Stepping Heavenward

2006-12-15T12:10:00.000Z

Where Is Celeste?: Not Here
Why Not?: She has moved
Where To? A new Home
Where Can I Find Her?: At: stillsteppingheavenward.wordpress.com
What Does She Want To Tell Me?: Please Come Visit!

:)

2nd Half Of Twenty Things To Do Before I Am 20

2006-12-09T11:33:00.000Z

11. Diligently study my French course that I am starting this week. (again)

12.(Hopefully) Keep helping to teaching a 23 year old "gypsy" girl how to read

13. Keep a journal of home-made family jokes, giggles, and moments of insanity
(Have done this on and off over the years, already)

14. Look over the old scribbles, "books", ramblings, and papers I have done long ago and sort them out and do something with them. (ie: improve them, or throw them out!)

15 See if I can plan several weeks in advance for Sunday School lessons, so there won't be panic and pandemonium on Fridays!

16 To not only be the Sunday School teacher to the older children at church, but be their friend.

17 Talk one on one with the ones who aren't yet Christians

18 Keep my bedroom in a more presentable state :)

19 Radoming pick a history book and study up on that time to improve my somewhat rusty history knowledge!!

20 To finally finish this awfully long, hard list!

All For Nothing?

2006-12-06T14:55:00.000Z

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, let each consider the other better than yourself”

I have a sobering piece of news for you: Whenever you or I do something in our own strength we may as well not be doing it at all.

Tough, isn’t it? Even when we are doing good things, with good intentions, it’s still worthless if we do not include God in the matter. It’s something great on the surface, but without God, it won’t ever be truly good.

“Therefore, whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God”
1st Corinthians 10:31

I have been dwelling a lot on this subject recently. It began awhile ago when I started thinking of all the projects and different things I have attempted this year. And as I was thinking over each thing- each good thing - the Lord pointed out to me that I have been trying to do too many things in my own strength.

It was dark and misty that day, and all sorts of questions and thoughts were flooding my brain and I knew I needed to get out for some fresh air. I pulled on my wellies and headed for the fields with the dog. As I sloshed through the mud and plodded along next to the creek bank I continued thinking.

All the plans and projects that had come to light in the last twelve months had been great ideas. People had praised me for the work I was doing with the children at church, with the magazine I was scribbling away at, even saying that I was a “wonderful person” because I was learning Braille, “You’re such a sweet girl! You must be so clever”, and then, on that cold day God showed me how alone I was. I was alone, because I had chosen to be alone. I had chosen to do all of this with only a very little amount of prayer and thought to God.
It had to change. I was treading water, and I needed God to be the first…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It happens often, for each one of us, to get lost and caught up in “doing things for the Lord”, without really working alongside Him. God doesn’t call us to do great things for Him, necessarily, but to do great things with Him. It’s not about us, or our strength. It all has to be about Him, and by Him, and in Him that we do things. On our own, things will dissolve and crumble.

Ambition is good. With God in the picture it becomes perfect.

Not in our strength, Lord, but Yours.

Four months...

2006-11-28T12:14:00.000Z

In just four months I will be leaving my teen years behind. Can you imagine? Just four months! And it's quite sad. I feel like I am getting old. It also seems like I have always been a teenager...twenty has been a long time coming!

And I have decided to follow Danielle's example and make a list of twenty things to do before I am twenty years old, or at least improve on! (and believe me there could be thousands!) Here are the first ten:

1. Be a better penpal to Abbie and Theresa!!

2. Read my Bible more often

3. Spend more time in prayer

4. Take the dog for more tramps down the back field to the creek

5. Be a nicer person to live with :)

6. Finish reading all the books I started this year.

7. Get a job

8. See Jacky :)

9. Study the times, dates, and numeral sections in my Braille book until I can write them without checking!

10.Be more patient with my little sister's excited babble when they want to tell me about the snail they found, the new song they are learning, and about the huge burp they just did!! :)

2006-11-25T14:30:00.000Z

Remember how I said I was reading a book called "Evelyn" the other day? Well, I started off reading a book called Zvi about one man's triumph over the holocaust and then, halfway through it, I started reading Evelyn and then, halway through that I started reading this book, One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven. I wonder if I'll ever finish one book this year! :)

Sarah posted the last book to me from Switzerland the other day and it's very good. No, it's really good! Written by Mark Cahill, it's a book about reaching out to the lost people in our world and how we can talk to them about the Lord. It's very encouraging, inspiring and easy to read and if you haven't read it before, then you should read it soon!

Mark Cahill's life's motto is: "If they're breathing, they need Jesus".

How often, as Christians, do we fear to talk to people about the Lord? For me, it's VERY often. I am afraid of saying something wrong, offending the person, looking like a "religious freak" or even being made fun of. It's certainly not easy to stand up and do something like that. Ever felt the same as me?

But after I began to read this book, it made me really want to do more wittnessing. And has Christians it is our duty to tell others the truth that we now know.

All of this babble to say that hopefully this week a friend and I will meet in town and pass out leaflets/tracts to people on the streets. I also want to have a one-on-one chat with a non-Christian girl at my church tomorrow. I have also been trying my best to wittness to people I know through email. Please pray that these things will go well.

I also had a thought...why don't each of us try and talk to at least one person about the Lord this week? Sound like a plan? Then pleasecome back to my humble little blog and let's talk about how it went! That way we can all pray for the people we have all met. :)

Come on, don't hide...
All you people on my side links-Hello! Wake up!- And all the others I have gotten to know as well! :)
Let's share!

Once Again

2006-11-24T14:28:00.000Z

Once Again
Matt Redman, from the CD "Blessed Be Your Name"

Jesus Christ, I think upon your sacrifice
You became nothing, poured out to death
Many times I've wondered at Your gift of life
I'm in that place once again. I'm in that place once again

And once again I look upon the cross where You died
I'm humbled by Your mercy and I'm broken inside
Once again I thank You
Once again I pour out my life

Now You are exalted to the highest place
King of the Heavens
Where one day I'll bow
But for now, I marvel at this saving grace
I'm full of praise once again. I'm full of praise once again

And once again I look upon the cross where you died
I'm humbled by Your mercy and I'm broken inside
Once again I thank You
Once again I pour out my life

Thank-you for the cross, Thank-you for the cross
Thank-you for the cross, my Friend

2006-11-19T16:02:00.000Z

Falling Down
David Meece

Lord You know I try to hard to do the things I should
In everything I say and do
In all things that are good
But the world keeps calling me
Time and time again it seems
And before I know what's hitting me
I've let you down again

And I'm falling down
You know I'm falling down
And I don't understand why I keep losing ground
But every time I do if I look up to You
Then I stop falling down
Yes, I stop falling down
Because of You...You

People say they understand they don't try to put me down
But Lord you know it rips apart the wittnes that I have
How I wish I could be
The girl that You want me to be
But You know that's impossible if I try without You

And I'm falling down
You know I'm falling down
And I don't understand why I keep losing ground
But every time I do if I look up to You
Then I stop falling down
Yes, I stop falling down
Because of You...You

2006-11-16T18:53:00.000Z

Help!!! After six years of living in this little green country I am fast becoming more Irish than Aussie!

You're 45% Irish

You're probably less Irish than you think you are...
But you're still more Irish than most.

How Irish Are You?

2006-11-12T18:52:00.000Z

At the moment I am reading a book called "Evelyn". It's the true story of the Doyle family and is set here in Ireland-in our capital city Dublin. The story is written as seen by nine year-old Evelyn. Evelyn's mother ran away and abandoned her husband and six children, leaving their father, Desmond, to cope alone.

Short of funds and not sure what to do, Desmond put his children into orphanages until such time as he had a good job and could take them home and look after them properly. When Desmond went back to the orphanges a year or so later, he discovered the horrifying truth...that his children could not be released back into his care until both he and his wife signed the forms. Obviously, this was a little difficult since his wife had left the country with another man and nobody knew where she could be found.

Thus the long hard fight to get his children back and to change this Irish law started.

Although not a Christain book, "Evelyn" is a touching story which shows young father's love for his children.

But another thing that stood out to me as I read the book is this:
The Doyle family were Catholics, as are 90% or more of the people in this country.
And again I realised how blinded the people around me really are, how lost, and how they are wound up in rituals, thinking that this will save them.

Just the other day my sister and I were on the bus coming home from being in town, and Eloise pointed out to me that a few people up the front of the bus crossed themselves profusely, three times each, every time we went past a church.

The Catholic people here in Ireland,(and probably most countries around the world) think that so long as they cross themselves when they pass a church or statue, go to Mass once a year, light a candle and say half a dozen "Hail Mary's" they will be okay! How wrong they are! These things don't save them, these things don't make them Christians! They are putting all their faith in religion and practices.

Personally, I do not like the term "religious". Every time I hear that word I think of empty, meaningless and pointless rituals that some people go through in a hopes of being in the "Good Books" with God.

Christianity is far more than all this. Ultimately God isn't as interested in the religion as He is in the relationship. We don't need to go through life carrying a long list of rules and regulations that we must cross off our list after completion. This is a binding "religion", so different from the truth of the Bible: "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free".

Free to live as we please? No, to be free of the bondage of a sinful life, but also to be free of being slaves of meaningless rituals and motions with no value. What's the point in "rituals" if you don't know the one your doing them for?

"God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts"

My Testimony

2006-11-08T23:35:00.000Z

My testimony of how I became a Christian isn't as thrilling and dramatic as some I have heard, and from my perspective it isn't all that exciting, but I'm including it here thinking that maybe there's somebody out there who can relate to it, or find encouragement from it! After all, I guess all testemonies are exciting...because it shows God's work in our lives :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have grown up since "Day One" knowing about God, going to Sunday school and church, hearing Bible stories, and praying. My parents were Christians and we always had high standards in our house.

When I was about seven years old I started asking my parents about becoming a Christian. I remember sitting on the couch with them one night while they asked me questions about God and made sure I understood what they were talking about. We then prayed and I started crying because I felt so happy. When I went up to bed my little sister asked me what was wrong and I told her that I had asked Jesus into my life and I wasn't crying because I was sad, but because I felt so good!

The years passed and major changes took place in our family. One of these major things was our family moving from Australia to Ireland, where we felt God was calling us. I was now a young teenager and although I still went to church with my family all the time and basically all my friends where Christians, I knew that I wasn't right with God. The commitment I had made all those years ago was only a child's commitment, and since then things had changed...I had grown up. I now understood and saw the meaning of Salvation through mature eyes and I knew in my heart that I wasn't living as a Christian.

Yet I didn't make a move.

God was convicting me and I knew He was calling me...but I was too stubborn to ask Him into my life and save me. I was miserable inside, tired of feeling rotten, scared about dying...yet I stood my ground and refused to budge.
I knew my friends were praying for me, and that my sister and other girls talked about me, yet inwardly I would be yelling, "Girls! Give it a break! You're going to have to wait a loooong time for me!"

Whenever my Mum tried to talk to me about it I would shrug her off or bottle up and refuse to talk about it. At church whenever there was a salvation message and I would sit there in my seat, stiff as a board, thinking that surely everybody was looking at me. During the prayer at the end of the service the minister would sometimes ask if there was anybody who wanted to become a Christian. It was then that I would grab the sides of my jacket tightly because of the insane fear that my hand would fly up and notify the preacher without me wanting it to!

Looking back it's ridiculous, and I just have to laugh, but at the time the battle was very real. I was so scared and miserable.
Why didn't I just give in?

As I sit here today, thinking about it, the answer is: I'm really not sure. Maybe I hated the idea of people fussing and gushing over me after becoming a Christian. I knew people wanted me to become a Christian so badly, and I knew I couldn't stand the flurry that would come from it.

Maybe it was because I was just too stubborn. I wasn't a bad person, I had lived a pretty sheltered life in that I had never got messed up in bad places and with bad people, but I was just too obstinate to give in.
But the main reason for not giving my life to God was because of the fact that the devil didn't want me to. Ephesians 6:12 says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers... My battle wasn't a physical battle, it was a spiritual battle.

But one night it all got too much for me. I no longer wanted to fight and struggle against what I knew was good and right. I gave in to God and allowed Him to give me the peace I badly needed. I was fifteen when I became a Christian, and yes, there were lots of hugs, a lot of letters and special notes and words of joy, but it didn't matter. I knew that if I were to die that night, it wouldn't matter anymore. I was at peace with God and I was worthy now, in His eyes, to be His daughter!
Over four years have passed since becoming a Christian and it hasn't always been easy. Just because I became a Christian it didn't mean I had suddenly be given a gift certificate saying: "Entitles bearer to pass through life on a bed of roses". I have had my roses, but the thorns have come with them. Life hasn't been easy and many times it hasn't been fun. I get hurt, I fall, I mess up, but....God's grace is sufficient and it will be so worth it all when, one day, I look back at the past and then look forward and see Jesus for the first time in my life!

Free To Be Me

2006-11-05T20:54:00.000Z

I'm unique. In more ways than one. In fact, with little surprise, there is a lot about me that it purely "Celestified". For example, (and anybody who knows me well will tell you this!) I become a very distructive person when in the presence of chocolate wrappers. I just cannot throw a whole chocolate wrapper in the bin. Instead, I shred the wrapper into little bits before throwing it out.(Much to Mum's annoyance as she goes about the house picking up stray bits!)
It's just one of those things.

Another unique thing about me is that I can never share a water bottle with another person, no matter who that person is. I would much rather let my throat become parched and stop working before...eeuw, gross...sharing a bottle. The same goes for forks and spoons.
It's just another one of those things.

I loose hair clips-- every day. Sometimes several times a day. A friend of mine has had the same pair for three five years. I have five hundred lost under my bed, around my desk, caught in jackets, lost in the grass...

As a child I had imaginary friends called Ducthidee and Doona with whom, (or so the rumour goes) I used to sit behind the couch with and have little conversations with. I've also been told that I had "Jeff and Kate the Flying Doctors" stopping in to have a visit with me and my two friends at times.

Yep. Unique alright.

Sometimes my uniqueness sets people laughing. One friend in particular has a habit of grinning quietly to herself when we are together. Once I spot her grinning away I demand "WHAT?!?" She looks at me and normally comes out with a "Oh Cel, you're great!" It takes me a minute before I realise I have done another "Celestified" thing again and we both laugh.

These are the lighter sides of me. But there are times when I am not happy with myself, and times when I simply do not like myself. I look around at the people near me and start thinking about them. I sometimes wish I could be like them. I wish I could have their personality, their way of doing things...I wish I could stand, sit, walk, talk, act, say, DO as they do. I then start trying to be more like them. I try hard to copy them, thinking that if I succeed in changing myself I'll be happier within myself and feel more accepted. I have got myself into this mind-set that they are better than me.

So far this hasn't worked, and it only ends in tears and frustration.

Why?

Because I have been striving to be somebody other than myself. I have been trying to stick a square into a circle, and it doesn't work. I have forgotten about the unique me. I have forgotten than God made this way for a reason. My faults and failures excluded...this is how God wants me to be, and He loves me like this. In fact, there are times when He probably looks down at me and laughs and thinks "There she goes again-typical Cel!"

Once I realise that I don't have to struggle and be somebody or something than I'm not, the preasure leaves. God sees me as me. He created me as me. And when I pause to think about all of this and accept it...

I am then free to be me.

2006-11-01T12:17:00.000Z

Hi All,

Just want to mention James to you all again. Please pray for him, especially as he keeps coming back to Bible Study. He keeps turning up at the house just after we have finished, while we are having tea and coffee. I don't know what keeps bringing him back but pray that he might see something in our lives.

He and I used to go to the same school, and I never imagined that one day He'd be mixing with our Bible Study group!! It's amazing the way things turn out :)

Last week him and a mate of his got into the back yard and were mucking around shining flashlights in through the window, until someone went out and invited them in. They both came in then, and James started playing songs for us on the guitar...He's a nice lad, and if he came to know the Lord all the energy and potential he has would be turned in a really great direction!

So, please keep him in prayer! Today is Wednesday again, and last week he told me he'd probably come around to Bible Study again...so I'll update you some time soon.

Thanks

Happy Is The Man...(Or Woman!!)

2006-10-27T12:17:00.000+01:00

Have your personal thoughts or convictions ever made you stand out? Have they ever made things slightly difficult for you in a group of people? Or have you ever seen the secretive glances that others in the room give each other after you have finished explaining the reasons for your convictions? Ever felt nervous, self conscious or even misunderstood because of them?

For a long time I have been battling with this. As Christians we all have the same fundamental beliefs in Christ-and this is what makes the bond between us so special, because we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord! But after those fundamental beliefs, we also have our own personal ideas on different subjects, and other don't always agree with us. But just because we don't change simply because nobody else agrees with us, it doesn't necessarily mean we enjoy holding to our beliefs. Personally, I am so prone to thoughts such as: "You are the only one in the room who thinks like you do on this subject" or, "I think they're all looking at you", or "They think you've lost your marbles this time, Cel!"

Whether or not these silent conversations I hold with myself are true or not...I don't know! :) :)
But yesterday I was reading my Bible and this verse jumped out at me:

Happy is the man who does not condemn himself in what he approves Romans 14.22

I then realised that I have been "condemning" myself! Isn't that mad? What is the point in doing what I think is right if I am struggling about it and feeling awful? It's got to be more than that! We should be strong, but also rejoicing in doing what we know is right...it won't alwasy be easy...but it'll be worth while!

Each of us have our own personal struggles, but don't "condemn" yourself for what you believe is right. And remember, as Christians, we're all part of the family of God...and God created us all to be unique! :)

(Written in great haste, so hope it makes sense!! :)

Real Beauty

2006-10-24T19:26:00.000+01:00

I got this (click on heading to see link) through following the "Omer of Manna", and found it good. The world is obessed with the perfect look, and I think that we girls find it harder than the lads do. We have magazines, newspapers, and movie stars thrown in our way and we think that if we don't look as perfect as them, then we are ugly.

But that's not real beauty. Real beauty comes from within. I used to think that an ugly person could not be really beautiful...but recently, especially this past year, I have found out how wrong I have been. I have met girls and guys who have the sweetest personalities that outshine everything else...and this beauty is the most wonderful of all. REAL BEAUTY

A Week in the McGrath House

2006-10-21T14:25:00.000+01:00

They say when it rains it pours. I get weeks when it seems nothing happens in my life, and then weeks when it all comes at once! This week has been one of the 'full on' ones, and it's been great.

Monday-Was pretty empty, after Tris and Dad went up to Galway. We seemed to do absolutely nothing all day.

Tuesday- Worked with Dad with some new orders that had come through and got them ready to ship off via FedEx. I then was very good and worked on my next Braille lesson...and, incredibly, I walked out of my room with some hair still left on my head. (After pulling at it and wimpering as I looked at my books!)

Wednesday-Wednesday evening was Bible Study night. Half-way through the study , there was a knock at the door and James and three of his friends came trooping in. I went to the same school as James, but over time we lost contact. Then during the summer we met up again, exchanged mobile numbers, and he has been to Bible study a few times. He's not from a happy back-ground and not a Christian, and he and his friends spent the next fifteen minutes laughing loudly at the meeting, poking each other, pushing and flipping through the bible and whispering, before walking out.
A lot of people would have been disapointed or annoyed at them, but I was so glad they had come along. The first time I invited James to come to Bible Study I was so sure it would be his first and last time--certain that he was freaked out. (Poor guy, I practicaly dragged him in the door!) But here he is, coming back from time to time. There's hope! ;)
After the meeting I met the new guy down here in Waterford for the year, to help out. His name is Johnny, is eighteen years old and seems like a really nice guy. It seems wherever I go there is a severe shortage of Christian guys, so it will be really great to have Johnny here so the few other guys won't be alone, stuck in a group of girls! :) (Although we could say "Blessed are they among women"...haha)

Thursday- I got a text asking if I wanted to join some friends for a walk on the beach, and by the time they came to pick me up it was after eight-thirty p.m. and pitch black outside. I love walks in the dark, and this one was so much fun! We walked along the beach out to the sand dunes before deciding to climb to the top of the biggest sand dune. You can imagine it, tall wispy grass, sand, holes, dark, sudden disapearing acts as we fell flat, mobile phone lights switched on when it was particulary hard, puffings, pantings, wails from Claire at the back of the group, laughter, fun... I guess the old tomboy in me hasn't died yet!

Friday- We had friends from Dublin down. We had a total of six children running around the place...and you can imagine the noise levels, especillay when the pillow fights started! The sandwiches vanished from the plates, the biscuits were devoured by little hands (Josh in particular) and socks and shoes were muddy and wet after tramping through the fields!
I was thinking about it after they left, and realised how much I love the way my parents have always been so hospititable. For years I have been used to my Mum inviting multitudes over to our house...church lunches, Bible-Studies, youth nights, friends...and Mum never minded the pillow fights, the table-tennis balls lost under the couches, the noise, the mess...yep. When I have my own family I want to be like this!
In the evening I went to an extra bible study for young people. It's at the same place as Wednesday nights, but this was the first time for a 'youth' one, and I was panicking that I would be the last to arrive because we got caught in traffic...but I ended up being the first and it was half an hour later the speaker turned up. Poor guy had travelled from Belfast and it had taken him something like six hours!

Saturday-Is today, and I have just said goodbye to Mike and Isabelle. She came at 8:50 this morning...a grand total of ten minutes after I had stumbled out of bed :) I am not what you call a morning person. I opened the door to Mike, looking remarkably like a zombie and thus started the day!
I took my two little sisters and Belle to our church this morning and while they played around I got ready for Sunday school tomorrow. Vlora will be taking the little children and I will have the older ones...and I can't wait. I love it! Sometimes it scares me that I seem to get on better with kids than people my age! It generally takes me a long time to feel 'safe' with people, and until I get that way they all think I am a shy quiet mouse...this makes my close friends choke, and then roll with laughter and think it's a great joke that Cel is "quiet".
Hmm. Yeah. I'm a bit like a foghorn sometimes. :/
:)

I have finished the ironing and cleaning and so I'll toddle off and see what I can find to do...oh, got to finished making the booklets for Sunday School. *Phew* Nearly forgot.

I've just looked out the window and the clouds are rolling in again, the wind is blowing and the rain has started. You can't half tell I live in Ireland!

Australia, Australia, whyfore did we forsaketh thee?

"What Do You Wish You Had Known?"

2006-10-18T17:39:00.000+01:00

Being a teenager/young adult brings many changes to our lives. When we were children we were content with playing in the sand pit and collecting snails. These favourite past times have now (hopefully!) been replaced with more mature activities and fun such as meeting up with friends, eating out with them, taking walks with them. texting back and forth and going shopping. Now that we are older we can even go off on trips alone now without mum being with us, carrying the bag full of apples and drinks and spare underwear.

These are some of the many great things about growing up and becoming older. But we all know that at this stage in our lives there are many times when it doesn't always run so smoothly. These years can be a little confusing, we have questions, and sometimes fears, and more than likely we are going to experiance hurt and pain as well. It's all part of life, and it's not always fun.

I was visiting the rebelution awhile back and they were encouraging young people to ask the adults in their lives what they wished they had known when they were at our ages. It's so easy to get caught up in our own little world and feel like we are the only ones on earth who are going through this...and we forget that the adults in our lives have been through it all before, and can give the advice and help we sometimes need.
So, I sent out an email to those adults in my life and asked them that same question. "What do you wish you had known at my age?" Here I share the responses I got.

___________________________________
"Hi Cel,
There is so much [I wish I had known] but I think that the major one would
be that I would like to have known how much of a problem it would cause me (and
hence those around me) when I turned my back on my Christian upbringing and beliefs and went my "own" way for many, many years. It turned out to be nothing but heartache and wasted time. Sure, I learnt a lot of lessons but I would much rather have had that information without the pain from doing it the hard way. I was told
most of what I did learn, but I wouldn't listen. So really I think that would be the most important thing, to have listened to those who were older and wiser and not have to do things the hard way.
Like Bob (my husband), I think that stress is one of the biggest things but that can
be brought on by not living a Christian life. To follow God and God's law tends
to lessen the stress in life, and often will remove it completely. To be able
to trust in Him and His Son totally and absolutely, to take all our cares, troubles and problems to Him and leave them on His alter.
Hope that is helpful.
Love
Margaret"

"Hey Cel,
Thinking about your question, when I was your age to have known that it
was not in what I could DO, but who I WAS in Christ would have been good. We are all precious/unique/planned & incredibly loved by God, I know
that now & thank God it's never too late to learn that! And I have the
privelage as a mum to pass that on to my children that have been
entrusted to me.
Much love to you, from Aunty Shazzy"

"Dearest Cel,

Thanks for your e-mail, there is a really big one that I wish I knew/learnt/understood! In my day (all those years ago back in the 80s!!) we were told "no sex before marriage" and then a few little bits like "nice girls don't kiss boys or let the boys kiss them" as if we all wanted to be "nice girls" (which is different to being a Christian girl I think), and a whole bunch of other silly little things that were more like wives tales than making any real sense. Anyway, my own boys hit puberty a few years ago and I phoned the head quarters of "Growing Kids God's Way" (the best thing out by the way) and said HELP! They directed me to a number of books including "Why I Kissed Dating Goodbye" and others. I also then bought other books like "Boundaries Before Marriage" and a ton of other books for Christians on the topic of sex. They are all totally for "no sex before marriage" but they explain where sex begins and ends and the consequences to every little thing you do. Not wives tales or embarrassing brush offs, but real answers.

I would have loved to have had that understanding and been in the position of making educated choices that I am happy to stand by, instead of being so petrified of doing the wrong thing that I wouldn't go new a guy. Fear is not a healthy reason to make a decision like that and many of my friends who did not have that fear made wrong decisions in the other direction, so I am thankful that that wasn't me, but we have made our boys read all the books and it has armed them with real facts that are not only scriptural but are also psychologically backed. They have made purity pacts and commitments to stick to it, but what I (and I am sure they) enjoy and appreciate even more, is that they understand why they have made those decisions and what they mean, and can look at their friends who do the wrong things and can see evidence already of WHY those decisions are wrong, which only strengthens their own stands.
God Bless and loads of love,
Mrs Smart"

"What do I wish I had understood when I was your age, Celeste? How little most things matter, in the greater scheme of things! To understand that sometimes, you are right, and all the experts and others are wrong. And to realise that, yes, God really is working to a plan - but that doesn't mean life will always be fair to us (and He won't fall off His throne if we tell him!). We just have to keep working on the assumption that He knows what He is doing! - Alice"

___________________________________

So, here are some words of advice that apply to us now, because we all face these things in some way or another. (or at least will face it sometime in the future) While we may not agree on everything a certain person believes, we have to remember that they can still offer valuable advice to us because they have already walked the path we are now on.

The challenge is to take that advice and build upon it! I'll admit, I am not always good at it...but I'll keep trying! :)

Very Random Thoughts

2006-10-16T09:19:00.000+01:00

There are changes happening in our family right now, and the other day I was musing to myself and remembering all the ideas I used to have for my life when I was younger and comparing them to what is happening now.

As a girl/young teenager, I had great plans for my life. I would look around at the girls I knew in their mid twenties and vow to myself that my life wouldn't be like theirs. Their lives weren't bad...they just weren't exciting. There was no way I would waste my life working in some supermarket, or with some other boring, every day job. My life would be adventure-filled.

I read and re-read books like Going Solo and saw myself in Africa like Roald Dahl. I would experiance the experiances, see the sights, smell the smells and enjoy living in such a wonderful place. Meeting girafes and elephants seemed very cool.

I read the Anne Books about half a million times and saw myself walking through shadowy woods with a bosom friend, and sitting on the fence post watching the sun go down on a little village I loved.

And, like most other girls, I read Little Women so much that I could just about quote the entire book by heart. I saw myself with my "Laurie" , growing up together. We would spend our lives playing jokes on people and each other, and be best friends and worst enemies several times each during the day. We would take long walks and solve the world's problems together and be all-round best friends.

If none of these dreams were to come true, I would just settle with travelling the world. I would go to poorer countries and play football in the dirt with the children. I would teach little blind children Braille and befriend loney, broken hearted people and bring a light into their lives.

Grand Plans

Well, I think I have matured a little since then. Those wild and far-fetched dreams are slowly begining to fizzle out. I haven't given up on them completely yet, but for the moment the closest I'll get to India will be writing to little Ajjay over there. The closest I'll get to kicking a football around with beautiful dark-eyed children will be kicking our football around in the field and sinking in the mud. As for "Laurie", well, he didn't turn up. The closest I have come to finding one is in my cousin Ben. He always cracks me up. But that's all via email from 10,000 miles away.

Oh, and as for vowing never to work in a supermarket? Well, I have just finished filling in a application form to work in a shop close by. Wow. Yes, the reality of life is quite different to those funny dreams I used to have!

The reason for applying for this job is because my brother, Tristan, has just moved out of home and is heading up North to County Galway. (I found out which county it was after telling everybody at Bible-Study he was moving to County Donegal. Oops!:))
As Tris has always put money towards the rent of our house, I need to find a job quickly, or we might just end up living in our car! My visa has been stamped again for another year...and from now I am legally allowed to get a job. So the timing workd out right :)

This morning before Tris left, we all stood in the kitchen and Dad prayed. Mum and Brenna cried, hugs were given (probably much to his disgust)and then he jumped in the car and we watched him drive out, narrowly missing the concrete post as he went past. We all laughed and said something like "We'll see if he can get out of the drive way first!"

So, there you have it. Random thoughts...with no value, but felt like writing them anyway!

God Never Gives Up

2006-10-13T14:33:00.000+01:00

During the summer a friend of mine loaned me a taped sermon on Jonah. I hadn't actually taken much time to study the book of Jonah before this, but through taking a closer look at it I have discovered how God refuses to give up on us. No matter who we are, or what we do, God never throws us in the "too hard basket", instead He will keep persuing us.

"Now the word of God came to Jonah...but Jonah arose to flee to Tarshis, from the presence of God."

I know that if that had happened to me, I probably would have completely given up and gone in search for somebody better for the job. But God didn't let Jonah disapear. He didn't go in search of another braver, better, or stronger man to take Jonah's place. God chased Jonah, determined to use him dispite all his faults. All of Jonah's weaknesses and inadiquences did not cause God to give up on him.

"So Jonah arose and went to Ninevah, according to the word of God...and the people of Ninevah belived God." (3:3a, 5a)

There are times in our lives when we feel broken and useless, or we feel that our failures are too great for God to be able to work in us, but the Lord redeems those past hurts and failures and uses them to HIS glory. In fact, it is when we are in these circumstances that God gets the opportunity to shine brighter, and display his work and power in our lives.

God's plan for our lives is not limited by our weaknesses, frailties, or limitations. He works even in our weaknesses, and is the God of second chances. (And third, and fourth, and fifth, etc!)

"The Lord upholds all who fall
And raises all who are bowed down.
The Lord is near to all those who call on Him
In truth." Psalm 145:14, 18

"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's amazing grace. And your best days are never so good that you're beyond the need of His help."

Compromise!

2006-10-11T16:01:00.000+01:00

Give me a few more hours, a day, or a couple of days and I'll have finished writing something new to put on here. In the mean time, keep this in mind...
*grinning*

It's Just a Stepping Stone...Don't Fall in the Water

2006-10-08T21:41:00.000+01:00

Every temptation is the oportunity to do good.
On the path to Spiritual maturity, even temptation becomes a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block when you realise that it is just as much an occasion to do the right thing as it it to do the wrong thing. Temptation simply provides a choice.
While temptation is Satan's primary weapon to destroy you, God wants to use it to develope you. Every time you choose to do good, instead of sin, you are growing in the character of Christ.
God developes the fruit of the spirit in your life by allowing you to experiance circumstances in which you are tempted to express the exact quality! God uses the opposite situation of each fruit to allow us a choice. Every time you defeat temptation, you become more like Christ. -Rick Warren - from the book The Purpose Driven Life

"Ponder the path of your feet
And let all your ways
Be established.
Do not turn to the right or the left
Remove your foot from evil"
Proverbs 4:26,27

Behold, An Interview!

2006-10-07T15:40:00.000+01:00

This keeps coming around to me in emails...and just for fun I decided to add it here, as my 'serious' writing 'skills' have gone on a holiday for today!! :)

Name: Celeste Hope McGrath
Age: 19
Place of birth: AUSTRALIA!!!
Number of siblings: Four
Where do you come in? Second oldest

Your height: SMALL, sniff. 5 foot 3 inches...*weepy eyes*
Hair colour: Brown
Length of hair: 3/4 down my back
Eye colour: Bluey green

Number of (first) cousins? 20
Closest to? Ben and Shae

Christian for how long? Four years
Smoke? No
Drink? No
Go to the movies: Yes

Countries travelled to: Australia, Ireland, England, Belgium, Switzerland, France (and just over the border of Germany and Italy)
Countries want to travel to? New Zealand, Africa, India

Name five friends: Sarah, Vlora, Deirdre, Rhonda, Lara

Favourite sport to watch: Football
Favourite sport to play: volley ball

Name 5 things you want to do before you are 30 years old: Visit Africa, get married, adopt a child, go to a Liverpool match (and meet the players personally!!)Go out on a boat and spot Orca Whales swimming...(weird, I know!) Can I only have five?!?

Favourite smells: Cut grass. Vanilla. Lemon Peel
Favourite chocolate bar: Snickers
Favourite way to spend the day: sleep in late in the morning, then be with friends, walking on the beach, talking, laughing...

Pet Hates: Giggly, flirty girls.
Things that scare you: slugs, spiders, my up-coming exams next year *shudder*
If you could change one thing about yourself: my toes!!
Worst fault: Impatience (one in a list of many!)
Some of your nick-names are: Celery, Saltie, Heavenly, Salvital, Cel the Gal...

And here endeth the interview! ;)

Great Quotes

2006-10-04T09:21:00.000+01:00

The other day Matt (from my Bible Study) text me with a quote which was really neat. I then decided to collect good quotes from around the place and see what I came up with...

"God FOR us, Romans 8:31
God WITH us, Matthew 1:23
God IN us, 1st Corinthians 6:19
WHAT ISN'T POSSIBLE?"

"You cannot always feel God with your feelings, but you can always feel Him with your faith"

"Jesus prefered to go to Hell for you, than to Heaven without you"-Max Lucado

"There is no place where God's presence is not"-Ted Kelly

"You could cut me into a thousand peices and lay them out on the street, but every peice would cry out "Jesus loves you" and you'll never be able to run from that"-Nicky Cruz

"God knows Satans tricks, but He (God) always gets the last say"

"How can people believe that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth was created by mere chance, when all the skills of Science cannot even produce an oyster?"-Ken Ham

"God's power is unleashed when God's people pray"-Max Lucado

"Give Jesus what you've got, and He'll give you back what you need"

"Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose will remain meaningless"-Bertrand Russell

"You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense"

"God and man exist for each other and neither will be satisfied without the other"

Wear Your Rings In Public?

2006-09-28T22:59:00.000+01:00

This moring (after turning my bedroom up-side-down hunting for something) I was found some of my old Bible Study notes from earlier this year. As I was flicking through the scribbly pages I came across this...and thought I would write it down here.

We had been talking about people being 'Sunday Christians' or 'Wednesday-night-prayer-meeting-Christians'...you know, the people who walk into church once or twice a week (or once or twice a year)and go through the motions and then walk out and spend the rest of their time doing as they want, being where they choose, and acting how they please. It was then that somebody told us a little story that perfectly showed the craziness of such a life.

Picture it: a guy gets up the courage to ask his girl to marry him. She whole heartedly agrees and cannot wait until her wedding day-the day she has been looking forward to ever since she was a small girl! Her new husband-to-be slides a gorgeous ring onto her finger and she knows she has never been happier in all her life.
Now picture this: the sweet young couple have been invited out to a friend's party. The guy drives over to the girl's house to pick her up, she gets into the passenger seat and they start driving. Soon the guy notices that she is trying to yank the ring off her finger. "What on earth are you doing?" he askes her with a funny grin. She seems a little embarrassed and mumbles something quietly. "Is the ring not good enough?" he jokes, and then immediatly notices that there are tears in her eyes.
"Don't be mad at me!" she says, "Please understand! I do love you, I really do! And I'll wear your ring when we are both together, but I don't want to wear it out in public. My friends...they...just don't think you're cool. I don't want them to think I am weird."

Hmm. Unusual, huh? What kind of a girl would only wear her ring around the man she is to marry? She should be so proud of it!The same way it is for us as Christians. There is simply no way we can be "Sunday" Christians, it's all or nothing.

I heard a quote once that went like this; "The greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians. They walk into church and praise God and then walk right out and deny Him by their lifestyle". I'm sure we all know that there have been times when non-believers have said "If that's what you call Christianity, then I'm not having anything to do with it."

It may just be that the only Bible some people will ever read will be your life. Do we wear our 'rings' in public, or do we try and pull them off when we think nobody is looking?

Is This Doubting?

2006-09-27T15:27:00.000+01:00

Compared to other people's blogs...this one is just over a month old, which means that I don't have HUGE amount of people adding comments on here yet. (although I have had 356 views in that time...woohoo!)But despite all this, I thought I would put a question out there to the people who DO actually read this...because I have been thinking about this subject ever since I read something similar to it on somebody else's blog. I had been eagerly waiting to read comments on that blog in answer to this question...but so far nothing has come up.

Here it is:
If I pray in faith, asking God for something that is very important to me and something that I REALLy need, is it a lack of faith to wonder if God will say no?
If somebody told me they would get back to me with an answer about a job, and don't, is it wrong to jump the gun and go ahead and phone THEM instead of waiting patiently and relying on God?

Of course this is only one instance, there are loads more. What do you all think?

First Day of Sunday School...

2006-09-24T13:34:00.000+01:00

After wanting to start Sunday School at our church for months, today was the first day!

Yesterday I got the church key and went in to put up posters and get the worksheets organised, while Isabelle (a little girl I look after) coloured on one of the black boards for "the little kids to see tomorrow when you teach them".

The plan was to have my friend Vlora help out with me for Sunday School, along with one of the mothers. I thought that this was a great plan...I didn't want to do it on my own! They told me that I could set it all up, plan what we were going to do and they would help supervise. Sounds great. We normally only have about half a dozen Sunday school aged children and everything was going according to plan.

Then today came, and as I sat waiting for everybody to turn up I realised we were going to have a few more than six children for Sunday School. We had a LOT of visitors, and so far neither Vlora or Anne-Marie had turned up!
But before my heart completely stopped beating, they arrived and when Vlora sat next to me we both looked around the room. "There's millions of them!" I whispered to her and we gave each other with nervous grins.

After we had finished singing and the announcements were done, we trooped downstairs with the children...and yes, there was more than half a dozen children. We had FIFTEEN children from the ages of 3-13 years old!
A little scary for The First Time Ever Sunday School Teachers! But we made it, despite the fact that we had...
1. To croak out the same song three times before anybody came close to getting the hang of it.
2. Catch a runaway child before he ran up the stairs into the church room again.
3. A dear little boy stand up and sing a "Bible Song" from Sesame Street, complete with actions:)

Phew. It was a little stressful, especially when Vlora had to mind 8 month old Bethany the whole time and was unable to help because of that! But the kids all ran upstairs once we had finished, waving the papers they had coloured in
and nobody had got lost or killed, and we had nobody hanging from the lights, or getting locked in the bathrooms. So I guess it was a success!