Life As A Whole

My Baby - photograph taken at my hold house (summer 2008)

I had a day off from work today. In itself that's nothing special. Especially as I have spent a coupple of months at home in the not too distant past. But it was, it was the best I can describe. Pure freedom, pure joy. The day started with some housework. I cleaned the place from end to end and that felt so good. It's not that my standards slipped when I was out of work, it was just harder to get motivated to do what needed to be done. After a couple of hours cleaning I went shopping. Nothing special, a couple of food items and some coal for the stove. How amazing it felt just to pick up what I needed without having to count the exact pennies as to whether I could afford it or not and that is such a blessing, I cant begin to describe it.

When I got back I took my bike out for a ride. My motorbike has always been what I live for, I was born to live life on two wheels. It is freedom, wind in your hair and flies in your teeth. At one with everything that is around you and feeling every little thing, magnified 10 fold. But, when you have no job, every penny you have spare goes in the car tank to get you to the interviews that could get you working again.

It was heatbreaking looking at my baby sitting on the driveway, oiling up every little nut and bolt to keep the rust away, having just enough petrol in the tank to start the engine evey now and then to keep a charge in the battery but not enough to go for a ride.

In the knowledge that I have an income, I cannot begin to describe how good it felt today to go out for a ride, just for the pleasure. I scrimped and saved to buy her in the first place and she is my baby. (yes, ok ok, its a sad thing for a man to love his motorcycle and to treat it like a person but I make no appology!) and I cannot describe how free I felt today, cold air, wind and the odd ray of winter sun. It just felt so amazing. I cannot begin to count such a blessing and how it makes me feel.

Father, I am sorry for the blessings that I have
that I do not give you enough thanks and praise for
There is so much that you have given me
That I do not deserve

Thank you so much for my previous job
that allowed me to buy my motorbike that makes me feel so free
Thank you for my job now,
that allows me to use my bike that makes me feel this free

And most of all, thank you for this freedom that I can feel
Today I felt it, I felt free - if only for a while
And with that freedom, the first thing that came to me
Is just how mcuh I owe you, and howmany thanks I have to give you.

All I pray is that I can continue to feel this way

In Jesus Name
Amen

A Time For Reflection

I haven't been on here for a couple of days, partly because of work and partly because I haven't had that much to say. However tonight is different. I was watching the news this evening and yet more job cuts are being annoucned. God willing, I wont be going back to the dole queue myself but having only jst got free from unemployment I can completely feel for the ppor people who are being made redundant. I have a decent record and good experience, it still took 2 months of hard prayer and hard work to get me back inot work. Some of these people are going to be unemployed for far loger than that.

Father, As I count my blessings for a job that pays enough for me to live on,
Please be with those that are losing their jobs right now
Offer them strength and guidance through this tough time
And give them the drection they need to find employment.

Please grant wisdom to those who have the power to make decisions
that have an influence over the economies of the world.
At a time when there are so many choices that they could make
please guide them to make the ones that will end these troubled times
as soon as possible and allow a prolonged period of calm.

In Jesus Name
Amen

Thanks and Praise

I survived my first day in my new store today. Actually it was pretty easy but tomorrow will be more of a challenge. I am flying solo with no mentor to turn to if it all goes a bit wrong. I think that maybe I will be ok as long as I don't get anything out of the ordinary. If I do I will just have to deal with with it.

I remember a quote I was once told, althoug I cant remember who said it right now. That quote was this;

'You chose you action because it seemed right at the time, in all likelyhood you would have never chosen any of the other options. Therefore it was the right thing to do, even if the outcome was not the right one.'

Father, please give me the foresight to choose the right path tomorrow
to be able to apply what I have learned and not to forget what I need
Please help me to be the best that I can be in what I do
And to remember true Chrsitian values as I conduct my business

Thankyou for how far I have come
in the few days that I have been learning this role
I feel so happy in this role and I hope that you want me to say here for a while.

In Jesus Name
Amen

Thankful For Surviving My First Challenge

I've survived my 4 days intensive training for work so thats a pretty good start.  I've learned a lot and probably forgotten twice as much.  However, I am truly thankful not only for the opportunity but for the guidance to make it this far.  Plymouth was not as bad as I had been lead to believe but was still a pretty rough place.  I survived unharmed, as did my car and for that I am thankful

Father, thank you for watching over me

I appreciate what you have done 

And the strength that you have given me 

to be the best that I can be over the last four days

As I face the challenge of standing on my own two feet

in my new role, please give me the wisdom to do what is right

And to be humble enough to ask for the help that I need, when I need it

I feel at home with the company and the job that you have guided me to, 

please give me the presence of mind and the strength not to mess this up

In Jesus Name

Amen

Open For Everyone

I dont really have a specific prayer for today so what I am going to ask is the for everyone reading this, please say a prayer for anyone you know who is suffering right not.  That could be through illness, loss or simply uncertainty.  Take the time to talk to God and he will hear you, for he is a loving God and wants you to talk to him.  If you ask and truly believe, the it will be given

And i will do whatever you ask in my name, So that my Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it.   (John 14:13-14)

Ask with a humble heart, say your words with faith in your heart and it will be given.  I can testify to that.  In the past I have asked for things that were not right to ask for, but because I asked with such passion and belief, that what I asked for was granted and it was left for me to realise that what I had asked for was not really mine to have or indeed right to ask for.  So I guess what I am saying is that prayer is more powerful than any of us really realise,   It is our direct line to God, and anything we ask in Jesus name is going to be listened to.  It is up to us to listen to the answer that is given.

The First Day At Work

Ok, this was my first day in a new job.  It was no where near as nerve racking as I was expecting.  Everyone was really friendly and I seemed to fit in really well.  Tomorrow will be a more strenuous day with a lot more to learn I think but so far so good.  I'm feeling a lot happier now that I'm working again - I actually earned some money today and it feels so good.  I feel truly blessed right now and I can totally appreciate how others must be feeling as they are in times of uncertainty.

Father, I thank you for my blessings that I have

And for bringing me this job.

Please guide and give strength to those that are looking for work 

or have just been made redundant

In these times of severe uncertainty

Please grant wisdom and insight to those 

who are trying to sort out the world economies

And please do not let them fail, for the sake of all of us

In Jesus Name

Amen

Tomrrow's a new begining

Tomorrow sees me starting my new job. It's all happened really quickly, only three days ago I was down in this deep pit of dispair with nowhere to go but down and out. I have GOd to thank for that. And now I am going on to embark on the new path that has been set out for me to follow. I've got to drive down to Plymouth tomorrow (about a 3 1/2 hour drive) and then spend 3 nights in a hotel. I'm looking forward to it actually, the four walls of my home have become something of a prison cell over the last two months and this will be like a mini break as well as training me for my new role.

God, as I embark on this new beginning
Please grant me the strength to succeed
The presence of mind to learn all that I need to learn
And to walk this path with you always in my heart
Please grant me a safe journey there and back
And keep me and my posessions safe in a strange city

Thank you so much for this blessing
Despite all my sins you have given me this
I love you so much
And I am trully thankful for this opportunity

In Jesus Name
Amen

A Prayer Answered?

I think that maybe yesterdays prayer has been answered, God willing. There is the prospect of paid employment on the horizon. Its not 100% certain so far but its very close now. I am so relived and so thankful. Literally just in the nick of time I am saved from the downfall that was before me.

Father, I am so thankful for the opportunity that you have put in front of me
I pray that this is your will and it will last
Give me the strength to approach this job and do my best
And to remember at all times that I should conduct business
According to your will

Dad sent me some photos of a cottage that burned down in his village the other night
Can I ask you to be with the owners of that property
And give them strength to come through what is before them.

In Jesus Name

Amen

In Jesus Name

Ok, this is my first post here, on my new prayer blog. I guess its true to say that, like so many other people, I've decided to to this in a time of need. The background to how I have come to here is not really important for the time being, just to sumarise as thatI am out of work, forced to resign from my previous job becuase someone bore a grudge against me. I have not had an income for over 2 months now and things are pretty dire. If I do not have a source of income by the end of the mont (2 weeks basically) the I will loose my house because I have no money for rent and I will ahve to satrt selling posessions simply to put food on the table.

I have applied for more jobs than I can count, attended interview for probably 10 or more by now and yet I am still un employed. The stress is getting to me and over the last few days I have found myself self harming as a way of comping with it.

Father, I believe that you would not place more on me than I can bear
Yet I now find myself at breaking point
You have shown me so many times in the past
That if I pray with sincerity in my heart
That prayer will be answered

But now I find myself praying for the most basic of things
A job to make a living
I want nothing flashy, nothing that earns me
More money than I need to live
But I am no closer to finding one

What is it that I am missing?
I am praying for this, yet I want your will as I am yours
What do I need to hear that is passing me by?
Please guide me to an answer
Please guide me to a job.

This I ask in Jesus name.
Amen