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!

The Snobby Brand of People.

2006-09-21T20:29:00.000+01:00

We've all met people like this. The ones who snob you, act bored with you, ignore you, betlittle you and sometimes are just down right rude with you, no matter what you try. They can be young, or old, or teenage.
And, for me, it's the teenagers that are really hard to deal with. There have been those times when I have been in the presence of such people who make me feel downright stupid. I can see them hanging back to one side all alone, but if I go and be friendly, I get...well, snobbed.
This is an akward situation. And there have been times when I simply didn't bother to make the effort with other people. I let them act how they wanted. "Their problem, not mine" Those people have come into my life for a brief moment and have left now, and instead of making the effort to go up and get to know the person, I left it. And a potential friend was gone forever.

I was thinking about this the other day when I thought about a girl I know. This girl was one of these 'snobs' I have been talking about. She hung back away from the crowd-never attempting to join in and be part of us. Whenever I tried to invlove her or simply tried to talk to her I was rewarded with a grunt or a vacant expression. Uh...nice. Very disconcerting.
For some reason, despite the obvious displeasure this girl had towards me, I continued to talk to her whether she wanted to hear me or not. "She's SO rude" I would declare to my family and to myself. What is wrong with people like her? What would a simple smile or word take from her?

It took a long time to get through to her, but eventually she started warming up to me. She began to actually ANSWER my questions. After that hurdle had been crossed and she realised it hadn't damaged her, she began ASKING ME questions, and then the laughing started! Underneath all that rough, hard surface, was just a very lonely girl. Once I had gently broken in she accepted me, despite the fact that we are so different to one another. (I am a Christian, she is not. Most of my friends are Christians, she prefers the rought bunch.)

I keep thinking that if I hadn't have persisted she would still be a loner, hanging back. Nobody else seems to want to make the effort with her...and perhaps she would have been another person to "walk in and walk out".

I keep wondering what kind of a differance we could all make if we took the time to get to know our snobby people. Underneath all of that there is a person who feels the same way you and I do, it's just a little harder to find.

What have we got to loose? Try out the STUC approach. Show Them U Care

Prayer Request

2006-09-20T13:25:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
This is yet another super-quick post to mention a prayer request.

This morning I got a phone call from a lady asking me if I would be interested in teaching a blind six year-old girl!! I told her that I am definately interested, and she told me she wasn't asking for a commitment yet, she was just wondering if I would be available. She ended the call saying she would get back to me.

I would LOVE for this to happen! Even though I am not fully qualified yet, I know how to read and write Grade 1 and Grade 2 Braille...so this would be great. However, this has happened once before and it has fallen through and nothing came out of it.

So, peoples, if you want to pray....you're more than welcome to! :)

Thanks in advance!!!

Re: Calling All Testemonies!

2006-09-17T16:36:00.000+01:00

Thanks to all who wrote in with their testemonies about their walk with God...they're great!!

We do, however, have one small problem...it seems like the girls are more brave than the guys. All but two of the testemonies are from girls. Here's the little hiccup: After including them in SH, my friends and I are also going to combine them into a booklet and plan to pass them out to young people, and somehow a booklet of girl's testemonies aren't going to impact a teenage guy as much as if he would read of guys his own age!

So...here's the final request. Any lads out there want to help us out?
(same as before, Comment on it, Cbox it, or email it!)

Part Two...

2006-09-13T16:31:00.000+01:00

For two years we are with this small church in Ireland. Us three older children enjoy the games of volley-ball with the youth, girl's donut making days, helping to shell peas at our minister's house (where it seemed more peas are thrown into people's coffee mugs and stuffed down each other's backs than actually go into the bucket!)
We move out of the cottage into a nice two-story house with a lovely yard and view of the ocean and mountains.

2001
My Mum is worried about my Dad who has been loosing weight and having lower back pains. "It's the same way Pa was" she tells me one day, tearfully. The results from his tests comes back. Dad has been diagnosed with bowel cancer.
My Dad? No way. Not us. Never. Yet it is undeniable. Dad is put into hospital for more tests...and it's confirmed yet again, the doctors have now seen it with their own eyes. They let Dad out of hospital for the week end. The new week will see Dad go throug his very first treatments.
I go around in a daze. Scared, but still not fully understanding. It is like an unpleasant dream.
Sunday evening we have a special prayer service for Dad. I howl my head off uncontrollably the entire time. My friend does all she can to comfort me, but this is just too much...
Just as reality starts to dawn on me that this IS real, this IS happening, we get some astounding news from the doctors. The cancer has suddenly 'vanished'. There are NO traces of it anywhere. "WHAT? HELLO? Just WHAT are you telling us?" The baffled doctors can offer no explanation to our hounding questions. It was there when dad left hospital and yet somehow, over the weekend, it has simply gone. Could is be a miricle? My Mum asks them. Relunctantly the doctor says he has no other explanation.

The cancer doesn't return.

2002
For about two years now, I have been under strong conviction and I know that I am not a Christian and I am not living for God. Even though my parents are Christians and basically all my friends have become Christians, I stubbornly sit on my box and refuse to budge from it.
Eloise accepts Jesus into her life. Her friend also gets saved. They are both praying for me. My parents are praying for me. My friends are praying for me. Inside I silently shout at all of them "Give it a break! You're going to have to wait a LONG time for me, people!"

I am miserable inside, tired of feeling guity...scared to die.

At church I feel as though everybody must be looking at ME during the salvation message. As the minister prays for somebody to put their hand up and and become a Christian, I hold into the sides of my jacket tightly, because of this unsane fear of my hand flying up and notifying the preacher without me wanting it to.

This is rediculous, I know. But I am fighting a hard battle here.
One night it all gets too much. I give into God and pray that He will save me and come into my life. Tears flow. Peace comes. Who cares if I die? I am now worthy to be called a daughter of God!I'm going to Heaven! The guilt has gone...

2003
We start having problems in our church. Some things are said and we don't agree. Some things happen that shouldn't. Some things DON'T happen that should. A lot of hurt and a tremendous amount of pain. We evenually leave the reason for coming to Ireland.

We girls start home-schooling. We have church at home with ourselves. We all feel the sting of being rejected and hearing nasty rumours spread about out family. Things are black. Pain. Tears. Heart ache. Home sickness.

I have suddenly been bumped out into the cold -from having a set of friends to having nobody. Let me repeat that...NOBODY. The only non-church people we know are friend's of my parents and little children.

I am in a foriegn country with no friends.
We cannot go back to Australia. Our funds have been poured into a little bookstore which still isn't giving us an income. Our rented house is up for sale.

How can Christians act like this? Where is God? I grow cold with the Lord. I feel like giving up on Him. Why us? Why did He lead us here only to have it all end in tears? My only friends are overseas....thousands of miles away from me.

It's still raining outside. What is wrong with this country? Does the sun ever shine?

2004
We start attending a Baptist church. It takes a good while to settle in. I am now the new kid on the block. The old hyper me has been replaced with a shy, self-concious one. I hate myself for being so scared.

We move closer to Waterford city when our house gets sold beneath our feet. It's incredible to find such a large house, with an acre of land so close to Waterford! I now have my own room. All those years of being in the same room as snoring sisters is now in the passed.
I pursue my interest in learning Braille. Those years of learning-for-fun with a friend in Australia seem so hazy and long ago. I get my hands on any Grade One Braille I can get.

I finish home school...yippe. Those days are gone! I start minding a lot of little children for different families. I and become an expert on changing nappies, making bottles of milk, kissing little hurts, sometimes cooking lunch for the parents and playing monsters. It's been a long time since we had a baby in our house, but it all comes back again.

I still miss Australia. All of us girls do. I still wonder if I'll see my grandparents again before it's too late. I do love Ireland, despite the rain, it's a beautiful country...but nothing compares to the freedom, trees, and sun of Australia.

2005
I take up a proper course to learn Grade Two Braille. The books are huge, it takes me half an hour to read one page. How on earth do you use a Braille type-writer? I wonder what I have landed myself in.
I feel settled at the Baptist church now and have made friends there. At the end of this year I start going to a Bible-study from another church. They are amazing people. I still sometimes battle with my shyness, but they are fast becoming wonderful friends.

At last things are a little brighter. We've been through a really hard few years but I am happier now. A friend tells our family "Maybe you thought God was leading you to Ireland to join that church, but God was using that as a stepping stone to take you where He wants you in the future".

Incredibly, God bassically dumps the opportunity for a trip to Australia in our laps! This is incredible...from an unexpected source, we now have the money for 5 air fares back to Australia! We girls bid Dad and Tristan good bye and fly the 22 hour flight back to our home.
Six weeks of sun, enduring hugs and kisses and tears, seeing the family, seeing friends, seeing kangaroos, playing cricket in the back-yard, relaxing at the creek, taking photos, driving the grandparents up the wall, telling the same stories to hundreds of people, seeing the Sydney Opera House for the first time, taking photos, practing our Aussie accents again (and making fun our our friend's REALLY strong accents) taking more photos, creating new memories... I feel like I can face anything now. I have been home and seen the people who love me, who 'have a past' with me, who can tell me funny stories of what I did as a girl...
Meanwhile Dad is alone all day in the house while Tristan is at work. It's terribly quiet, the cat is moping, he can't wait to have us back, even though we females talk 24/7

2006
I am reading huge Braille books with ease now! My course is still terribly hard, but I am relieved to find out other people have had the same difficulties as me. I am half way through!
I meet loads of new people this year, enjoy doing some street meetings and handing out Chrisian leaflets with several teams during during the summer .
I take a scary step and attempt to start a basic Christian magazine for girls. Surprisingly, people tell me it's amazing and that they love it. I have people subscribe from Ireland, England, America and Australia.
I start a blog page and drive my family up the wall for always being on the computer when they want to use it.
I fly back to Switzerland to visit my friend (who always leaves anonymous comments on my blog:)

The future is still uncertain, sometimes a little scary. What will I do? Where will I go? Who will I meet? But I am finding out that God cares, even in the blackest times and there's always a reason.
************************************

Praise You In the Storm

I was sure by now, God You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

And I'll praise you in this storm

and I will lift my hands

for You are who You are

no matter where I am

and every tear I've cried

You hold in your hand

You never left my side

and though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of

heaven and earth...

words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

My Life, Part 1

2006-09-12T23:01:00.000+01:00

The Extremely Short Version ;)

March 1987, new born.
Celeste Hope McGrath enters the world! I was welcomed (so I have been told!:) by my parents, Peter and Glenys McGrath, and my little brother Tristan.

1988
Our family moves back to Papua New Guinea, from Australia, where my parents had been living for a few years. Dad works for a trucking company in which all profit goes back into training nationals to become ministers in their country.
Mum and Dad have Bible studies at their house with other missionaries and local people. They experiance little earth-quakes, snakes in the back garden, riots in the street at the front of the house, men guarding the house at night with bow and arrows, malaria and dengy fever.
Tristan learns to climb trees, I eat cockroaches.

1989
We have moved back home to Australia. My sister Eloise enters the world!

1992
I start school and love it! My kinder teachers moan softly to my parents "Celeste is so different to Tristan. He is so relaxed and she is like a whirl-wind!"
My teacher, Mr Bowers (Mr. B) becomes my friend and I am his pet. He signs all my papers with a "Well done Super C!" on them. When I become the "star of the week" he writes a little poem to add to my photos on the board.
"Celeste McGrath will go far in her red sports car. She will smile with special style. We love our super C!"

Life is good and great...I grow up as every other little girl, a little scatter-brained and very lively and out going.

1994
My Dad's sister becomes a Christian after living a hard and rough life. Her life is changed dramtically. Although sick and very weak, she is baptised at our large church with my family, her five young children and a mulitude of new Christian friends watching on.
She looses her battle with cancer at age thirty and goes to be with the Lord she has recently and strongly gotten to know.

1995
Another sister enters the world- Brenna! My Dad's dad, my special Pa, (who always buys us jellies, and does amazine things like tie string with his tongue) is diagnosed with lung cancer and passes away. Nanny's alzhimers grows worse.

1997
We moved thirty minutes out of Ballarat to the country-Berringa. Nanny moves in with us for a few months before her alzhimers gets so bad she needs constant proffesional care. The nurses tell us she is the worst case they have ever seen.

Our new home is a child's dream! Ten acres to roam around and play on, with another fifty acres of sheep land and bush (forest) to explore.

We kids make home-made billy carts and go racing wildly down our huge hill amid rabbit holes, we explore the creek, go yabbying, discover fox holes, see baby lambs born, ride the horse, tease the cranky goat, watch ducklings hatch, play with the new litter of puppies, weed the orchard and vegie gardens, collect the eggs...watch the sun set over the trees in the distance...see kangaroos each morning...chew gums leaves...enjoy life.

1998
Mum is expecting again! Twelve year old Tristan declares he will leave home if the baby is another girl. Erinna Faith is born, perfect and healthy despite the fears. Tristan forgets about his vows to move out immediatly.

2000
God is telling my parents that He wants us to take a huge step of faith and move away from Australia and settled in Ireland with a small mission church. Leaving our home, our precious family, our friends...our entire lives... is heart wrenching. All I have known and loved is about to be left behind and I will have to start fresh in a new country I haven't yet seen. I close the gate to our property for the last time. The hay shed where we played and made tunnels is empty. The horse is gone. The chicken shed is empty. The wind softly blows the grass in the paddocks, the water on the dam ripples. Blinded by tears I whisper to the beauty around me "Home is where the heart is". I am thirteen years old.

Ireland takes a long time to get used to. Where is the sun? Does it always rain? Our family of seven are jammed into a little thatched roof cottage with a tiny courtyard to replace our ten acres of freedom. One nice thing is we are at the top of a track that leads down to Portally Cove where we can go down and explore the rocks and get wet!
Our church is small, but nice. School starts for Eloise and I. Different, but a load of fun. Our teacher takes us down to the cove and tells us not to get wet. All the girls manage to stay nice and dry...I walk back to school in a wet flapping skirt after going out too far on the rocks again.
On weekends Eloise and usually got for a bike ride with our friends...gradually the pain of moving away eases a little...yet with each letter, each new photo sent, every phone call longing for home comes rolling back. Will I ever get back?

Calling All Testimonies!

2006-09-08T14:30:00.000+01:00

I have this Grand Plan (they don't come very often, I know) for the next SH issue. The plan is include testimonies of guys and girls who have become Christians, the story of how their life was before, what led them to Christ and the differance He has made since then.

We have three patiently waiting to go in, with the possibility of a fourth from Australia...but we need more!! Sooo....if you feel you want to share your story-let me know!

I realise that a lot of you wouldn't think your story is the greatest, but every story is special. One guy started his testimony off by saying: "From my perspective, my personal experiance isn't as great or as exciting as some I've heard but..." and you know what? It was so great, even if he didn't think so! It was amazing to see how God worked in his life and how He is still leading and working in this guy!

So, come on, be brave. You can either leave me a comment here or in my Cbox (still proud about that. *goofy grin*) or send me a private email. After all, we're all connected...all brothers and sisters in Christ!

Cel

Photos From This Year

2006-09-07T14:18:00.000+01:00

They're not the most flattering...but there you go.

Me and Isabelle...guess who is who...

Me on left, Deidre on right

Comeraigh Mountain Hike with some friends from church and friends of friends :)

Deidre and I

Kate in white, me in red

My 19 birthday (looking extremely bored!:)

Eight Reasons I Don't Share My Faith

2006-09-06T18:51:00.000+01:00

Have a look...

Josiah or Josiah-tess?

2006-09-06T11:18:00.000+01:00

It's now Mum's turn to be away! She's in England for a few days which means I have to take over the homeschooling for the little girls.
I was doing Erinna's Bible lesson with her today and she was learning about King Josiah...and two things struck me as I read it with her.

Josiah was thrown in at the deep end of the pool. He came from a family of wicked men who did evil things in the sight of God.
His grandfather, Manasseh, did incredibly awful, make-your-spine-tingle sort of things such as making idols, worshipping the stars...wait on, it gets worse... he practiced sorcery and divination and even made his son walk through fire! Ye-ouch!
When this Manesseh man had died, his son, Amon, became the next king and was just as bad as the last one. He ignored God, and was downright awful. He lived his life just as his father had...in sin and separated from God. It wasn't long before his officials conspired against him and Amon was assisnated, leaving our hero, Josiah to be an eight-year-old king.

Not really pleasant, huh? Of course Josiah had help until he was mature and responsible enough to make choices on his own, but...there he is, a king before he knows it, his evil father murdered, with a long line of decendants who were rather unsavoury kind of blokes.

But what happened to our hero? He found favour with God and walked in His ways. He did what was right and pleasing to the Lord; he took the idols from the temple, rebuilt it and was at peace with God. And because of his faithfulness, God spared him from the trouble to come.

Josiah is a perfect example of somebody who did not let his past shape his future. How many people blame the things they do, think, and say on past hurts, disapointments, experiances, or families? We all -everyone of us- have been through rough times, but it is up to us if we want to be a victim of those times, or to break out and start fresh like Josiah did.

The other amazing thing that stood out to me is that Josiah was so young when he did all these great things. I don't know about you, but I sometimes get caught in the rut of "I'm too young to do anything just yet" mentality.

Many times I think to myself;

"Oh, I couldn't possibly...! Maybe in a few years. I'm still a teenager, what use am I? No, I'd definately stuff it up..."

But I am finding out that it's all an excuse. I can do something today. I can BE something today, in small things. I might be rebuilding a temple, but I can...

Talk to that person.
Send that text message.
Have coffee with that one who needs somebody to talk to.
Help in the church.
And who knows, maybe it will impact people more than we even think.

Are there guys out there who want to be Josiahs? What about you girls...any girls brave enough to be Josiah-tess'?
(don't let the female name put you off, now :))
1st Timothy 4:12

Cel

A photo please?

2006-09-03T15:53:00.000+01:00

This morning we had to make two trips to church because Dad is away with the other car in Wales.

My brother took Eloise (16) and Brenna (11) first and then came home for Mum, Erinna (8) and I.

After we had arrived at church and found seats, I noted the minister sitting across from us and a few rows down towards the front. We have had this visiting minister several times before, and I knew he was from the North of Ireland.

A minute later Eloise and Brenna told me something rather surprising that had happened before the rest of us had arrived at church.

"He took a photo of Eloise and I!" Brenna whispered to me.

"What?!?" I couldn't believe it. Why on earh would he want a photo of my sisters?

Eloise leaned forward to me and said: "He told us that he wanted to get a photo of us to show the people at his own church that there ARE some girls who know how to dress properly!"

Wowsers! It's not often we get people who appreciate our modest skirts, but when it happens, it's definatley a wow thing! :)

Make Way For Modesty!

2006-09-01T11:23:00.000+01:00

I just found this and just HAD to share it here with you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An amusing and beautiful thing happened this morning and I have to share it with you . . and also thank you for encouraging modest dress on your blog!

Please know that I am not being judgmental in telling this story. It is just a testament - at least in my opinion - to the way men react based on how a girl chooses to attire herself.

In NYC, for women, walking past or through a construction area is always an "event." I'm not saying that the men are always crude or inappropriate, but you never know what comments are going to be made and it can be extremely uncomfortable. Most women and girls I know have gotten used to it, ignore it, and avoid it when it's possible.

This morning, I saw barricades and workers in their jackets and hard hats milling around up ahead of me, as I was about half a block away from my office. As I crossed the street I realized there was no way I was getting to the building entrance without passing through the pedestrian walkway that had been put up to allow people to navigate through the construction site safely. There was a young woman ahead of me, also going into my building, who was dressed in a very short skirt, high stiletto heels, and a nearly-sheer sleeveless blouse.

A few of the men whistled and some of them called out to her - a few of them even jokingly stood in her path. She lowered her head and started walking more quickly which, of course, didn't really help the matter at this point.

I kept on walking, figuring that I might be in for it as well, since this was clearly a rowdy group. Most of their eyes had now turned to me, in my pretty-but-simple capped-sleeve dress, with a skirt that hit my knees, and "boring" low heels.

And what did one of the men say to the rest of the group standing on the walkway?

"Make way for the lady."

-Jessica

Me, My Things And I

2006-08-31T13:44:00.000+01:00

"She's wearing new shoes" I note to myself. "They look so nice on her". I look at my shoes, the same ones I have been wearing since Moses was a baby.

"That jacket looks so great on her!" I think to myself. I know that I have a million of my own jackets, but now I wish I could have one that was the same as hers.

"Wowsers! That's a nice bag!" I try and forget that I have a million of those around my bedroom as well.

"If only I had a skirt that went with this shirt." I moan as I look at myself in the mirror. I ALWAYS look like Laura Ingalls.

"Oh! I wish I could buy that Matt Redman Cd. How much money do I have left?"

This me, folks. This is me all over. I wish, I want, I buy...I...DON'T NEED!
I spend my time thinking about the things I want, coveting the things my friends have, and always wanting more.

Yikes. I'm scaring myself. I didn't think I was so bad.

Yesterday this problem jumped out (and bit me really hard!) after I had opened the letter that had come in the mail-from India. It was another update of Ajay, 'my' little seven year-old boy who I have been sponsering for two years. I eagerly looked at the photo to see if he had changed or grown more since the last one was sent. He sends me loads of letters, but the photos only come about once a year. Yes, he did look a little older and a little taller. But then...I noticed it.

He was wearing the same shirt as he was wearing in the last photo.
Wait on. He was also wearing the same pants as he was in the last photo as well.

Oh no. He was wearing the same clothes as he was in the last TWO photos. My sponsorhsip helps him be able to go to school, get medical help when he needs it and provides some of the food for the family. But it's not often he gets new clothes.

Here I am, always wanting, always complaining about the stuff I don't have (and often about the stuff I DO have as well) and here is little Ajay, still in the same clothes, and wearing what is probably his only pair of shoes...flip flops.

I am so rich, really, I am. I may not be legally allowed to work here in Ireland still, which can make things a little hard at times...but I AM SO RICH. I think God was trying to tell me something: "Wake up, and take a look around you! Stop thinking about YOU all the time".

"Having food and clothing with these we shall be content" 1st Timonthy 6:8
"Godliness with contenment if great gain". 1st Timonthy 6:6

I think most of us struggle in this area, at least me and a lot of my friends do! But with God's help maybe we can wake up and stop thinking of ourselves all the time? Dunno. Waddyathink?

Hard To Get

2006-08-30T23:20:00.000+01:00

The more people I meet, the more I love my cat.

My sister just came into my room for a quick chat and after giving her a brief run-through of something that had just happened while I was out, my moan was "Oh, I hate people!"

After she left I listened to a song off a CD that has just been loaned to me, and somehow those words really spoke out at me. It's not one of those songs that give pat answers to struggles in life, in fact it simply speaks about a man who also had hard times, questions, struggles and I guess he probably also felt a little like I do right now...a bit fed up with people :)

But a song written like this makes it so much more real, alive and personal.

I thought I'd share it, here it is:

Hard To Get

You who live in Heaven-hear the prayers of those of us who live on earth
Who are afraid of being left by those we love and
who get hardended by the hurt
Do You remember when you lived down here where we all scrape
To find the faith to ask for daily bread?
Did You forget about us after you had flown away?
Well, I memorised every word You said
Still I'm so scared I'm holding my breath
While You're up there playing hard to get

You who live in radiance-hear the prayers of those of us who live in skin
We have a love that's not as patient as Yours was-
but still we do love now and then
Did You ever know loneliness-did You ever know need?
Do You remember just how long a night can get
When you are barely holding on and your friends fall asleep
And don't see the blood that's running in your sweat?
Will those who mourn be left uncomforted
While you're up there playing hard to get?

I know You bore our sorrows
I know You feel our pain
I know that it would not hurt any less even if it could be explained
I know that I am only lashing out at the One who loves me most
And after I have figured this, somehow, all I really need to know is if

You who live in eternity hear the prayers of those of us who live in time
We can't see what's ahead and we cannot get free of what we've left behind
I'm reeling from these voices that keep screaming in my ears
All these words of shame and doubt, blame and regret
I can't see how You're leading me unless you led me here
Where I am lost enough to let myself be led
And so, You've been here all along, I guess
It's just your ways and you're just plain hard to get
****

Yes...sometimes it seems like we struggle with the way God works. But I guess that's because His ways are so much higher than our own. One day it'll make sense. And one day I'll forget that I wished I could hibernate in a cave...

-Cel...already feeling more sparky :)

Last From Here

2006-08-27T14:32:00.000+01:00

I found this photo on Sarah's computer taken when I was last in Switzerland...and decided to add it here, just for the fun of it. (and to embarrass Miss Monnier) We dressed up in Sarah's Grandmother's clothes...hehe

Left to right: Sarah, Rhonda, and..me =)

I'm leaving for Ireland again tomorrow and will start blogging as normal again. I'll keep these Swiss posts on here for a few weeks, but then I'll delete them and get back to "Stepping Heavenward"

Love Cel

La vie en Suisse

2006-08-26T11:02:00.000+01:00

Days: six

Kisses: nine

Late nights: five

Sleep talkings: uh, one

Scoops of ice cream: six

Photos taken: 33

Blocks of chocolate bought: 10 so far =) (before the world goes into panic attacks...they're not all mine. I value my life greatly so I am prepared to go back to Ireland to my family armed with Swiss chocolate)

Goofy moments: a million. (it must be the Swiss air, or Sarah's bad influence)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have been travelling just about every day since I came here and the other day Sarah's sister, Maud said that I have probably seen more of Switzerland in the six times I have been here to what most Swiss people have seen!
Wednesday night we ate tea by a river and the covered bridge in Luzern...ahhh. It was pretty nice, and so typically "European" somehow =) Sitting in the lovely evening watching the day slowly fade away and the mountains in the distance go dark, with people playing music right in front of us, and eating a huge pizza =)

Thursday evening we were invited to Sarah's uncle and Aunt's house where I met them and her cousins again. It was there I got kissed for the third time. Quentin shook my hand and I saw him coming closer and I was like "Okay, here we go again!" Sarah either wasn't fast enough to remind him that we don't kiss in Ireland, or else she just enjoyed seeing me go through it. *eyeing her suspiciously*
It was a nice evening and most of them knew at least a little English and we ended up comparing animal noises in different languages. Quite, uh, inspiring.

Yesterday we drove to the Jungfrau, which was incredible. Although part of the mountain was covered in cloud, it was still amazing. At times the clouds would thin a little and you could see just how huge it was, rising up and up...how can people not believe in a God?!
We decided then, to go on a bit of a hike, which all but killed us. We blamed our panting and puffing on 'altitude sickness', which sounds rather impressive, even if it's not true =) Today I feel about eighty years old.
We ate tea in Lausanne at a Mexican restaurant. We actually FOUND this restaurant. Back in March I tried to take Sarah to the Mexican Restaurant in Cork (Ireland) and we never found it. I am still absolutely certain that the whole city changed around that night, just to spite me.

Well, lunch is about ready so before I keep the entire family waiting, I'll run downstairs.

Salut from Swissland!

2006-08-23T08:00:00.000+01:00

Switzerland! And I am on my second day already!

I left little old Waterford at 6am on Monday and Dad drove me to the airport. After a minor delay the plane finally took off towards Geneva. I had this young guy sitting next to me and after awhile his girlfriend fell asleep and he and I started talking. His name was Rafael and we talked about how us 'English' can't pronounce the French rs and he tried to get me to say his name and I must have only suceeded in sounding like I was about to retch!! He had been in Dubllin for six weeks to help practice his English and said although he hadn't been down to Waterford he had heard about it because they lost their football game the other week! Dear old Waterford...we have seem to only have loads of rain and a dismal football team ;)

As we were approaching Geneva we could see the alps above the clouds and once we had decended a lilttle further we could see that we were right over lake Geneva. Rafael was now trying to see out of my window at the same time as me while he exclaimed "Ooi ma beeatiful countri!"
It seemed like the pilot was threatening to pitch us into the middle of the lake at one point, but he managed to get wake up properly enough to land in one peice! Made it through customs, found my suitcase, and...then there was Sarah!

The first night here we had tea downstairs with Sarah's family and her brother, Alexis also came around and I managed to escape being kissed by anyone until the next day at Sarah's aunts house. I stuck out my hand very fast and my hand was warmly shaken but my cheeks were kissed all the same! ;)

Yesterday we drove...somewhere...to see a lake, but we first got side-tracked by the ski lift. I had never seen one go so far up such a steep mountain and I couldn't believe people would go so far up on one of those flimsy little chairs. That was when Sarah decided we were going to go for it and do it ourselves!
"You're not scared of heights, are you?" she asked with a laugh
"Ooo yeah, I am" I joked and rolled my eyes.
Uh..yeah, hehe. I was okay for awhile, looking at the lake below us getting smaller and smaller, making sure I wasn't about to drop my back-pack down the side of the mountain, and looking at the alps getting clearer and clearer. Then one time I looked down and...grief. There was NOTHING below us...just a huge vast nothing and I was suddenly very aware that there was just one metal bar in front of us, stopping us from plunging to our deaths. =) Sarah was still talking and I just kept watching the alps and not looking her, saying that if I turn and look at her, or look down I was going to freak out and then she would be trying to calm down a girl having a panic attack half way up the mountain!!

But we arrived at the top, I managed to jump off the chair in time without it carrying me back down the mountain again and then, once I had taken a few deep breaths, I looked at the view of the snow capped alps around us. It was awesome. After taking half a million photos, we went to the cafe and got drinks and sat talking, loooking at the mountains and listening to a very loud british group howling with laughter about... well, yes, where were we?

In the afternoon we went peddle boating on the lake, which was all fine and good before the wind started blowing and it was impossible to keep our rebellious skirts down who insisted on climbing up to our heads. (well, almost) Sarah then got the bright idea that if we peddled backwards we would have our backs to the wind and the skirts would settled down. We tried it, and I lost it for awhile. I could just imagine what the people on the shore must have thought.
"There goes those funny girls in skirts...and they're shooting about on the lake going backwards. What on earth ARE they doing?" After half and hour our time was up and Sarah said that we "need to plan our approach correctly, and if we work it out we'll arrive back with the wind not effecting our skirts". So she shouted out "Starboard! Port!" and while in fits of giggles we tried to work out which was which.

It must be the Swiss air, or Sarah's influence...but we tend to go really loopers when we are together!

That night Sarah let me sit in on one of her online English classes so I could hear everything her student was saying...the only thing was, the poor guy did't know I was sitting there and we were both silently laughing and his dear accent and jumbled words!
But I can't make too much fun of him...my french has competely died. Only when I think nobody is listening to hear me make a fool of myself do I attepmt to talk to the children!!

Cel

ARGH....

2006-08-15T11:30:00.000+01:00

Counting the days until I leave for Switzerland! Can't wait. Need a break. Especially after yesterday morning and it's experiances!

Yesterday we had a friend stop in very unexpectedly...it was about ten in the morning and I was still sloping around in my pjs...okay, I had pulled on a skirt over them, but, because I was cold, the pjs remained, sticking out from underneath the skirt.

Imagine it. Weird. Yep. REALLY weird.

Nice brown skirt, flowery pajamas sticking out, bare feet and to top it all off, I was wearing an old fleece which clashed remarkably well with everything else I was wearing.

So, getting back to the visitors, one sister ran into the kitchen where I happened to be dancing to a song on the radio and screeched "There's somebody at the door! YOU go and answer it!"

Knowing there was no way to get out of it, as the rest of the family were either busy or looking in a worse state than me, I pulled off the pjs in the kitchen, and as I ran through the living room I pulled off my fleece, leaving each lying in the middle of the two rooms.

I answered the door and found it was a friend that we hadn't seen for about a year and, totally forgetting the state I had just left the two rooms in, told them to come in. They walked down the hall in front of me and arrived in the living room just as I gasped to myself "Grief! What are they going to think?!?"

Seeing half my wardrobe on the floor, and begining to feel a little awkward, they said "We'll go into the kitchen" only to find that the kitchen was no better. They decided to go for the first option-the living room, and stepped over the jacket and tried to find a spare seat that wasn't covered with books, magazine, CDs, clothes, animals...

Our house is normally pretty neat. Today was an exception.

John sat down and settled into a chair while the other guy was about to sit on another chair, the one that, unfortunately, has been claimed by the dog. As he was lowering himself down one of my younger sisters screeched "NO! Oh no! Don't sit there! That's the dog's chair!" This guy is only just learning english...and he jumped up like a startled hen and apologised profusely, and never quite understood the cause of the flurry and excitement.

Celeste, in the mean time, is quietly dying in the corner and throwing evil glances at her sister.

It's quite funny now, and when I told my family later they were in fits of laughter.

I have picture in my room of a chicken crossing a road and it says "This would be really funny if it wasn't happening to me."

Dear chicken, I know the feeling.

Anyway, Switzerland in a few days...will tell you all about it when I'm back! Stay tuned :)

A Prayer

2006-08-14T23:29:00.000+01:00

'Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves;
When our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little;
When we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to shore.

'Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess we have lost our thirst for the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth we have allowed our vision of heaven to dim.

'Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where, losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

'We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future with strength, courage, hope and love.
Amen.'

attributed - Sir Francis Drake -1577

Waiting For The Right One

2006-08-12T13:46:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we had some friends over for a few hours and in the course of that time my mum, this lady, her daughter and I got talking about the world's view of dating and the dangers it can lead to.

It started off when this lady told us about her eldest daughter who has been dating a non-Christian guy for over a year. In that time she has changed a lot, from going to church every Sunday and most Sunday evenings to dropping back to just going in the evenings. In time, that too, changed and it has now been over ten months since she has been back to church.

The lady was telling us how she didn't want her other daughter to walk down the same path and she mentioned that there is a guy hanging around who is far from being appropriate for her daughter.

Mum told this girl that the Bible says not to be "unequally yoked" to a non-believer. We have seen it happen time and time again...the girl tells everybody "I will lead this guy to the Lord!" and against all the advice from those who love her she goes ahead and marries him. In a very short space of time those words become hollow and meaningless because she has lost her faith, and, in some cases, ends up divorced a few years later.

"Remember that God knows who you are going to marry!" Mum told the silent girl at our table. "You don't need to go looking for him-God will lead the right man to you at the right time. This young guy doesn't want to marry you. He only wants to have fun with you, and before long he'll dump you like he has dumped other girls".
Her mother agreed with my Mum, but the girl was looking miserable.

"If God will lead the right man to me, He's certainly taking a long time to do it!" she answered back.

This is where I jumped in:
"Look at me, I am three years older than you and I am still waiting! I admit that there have been times I have struggled about the situation and was so disatisfied. There have been a couple of guys I have been interested in and (so I have been told by friends) a few guys interested in me. But I am still single and still waiting. I have set very high standards for a guy in my life and God knows where he is and he'll 'turn up' :) at the right time. I sometimes still struggle with it, but I think God is teaching me to grow stronger in Him and to get to know Him more in this time and to prepare for the future."

I could see that the girl wasn't sharing the same thoughts as me. She knew this guy wasn't going to be brilliant for her, but she still wanted him.

Why?

Because the world today presses people into dating. While it is never actually outwardly spoken it's known that "If you're not dating then something is wrong with you".
Where did the young people go who were willing to put God first and trust Him in this area of life?
I can't help but think that this is part of the reason for all the divorce in the world today. The guys fall in love with their girl's outward appearnce and the girls love how 'fun' the man is...but before long all this desolves and fades away into nothing.

Girls, let God "be your husband" for now. (Isaiah 54:5a) Don't go out and ruin your life and don't lower your standards for a guy who is not worth it. The same goes for the guys...if she's not worth it, don't chase her.

God will bles you for it, and you'll you spare yourself a lot of pain. You won't regret it!

-Cel

The Bond Between Brothers and Sisters In The Lord!

2006-08-10T21:30:00.000+01:00

Isn't amazing the bond that Christians have with one another? I have been thinking about it quite a lot over the last few weeks, particularly since the United Beach Missions are down again holding Christian games and activities on the beaches for children.

Each Sunday the team come to church and we meet them for the first time and immediatly there is a special bond. With non Christians it's not always so easy to get know one another and feel comfortable right away.

I met Catherine last week when my friend Vlora and I were with the team doing an open air meeting. We have since met two more times and have parted with hugs and phone numbers and email addresses - vowing to keep in touch.

Dean was down from the North again and even after two years he remembered Vlora and I and I had to think of all the mad fun we all had on that team the last time we met.

On the way home in the car Paul chatted about a hundred topics in fifteen minutes in his Northern Ireland accent...which we all think is great and try to imitate, but sometimes don't understand! :)

Isn't it amazing how God unites all of us...we may not know each other well, but we are brothers and sisters in God! No matter what our past, who we are, where we're from...we have a common link right from the word go!

Jesus!

And I can't even begin to imagine what Heaven will be like when we are ALL together! No longer will we have to rely on that occasional visit, that text message and email or looking longingly at the photo...we'll all be together and with the One who unites us!

Wowsers.
-Cel

A bad Jonah month...

2006-08-10T13:13:00.000+01:00

Have you ever had a 'Jonah Day'? Days when things are bleak, uninteresting, depressing and seem to stretch on forever and ever? I get them often. Actually,this last MONTH has been pretty dreadful. It's dragged by at a madening slow rate and it's been hard to get through and stay floating. It seems like everything has hit me at once...new waves of homesickness, longing to see Ben, Shae, Margaret and everybody else in Australia...and the fact that most of my closest friends all live over seas in different countries hasn't helped these despondent feelings.

An alarming number of friends I do have here in Waterford are moving away (could it be because of me?!? *grin*) And to make matters even worse, I haven't been normal with the beautiful friends God has blessed me with. I have been distant from them, jealous of them for various reasons and a little cold towards them.

What on earth is wrong with me?

My lessons are getting increasingly hard-I can't write fractions in print let alone Braille...
I am bored... I've been a perfect grump...

STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF!!

Things seem to build up and threaten to spill over...but I have realised that just before everything floods over and threatens to overwhelm me God reaches out and touches me gently on the shoulder. "Cel, I know it's hard. I understand all your pain and hurt. But I am here for you. Always."

Hebrews 4:15,16 tells us that we have God who can sympathize with our weakness and pain. After all, He left all the glory of Heaven to come down here to earth and become a man-for US! Since He became human (yet still God as well!) He experianced pain and grief and hurt just as we do. That's how His love is so real.

When I talk to God about all these problems the pain doesn't magically disapear. Life doesn't become a bed of roses...but I can feel God and I trust Him to help me cope with whatever is thrown at me.

I'm hoping that the Jonah days/weeks/month is about over. I'm trying to see the silver lining on the edge of the cloud. But in the mean time I'll package up my Jonah days and send them air mail to God.

-Cel

Christianity Versus Evolution

2006-08-08T23:09:00.000+01:00

The family have all disapeared into their various rooms for the night and I was about to head off myself, until I walked outside for a moment and was struck by the incredible moon outside. It's a full moon, totally perfect and with the clouds dancing across it, it was an awesome sight.

Once more I had to wonder how in the world could anybody think that everything we see today happened by 'chance'. Who could believe in evolution when if you take just one look out at creation it all points to Something higher?

Here are the main differances between the story of Creation and the theory of Evolution:

Evolution: In the begining there was nothing.

Christianity: In the begining there was God.

Evolution: After a very long time this huge big nothing EXPLODED!

Christianity: God created the heavens and the earth.

Evolution: After this huge big nothing exploded, there was suddenly a world
and later there were animals. One of these animals was an ape. Cleverly, after millions of years to practice, this ape grew into one of us!

Christianity: God created mand and woman in His image, for His good pleasure.

Evolution: Now that we are no longer apes picking fleas off each other we can enjoy life. Get a job, a husband/wife, make good money and enjoy it as much as we can. But in the end we're all going to die and that will be the end of us.

Christianity: We are here to enjoy the life God has given us now and to prepare for a future home in Heaven with Him.

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Man has tried for centuries to come up with an explanation of our existance on this earth...and there have been some very strange and imaginative theories on the subject. But as God asked Job in the Bible, how can we possibly know? Where we there?

"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" The Lord asks Job in the thirty-eigth chapter. "Tell me if you understand! Who marked the eath's foundations?"

Throughout the book of Job God questions him about the creation of the world:

"Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown dawn its place? Have you ever comprehended the vast expanse of the earth? Tell me if you think you know all of this! On what was it's footings set, or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?"

Because there is so much pain and chaos in the world today, man turns away from God. Their resoning is, "If God is so good, why do I hurt so bad?" They then flee from the only One who can give them the peace they are so badly needing and turn to other strange ideas and theories.
Pain and suffering came into this world through sin. God created a perfect beautiful world...a place which we have marred and ruined. This wasn't His plan for us, but neither did He want us to become as robots- living for Him because we didn't know anything else. Right from the start He gave man a choice. Man went his own way...and now we find ourselves in a mess! And do we do? We go and try to blame the Creator!
(Isn't it amazing that He still cares about us?!)

But although our planet is far from what it used to be like it's not hard to see the beauty in it. Look around you-wherever you are. You see raging waterfalls, magestic mountains...a simple daisy. Did this all happen by chance?

How is it that our world is situated so perfectly in our solar system? If we were just a tiny bit closer to the sun we'd all fry to death, a little further away and we'd all be blue and frozen.

Chance? Explosion? God?

How do the daffodils shoot every spring?

How is it possible that each animal is equiped with it's own special instincts and weapons to survive?

Chance?

How is it possible we humans can think and reason?

God said in Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man in our own image". This is what separates us from the animal kingdom. We can think and reason and know right from wrong, and we can KNOW our Creator!

Unless man understands that he was created by God and for God, the question of life's purpose will be meaningless. He will search for answers and he will search for peace...but it's only God who gives the peace!
How awful it must be for people who don't know God to think that when they die their life ends there. All the pain, the tears and struggling are just ending in nothing. We as Christians have a living hope (1st Peter 1:3b) because we know that this life is just a stepping stone to a better place where some day we will meet our Creator-our Lord-face to face and He will wipe every tear will from our eyes. Where pain and death and sorrow is over. (Revelation 21:4)

My great grandparents from 6 thousand years ago weren't monkeys. Yours weren't, either.

-Cel

A Real Man

2006-08-07T21:23:00.000+01:00

A Real Man
. .…understands and lives according to the basic purposes for which he was created: to worship, honor, and serve God. (Romans 12:1-2)…values and carefully handles the scriptures. (2 Timothy 2:15)…doesn’t pride himself on being knowledgeable in the sinful ways of the world. (1 John 2:15-16, James 4:4, Philippians 4:8)
A real man . . .…isn’t embarrassed to worship God and pray in a group setting. (Mark 8:38)…is wise, yet humble. (Proverbs 2:1-10, 1 Peter 5:5, Romans 12:16)
A real man . . .…takes leadership in a self-sacrificing way. (Ephesians 5:25-28)…is kind because, “What is desirable in man is his kindness” (Proverbs 19:22)…doesn’t try to prove himself but is simply confident as he walks in the fear of the Lord. (Proverbs 14:26-27)…doesn’t put others down with his actions, attitude, words, or his strength. But on the contrary, he affirms and builds others up (Proverbs 15:4, Ephesians 4:29)
A real man . . .…treats his sisters and mother with as much respect as he would treat a prospective wife. (Matthew 25:21)…not only respects but appreciates a young lady’s purity and innocence. In our culture innocence isn’t retained by accident. (2 Corinthians 11:2-3)…values his purity as much as he values a young lady’s purity. He is not ashamed to live and act differently from the world in order to guard himself. (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, Ecclesiastes 7:26)…can look a girl straight in the eye without communicating any impurity. (Proverbs 20:11)
A real man . . .…isn’t ashamed to identify himself with his family (Ephesians 6:2-3)…is a gentleman. He is polite and shows women honor in everyday things such as opening doors, etc. (1 Peter 3:7)…has no desire to be gross in order to impress other men. He doesn’t swear or tell disgusting stories. (Proverbs 13:5, Ephesians 5:4)
A real man . . .…shows by his actions that he loves children. (Matthew 19:13-14)…is pleasant and expresses joy rather than feeling that it’s masculine to be sullen. (Proverbs 21:29, 1 Thessalonians 5:16)…doesn’t blame others for his own problems but embraces responsibility. (Proverbs 12:27)…can accept correction (Proverbs 12:1, Proverbs 29:1)
A real man . . .…is mature in his emotions and his expressions of them. He can deal with the trials of life logically, with wisdom, not on a basis of emotional instability. (Proverbs 14:29, Proverbs 17:27, Proverbs 12:18)…understands the value of work and is financially responsible. (Colossians 3:23-24, 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, Luke 16:10-11)…expresses himself with intelligent words rather than using “street talk”. (Proverbs 17:20, Titus 2:6-8, 1 Peter 4:11, Ephesians 4:29)

A Real Woman

2006-08-07T21:20:00.000+01:00

A Real Woman...

. .…is glad she’s a woman and rejoices in her femininity, expressing it through her attitude, appearance and bearing. (1 Timothy 2:9-10)…does not compete for equality with men or chafe at God’s design for male and female, but delights in and understands the importance of her calling to complement man’s role. (1 Timothy 2:11-12, Ephesians 5:22-24)…values the cultivation of her mind and diligently seeks after wisdom and knowledge. (Proverbs 22:17-21, 2:2-6)…realizes her imperative need to allow the Holy Spirit to control her emotions and expressions of them. (James 1:19-20)…does not wallow in self-pity or make a habit of voicing complaints, but radiates cheerfulness and joy. (Proverbs 15:15, Proverbs 17:22)
A real woman . . .…appreciates her father’s protection, and respects and submits to his authority. In so doing, she is preparing herself to exercise the Biblical role in her relationship with a possible future husband. (Ephesians 5:33-6:3, 1 Peter 3:1-2)…is trustworthy and gains the respect of those around her. (Proverbs 31:11)…restrains herself from listening to, or participating in gossip, but instead speaks with wisdom and discretion. (Proverbs 11:12-13, 22, 20:19, 3:11)…encourages and builds up those around her instead of criticizing and tearing them down. (1 Thessalonians 5:11, Ephesians 4:29)…does not have a nagging, contentious or manipulative manner in which she deals with others. (Judges 16:16, Proverbs 21:9, 19, 26:21)…is not boisterous or loud in her speech or actions but is characterized by a gentle and quiet spirit. (Proverbs 9:13, 1 Peter 3:4)
A real woman . . .…portrays chastity, modesty and reverence in her manner, and wears the ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is her true beauty. (1 Peter 3:3-4, Titus 2:4-5)…is not offended by respect shown her through gentlemanly courtesies (opening doors, etc.) but cultivates the differences between the sexes that make her worthy of this deference. (1 Peter 3:7, Mark 10:6)…seeks to make God her number one desire and the Lover of her soul, knowing that only He can fully satisfy. (Psalm 73:25, Psalm 63:1)…uses her years of singleness to seek and serve God without distraction, and is content to leave the details of her future to Him. (Psalm 73:25, Philippians 4:11)
A real woman . . .…does not relate to members of the opposite sex in a flirtatious or forward manner, but instead saves all her passion for her future husband. (Thessalonians 4:3-8, Proverbs 6:25, 1 Corinthians 7:1)…holds her virginity before marriage sacred and will not compromise it for anything. (This one goes for guys too)(1 Timothy 5:22)

Don't Rip Your Rosebuds!

2006-08-07T21:11:00.000+01:00

Don't Rip Your Rosebuds!

Okay… I’ll be honest with you right from the start. I am writing this for myself, before I write it for anybody else. Why? Because, I’ll admit, I am struggling in this area. And just maybe you have found yourself in my shoes before.

Here I am… approaching the last year of my teens and what have I accomplished? What have I done with these years that will soon be shut up and gone forever? The page is about to turn and what dreams have been fulfilled? Have any of those wild and exciting plans become reality? Yes, there have been a few, and I assure you they are thrilling things that I am not going to forget- even when my hair turns grey and my teeth fall out. But it does seem like those times have been few and there have been long stretches of dessert to walk in between them.

It seems like that those girls in books and movies have the perfect life- everything works out the way they want, and they have all the fun and excitement I only wish for. Every nice thing happens to them! And whether they are pruning rose bushes at dusk or galloping on the horse in the wild country, it always seems so much more beautiful and exciting than the things in my life. When I prune our rose bushes I get cut up, and its been so long since I was on a horse that I would probably fall off now. (Well, I'd like to imagine I would remember some of the riding skills!)

What ever happens to poor little me? Ah now…that’s the problem! I was meant to be a character in a book set last century. If I was living then, if I was at that age, and if I knew those kinds of people, my life would be grand.

Can you see what has happened to me? I am sitting here wishing for life the way I want it. The way I plan it, with the things happening that I want to see. And while I am sitting here feeling sorry for myself and envying my friends who seem to have a life that is unfairly similar to my dreams… I am losing today. I am forgetting that today won’t come back. I am complaining and moping about my life, and while doing so, I have wasted this time…

By dreaming of the future, and hoping and imagining exciting things, I have forgotten the present. So now, I am neither living in the present, or the future. I am in no mans land.

I know that God has a plan for me. I also know that if He gave me the choice to choose what was going to happen to be right now, I would probably ruin it and make my life a mess…simply because I would be making things happen outside of God’s perfect timing. It would be like trying to open a rose with my fingers before it was ready to bloom. In time, with the right amount of sun and rain, the rose will bloom by itself and be beautiful and just perfect growing in the right place, instead of a ripped up mess that I would make with it.
Why hasn’t God given me what I want right now? I guess He knows that the time is not right. He knows what is best for me now and despite my temper tantrums and arguments, He quietly and gently tries to tell me just to wait on Him.

Have you ever taken a child shopping with you? Imagine it: you reach the cereal isle with the little one and as you reach up on the shelf to get the weetbix the child looks at you with large pleading eyes and says:

“Can’t we pleeeease have this for breakfast instead?”

You take a look, and see she is holding those new chocolate puffs. The little girl would much rather wake up to some sugary delights for breakfast rather than boring old weetbix. Despite the fact that you know those chocolate puffs would be quite a nice treat, you know that they won’t fill the child up, nor would it be healthy for her to be eating so much sugar. You gently tell her no,

“We’ll take the weetbix home.”

Have you, like me, demanded God for the chocolate puffs in your life? I have done it all too often.

But I am now trying to see it from God’s point of view. (Don’t know how well I am doing!J ) He does understand my dreams and He knows the restlessness in my heart. And it’s because of His love for me, as His child, that He only gives me what I need for today. Let’s not snatch the rose out of His hand. Only He can make it bloom. With His help we can stop tearing up our roses and let Him help us bloom where we are planted.

-Cel

About Stepping Heavenward

2006-08-07T17:57:00.000+01:00

For many years I have dreamed about writing a small magazine to encourage Christian young people like myself, but for years didn't do anything about it. I thought I would have nothing decent to say and was afraid of seeming a little like a hyporcrite because I am such a bundle of mistakes and failings myself!

But, eventually, I decided to give it a go...and the magazine has now been in existance sine May this year. I have been getting support from people in Ireland, England, Australia and the U.S.A. Thank-you all!

Several people have since asked me if I would create blog for it as well and so here is the attempt! I've already had one major hiccup in trying to work out how all this works...but we're back on track now!

In time, if I don't accidentally blow up the computer, I'll be adding and improving things...so keep coming back to visit! :)

Hope you enjoy the humble scribbles!

Love from,
Cel

12 Noah's Ark Truths

2006-08-07T17:56:00.000+01:00

12 Noah's Ark truths
1. Don't miss the boat.
2. Try to remember that we've all in the same boat.
3. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.
4. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something really big.
5. Don't listen to critics; just get on with what has to be done.
6. Build your future on high grounds.
7. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
8. Two heads are better than one.
9. Speed isn't always an advantage, after all, the snails was on board with the cheetahs.
10. When you are stressed, try floating a while.
11. Remember that the ark was built by amateurs- it was the Titanic that was built by professionals! No matter what the difficulties, trust in the Almighty- there'll be the rainbow at the end of the storm

A Pimple on a Pumpkin?

2006-08-07T17:51:00.000+01:00

A Pimple on a Pumpkin?

Have you ever wondered what use you are? Ever felt small and insignificant or even a waste of space?
I am sure that most of us, at some time or another have experienced such feelings and if I were to be honest with you, cries of “What good am I?” and “Am I actually needed here?” have been uttered from my mouth incredibly frequently!

But then, when I am sitting here questioning where I belong, the purpose of my life and even my existence, I have to stop and remember that there IS somebody who does think I am a good deal important. When I am feeling alone and about as useful as a pimple on a pumpkin, I need to realise that I am meant to be here. I am not an accident.

God created me, and what’s more, He knew me before I was born, before I was even formed in my mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5) and He had me in mind before He even created the world!

God delights in me, isn’t that an incredible thought? This old lump of clay that fails miserably and is full of imperfections is still loved by its Creator!
And when I was born, God didn’t just dump me unceremoniously here on earth and leave me alone to fend for myself. He is here, and He going through this life with me. He knows when I go to bed at night, when I wake up, he knows my thoughts no matter how weird, abstract or confused they may be. (Psalm 139) He knows me, because I am His work, and He loves me. And despite the frequent mess I make of my life, He’ll never leave or forsake me until He has completed making me the woman he dreams of.

“Catch a glimpse of my incredible love for you!
I pray that you will be rooted and established in love, may you have the power to grasp how wide, and how long,
and how high and how deep
My completely unconditional love is for you- a love that surpasses human knowledge. -Ephesians 3:17-19 (ASV)

The devil has so many people convinced that they are worthless…but if we take the time to stop and think how we arrived here on the earth in the first place…it blows our minds!

Don’t feel useless; you’re far more beautiful than a pimple on a pumpkin!

-Cel

Why Worry?

2006-08-07T17:48:00.000+01:00

So many times in our lives we worry about things. For young people we are faced with unsettling questions of "Will I pass my exams?" "Will I get the job I am looking for?" "Will I ever get married?"

For middle aged people the list may be slightly different. "How do I get the money to replace the window Jane broke when she tried to ride her bike through it?" "How am I supposed to fit all these activities into one day? I've got a million things to do!"

For grandparents the list is still different. They might worry about their pensions, their married children, or the problem grandchild.

The lists are endless! We seem to run around in a turmoil and all the while things get worse and worse in our lives. When we stop to think about how many things we worry over, it boggles our minds!

But what does God say? "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Don't let your heart be troubled". John 14:27

"God's peace?" we cry out, pausing for a moment. "Oh, if only we could have His peace in our lives!" But even though we read those gentle words we still continue to fly around in a fit-still worrying about the day to day things we have to deal with.

That's when God's words of "Be still and know that I am God", really jump out at us. We weren't created to struggle on alone in our life. We need to rest in God and know that He does care about every little or big detail in our lives. He is with us always and he wants us to unload all our cares on Him. (1st Peter 5:7)

Even when we are overwhelmed, confused or daunted, God is not. He created us and brought us into this world for a reason and He knows the plans He has for us. (Jeremiah 29:11) Why bother panic and stress out when the God of the universe is on our side and in control of our lives, ready to give us a hand if only we will allow Him to?

Whenever we worry over things we are actually doubting God- and robbing ourselves of His peace which "passes understanding". Ephesians 3:19 We can only truly be free when we stop spinning around in circles and grab hold of our Father's hand and say, "Okay Lord, things aren't working here. Help me to put my complete trust in you and to give everything that worries me into your hands".

It's not easy to do, but it's worthwhile. And I can imagine the smile on God's face when we eventually do give it all over to Him.

Cel