If you know me pretty well I'm sure over the past month or so you have heard me say in an excited voice 'I love this time of year...I love autumn...I love leaves...I love the changing colours' Or something a long those lines.

Don't get me wrong I do like every season for different reasons but I love Autumn.
All of this reminds me of what a creative God I live for.
One day I was driving in my car and I was watching the leaves fall and it lead me to think...God knew exactly when that leaf was going to fall off the tree. He knew exactly when it would change colour, what colour it would change to and when it would land on the ground. He knew every intricate detail about that leaf. (Some of you may be thinking wow that's a lot to get out of a stupid leaf.) But the mystery and divine control displayed in this season is deeply profound to me.

Autumn reminds me that God is in control.

Even when everything around changes, He stays the same.


I cannot wait for the day when I can experience Autumn in another country (such as America, I've seen the photos and it looks incredible)

I have managed to get a couple of shots from this beautiful time of year (most of the time here in Ireland you can only find one tree that displays autumn rather than a whole forest!) Some are my own shots and others are ones that I've found and adore.

Human beings were created by a God of community for community.

God created us to live together and be connected to one another in relationships.

Because that is how God created us to function.

I love that.

This theme of community is carried throughout the Old Testament, when God gave the Israelites the 10 commandments they are mostly based on relationships...'have no other gods before me', 'do not bear false witness against your neighbour' etc. These rules are to ensure true and authentic community can grow. Then in the New Testament we see Jesus who is born and raised in community and who was surrounded by twelve close friends. Jesus' ministry is marked by relationships and sharing the gospel with communities.We then learn about the Acts of the Apostles of the community of believers who shared their possessions and all aspects of their lives with one another. I find these verses beautiful. They lived and breathed together, bearing one another's faults openly and endeavoured to support one another in anyway they possibly could. Although these verses are beautiful we are not experiencing community the way God originally intended. Humanity is still fallen but we have the unfailing hope (shown in Revelation) that God is outworking His plan to bring all people into community with Him and with each other that will break down all barriers, end all wars, end all suffering, end all loneliness.

That will be a beautiful beautiful community.

But until then God desires that we continue to live as a community of believers bearing one anothers failures, encouraging and loving one another and keeping Him at the center.


I am thankful to God that I get to live this life and I get to have relationships with amazing people.

Easter is a time that brings chocolate Easter eggs, pretty spring things and chicks&bunnies... and often the Cross is thrown in for good measure, just to make sure the religious bit is added in. The Cross is the central symbol of Easter and I believe that that’s how it should be. But what frustrates me (and I’ve chatted to a couple of people about this) is the fact that we try to make the Cross look pretty. There are hundreds of different designs, sizes, colours etc that you can wear round your neck or hang up on your walls (one illustration is pictured above).


But the Cross was not cute.

The Cross was gruesome.

The Cross was heartache.

But the Cross was definitely not cute.

Once again as I look to the Cross I find myself completely humbled. I am humbled by this love story sent down in the form of Jesus from God.

It was a bloody sacrifice.

The truth that has pulled at my heart this Easter is the fact that even if I was the only person Jesus had to die for, God would have still let it happen.

He would have hung there taking in His last excruciating breath so that He could have a relationship with me. So that the barrier of sin would be broken down and I could receive His love and be forgiven.

I find that truth so hard to believe because I am so so unworthy of this sacrifice and the cost that God had to pay.

I don’t deserve grace.

I don’t deserve forgiveness.

I don’t deserve love.

But Jesus went through the trauma of the Cross even though I/we don’t deserve it.

Over this weekend I have been blessed by solid and encouraging teaching by Paul B on the Easter Story. I attended a Good Friday service that Paul was speaking at and God moved in my heart that night. (Hence the awesome title of this post from Paul’s sermon title). It is only now that I can begin to reflect and figure out what happened. A theme that seems to be running throughout my life at the moment is honesty. I need to be more honest about my relationship with God, in my relationship with God, with my feelings and in my relationships with people. And there on Friday night God reminded me to be real about the condition of my heart with Him and to stop hiding. Sometimes hiding can be the easy option because that way I don’t have to deal with myself, or what God is doing in my life. It’s very easy to get caught up in the doing and not the being. And even when I’m trying to just be with Jesus...I’m still doing something, like journaling, reading, praying (all of which are great) but I think I need to be more silent with God. I need to soak up His presence, power and love.

The amazingly incredible thing is, is that despite all my trying... all God wants is me.

That is scary but also liberating.

I can’t even begin to put into words how thankful I am that Christ did die to set me free and to give me not just everlasting life but a relationship with Him here and now.

But the act of the Cross did not end with Christ’s final breath as darkness covered the earth.

But it was 3 days later...

“The stone it has been moved, the grave is now a groove, all debts are removed” Bono

Jesus conquered the grave, He arose from the cling of death.

Why is this so important?

Well if Jesus hadn’t risen then He wouldn’t be Jesus.

He would just be some wise guy who talked the talked but didn’t walk the walk.

He is our Saviour and He is mighty to save.

“Jesus’ tomb was empty, so our lives could be full” Paul B

It is necessary to reflect and be humbled by the Cross but there comes a time when I have to move out of grieving for the Cross and into the celebration of the resurrection. (Please don't misunderstand me I'm not belitting the cross here in anyway!) There comes a time when I have to accept God’s forgiveness and total unconditional love and acceptance for me.

That time is now.

I will leave you with my favourite ‘Cross’ song, listen here and also this one here...

When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.


Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.