Living Faith

"[T]here is enough loveliness, enough beauty, enough love in this world — enough food in this world —- if we would just share...

[T]he problem of evil in the world isn’t a problem for proof of God —- but a problem of our own turned-in hearts...when we turn our heart outward — we in turn bear testimony to the loving existence of God, of the body of Christ right here…"
~Ann Voskamp

I'm studying the book of James at the minute and have just worked through Chapter 2.  The above quote taken from Ann Voskamp's recent post spoke to me especially because of what I had been meditating on in God's Word.

James speaks of that love in action.  The fruit of faith.  I ought not love anyone for what they can do for me, but simply because God loves them and so I must love.  To care for the poor and brethren who are not able to meet their own needs.  To show mercy because I serve a merciful God.  To have a faith, not of mere intellectual assent ('for even the demons believe') but a living faith in Christ.

It is our living faith that shows the world we serve a living God.  He most certainly exists and He most certainly cares.

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
~ Philippians 3:17-21

Distressing times

Hillsborough Memorial, Flickr

I do cry easily, if I see someone else crying I cry.  If I watch a programme where people are distressed I cry.

The Hillsborough Disaster occurred on 15th April 1989, 96 Liverpool Football Club fans were crushed to death at the Leppings Lane end of Sheffield Wednesday's Football club's ground (Hillsborough).

I remember watching the images on TV, where I couldn't breathe for distress at those poor people, many of them were children, being crushed behind those big metal fences that football grounds used to have.

Hubs was going to go to that match with a friend and his dad, but his mom said no at the last minute and so he didn't.  The one time a young lad is glad his mother said no.

Today thousands of government papers are being released and an independent inquiry's report into those documents will be revealed.  The families of the victims are still unhappy with the accidental death verdict. As yet, no organisation has been held to account, though reports have shown that the disaster was at least in part caused by a lack of police control...and those awful metal fences penning people in like animals.

So painful for those families who cannot find peace.  And that's my prayer, that justice be done (whatever that may be, for God knows all), and that these families are able to find peace and resolution at long last.

9/11 Memorial

Yesterday it was 9/11.  This is another human disaster that sticks in my memory so clearly.  I was at my mum's, with my tiny baby Chatterbox, when the breaking news came.  Even now when I watch programmes about it I can barely breathe.  The human cost both to the victims and their family and friends.  So distressing.  I've been praying for those families and friends of the victims - and those who escaped from the falling towers but still suffer physical and psychological sickness as a result.

Oh, a day is coming...

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
(Revelation 21:1-4)

Come Lord Jesus!

(Scriptures from NIV)

God's Rest

“God never asked us to meet life's pressures and demands on our own terms or by relying upon our own strength. Nor did He demand that we win His favor by assembling an impressive portfolio of good deeds. Instead, He invites us to enter His rest.” ― Charles R. Swindoll

“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” ― Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions of Saint Augustine

Think on the good things of God.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
~ Philippians 4:4-9 (NIV)

Someone read this out in church today and it really spoke to me, particularly the part that I have highlighted.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

God of wonders

Flickr

"There is in many hearts a yearning for the firsthand experience of the presence of God. Many people are tired of religion reduced to social action, group therapy, or theological analysis. They wonder where the wonder went." ~ Robert Raine.

God is ineffable.  And yet I catch a glimpse of God in creation.  When I feel he is distant or unknowable I remember that he shows his glory in creation.  Just take time to breathe in gratitude for the beauty of the simple things, like a blade of grass, the clouds, a raindrop.

“Something of God…flows into us from the blue of the sky, the taste of honey, the delicious embrace of water….” ~ C.S. Lewis in ‘Scraps’, St. James’ Magazine.

I know this for his Word tells me so.  I know this because my heart and spirit...HIS Spirit within me confirms it.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. ~Psalm 19:1-4

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. ~ Romans 1:20

Then I remember - how could I forget?- His Son...and my heart swells in gratitude.  Our God of wonders.

God of Wonders ~ Chris Tomlin

Lord of all creation

Of water, earth, and sky

The heavens are Your tabernacle

Glory to the Lord on High

God of wonders, beyond our galaxy

You are holy, holy

The universe declares Your majesty

You are holy, holy

Lord of heaven and earth...

Early in the morning

I will celebrate the light

And as I stumble through the darkness

I will call Your name by night

God of wonders, beyond our galaxy

You are holy, holy

The universe declares Your majesty

You are holy, holy

Lord of heaven and earth...

Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth...

God of wonders, beyond our galaxy

You are holy, holy

Precious Lord, reveal Your heart to me

~Thank you Jesus for revealing the heart of God to us.~

[Scripture quotes from NIV.]

Aha...some words...book review

It appears I do have some words...here's my review of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (they lived just over the hill from us you know - the Brontës, not Heathcliff and Cathy).  I'm rather glad I've finished this book, perhaps now Kate Bush will stop going around my head.."Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy, I've come home I'm so cold, let me in in at your windoohooow ..."

Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte 3 stars

Far too bleak for my liking. I don't generally like to read books about what happens when sociopaths become obsessed with one another and descend into paranoid schizophrenia.

The only character I liked reasonably is Nelly/Ellen, though any sane person would have travelled over land and sea to get a job anywhere but at Wuthering Heights so why she remained in their employ is beyond me.

I'll give it three stars because it kept me interested enough to keep reading, but many times I just wondered where the book was going and what its point was.

It had a mildly happy ending - if not rather unconvincing - as if the oft abused Hareton would suddenly become this well rounded person with a bit of book learning and the love of a good woman.

No, not my cup-o'-tea.

I ought to add, when reading the introduction to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë the writer mentions the drink and drug fuelled violence of the Brontë sisters' brother Branwell as he descended towards the end of his life into Delirium Tremens . Made me think of Hindley Earnshaw's character in this book and wondered if Branwell's alcoholism influenced the story at all.

No words

I have a number of posts -  partly written...and I'm just not satisfied with any of them.  One is a conversation with Chatterbox and Squidge where we talked about some deep stuff, one is about the Gospel, and a third is about sin.  But I cannot get it out in words. I think that perhaps at this difficult spiritual juncture (having recently left our church of 34 years) maybe I need to just take time to heal and to just...be.

It's the last week of the school holidays and we are frantically getting everything ready for school.  I need to sew numerous labels on Chatterbox's school uniform.  Squidge needs to finish a learning log about 'My Life'.  I wish the holidays didn't end, but hey-ho! :)

So I'm sorry if things are quiet around here.  Watch this space...

Real life is a gift

"Christianity is not primarily a moral code but a grace-laden mystery; it is not essentially a philosophy of love but a love affair; it is not keeping rules with clenched fists but receiving a gift with open hands."

~Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

Apart from the fruit-tree there is no fruit

Many times the words 'peace is a Person' on Ann Voskamp's blog A Holy Experience has made me stop in my tracks.  I can almost hear God whisper through the storm of this difficult period in my life, "Remember where peace abides".

My peace is Jesus.

He is our Lord of peace. (2 Thess. 3:16)
He is the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

He is peace in my home. He is peace with my children. He is peace in my comings and goings. He is peace amidst the storm. He is peace in my solitude. He is peace in the chaos.

I might be a raging storm of grumpiness and irritability, but he is always there - my peace.  If I fix my eyes on the stress I am stressed, if I fix my eyes on him I am peaceful.

As I thought about the Person of Peace, I thought about the other fruits of the Holy Spirit.  Fruit only comes from a fruit tree, without a fruit-tree no fruit is produced.  When separated from the fruit-tree the fruit rots.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is fruit produced by the Holy Spirit, not by me, not by anything else.  It isn't my fruit, it is his fruit produced when I abide in Jesus just as he promised. I can't be loving or peaceful in my own strength...as a perfectionist I have tried I promise you, but the result is always despondency and a deep feeling of failure. Without Jesus I have no fruit; when I move away from him and try to depend on my own resources my fruit rots and it kind of stinks.

Jesus is...

...my love.
...my joy.
...my peace.
...my patience*
...my kindness.
...my goodness.
...my faithfulness.
...my gentleness.
...my self-control.**

Fruit can only be produced by a fruit-tree.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 

~ John 15:4, ESV

Notes:

*The word from the Greek translated patient means: endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance, forbearance, longsuffering, slowness in avenging wrongs.
**The Greek word translated self-control is the attribute of one who does not let desires or passions have control or mastery of them.

Too much cutes

http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/the-cutest-things-that-ever-happened

The above link is just so much cute! I promise you, you won't be disappointed!

I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

"The crucial point here is that, in general, religiously observant people were offended by Jesus, but those estranged from religious and moral observance were intrigued and attracted to him. We see this throughout the New Testament accounts of Jesus’s life. In every case where Jesus meets a religious person and a sexual outcast (as in Luke 7) or a religious person and a racial outcast (as in John 3-4) or a religious person and a political outcast (as in Luke 19), the outcast is the one who connects with Jesus and the elder-brother type does not. Jesus says to the respectable religious leaders ‘the tax collectors and the prostitutes enter the kingdom before you’ (Matthew 21:31)." ~ Tim Keller

The more I learn about Jesus the more his life makes me consider my walk with God and how I view the world and church-life.  It fits in with the verse from Hosea quoted by Jesus in Matt 9:13 and Matt 12:7, which has been in my mind a great deal recently: "I desire mercy not sacrifice".

From: Keller Quotes
Hat tip to this post: Christianity and Respectability

The Ragamuffin Gospel Book Review

Here is one of my latest reviews from Good Reads:
5 stars

There are not enough superlatives in the dictionary. I LOVED this book. This is partly because it is a wonderful book that I think I'll want to read again and again, but also because I feel rather bedraggled, beat-up and burnt out right now. This is indeed chicken soup for a poorly ol' soul!

But this book has reminded me of something, something that I learned when I first really knew Jesus loved me, and it is this: he is all I need. Right now, and for all eternity, all I need to know is Jesus. I don't need to know someone else's opinion about Jesus, I don't even need to form my own opinion about Jesus, I need to know Jesus.

We must never allow the authority of books, institutions, or leaders to replace the authority of knowing Jesus Christ personally and directly.

When the religious views of others interpose between us and the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we become unconvicted and unpersuasive travel agents handing out brochures to places we have never visited.

That second quote above especially spoke to me. There is a danger in so many churches today that we are basically living vicarious Christian lives. We are living someone else's relationship with God. But unless we are deeply rooted personally in Christ then all we have in that relationship is our time in church listening to another's vision of who God really is. Where does that leave us when we step out into the world? We might be well drilled in our answers, we might have the vision down pat, but when we are really tested we'll fall at the first fence.

I need Jesus.

I need Jesus. HE is the Good News, HE is the Gospel message, HE is the Rock on which EVERYTHING must be built.

Sometimes we can't see Jesus through the mess of stuff that is drummed into our heads by well-meaning theologists and preachers. We squash down the still small voice of God because it seems to contradict what we've heard and so we lose real peace. We read the scriptures with conflicted hearts because they don't seem to fit in with what we just heard preached or taught and so we cannot approach the truth with honesty. We get to the point where we question ourselves. Who are we? We're just a cog in the big machine. How does God see us? He doesn't, we are absorbed into the crowd.

But this isn't true. He loves each and every one of us as if we were the only one on earth. We are his lost sheep and he would leave 99 sheep to go look for the one that was lost. We are special to him.

"I will praise you, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made".

Such tender love engenders gratitude. It brings compassion for other lost sheep into our hearts. We are merciful because we are shown mercy. We love because we are loved.

Jesus doesn't come with new rules, the gospel message is simple. He comes in love and grace to offer hope to the hopeless (i.e. us). Even the new commandment that he gives in the Gospels is impossible to keep. That is the joy of the Gospel, what God tells us to do is impossible. Love? I can't do that! I can't do it! And God says, "Exactly", so here's my Son given for you. That is the joy! Oh blessed Eucharist, what thanksgiving! I can't do it! So he did. Then I can love because I am grateful, because he has set me free to give thanks. *Eucharist means 'thanksgiving'.

Breaking bread with Jesus was a festive celebration of good fellowship in which there was salvation. Asceticism was not only inappropriate but unthinkable in the presence of the Bridegroom.

Here are a number of quotes that spoke to me:

How difficult it is to be honest, to accept that I am unacceptable, to renounce self-justification, to give up the pretence that my prayers, spiritual insight, tithing, and success in ministry have made me pleasing to God! No antecedent beauty enamours me in his eyes. I am lovable only because he loves me.

He loves me!

The prophetic word spoken to a thirty-four year old widow, Marjory Kempe, in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1667 remains ever ancient, ever new: "More pleasing to Me than all your prayers, works, and penances is that you would believe I love you".

The spirit of Caiaphas lives on in every century of religious bureaucrats who confidently condemn good people who have broken bad religious laws. Always for a good reason of course: for the good of the temple, for the good of the church. How many sincere people have been banished from the Christian community by religious power brokers as numb in spirit as Caiaphas!

Eugene Kennedy writes: "The devil dwells in the urge to control rather than liberate the human soul..."

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

The question had become not "What does Jesus say?" but "What does the church say?" This question is still being asked today. Sad but true: Some Christians want to be slaves. It is easier to let others make decisions or to rely upon the letter of the law.

Living by grace inspires a growing consciousness that I am what I am in the sight of Jesus and nothing more.

What infallible guarantee do we have that ragamuffins will be treated at the judgement with infinite kindness and immeasurable mercy? Because you passed it around, says Jesus. He stands by His Word: Blessed are the merciful; you will be shown nothing but mercy.

Jesus is the way to Abba. He is the Truth spoken by Abba. He is the Life we are invited to share - His life with Abba.

Menu plan for the week (and a few days)

Here's our menu for the week (and a few days), I normally do my shopping on a Wednesday, but we just got back from our holiday in Devon (well we got back on Saturday) so I need to stock up.

Monday
Breakfast – Toast (already had this, the girls had chocolate spread sandwiches - good food at its best NOT).
Lunch - Cheese on toast
Evening Meal - Pork chop risotto (because I always make this when I do a menu plan on my blog!) :)))

Tuesday
Breakfast – Crumpets
Lunch – Chicken soup and home baked bread
Evening Meal – Out for a barbeque (will it rain?? Most likely!)

Wednesday
Breakfast – Toast or cereal
Lunch – Baked potatoes with tuna mayonnaise and cucumber
Evening Meal – Toad in the Hole

Thursday
Breakfast – Sausage muffins (as in oven-bottom muffins...)
Lunch – Quick sandwich for me, kids are at in-laws for lunch and I’m meeting a friend later
Evening Meal - Chicken pie (not homemade), mash n’ veg

Friday
Breakfast – Toast or cereal
Lunch – Hummus and salad pitta
Evening Meal - Lasagna

Saturday
Breakfast – Pancakes and maple syrup
Lunch – Home-made naan bread
Evening Meal – Penne carbonara

Sunday
Breakfast – Croissants with jam and butter
Lunch - not sure...
Evening Meal - Pizza

Monday
Breakfast – Boiled eggs and soldiers (I am RUBBISH at making boiled eggs...never get them just right, but hey-ho we press on).
Lunch - Cheese toasties
Evening Meal – Chicken, potatoes, bacon Au Gratin (as seen on Sandra’s food blog) with corn-on-the-cob

Tuesday
Breakfast - Toast or cereal
Lunch - Sandwiches
Evening Meal – Burgers baked in mushroom soup and garlic, served with mash and broccoli

Clovelly - Cottages, Cobbles, and Cats

This week we visited the ancient little Devon fishing village of Clovelly. Clovelly is family owned (none of the residents own their own cottage), there are no cars allowed. Goods are transported through the steep cobbled streets by sledges and donkeys. The little ol' cottages are all white-washed wattle and daub. I just love the little white cottages, particularly the ones with the blue painted windows, they remind me of the little white houses on Greek islands that I just love.  The South West coast is one of my favourite places in England.

This kitty was snoozing outside the visitor centre until a pigeon caught her attention.  Here she is scoping out the birdies.

We stopped at some workshops first to make some dishes.  This is Squidge.

And now Chatterbox making hers.

View from the top of the hill towards the sea.

Squidge looking down the steep cobbled street.

So pretty, but can you imagine this street in icy weather? :)

Inside of the Fisherman's Cottage.

Another kitty, this one didn't stop to chat but was on some kind of mission.

Hubs and the girls looking out across the bay.

Some really gorgeous cottages, I would post all my photos but it would take hours!

Down to the little harbour.

This kitty did come to say hello

Start with a kitty, end with a kitty.

Look Mummy!

My dandelion looks like a bird.

So it does. :)

Book Review. Your Own Jesus: A God Insistent on Making it Personal

Another of my Good Reads reviews:
 3 stars

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't life changing on the whole, some chapters I felt like skipping thorough. However, there were one or two chapters that really spoke to me.

I love the fact though that that the book is about a personal Jesus, one who wants a deep relationship with us.

Hall writes near the beginning of a conversation with a youth group member who had been in college for a few months:

" "Man, I need help," he said, his voice almost a quiver. "These professors are pounding me. The entire culture here is mocking everything I heard you say."

He spent the next several minutes asking questions, though one unsettled me more than any of the others. He told the story of an assertion someone made in class that left him too befuddled to reply, which is why he had called me for help.

"Now, what do I believe about that again?" he asked.

Less than a year after leaving the cosy spiritual nest of our church group, where everyone shared the same beliefs and lingo, he was facing the white-hot furnace of a hostile universe and its ungodly worldviews. And he folded like paper in fire.

He didn't have his own Jesus. "

This part resonated with me because it is a fear that my children will be able to parrot their handed-down beliefs, but when they step out into the big wide world they may find that you cannot live off someone else's beliefs. But, it is good to have that fear - my children need Jesus, not me (as Mark Hall puts in one of his songs, "We can't strap ourselves to the gospel because we are slowing it down"). This also fitted in with the parts of the other book I've just read 'Why Christian Kids Rebel'.

I need this for me too. I need my own relationship with Jesus. Not a predigested relationship given to me from the pulpit. I need to know him for myself, I need to walk with him and to know him. He isn't a theory, a philosophy, he is real.

Book Review: Why Christian Kids Rebel

Here is my review from GoodReads:
4 stars

I read Tim Kimmel's other book Grace Based Parenting a few years ago and loved it. I did start this book some time ago and stopped for some reason, but this time I read the whole thing.

I enjoyed it mostly and agree with many of his conclusions, but it didn't speak to me as deeply as Grace Based Parenting. Maybe this is because I haven't experienced rebellion from my children...yet! (Let's hope the 'yet' never comes!)

As I said, though, I do agree with his outlook on parenting children as a Christian in the main.

He categorises Christian parenting which may create rebellious children into five groups:

Compulsory Christianity
Cliché Christianity
Comfortable Christianity
Cocoon Christianity
Compromised Christianity

The dangers in modern Christianity for our children is that we have created cocoons for our children – evangelical ghettos. We listen to Christian music, watch Christian TV, mix with Christian friends, go to Christian events…I could go on. We treat our faith as a hobby, enjoying our church events and church meetings, but a hobby that doesn’t change us or anyone else. We drill our children with Bible study and catechism but we don’t demonstrate an authentic relationship with Christ lived out under stress in a world antagonistic towards the true gospel. We create children who can say “Hallelujah” when things go well, but don’t realise they are living a cliché where they don’t know the Yahweh Whom they are praising. We keep our children safe from the world, but they never know what a changed life is, what a sacrificial life is, what sin really means to a lost world. We keep our children ‘safe’, but when they meet real life their faith will not weather the storms.

~oOo~

At the end of the day I agree with much of what Tim Kimmel says, but having never fully tested his theory (my eldest child is nearly 11) I can't say that everything he says is correct! But I do believe that children need to develop real, authentic relationships with Jesus that can be lived out in a stressful and testing world. He has to be their rock and their fortress. I am afraid to wrap my children up too much in cotton wool that when they reach the age of responsibility they are unable to cope with or are enticed by the world. I am afraid that just because now as youngsters they say and do (mostly) the right things doesn't mean that I've got it made and can be complacent.

I can only...
Pray.

Trust.
Guide.
Love.
Offer grace.
Try to live a REAL life in Christ.
Love...again (because you can never love too much).

My gorgeous girl

Ready for high school (she's 11 in August), but still my little girl.  Still a chatterbox, always smiling.  Her primary school reports from nursery until her final year start with saying how smiley she is to ending with how smiley she is.  My gorgeous girl. 

And also her Granddad's little girl. :)

Walking back from the beach in Devon, tired out from catching crabs and shrimp in rock pools and playing in the icy sea on the bodyboard.

Look what I got for my birthday!

Look what hubster got me for my birthday! I'm a very lucky girl.

Tiny wild strawberries and pretty wild flowers

Squidge has been picking flowers and tiny wild strawberries...

He gave us eyes to see them,

And lips that we might tell

How great is God Almighty,

Who has made all things well.

~All Things Bright and Beautiful, Cecil F. Alexander

For Prayer

I would be so grateful for prayer.  So many things are going on that I'm struggling to cope with, I guess I'm just vulnerable right now.

You know that we recently left our church of many years (in fact for me it was the only church I'd ever been a member of), and I am still dealing with the emotions and pain that come from leaving.  I could write a four page rant...but bitterness is not a Jesus-like quality (and I do so want to be more like him)...I might share when things aren't so raw so that I can express things more objectively.

I feel confused, conflicted, emotional, sad, and slightly lost.  But snippets of joy slip through here and there.  Little drops of grace.

Please pray that the love of Christ carries us through.

My mum and dad are struggling with a heavy workload related to the care of my grandma (my mum isn't in the best of health always).  We love Grandma so much, but caring is tiring and all consuming and all they want is for her to be happy and comfortable.  The government don't make things easy for the carer or the elderly - everything is far too complicated and takes far too long when time is short.

Please pray for my grandma's care - that she is happy and contented.  Please pray for mum and dad that these years of retirement are not bogged down by worry, strain and stress.

My granddad may have ear-cancer.  We are waiting for results.  It doesn't look good.

Please pray for my granddad for his healing and that he finds God in all this.  I'm so worried about him. I love my granddad.

Thank you dear bloggy friends.

“God never asked us to meet life's pressures and demands on our own terms or by relying upon our own strength. Nor did He demands that we win His favour by assembling an impressive portfolio of good deeds. Instead, He invites us to enter His rest.” ― Charles R. Swindoll

For Prayer and Rainy Day Photo Safari

Please pray for the residents of Hebden Bridge a town about 9 miles away from us, they've been hit for the second time in recent weeks by awful floods: Flash Floods

We've had a goodly amount of rain, here's pics from a recent walk:

The lake has filled up nicely.

Lake overflow is overflowing :)

The stile is a waterfall

Almost to the roof of the bridge

River almost to its limit.

River bursting its banks.

The lane is a river

Which is river and which is path?

Shall we swim to the gate?

A bit soggy.