Glorious!
Glorious!
This week I read these familiar words...“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5–6). To “make . . . paths straight” means God will guide us toward His goals for our growth. His ultimate goal is that you and I become more like Him.
Later the same day we embarked on another coastal path walk this time from Pendeen Lighthouse to Rosemergy and back again. Well... the path wasn't exactly straight but the views and experience were glorious. On our way back we took a detour to a golden sandy beach in the splendid evening sunshine. As I stood, bare feet, with magnificent crashing waves cooling and soothing my aching toes it was almost as if I could hear God say "there you go, feel a bit of my creation"! A few moments later literally a few feet away a seal popped his head out of the waves as if to say "hello".
Earlier we had a picnic sitting high on the rocks. Then later egged on by Ruth we sought out a Geocache in a most crazy and dangerous location called Commando Ridge where soldiers trained to do rock climbing during World War II... only we didn't have any ropes or harnesses!
Although exciting it was a bonkers excursion so I felt no guilt in then making our way to the lovely Rosemergy for a well deserved cream tea! On leaving we inadvertently left our walking poles behind and were a good mile away before we realised. Ruth phoned the café only to hear the owner was already in hot pursuit with our poles in hand. I ran back and was grateful to find him about 100 metres behind us. It felt like God was watching over us! What a brilliant and glorious day!
This time away has been and still is absolutely brilliant and we feel so blessed to have received this opportunity of space, relaxation and peace. However, life is not always easy. From time to time we all struggle. In the past year or so there have been difficult moments and at times we've both felt exhausted. With this in mind I've just read these encouraging words..."We can be honest with God. We don’t need to pretend to be happy. We can bring our pain to Him, exactly as it is. Tell Him why we’re crying (John 20:13,15); tell Him when He seems far away. He loves us and wants us to run to Him in our pain (1 Peter 5:7). When we do, we can experience the tender love of our Father knowing and holding us in even those most painful places (John 20:16). And we can share with others how He brought joy even out of our weeping (John 20:18).
How strange... the words above I read and then copied into this blog on the morning of 12th June 2018. On the same day during a short walk in the evening Ruth reminded me that exactly a year ago on 12th June 2017 she had her operation!
This week we met up with good friends Andrew and Rhian Lane who were taking a short break from their work serving with the Christian Retreat Centre at Sheldon, Devon https://www.sheldon.uk.com/. We had a great time together exploring Trelissick https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/trelissick and catching up on family news and other things we'd each been up to. The weather was kind and naturally Ruth led us to another Geocache! We were grateful they'd contacted us and arranged to meet as time away for them is naturally precious.
Afterwards we visited Gwennap Pit http://www.gwennappit.co.uk/(Andrew & Rhian told us about it), an open air amphitheatre where John Wesley preached 18 times. It was fascinating and strange standing in the same spot where Wesley proclaimed the Gospel all those years ago.
Good friends from Christ Church, Lesley and Tony Atchison, were on holiday at St Ives this week so we popped over to see them one evening and enjoyed a meal out together. Once again it was great to meet up with wonderful friends who we've known for many years and normally see on at least a weekly basis.
Earlier that same day we walked another glorious part of the coastal path from Zennor to Gurnard's Head and then back again. Just towards the end we encountered a lady from Edgware, London, walking on her own and we ended up giving her a lift back to Penzance. It felt the right thing to do and was no problem although poor Ruth had to be relegated to the tiny back seat of her car!
A couple of days later we walked from Zennor towards St Ives. We bumped into a chap called Rick who was out with a strimmer clearing the path! He and others do a marvellous job helping to maintain this footpath for the pleasure and convenience of folks like us. As for the walk...wonderful as usual!
On Saturday we took an alternative route. Choosing to do a circular inland walk taking in some stone circles and standing stones plus the Ding Dong Mine Engine House near Zennor. We then moved on to enjoy a picnic at Pendeen Lighthouse and were excited to see four choughs flying around (incredibly there are only 15 breeding pairs of this rare Cornish national bird!).
Then it was back for a short stint on the coastal path having great fun walking from St Just to Cape Cornwall and back including another mad and dangerous cliff top Geocache...madness!
We closed the day with fish and chips overlooking Mousehole harbour, joined by a delightful cat that sat in between us and purred!
And so to Sunday.... porridge, yum, yum. I was then bowled over to open two brilliant Father's Day cards from John and Lorna which they'd sent in the post. So proud of our two! Then off to our local church for another excellent service with a great sermon on Stewardship! We are feeling very much at home here!!!
So as we come to the close of another week I find myself reflecting on lots of walking, some of it tough and tiring (even dangerous) and some of it breath taking, fulfilling, immensely satisfying and offering a sense of peace. It was certainly worth it experiencing all sorts of enriching things along the way. The analogy with life's journey is fascinating. Sometimes we step off or get pushed off the path and it all gets a bit rocky and difficult but... God is always there... we just need to hold on and recognise He'll carry us through the bits that seem impossible. While during better times He's still there walking with us and ultimately we will live eternally with Him. Not because of anything we've done but entirely because of what He has done! “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:2 Thank you Lord.
Later the same day we embarked on another coastal path walk this time from Pendeen Lighthouse to Rosemergy and back again. Well... the path wasn't exactly straight but the views and experience were glorious. On our way back we took a detour to a golden sandy beach in the splendid evening sunshine. As I stood, bare feet, with magnificent crashing waves cooling and soothing my aching toes it was almost as if I could hear God say "there you go, feel a bit of my creation"! A few moments later literally a few feet away a seal popped his head out of the waves as if to say "hello".
Earlier we had a picnic sitting high on the rocks. Then later egged on by Ruth we sought out a Geocache in a most crazy and dangerous location called Commando Ridge where soldiers trained to do rock climbing during World War II... only we didn't have any ropes or harnesses! 
Although exciting it was a bonkers excursion so I felt no guilt in then making our way to the lovely Rosemergy for a well deserved cream tea! On leaving we inadvertently left our walking poles behind and were a good mile away before we realised. Ruth phoned the café only to hear the owner was already in hot pursuit with our poles in hand. I ran back and was grateful to find him about 100 metres behind us. It felt like God was watching over us! What a brilliant and glorious day!
This time away has been and still is absolutely brilliant and we feel so blessed to have received this opportunity of space, relaxation and peace. However, life is not always easy. From time to time we all struggle. In the past year or so there have been difficult moments and at times we've both felt exhausted. With this in mind I've just read these encouraging words..."We can be honest with God. We don’t need to pretend to be happy. We can bring our pain to Him, exactly as it is. Tell Him why we’re crying (John 20:13,15); tell Him when He seems far away. He loves us and wants us to run to Him in our pain (1 Peter 5:7). When we do, we can experience the tender love of our Father knowing and holding us in even those most painful places (John 20:16). And we can share with others how He brought joy even out of our weeping (John 20:18).How strange... the words above I read and then copied into this blog on the morning of 12th June 2018. On the same day during a short walk in the evening Ruth reminded me that exactly a year ago on 12th June 2017 she had her operation!
Afterwards we visited Gwennap Pit http://www.gwennappit.co.uk/(Andrew & Rhian told us about it), an open air amphitheatre where John Wesley preached 18 times. It was fascinating and strange standing in the same spot where Wesley proclaimed the Gospel all those years ago. 
Good friends from Christ Church, Lesley and Tony Atchison, were on holiday at St Ives this week so we popped over to see them one evening and enjoyed a meal out together. Once again it was great to meet up with wonderful friends who we've known for many years and normally see on at least a weekly basis. 
A couple of days later we walked from Zennor towards St Ives. We bumped into a chap called Rick who was out with a strimmer clearing the path! He and others do a marvellous job helping to maintain this footpath for the pleasure and convenience of folks like us. As for the walk...wonderful as usual!
On Saturday we took an alternative route. Choosing to do a circular inland walk taking in some stone circles and standing stones plus the Ding Dong Mine Engine House near Zennor. We then moved on to enjoy a picnic at Pendeen Lighthouse and were excited to see four choughs flying around (incredibly there are only 15 breeding pairs of this rare Cornish national bird!). Then it was back for a short stint on the coastal path having great fun walking from St Just to Cape Cornwall and back including another mad and dangerous cliff top Geocache...madness!
We closed the day with fish and chips overlooking Mousehole harbour, joined by a delightful cat that sat in between us and purred!
So as we come to the close of another week I find myself reflecting on lots of walking, some of it tough and tiring (even dangerous) and some of it breath taking, fulfilling, immensely satisfying and offering a sense of peace. It was certainly worth it experiencing all sorts of enriching things along the way. The analogy with life's journey is fascinating. Sometimes we step off or get pushed off the path and it all gets a bit rocky and difficult but... God is always there... we just need to hold on and recognise He'll carry us through the bits that seem impossible. While during better times He's still there walking with us and ultimately we will live eternally with Him. Not because of anything we've done but entirely because of what He has done! “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:2 Thank you Lord.
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