014 - 17th March: books

Today's simple pleasure is a good book. I love reading. I started reading aged 4 and haven't stopped since. As a child I loved to read comics and had a couple every week. Who can remember 'Twinkle' and 'Bunty'? My favourite was 'The Beano'. I loved Denis the Menace and The Bash Street Kids'. I still have some childhood copies. I also have a first 'Nutty' comic squired away and a few copies of The Dandy. My dad was a journalist so the house was always littered with newspapers, magazines and lots of books. My mum also loves to read. 

In my teens I grew away from the Enid Blyton classics and fell in love with Thomas Hardy and Tess of the D'urberbelles, and Far From the Madding Crowd, along with Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. I normally have a book of sorts, if not more, on the go. 

I love books and I love to read. If I could choose only one to read for the rest of my life then it would have to be the Bible. Now that's a surprise, isn't it? Favorate book of the Bible would be difficult to choose. At the moment I'm still wandering through Exodus with Moses. I think I would choose Isaiah, or Job or maybe the Psalms. If I could read only one ever then the Psalms. 

Today's simple pleasure - books.