Household Hints just before Christmas

Because I can never for my life remember most household tips, I made notes from a library book and recorded them here for future reference.  Who knows, you too may pick up a tip or two!

Some of these may very well be old hat to you.  I have included vehicle-tips, because as the wife of a precious husband who does all the car-jobs, I have not the first inkling of  the most basic and elementary checks needed.  It can only be a good thing, to up the knowledge from naught to two.

So, here is the harvest of my reading and note-taking while on the bus or waiting for a bus between Hatfield and St Albans. I hope there will be an idea or two you could add to your own repertoire!

1. When doing the dishes. add vinegar to rinse water.
2. For shine-as-new, soak glass-ware in warm white vinegar.
3. Rub half a lemon around plugholes to help remove lime scale deposits.
4. Keep a damp cloth handy to wipe up spills.
5. Sprinkle spills in the oven with salt and wipe off when your oven is cool.
6. Treat stubborn spills with a paste of bicarb and water.  Leave for 10-15 minutes.  Wipe with soft cloth.  Only do this when your oven is cool.
7. Clean and deodorize your micro-oven like this:  Place 3 or 4 slices of lemon in water.  Leave for one minute on high.  Wipe inside.
8. Pour out water in your kettle after use to prevent lime scale.
9. Sprinkle the bin with biacarb.
10. Soak the shower head in a bowl of vinegar. Scrub holes with an old toothbrush.
11. Use foamy oven cleaner for grout – open the windows! Spray, count to 3, wipe and rinse straight away.
12. Prevent mould in the bathroom by once in a while wiping a little baby oil over the bathroom walls and ceiling.
13. To shine taps, use a little bit of toothpaste and wipe with damp cloth.
14. Use washing up liquid to clean baths.
15. Clean plughole by pouring in one cup of washing soda and then a kettle-full of boiling water.
16. Clean and tidy as you go.
17. To get grease on upholstery off, mix 2 teaspoons vinegar and 250ml luke-warm water.  Wipe.
18. Clean windows on a dry, dull day.
19. Pick up slivers of glass by using a slice of bread.
20. Cheap and effective window-clean: Add a good dash of vinegar to water:  it cuts through grease and keeps flies away.
21. Very dirty windows:  1 teaspoon household ammonia and 1 tablespoon methylated spirits in 2 cups of water.  Decant into a labelled spray bottle.
22. A few drops of glycerine on a cloth  - wipe – this will stop mirror or windows from steaming up.
23. Or….run the cut side of a potato across windows or mirrors (also for car)
24. Clean your washing machine as follows:  Run 4-4 litters of white vinegar though your machine on a warm water setting, followed by a rinse cycle.
25. Check your washing machine fittings from time to time.
26. Pre-treat collars by rubbing them with soap or make a paste of bicarb and white vinegar and give them a good scrub with an old toothbrush.  For oily marks, use shampoo.
27. Stains – soak clothes in cold water.
28. Use 1 part glycerine to 2 parts water – apply to stain – leave for an hour.  Wash.
29. For anti-perspirant stains, rub with a toothbrush a paste of biacarb, salt and water.
30. Spray cotton wool with your favourite scents.  Let it dry and pack amongst your clothes.
31. Banish smelly shoes by filling old socks with cat litter and stuffing shoes with those.
32. To deal with lime scale in an iron: fill it with white vinegar, turn up the heat to the steam setting. Switch off, cool down and pour out.  Refill with water and repeat until all the residue is removed.
33. To save electricity, turn appliances off at the sockets.  The computer screen uses the most electricity of the whole c computer.
34. Find out how to foil-back your radiator.
35. Thermostat on hot water:  60 degrees are enough.
36. Make your own sandwiches.
37. Talcum powder sprinkled into the joints and gaps between floorboards can stop creaks.
38. Silence squeaking hinges with a bit of washing-up liquid, a pencil or a bit of washing-up liquid.
39. Check under the car for fluid leaks.
40. Bodywork damage – get fixed asap.
41. Change windscreen wipers once or twice a year and check for splits and tears.
42. Check oil once a month.
43. Check oil: pull the dipstick out, wipe clean. Make sure the oil level is above the minimum mark.  Top up with the correct grade of oil –see your car manual.
44. Car oil should be clear and the colour of honey.  If not, go to the garage.
45. Under-inflated tyres can use up toe 3% more fuel – so check.
46. Ensure correct pressure – check your handbook.  1.6mm/0.06 inch of tread is legal.  Change your tyres at 3 mm.   Worn tyres kill.
47. Get a friend to help you check your lights, including those of the number plate.
48. Brake-plates – it’s worth paying for the service.
49. Don’t ignore dashboard warning lights.
50. Check the battery connections: are they tight and free from corrosion.
51. Slugs and snails:  smear petroleum jelly on the outside of the container or WD40.
52. Ants.  Locate the nest and sprinkle lots of talcum powered around and on the nest.  Spray vinegar around doors and doorsteps.
53. Serve cheese at room temperature.
54. Omelette and scrambled egg turns into restaurant servings when a splash of sherry is added.
55. Ripen avo’s in a plastic bag with a banana skin.
56. Buy the dirtiest celery you can get and wash it when you need it.

A Christmas Idea for Young Children: Christingle

 

Christingle……..a word we’ve never heard until we emigrated from South Africa to the UK.   With the heightened awareness of being new to a country, we watched families walk to church under tall skeleton winter-trees in Virginia Water, Surrey.   So unlike summer Christmases in South Africa, the little girls were dressed in coats and boots – and scarves and hats and gloves were the order of the day.  The occasion was the family Christingle service at Christ Church.   Inside the old church, the children’s expectant faces lit up in the glow of many small candles.  Loved it!

Fast-forward more than a decade.  Michael, Isabelle, Josie and Evie are due to arrive from Germany in London early Friday morning.  I’m racking my brain for Christmas ideas applicable to pre-schoolers and for showing us all something about Jesus, our Saviour.
Christingle!  Easy to assemble and explain and we can’t wait to see how our little granddaughters respond!  Wish we could kidnap our New Zealand family and 2 grandsons, Joshua and Jesse!


I've surfed the net, but sadly couldn't find an advertised Christingle service in the many London churches.  Could that be because there are more unmarried young adults than families?  Maybe.  Be it as it may, we are going to have our own Christingle at home - and it should work just fine.  

^{Isiah 9:2} The people walking in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
   a light has dawned.

John 8:12  When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

 What follows is a short description of Christingle, kicking off with a brief history, the symbolism and how to assemble the Christingle.

In 1749 in a church in Germany a Bishop started a Christmas tradition that is loved by children and adults, and enjoyed in Britain today and around the world. His name was Bishop John de Watteville and he led worship among the Moravian Congregation in Marienborn, Germany. He was the creator of the Christingle service. Christingle means "Christ-Light."

The Christingle service is a gentle way to share with our children or our grandchildren the bigger picture of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ and why He came from heaven.

 The simple candle service remind us that Jesus brought light into darkness. The looped red ribbon gives opportunity to tell that Jesus shed his blood and died for our sin and salvation. The service is based around explaining the symbolism in the Christingle and as each part in explained the Christingles are assembled. When all is assembled the lights in the church are dimmed and the candles lighted. The candle light on the excited children's faces is a beautiful sight. In John de Watteville's day it is recorded that the children tried to keep their candles alight the whole way home.

How to make a Christingle

1. A sweet, juicy, shiny orange represents the goodness of the earth that God created.
   
2. Four sticks (cocktail sticks or tooth picks) are put into four corners of the top side of the orange. These represent the four seasons of the year.
   
3. Onto each stick is threaded dried fruit like sultanas or raisins. This represents all the goodness of the fruit of the earth and the richness of animals and birds that God has provided on his earth. Sometimes we use small jelly sweets or candy.
   
4. A red ribbon wrapped around the orange and fixed in place with a pin represents the blood of Jesus who died for the salvation of the whole world. In the Moravian tradition today a ribbon is looped around a candle at its base.
   
5. The white candle is placed in the very top of the orange into a pre-prepared hole. Sometimes some foil is used to help fix the candle into position. This candle represents Jesus, the light of the world, God's son. In the Moravian tradition it would be made from beeswax and would also represent Christ's purity, as this type of candle burns cleanly.

A modern British Christmas is secular in so many ways. Christingle, reading the Christmas story by candlelight  are two of many other ideas to show our children the Light of the World.

"I will celebrate nativity - it has a place in history -what is that to me?
Till by faith I met Him face-to-face, and I felt the wonder of His grace,
then I knew He was more than just a God who didn't care....."

Happiness and Expectations

The two  motivations behind this short post are:
1)   a  friend’s question on face-book this week: “Christian, could you be happy with heaven if Christ was not there?”
2)  All the December-happiness-hype.


So then let’s start with motivation #2 illustrated by  a few random copy/paste twitters to get us going on a strand of happiness-hopes.

MissHoneypenny Miss Jane HoneypennyIt is December 4th and I have done my very first happy-because-its-snowing-wiggle-dance for this season Happy December 2 everyone!!! Happy #25Days of Christmas!!  Now that it’s finally here, you can see The Santa Clause at 7/6c and kick-off December in the merriest way! Happy December beautiful people! Hope it's an amazing month for everyone. It's officially the most wonderful time of the year! Happy December, loves! How are you all doing today? Feeling in the holiday spirit happy december :) this is the beginning of lots of christmas movies & yummy hot chocolate! December is such a happy month.. Dear December, please make my wishes come true. Sincerely, me. Happy December everyone! :D

 

It’s 4 December 2011 today – and it’s no secret that we are and will get bombarded with Christmas-expectations in the next 21 days: oh, the hype!   The buzz, the build-up are quite nice.  But do the hopes of these days and and the reality of 25th December measure up? Well….
Let’s ask the same question about Jesus and heaven:  will the hopes held out for the Christian be met in the reality of heaven.  Infinitely more than our highest hopes!

Back to Stephen’s face-book question: 

“Christian, could you be happy with heaven if Christ was not there?” 

I have a few notes on heaven, Jesus and happiness and gladly share them with you.

Heaven is where the glory of Jesus Christ is exalted above all things and where reality is the all-satisfying. The most exhilarating, adrenaline-rushed experience on earth will be dead-tame in comparison with gazing at and talking to Jesus Christ. Overwhelmed by God’s magnificence, we are going to embrace Him and eat with Him – walk and laugh with Him! We will never lose our fascination with Jesus and beholding His face. For now we have to strain our imaginations. The majesty and magnificence of Jesus stagger the most creative imagination! We are going to go face-to-face with Jesus. Seeing Him in “high definition”, maximally blessed.  Who will steal the show millennium after millennium? Jesus. Jesus clothed in pure majesty, glorious in holiness, God on full display.  The redeemed are going to be eternally awe-struck by His excellence as we marvel at the high and lifted up greatness of God. (In your imagination, hear the Italian redeemed boom, “Manifica!” Viva Jesus! ) What a sight it’s going to be: seeing Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain for sinners in all His beauty, seeing Jesus exalted at the right hand of God with the scars of battle in His hands.

Heaven is… total, uninterrupted, incorruptible, happiness and bliss with the Trinity, redeemed and angels.   Happiness in heaven without Jesus? Not a chance!

a) Happiness as in December-hype?
b) Happiness as in heaven with Jesus?

Gordon and I vote for “b” with every confidence.  Of course we live in time and do not write off the hope  to taste something of that future lasting happiness during the build-up to Christmas 2011.  Of course there is no guaranteed ban on post-Christmas-blues and disappointments!

So at the beginning of Christmas,  while we are enjoying the twinkling lights, food, gifts, people and buzz,  we also deliberately remind ourselves/warn ourselves not to lean too heavily on December-happiness for joy.   There’s much too much evidence that it does not deliver according to expectations and promises.  To lean totally on Jesus and the promised hope of heaven will end in  a happiness that busts all imaginations – a hope that will deliver and not disappoint.

Presuppositions

“If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster” (Stephen Covey)

"If you board the wrong train it is no use run­ning along the cor­ri­dor in the oppo­site direction". Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Pre-suppositions, pre-suppositions....On reading a recent Time Magagzine article, I was startled by the Professors’ finds on how some people go about "solving" their ethical dilemmas.

How very much in contrast to the path the God of the Bible sets before His children in their struggle with moral directions.

OPTION ONE:  Business Professors at Harvard and Duke Universities* research showed that:

"Ethical dilemmas often require people to weigh two opposing forces:

1. the desire to maximize self-interest and
2. the desire to maintain a positive view of oneself,"

"Recent research has suggested that individuals tend to resolve this tension through self-serving rationalizations:

1. They behave dishonestly enough to profit from their unethical behaviour but
2. honestly enough to maintain a positive self-concept as honest human beings."

OPTION TWO: The Bible says: ((Please, please don’t read into this comparison a  polarization between Professors and God!)  It's about suppositions.

Those who

1. live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh— (The mind set on the flesh is death)
2. but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. , (the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. )

(Romans 8:5-6)

So here are the opposing draws for the Christian (Galatians 6:16)

Galatians 6:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other…

Of course, it will be no surprise to discover many other variants and sets of choices driven by people that exclude God – including the spiritual and the religious.   And how easy for Christians to get sucked in!
So, prior to tackling a moral dilemna, against which wall is your ladder leaning and where is your train heading?

Ps (ssssssssssssst)

Bible terms like flesh…Spirit are not as abstract as they sound.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.Galatains 5:19

French Toast - Comfort Food

It’s November month and the fog hangs low in Hertfordshire – all day long. Atmospheric and good occasion to page through the recipe book for cosy-appeal-food. Tomorrow my dear mom will be 84. I see her in my mind’s eye, niftily dipping the white bread in the small pool of whisked egg and in no time we were feasting on one of the simple things of life. She is still up to that!
French Toast – quick, easy, likely to please. Minus the slogging over the stove – sooner around the table with everyone else launching into breakfast and togetherness. Not fettered to weekend breakfasts, French Toast may be created any time of the day. The breakfast-route, though, is not a shabby ritual!

Thick slices of bread, soaked in a mixture of beaten eggs with milk and cinnamon, toasted in a frying pan, and served with butter and maple syrup – or honey. It works best with several day old French or Italian loaf bread, thickly sliced. Fresh bread, or bread that has been sliced too thin tends to get mushy and fall apart when soaked in the egg milk mixture. Many people serve with powdered sugar; I believe there is enough sugar in the maple syrup, so I don't add more. You could add some orange zest, and a bit of Triple Sec orange liqueur to the batter for extra zing.

French Toast Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes. Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 8 thick slices of 2-day-old bread, better if slightly stale
• Butter
• Maple syrup or honey.

Optional

• 2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
• 1/4 cup Triple Sec – optional
• Fresh berries – good idea, but optional.

Method

1 Beat eggs, milk, and cinnamon together. If using, add orange zest and/or Triple Sec. Whisk until well blended. Pour into a shallow bowl.
2 Dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture, allowing bread to soak up some of the mixture. Melt some butter (or use vegetable oil) over a large skillet on medium high heat. Add as many slices of bread onto the skillet as will fit at a time. Fry until brown on both sides, flipping the bread when necessary.
3 Serve hot with butter, maple syrup, and if available, fresh berries.
Serves 4.

License to Swear

Over a Latte this morning, from the UK Daily Mail:

“Yobs should not be punished for hurling obscenities in public – because swear words are now so common that they no longer cause distress, a High Court judge has ruled.”

Oh, how I wished I was having coffee with a friend to exchange thoughts….I hope you will add your views and comments in Facebook/Twitter to:

• In a very imperfect world, swearing yobs should not raise eyebrows in surprise. Sin is reality.
• Still, it is shocking that the Judge succeeded to take his viewpoint as far as achieving to uphold his appeal to let a yob off the hook.
• Mr Bean (no, not that Mr Bean!) makes a sweeping statement implying/stating the general public are blasé about outrageous abusive language.
• And, let’s pretend for a moment corrupt society is stone-deaf to abusive swearing – surely, even then there’s no justification or licence for abusive & uncontrolled outbursts or abusive and uncontrolled attitudes.

So here is Mr Justice Bean’s verdict:

Yobs should not be punished for hurling obscenities in public – because…. swear words are now so common that they no longer cause distress, a High Court judge has ruled.

So there you have it: in a landmark judgment, Mr Justice Bean upheld the appeal of a foul-mouthed thug who was convicted for repeatedly using abusing language while being searched by police. And, to quote the judge again: “……rather commonplace’ expletive is heard ‘all too frequently’. (a commentary on parts of our society).

In contrast London Mayor Boris Johnson and Britain’s most senior policeman called for :

• a zero-tolerance crackdown on those who abuse officers.
• ‘This gives the green light for everyone to swear and use disorderly behaviour with police.’
• ‘Public servants are not there to be abused,’ Mr Johnson said. ‘They are there to serve society and society must respect them.
• ‘How can a copper cope with the job if the public are allowed to insult them with impunity?’
• ‘If people swear at the police, they must expect to be arrested.

Bravo Boris!
BRAVO THE POLICE!
Here is the link to the Daily Mail article - Monday 21 November 2011.

Yesterday at the National Art Gallery London

Yesterday at the National Art Gallery London, I stood before this particular master-painting by Tiepolo (1727) called “The Lamentation at the foot of the Cross”………………transfixed.

Christ went to the greatest length to save me.  Here are glimpses:  convicted by a corrupt court, sentenced to capital punishment by a self-interested politician, died a criminal’s execution, separated from God.  The perfect, sacrificial Lamb of God paid the price for sin, exit his borrowed tomb as victor over both sin and death.

Hallelujah what a Saviour!

I was particularly moved by the depiction of John (in the red)

Tim Keller Tweets

 

These tweets from Tim Keller aren’t for a quick read, that’s for sure!   Apart from choosing a recipe for the next visit with Christian friends, I’d like to choose some of these quotes and have a little brain-storm around them.

There’s much more here than meet the eye:  may we spot the truths, mix them with faith and do them!

• "Jesus's miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming." via @courtneyreissig
  
• Think like a prophet, serve like a priest, and plan like a king. [@DailyKeller]
  
• There is no menial work. Jesus came not as a philosopher, not as a general. He came as a carpenter. [@DailyKeller]
  
• "You don't realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have." via @lecrae
  
• The gospel has been described as a pool in which a toddler can wade and yet an elephant can swim. [@DailyKeller]
  
• Humility is only achieved as a byproduct of understanding, believing, and marveling in the gospel of grace. [@DailyKeller]
  
• Jesus is saying, “Look what I’ve done to come near to you. Now draw near to me. I don’t want to be a concept; I want to be a friend.” [@DailyKeller]
  
• "It takes pride to be anxious – I am not wise enough to know how my life should go." via @desiringgod
  
• The gospel is not that Jesus Christ comes to earth, tells us how to live, we live a good life, and then God owes us blessing. [@DailyKeller]
  
• Christmas - God has become human. The absolute has become particular. The ideal has become real. The divine has taken up a human nature. [@DailyKeller]
  
• The observer of beauty always receives a passion to share the beauty with others. [@DailyKeller]
  
• When Christians who understand the gospel see a poor person, they realize they are looking into a mirror. [@DailyKeller]
  
• The more we see ourselves as needing forgiveness, the more likely we are to forgive others. [@DailyKeller]
  
• The more aware you are of God's grace & acceptance the more you are able to drop your self-defenses & admit the true dimensions of your sin. [@dailykeller]
  
• The sin under all other sins is a lack of joy in Christ. [@dailykeller]
  
• Gospel repentance is tapping into the joy of our union with Christ in order to weaken our need to do anything contrary to God's heart. [@DailyKeller]
  
• You are not saved by love, joy, peace...You are saved by faith not fruit, BUT you are never saved by fruitless faith. [@dailykeller]
  
• The real gospel gives us a God far more holy than a moralist can bear and far more loving than a relativist can imagine. [@dailykeller]

God is the strength of my heart

(Let’s get the Psalms tattooed on our hearts, minds and souls)

This is where I found this beautiful picture, with thanks - too good not to share!

Samuel Rutherford's Grave

In October 2009 Gordon and I had a short break in Scotland and for the first time in our lives travelled up the East Coast.  At one small village, we ate take-away-crab out of the shell.  Our special take-away was enjoyed with a view after clambering up a short vertical ladder to the top of the harbour wall.  No, it was not high-tide and yes it was the perfect setting for fresh crab.  Then....after a short drive further North to St Andrews.....the unexpected grave!

We had not idea the Puritan lived here or was buried here with the result when we read the familiar name on the stone, we were totally stopped us in our tracks.

This isn’t our photo;  I would have to go and rummage through our collection of 2 years ago.  If you wish, double-click for an enhanced view of Samuel Rutherford's Grave, St Andrews Cathedral.

M
S . R
Here lyes the Reverend Mr. Samuell
Rutherfoord Professor of Divinity in
The University of St Andrews who died
March the 20 1661.
What tongu what Pen or Skill of Men
Can famous Rutherfoord commend
His Learning justly rasid his fame
True GODliness Adornd His Name
He did converse with things ABOVE
Acquainted with Emmanuels Love
Most orthodox He was And sound
And Many Errots Did confound
For Zions King and Zions cause
And Scotlands covenanted Laws
Most constantly he Did contend
Until His Time was At An End
Than He wan To the Full Fruition
Of That which He Had seen in vision.

The setting:  next to the North Sea.



I’d like to go after 3 of the attributes on Rutherford's grave-stone:

• true godliness,
• knowing Emmanuel’s love
• and growing in knowledge/discernment and courage/love to contend for the faith with my brothers and sisters.
• 
  

God is always goodness

"Can God be any less good to me on the average Tuesday morning than he was on that monumental Friday afternoon when he hung on a cross in my place? 

The answer is a resounding NO.

God will not be less good to me tomorrow either, because God cannot be less good to me. His goodness is not the effect of his disposition but the essence of his person -- not an attitude but an attribute."

Paige Benton Brown

What to do with anxiety

Does  anxiety have a debilitating grip on your life?   Proverbs 12:25
Of course it’s not as if there’s no lack of resource on worry.  The real worry is to get down to  implementing that which is already known.  Therefore, I have no embarrassment to post basic notes on counteracting stress. and kicking off with:

For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe. ~Author Unknown

So, here goes………….for implementation, starting with me.
1) Talk to yourself.
Take yourself by the scruff of your neck, sit yourself down and preach to yourself:  “Soul, stop all this excessive worry!”
2) Instead of being preoccupied with problems over which you have no control, identify needs, relationships etc. and serve in love.

• Matthew 6:33;
• Do not set your heart on what you are to eat and drink; stop worrying. Let all the nations of the world run after these things; your Father knows that you need them. (Luke 12:29-30)
• You can't wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time. ~Pat Schroeder

2) Redirect your life-focus from tomorrow to today.

• Matthew 6:34 
• Jesus is not saying, don’t plan for tomorrow.  What He is saying is don’t bring tomorrow’s problems and impose them on today’s responsibilities.
• Handle today’s problems, today.  Don’t compound them by obsessing about something that hasn’t even arrived.
• Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.- Corrie Ten Boom
• Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday. ~Author Unknown

3)  Fight anxiety with the promises of God – get to know them!
Here is one of loads of promises:  Isaiah 43:1-3;
4) Pray
Philippians 4:4-9; Psalms 50:15
No one can pray and worry at the same time.- Max Lucado
5) Remind yourself of God’s steadfast love and mercies.
Our Heavenly Father provides enough mercy for today’s problems. New mercies for tomorrow’s problems.
Lamentations 3:22-24
6) Relinquish!  Yield control to God – trust Him!
1 Peter 5:7
Psalm 56:3
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the giving of God’s only Son to pay for our sins and make us right with Him, proves and seals His love and commitment to provide, guide, protect, bring each one of His children home.  Our God is with us through thick and thin.  So many reasons to ban worry.  The ball is in our court.

If you wish, check out  "Calling all worry pots" - yesterday's post on why you should not worry.

Calling all Christian Worry Pots

Are you a Christian worry-pot?  Do you have to go back in the house three times to make sure you turned off the coffee machine and the iron (even though you haven’t ironed anything in ages)? 
Matthew 6:25-34.
6 Reasons not to worry, not to give in to excessive anxiety:
1)  Worry is unreasonable  (Matthew 6:25)
a)  “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”
b)  Can God not be trusted with what you eat, drink and wear?
c) When you worry,  you experience the problem multiple times:  in your mind and possibly in reality.  It is illogical.
2)  Worry is unproductive. (Matthew 6:27)
It doesn’t accomplish a thing.
It shortens and saddens life.
Worry gives you wrinkles and grey hair and a lot of other unwanted things.
3)  Worry is unbelief. (Matthew 6:28)
When we worry we stop believing in the goodness and power of God. When we allow certain issues to dominate our lives we are in effect saying:  “God , I’m not entirely convinced you can look after me.  I fail to believe confidently that God is working out His purposes in every dimension of my life.  If God has given me His Son, will He not provide my necessities?
4)  Worry is denying God is my Heavenly Father taking care of me.
My excessive concern for the things I cannot control is to act like a spiritual orphan.  I do have a Heavenly Father.
5)  Worry is unnecessary  (Matthew 6:32)
Your Heavenly Father knows what you need.  Worry tells others that you are not sure God is aware of all your needs.  
6) Worry is misplaced Resources.  Matthew 6:33
Consider the mental energy, thoughts, money and time you spend on your anxiety.  In the grip of excessive worry, you cannot get on with a life that is in God’s will.

For the next post on this topic, click on What to do with Anxiety.

Little Pest of a tick!

About 10 days ago, I’ve been bitten by a Lyme-carrying tick on one of the many beautiful, beautiful Scottish Highland walks.  The symptoms of Lyme Disease’s early stages are not words on paper but part of my life at this point:  not very nice!
The hope is that you would never need any of this information, but as it is not impossible that you may, it could be a good idea to have a quick read and file away the practical tips and heighten your awareness.  My awareness of ticks was nil – not anymore!
  1) Some facts and figures:

  2) Symptoms

  3) Preventing Lyme disease

  4) What not to do:

  5) What to do when you find a tick

  6) About getting infected

  7) Where in the world do these ticks that carry Lyme Disease lurk?

  8) Treatment by your Doctor.

  9) Diagnosing Lyme disease

1) Some facts and figures:

• There are many kinds of ticks in different parts of the world.

• Not every tick carries Lyme Disease. Not every bite will transmit the disease, even if the tick is infected and not removed.

• In any given tick population, it’s thought that about 15 to 20 per cent carry Lyme disease. Only a small percentage of tick bites will lead to the condition.

• If no treatment is received, more than 60 per cent of those with Lyme disease will go on to stage 2 of the condition within six months.

Ticks are very small and their bites are not painful, so you may not realise that you have one attached to your skin. However, there is a higher risk that you will become infected if the tick remains attached to your skin for more than 36 hours.
2)  Symptoms of early stage Lyme disease

The symptoms of Lyme disease usually fall into three distinct stages – early, mid and late. You should only experience symptoms of mid- and late-stage Lyme disease if you are not treated with antibiotics during the initial stage of the condition.

Early stage Lyme disease - SYMPTOMS

• The rash develops at the site of the tick bite and is often described as looking like a bull’s-eye on a dart board. The affected area of skin will be red and feel slightly raised to the touch.  The characteristic pink or red "bull’s-eye" rash of Lyme disease can provide an important clue, and around 90% of people

• In up to a third of people with Lyme disease, the rash may be the only symptom.

• Other symptoms of early stage Lyme disease are flu-like and can include:

• Symptoms similar to meningitis.

• tiredness (fatigue)

• muscle pain

• joint pain

• headache

• fever or chills

• neck stiffness
Mid-stage Lyme disease: The symptoms of mid-stage Lyme disease usually develop many weeks, or sometimes several months, after being bitten by an infected tick. However, they usually only affect people who were not treated with antibiotics at an early stage of the disease.

In around 15% of untreated cases of Lyme disease, people will get neurological symptoms (those that affect the nervous system). Some people may also develop meningitis,

Late-stage Lyme disease: In a minority of untreated cases, the symptoms of late-stage Lyme disease can develop after many months, or even years. As with mid-stage Lyme disease, the symptoms can affect both the joints and the nervous system. Much more info to find on reliable internet pages.
3) Preventing Lyme disease

There is currently no vaccine to prevent Lyme disease. In 2002, a vaccine was introduced in America but it was later withdrawn due to concerns over side effects.

• • The best way of preventing Lyme disease is to avoid being bitten when you are in wooded or heath areas known to have a high tick population.
• The following precautions might help to prevent Lyme disease:
• • Wear a long-sleeved shirt.
• • Tuck your trousers into your socks.
• • Use insect repellent.
• • Wear light-coloured clothing so ticks are easier to see
• • Try not to sit on the ground in areas of vegetation/ Keep to pathways and, where possible, avoid areas of overgrown vegetation
• • Check yourself for ticks. and your children and pets for ticks- regularly and especially before going to bed. Have a companion inspect your back.
• • Remove any ticks found attached to the skin straight away.
• • Once removed save the tick for identification. Accurate identification becomes very important if you or your animals develop disease symptoms.

4) What not to do:
Never use a lit cigarette end, a match head or essential oils to force the tick out. Don't use your fingers, or apply heat, petroleum jelly or any other creams or chemicals. Do not try to remove the tick with your fingers or attempt to remove with lighted cigarettes, matches, nail polish, or Vaseline.


5) What to do when you find a tick

• • If you do find a tick on your or your child's skin, remove it by gently gripping it as close to the skin as possible, preferably using fine-toothed tweezers, and pull steadily away from the skin.
• • Apply antiseptic cream after removal. Be careful not to squeeze the tick when removing it which could result in more bacteria being injected.
• • If you think you may have been bitten, tell your doctor, and mention where you've been walking, especially if you know that there are ticks in that area.
• • Seek prompt medical attention if any of these symptoms appear, especially after being bitten by a tick or visiting an area where Lyme disease is common.
• • If possible document the presence of the rash by taking a picture because it may disappear before a physician can see it. A picture in this case is worth 10,000 words! (We were advised to use a ballpoint pen and draw around the spread of the rash)
• • Proof of tick bite and the kind of tick doing the biting is especially important to document in areas where Lyme disease is not considered prevalent and doctor suspicion is low.
• • If a rash or 'flu-like illness develops after you have been exposed to ticks, or the site becomes infected, seek medical advice promptly.

  6) About getting infected
Once infected, the bacteria moves slowly through your skin and into your blood and lymphatic system. The lymphatic system helps fight infection and is made up of a series of vessels (channels) and glands (lymph nodes). The bacteria are carried in the tick's gut, and can take some time to move into its mouthparts and then into your body. The risk of infection increases the longer the tick is left in position. Normally, the risk is minimal if the tick is removed or falls off within 24 hours. However, it’s possible to be infected at any time after a bite. A partially fed tick, for example, can pass on the infection relatively quickly. A wide range of symptoms have been recorded including.
7) Where in the world do these ticks that carry Lyme Disease lurk?

It's not just visitors to rural North America who might be exposed to these tick-borne infections. Infected ticks can be found across the UK, and anyone who enjoys exploring our woodlands and uplands may also be at risk. Cases have occurred in urban parks and gardens too. The common factor is the presence of deep vegetation and a supply of mammals and birds for ticks to feed on. Avoid being bitten.
 8) Treatment by your Doctor.

• Once Lyme disease has been diagnosed, treatment is with antibiotics which need to be at high dose and may need to be given as a prolonged course , sometimes even intravenously for maximum effect.

• Some complications of Lyme disease need specific treatments – for example if a person develops a slow heart rhythm, they may need a pacemaker

In most cases symptoms settle (even if treatment isn’t given, symptoms may eventually get better) but Lyme disease can cause more serious long term problems. Given the small amount of research in this area, medical opinion is divided as to the cause and best treatment for long term symptoms.
9) Diagnosing Lyme disease

Lyme disease can be a difficult condition to diagnose, particularly in its latter stages. This is because its symptoms are also shared by other, more common conditions such as infections and arthritis. Blood tests are important and useful in acute infection but don’t always confirm the diagnosis. The tests need to be carried out at least a few weeks after you were bitten by the tick because it can take this long for the infection to develop. You may need to be re-tested if Lyme disease is still suspected after a negative test result.

God is Love

A few reasons for today’s post:

• It is partly diary  (Gordon and I read a short chapter from a commentary on 1 John while on the long M1 from Yorkshire to Hertfordshire:  the road was busy, but it was a time in which we sat in the car considering God’s love).
• As a  reminder (though we spent a good chunk of time and many miles on these points – we need to come back to them time after time)
• As part picture of the love we are after in our marriage (we have some rough spots that need to be corrected at present)
• As a prayer for our parenting evening tomorrow at Spicer Church.
• As pointers of spiritual value to every reader. 
• As a prayer of thanksgiving for the reality and enormity of God’s love and for our God Who is love.  We would love to make the points in here specific prayer requests for our own marriage, for the two marriages of our children and all known and unknown marriages.

So here are our  car-journey notes in the form of a summary from Chapter 15 “The Message of John’s Letters” by David Jackman.
GOD IS LOVE

1. The essence of God’s being is love.  
2. At the heart of the Triune deity is a dynamic inter-relationship of love. 
3. It’s God’s nature to love.  To deny God’s love for us is to deny His very nature and to distort His grace. 
4. God’s love cannot be earned or deserved. 
5. 1 John 3:7  Love comes from God.  God is the source of love. 
6. God’s love is seen in the cross of Christ. 
7. Love’s actions are for the benefit of others. 
8. “…not that we loved God…” This is no reciprocation by God, meeting us halfway.  
9. He shows love to those who don’t love Him, who don’t want to love Him.  He show His love to His enemies, to rebels.  He shows His love to a world of lost sinners. 
10. If it was not for the love of God, we would have no explanation of mercy or forgiveness; no hope, no future. 
11. In love, God sent His Son, His one and only Son.  To send His only Son is a measure of the enormity of God’s love. 
12. Jesus was sent into a hostile and rebellious world.  Jesus satisfied and turned God’s wrath away. Jesus achieved forgiveness and reconciliation for us. 
13. We are to try to grasp and get to know more and more the length, height, width, breadth, devotion and scope of God’s love. 
14. We have been ransomed by God’s love. 
15. God’s love is stronger than death or hell. 
16. In Jesus’ death, He dealt with our sins.  We received eternal life instead of certain death.  Rebels are pardoned and made sons. 
17. There are multitudes upon multitudes in heaven made right with God through Jesus. 
18. John 4:11,12 – we love because God has loved us. 
19. Jesus’ blood flowed for our forgiveness.  
20. 1 John 4:12:  love amongst Christians reveal the love of God.  God’s supernatural love for sinners has often been made more credible when unbelievers see that love reflected in the lives of God’s children.  John 13:35: 
21. Love is the hallmark , the family characteristic of God’s children. 
22. People see Christ’s love in our relationships.   Those who aren’t God’s children should encounter Jesus’ love in the love Christians have for one another. 
23. In the modern equivalent of washing one another’s feet – God’s love take its effect in our lives.  Love fervently and love practically. 
24. Have a self-giving love that flow out of God’s love. 
25. God’s love is a love that sends us out into the world as it send Jesus into the world. 
26. If we know that God really loves us, let us allow that love to overflow into our lives and overflow from our lives.

Family, Travel–England and Germany

 
I came across this mini- fragment of a diary and post it our Life-website  for future memory-blessing and your possible reading a bit of real-life diary. 

31 March 2011
Final sorting – clothes dry in time and sorted  in small heaps. First into the suitcase, 2 deep pink floral dresses for Josie and Evie each and a Little Red Riding Hood dress each. These have been hanging on hangers on our bedroom door…….. and now the time and joy to give to our granddaughters are almost here!
Bookings of bus trips, flights, train and hostel to Dresden are finalised, printed and slipped into a plastic folder with passports. We pack, weigh and redistribute – so far, so good. A last skype with Isabelle and Michael – we are excitedly counting the sleeps. Gordon works his last days and has so much to do before signing off for a much-needed holiday.

Friday 2 April 2011
It’s 10.00 pm - Gordon sets THREE alarms as we need to be up and about at 1.30 am – yes after midnight!  We sleep the 2.5 hours as quickly as we can! 
Out of bed with a jolt – we cannot afford to miss the 3.20 am National Express to Stanstead airport. And ……. we have an 30 minute walk with 2 heavy suitcases and our 2 bits of hand luggage to the bus stop at Galleria.  Gordon changes that plan quickly and wisely.  So, instead, we take our luggage by car to the bus stop – and while Gordon is guarding our belongings, I drove home and walked as briskly as I could, back to the stop.   As those who have lived in South Africa most of our lives, we never cease to marvel at the relative safety in the UK.  Here I walk in the dead of night – far – by myself, with no apprehensive.
One would imagine that this time of the morning the streets would be deserted and that at last quiet would have descended – no such thing!   In the late night hours, there are  2 lanes of cars – why are these people not in their beds!!?? There was even a stretch limousine, clearly carting party goers home. The other strangeness was the full-on bird-choruses. What is up with these birds of real feathers, don’t they snuggle down in their nests for closed-eye either – cheeky! 

Back at the stop, I find Gordon busy downloading sermons onto his iPod and having been joined by 2 Irish student girls. They have opted for an almost all-night party and did not think it practical to go to bed before catching the 3.20 am bus. Good chats with them!

The bus is a mere 5 minutes late and after depositing us at Stanstead, we zigzag our way through sleeping bodies who took up more than their share of the seats. It’s very very, very thrilling to board the Germanwings plane at 7.40 am and experience the typical German culture, accents, hospitality and efficiency, straight away.

Soon we ascend and soar over  green, green England.  As we leave the English south coast behind, the mist sets in quickly and  thickly. But not for long before we are able to spot ferries ploughing the English Channel waters and wind farms planted in the channel.

As soon as our no-frills plane fly over Europe and Germany, we see meandering rivers, straight-lined canals and patch-work farm-land. Is that extra colourful patches not perhaps Dutch tulips starting to take on colour?  Maybe, maybe not.
   Then the unmistakably attractive architecture and sharp incline of the German rooftops.  Reason, I think, is to allow snow to slide down. At Hannover, we land with a bump and German-like punctually exactly at the promised time.  By now we could burst with excitement.

Gordon and I collect our luggage with literally trembling hands, and wheel our suitcases towards the  airport arrivals door, wondering who we are going to see on the other side.    Then……….. there!    Right in front of us: Michael and Josie!!!

We run to them and hug and laugh!   It’s been 15 months……….and Josie is now 4 yrs and 2 months old.   Of course we knew what Josie and Evie looked like, but a photo or skype can never really portray the real little loved-loved persons.

Josie’s bubbly and giggly and running ahead -  laughing.

It is just as oh-so-special to see Michael again after more than a year. Their trauma  and  experiences of the BIG earthquake  in Tokyo, still fresh.  Our son-in-law drives us down to Gifhorn -on the wrong side of the road!!    Josie and I play games in the back of the car.   As we get to the well-known medieval villages and farm-surrounds of Winkel, all we can think about is seeing Isabelle again and seeing Evie who was 7 months old when we saw her last – and now 21 months!

Oh sweet reunion!  We reign in much of our excitement, so Evie can gradually get used to us. We hug, cry, hug with Isabelle.  And look and look at one another – it’s been tooooooooo long!

Josie alias Red Riding Hood.

Ditto – Evie trying out her dancing poses, unaware of her unruly pony tails

Evie calls Gordon, Mack and insisted on Mack helping her up the stairs - to his joy.

 

Our lovely Isabelle – our oldest daughter.

  Josie eats  ice-cream just before supper-time – courtesy the neighbour.

 

Hooray for digital photography &  many photos that hopefully will serve as the rest of the diary and golden days with Michael, Isabelle, Josie and Evie.  In the middle of our stay, Gordon and I nipped over to Dresden for a few days.  And this is how far I got with the Dresden-diary…………….!

Dresden:  Reading and prayer on the train: “Oh, Creator, please don’t repair me, remake me. “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Together we explored the old Eastern Germany city, full of character and culture, on foot and by bicycle and tram.  Lots of uphill walking to the Bastei Bridge and Konigstein Fesstung and medieval villages.  Ok for every uphill there is also a – welcome! – downhill.  A big part of this side-trip was our stay in a big, clean and comfortable private room in  a hostel in the hippie-part of Dresden – quite a few locals looked like characters straight out of Camden Town.  The one theme that will always pop up in our Dresden memories will be:  destruction and restoration, during and after World War II.

Isabelle kindly fetched us from Braunschweig train station - how thrilled we were to see the Schmidt-family again for a last few gems of days together!

For further information find links here to the Bastei Bridge and to Dresden - the Cultural heart and tourism, and lastly the hostel in Dresden that we highly recommend for hospitality, location and being organised.

“God won’t give you more than you can handle.” Really?

I’ve photographed Rodin’s “Burghers of Calais”  in Paris and various times in London next to the Westminster Palace:  is this not a picture of despair  - of beyond-self?

Dear reader, if you feel remotely like this picture, please be directed to the first steps to a solution that works: Hide in Jesus, rely on God’s help – no overwhelming trial is deeper than His love and His help.

Shall we weigh up:

• A common phrase thrown around a lot, is:  “God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

vs

• encouragement that works - encouragement true to the Word and life, faces reality & relying on God, taking shelter in Him.

I used to use this phrase myself, but from today - no longer!                               
 I want to go after encouragement with the truth – truth that works.

“God won’t give you more than you can handle” sounds oh-so affirming and so positive, but, to be honest, it is not true to the Bible nor to life-experience.

Let’s  take 1 Corinthians 10:13 – as is, at face-value:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

(It reminds me of an comedy-excerpt from the Proms 2011 in London - so funny!  The musician played in F major and sang in F-sharp.  Not funny when we do that with Scripture. 1 Corinthians 10:13 and “God won’t give you more than you can handle” are sung in different notes.)

To clarify:  God does not tempt anyone. James 1:13 emphatically states, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”
While God does not tempt us, He does, in his compassionate sovereignty, permit us to go through trials.
So then, what DOES 1 Corinthians 10:13 actually mean?

When Paul writes that God will not tempt us beyond our ability, he means

1. that we are never in a situation where have no other choice but to sin.
2. We always have the option of doing the right thing.
3. Honouring to God will often cost us (reputation, position, relationship, or money,  etc.)
4. God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to do what is right.

  

“God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

or...................

God will almost always give us more than we can handle on our own. 

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead (2 Cor 1:8,9)  (Paul)

We see this over and over in life and in the Bible:

1. Take Jeremiah:  he was charged with preaching repentance to the people of Israel, a calling that caused him to be beaten, plotted against and rejected by everyone, even his own family.   Emotionally, that was far more than he could handle as seen in his many laments.
2. The ministry of the Apostle Paul is probably one of the most powerful examples of "being pushed over the edge". 2 Cor. 11:21-30

Take a deep breath and take in the panorama of Paul’s sufferings:

“…. imprisonments, countless beatings,  often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three timess beaten with rods. Once, stoned. Three times shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; frequent journeys, in danger from rivers,  robbers, my own people,  Gentiles, danger in the city, in the wilderness, at sea,  from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger & thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. .. the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches……  If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”

What do we observe about Paul and his sufferings?

1. Overwhelming hardships and trials - humanly speaking too much to bear, too much to take.
2. We don’t read about a Paul bragging and going on about how he took his hardships like a man. 
3. We see a man boasting of  things that show his weakness, his reliance on the power of God.  
4. We clearly see a man who was given by God more – far more – than he could handle or bear on his own - pushed beyond coping.

Utterly burdened beyond his strength – he thought he was going to die!

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead (2 Cor 1:8,9)

• Paul was given more than he could handle – so that – he would rely on His God who could handle the situations, work out His purposes and carry him through.
• There’s no place for self-sufficiency and brave triumphs.
• There’s no measured suffering that can be handled. 
• Here is suffering beyond coping, but here is a God who is a very present help in the day of trouble.

“God won’t give you more than you can handle.” is just not true...............  He does, at times give us more than we can cope with.

Bottom line:   Here is encouragement that is true to the Word, to life and works:

• We cannot just hunker down and power through every situation. And we cannot white-knuckle our way through life.  
• We need our God and need to rely on Him.  

I have a shelter in the storm
When troubles pour upon me
Though fears are rising like a flood
My soul can rest securely
O Jesus, I will hide in You
My place of peace and solace
No trial is deeper than Your love
That comforts all my sorrows.

You can now download for free a song from Sovereign Grace’s new album, Come Weary Saints. Here are the lyrics from the song by Steve and Vicki Cook, and Bob Kauflin

Hide in Christ Jesus – no trial is deeper than God’s love and God’s help.

Is the UK 2011 autumn early?

Please hang fire for expert words of wisdom later on in the blog checking out  this question:

“Spring 2011 was possibly the earliest on record, so does this mean that autumn will be early too?"

In the mean-time, here are first-hand, local recorded signs of Autumn as on 23 September 2011 in St Albans – please see the red box on the UK map.


 Click images for an enhanced view of autumn's partial look in Verulamium Park, St Albans on Friday 23 September 2011.

(The park is named after the Roman City of Verulamium on which it stands.    Perching on the hill, is the St Albans Cathedral.)


On the bus from Hatfield to St Albans, I made a point of having a sharp look at the trees for signs of autumn.  Some are ablaze, others have not even started to make any autumnal show.

Here is a sample of my  HUNTED and FOUND autumn colours, in the Park, helped along brilliantly by the low sun.

And for a quick comparison,  a few pictures taken in Harpenden, a few miles from St Albans, 2 days ago, Thursday 22 September 2011


In the Verulamium Park, close to the outdoor excercise area, there stands a middle-sized Chestnut Tree that reminded me of the tree from which God spoke to Moses. Though it looked as if it was on fire, it was of course nothing like that wondrous fiery bush and encounter Moses experienced with "I am who I am."  

By the way, the intimate closeness of Jesus in us and us in Him as the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father - is this not in a way our own personal fiery bush?.    Self-note:  appreciate the all-important and awesome reality that Christians are in Christ and draw near in Jesus' Name.  Realise you are on holy ground, take on board what He says (as in obeying), enjoy Him, listen/pray/sing/ shhh be quiet/ask questions/wait in His presence much, much more often!

Again, for enhanced view, click image.

Question:
I wonder if someone could tell me why some Chestnuts produce red autumnal leaves and others yellow?  Are they different varieties?


And now for those expert observations and forecasts and links:
http://visitwoods.org.uk/en/visit-woods/for-nature/Pages/early-autumn-2011.aspx

Spring 2011 was possibly the earliest on record, so does this mean that autumn will be early too? Some scientists and phenology experts believe that autumn will be early because leaves have a shelf-life, so the earlier they appear on the trees, the earlier they will be shed in autumn. Others believe that trees remain growing and retain their leaves for as long as temperatures are high and water is available.
Records submitted by the public over the past decade suggest that trees across the UK will start to showing the first signs of autumn colour during late September, getting their full autumn colour by late October.
However, some trees are starting to show autumnal colouring early because the dry spring meant they have not had enough water, despite the high rainfall in June and July.

I have just been to South Africa and felt rather disorientated seeing trees in full spring blossom.  But now it is autumn-time in the Northern Hemisphere….enjoy!

Daniel 2:21
He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

Acts 14:17
Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”

2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.