F is for FLOWERPOT.....

…..and here are two very sad looking FLOWERPOTS showing that not all Blip photographs are marvellous shots but sometimes things like this can teach us a lesson!

When we first arrived in Boscombe at the end of June, I remembered looking "over the balcony" and seeing our neighbours' flowers blooming in their pots, but a couple of weeks later, I noticed the once beautiful flowers, now wilted and completely dead and I knew there was nothing I could do to revive them.

I thought how upset L. would be to see these, as she had been so happy when she had planted the bulbs, watched the plants grow and then when they eventually flowered we shared her joy! It transpired that the person who was going to water them whilst L. and her husband were on holiday, had been away herself and therefore the plants had not had any water during the very hot spell we had a few weeks ago, so with no means of getting over the balcony, I had to watch helplessly as the flowers and plants, faded and died.

We are very much like those plants - we need food, water, clothing and shelter and if we don't get these we will eventually fade away and die and this is particularly true for our spiritual lives. If we don't feed on God's Word and pray on a regular basis, our spiritual life will become dry and then it too, will shrivel and die. We need discipline and perseverance to set aside time each day to read the Bible and to pray, and that can be difficult in our busy lives.

Susannah Wesley, the mother of John and Charles Wesley used to kneel with her Bible in her hand, pull her large apron over her head, and her children knew that they must not disturb her for the next hour while she prayed for each of her children.

Now SHE must have been busy, because she had 19 children, although only 9 survived to become adults. Not only did she pray for her children, but she set aside an hour every week for each child and spoke to them about spiritual matters. John, who was an ordained Anglican priest, launched the Methodist movement and Charles, also an ordained priest, wrote over 9,000 hymns. I wonder if either of them would have done as much if their mother hadn't been so unwavering in her prayers for them? Susannah Wesley was a real mother of influence and we need more like her!

I pray that you will be blessed
with kindness and peace from God,
who is and was and is coming…….
…..May kindness and peace
be yours from Jesus Christ,
the FAITHFUL witness.
Revelation 1 : 4-5
Contemporary English Version