What's so amazing about grace?

Another Friday, another weekend...



I just realised today, that I am getting older. Becky is already three months old. It only seems like yesterday when we discovered that Quela was with bun in oven. A shock that turned into happiness as soon as she was born. It won't be long before Matt's the same size as I am and Dave isn't too far behind. As they grow I am diminshing in a sense.

I had a competition with my bro. Mark Loney over who had more grey hair and I won!! I don't know if it is because of the kids, the wife or my job. Things change day to day, month to month, year to year, but the only one constant is God's unfailing protection and grace. There is a book entitled "What is so amazing about Grace?" which after much thought my answer is "Where do I begin?" Grace is a word that is difficult to explain because it is something that is lacking in human nature. Grace is something that is as alien to us as speaking is to ants. Only when we look into God's word do we begin to understand the meaning of Grace. Everyday of our lives is based on the grace of God. The fact that we are alive to see each morning is by the grace of God. The blessing of being able to grow up with our children and see them become adults is by grace. In fact there is not one area of our lives that is not connected to the grace that God bestows on us each day. If we want to know the answer to "what's so amazing about grace?" we should look at how God has brought us so far. I am sure if we look hard enough and honestly enough, we will see grace abound in places we never thought of before.

To all a goodnight

What a day,

Ireland beat Scotland in the rugby and kept title hopes alive,
France were beaten by England to throw the championship wide open,
Wales beat Italy to keep their championship on course but have to face Ireland next week in a showdown game.
Had a great lunch and even better time talking to friends I wouldn't trade for all the riches in the world.
Came home to three kids and a wife I love.
Sat in front of the fire and relaxed as a family.
Sometimes we have to sit down and really look at at all the blessings we have. We are, by human defect, very ungrateful people.
We want more when we fail to see what we already have.
We ask for more without seeing what we haven't used.
We complain at the slightest thing that tweaks our buttons.
We can only have been saved by grace, because if it were down to us we would have no hope at all, and a life without hope is no life at all.
To all a goodnight

" Má tú ag lorg cara gan locht,béidh tú gan cara go deo."

"If you are looking for a friend without a fault, you'll be without a friend forever."

I've got a dog and three cats......yeah!!!

My first blog....

I had to go to Citroen Palmela today with Quela's car for a service. Off I went at half past eight and handed the car in. Because I had no way back, I had to wait for two hours. I set off on a small walk(which was quite pleasant) with my sermon notes for Sunday. I returned after half an hour and sat down inside the waiting room. There was an elderly couple sitting beside me, and they were chatting away to themselves. I proceeded to read the newspapers that were put out for clients (all of them were from Friday!). That didn't last too long as I already had read most of the papers on Friday. As I was looking out the window, a woman walked in to get something from the vending machine. She started complaining of the cold and this set off the old couple and this woman into an in-depth conversation about the weather and then swiftly turned to the subject of animals (Don't ask me how this came about). The couple preceeded in describing all their animals which could have easliy filled most of Lisbon zoo. The other woman not being able to compete simply said she had three cats but they were very friendly. This conversation went on and on and I found myself nodding off to sleep with the excitement of such verbal poetry in the subject "animalus domesticus". Luckily Quela's car arrived and saved the day, although I had to fork out €133 just to change the oil and change a few filters. Before leaving, I met my dentist who told me he was going to Angola to work in a clinic. I hope he doesn't expect me to go all the out there for a check-up...... does he?
Nothing shocks me anymore!

Irish saying:

Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today, because if you do it today and like it, then you can do it again tomorrow.