Doing things back to front

If you have ever read the DIY manuals you will know that you should never paint or concrete your way into a corner you cannot get out of, but sometimes there is no choice. We sealed the concrete on our floor knowing it would only take around half an hour before it was dry but we couldn't work to our only exit as we wouldn't have been able to clean our brushes and where would we go anyway. Concreting the floor was an even trickier proposition as we needed the water to make up fresh batches  and that is in the kitchen or the bathroom and both are at the opposite end to the exit so we had no choice but to concrete ourselves into a corner, so to speak, so here I am sitting in the kitchen with my computer waiting for the floor to dry and getting a little ahead with the blog. Once it is dry it will be a far better foundation on which to tile and I have a feeling that God has something to say about it, just not quite sure what yet. (Well that was on Tuesday and we did manage to get out but it took far longer to dry than anticipated. Thought you might like to see the before and after pictures of the hall, we are really pleased with it (I know my kids don't share the same sentiment though - good job they don't still live with us then). The hanging on the wall was a scarf created by my friend Tina to remind me of my time in Colorado. It is such a wonderful piece of comments, encouragement and love woven into the fabric. I love it and it looks great on that bit of wall.

We were listening to KUNC diverse music which is an American station with an interesting mix of music when we heard a warning for a tornado. It was really weird listening knowing that it was so close to where we used to live, only three months ago. One tornado touched down about 2 1/2 miles away from our old house and one ripped through our good friend Darren's house. Darren was our pastor in the States. Thankfully he and his family including the dog and the hamster are safe and well but not his beloved truck or his house. Not quite sure what the extent of the damage was . You can see pictures on this link

 The tornado seemed to disturb my thoughts, not half as much as those who saw it or had their homes wrecked by it, but I felt it was significant. There is talk just beginning to come through of a significant move of God and all the excitement that that brings, a wind of God. I welcome  God blowing through and desire to set my face into the wind and allow Him to blow through my life but what happens if that wind is actually a tornado? Would I be so prepared to let God rearrange my landscape so significantly as the tornado through Windsor? Could I even stand in the face of such an onslaught? I desire to see God move in the area we live in but the cry from the bottom of my heart is Lord be gentle with the people. Be gentle with those women who are almost bent double due to poor nutrition in the past, or poor working conditions. Those women who despite their infirmities still go out and plant their vegetables because they have to. Be gentle with those who are drinking themselves to death because they are so devoid of hope. The news of the tornado brought be back to the following verse:-John 3:7-9 (New International Version) The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

It certainly echoes where Ian and I are at the minute as we have absolutely no idea where this adventure is taking us, so I guess all I can do is set my face into the wind and let it do what God desires and if that is rearranging my landscape then so be it.

We got two extra bins (trash cans this week) so it takes the number of bins for 18 flats (apartments) up to 8 which is fairly amazing

 and shows some of the differences between our American home and here. The American bins were huge compared to the ones we have here and yet the ones here are not overflowing every week. I was amazed in Colorado to see these huge bins filled to capacity nearly every week and the recycling bins overflowing as well. How do they generate so much rubbish (trash)? We only occasionally filled our bin and most of the time it only had about three plastic carrier bags in and then the recycling box was often full. The landfill site though is a crying shame, I guess no landfill ever looks good but this one is close to water and in such a beautiful place. It is getting so full in the last month that we have been down there and so much of it could be recycled too. How do you do something about this? I would love to know - there must be a way.