Camping is one of my biggest passions. Upon moving to England I was a bit shocked to find that most people have never been camping and many who have been camping have become camp haters...

After living in England for the last year I definitely have begun to uncover the reasons for these opinions, as the average campsite in England is usually just a large open field in the middle of a no-where-small-English-village. Gone are my American spoiled days of wooded campground, built in fire pits, nature walks, large lakes, undiscovered caves, spotting of fawns and other innocent wildlife and the ability to guarantee the state of the weather...

I was convinced that my good camping days, especially on English soil, were over.

However or the last weekend Steve and I were slipped insider information into a campsite that supposedly allowed 'open fires'. (Side Note: due to the extremes of health and safety most camp grounds will not allow open fires because someone could get hurt... talk about taking away all the fun of camping!)

So with our trusty little blue demon car all loaded up with our camping gear we head out to Wickham Market, Suffolk's The Orchard Campgrounds to see what they had to offer.

I am happy to report this campground by far is my new favorite place to camp in England. We looked the campsite up and plugged the post code into our Sat. Nav. We wondered the whole way if we would really find the site because no signs were posted anywhere giving directions or assurance that we were following the right path.

At the end we were weaving down what appeared to be someones private drive only to realize it was indeed a road and the campsite was located off that.

After only a quick hour and 45 min drive from Colchester we arrived ....

Check in was ridiculously easy. We had phone before we left asking if they were really fully booked for the weekend (as their website said) but they said they had space for us. We found the staff to be really down to earth and friendly.

The campsite boasted over 42 varieties of bottled beers, ales and wines and they were not joking. Their little convenient shop was stacked up with bottle after bottle of tempting brews and vino. They also had a frig packed to the gills with locally sourced meats for grilling up as you please.

They offered to do a fire kit (kindling and a wheelbarrow of wood) for £20... this seemed a bit pricey but they said if we brought back half a wheelbarrow they would reimburse us £7.50 = DEAL.

The receptionist then walked us around their little campgrounds to see where would be a good spot for us and let us choose a nice cozy corner in amongst some trees. He was hoping we could stay more by their river, but a group of campers had spread out more than he anticipated. (we were quit happy about this because the nearer to the river the more it did smell of pooh, but we chalked it up to the river and being outdoors!).

We got our tent set up with little to no hassle; Steve and I were patting ourselves on the back for what expert campers we have turned into. We got all our things settled and then went for a little campground discovery walk.

This campground was the thing kids dreams are made of. It had a gently flowing river that kids could paddle in or go river dipping with nets. We got to see a few river creatures that had been joyfully caught by a happy gang of river children. Periodically through out the campground were rope swings tied to trees that could even manage the bigg-ness of our adult-ness!

There was a secluded little pond surrounded by patches of woods that contained hand built forts by, what I can only assume was, another notorious gang of forest children (complete with a Girls Only sign broken in half by what I guess was the remains of a full on boy vs girl battle of dominance. Who won is hard to tell, but the tree foliage sure took a beating).

A littler further on where two old school gypsy caravans of which I have only ever heard of and never seen. Even though I am in love with our tent 'The Emerald Castle' I was a bit jealous of the guest that got to stay in those gypsy caravans!

We meandered up to the Toilet/Shower/Kitchen facilities and again were quit pleased. The toilets and showers were average, but clean (and bonus in my book fully stocked with T.P.). The Kitchen area was cool as they had two refrigerators for guest to store temperature sensitive food if they wish. Bonus for milk not going off! They even had a washer, dryer and microwave!

Near their reception area they had a cozy out-door cafe style area, where guest could order simple bbq foods and drinks. They had a massive T.V. set up which was constantly showing the Olympics- so everyone seemed really happy.

We collected our wheelbarrow of wood and headed back to our campsite where we unloaded and popped open the wine (we forgot a wine bottle opener, but lucky for us our next door neighbours were friendly enough and more prepared).

We settled in and read the rest of our Hunger Games book. Nothing better then sitting outside and reading with your favorite person in the world! We also served ourselves up a wicked selection of cheese and crackers so I was overly happy. Steve went up to the shop to grab a few brews (an Abbots Ale and a Spooky Ale!) while I stayed satisfied with my wine.


As it started getting dark we decided to start up our fire, sense we really wanted to enjoy the fact that we FINALLY had found a campground that allowed open fires. Steve had our baby fire roaring in a matter of minutes and we sat taking in the ever hypnotic flames. When the coals were really amber we made a make-shift grill (Side Note: while using wood to be the support beams for a metal grill can work, it would be much better to use an all nonflammable device to grill meats!).

But finally, YUM we ate a filling dinner of sausages, crips and coleslaw.

We sat for the next 3+ Hours taking in the flames, finishing our drinks and talking overly long about each topic of conversation = BLISS! 

We hopped into our tent cozy tent and slept away!

It was such a beautiful weekend that the next morning we woke up greeted again by the sun. We struck up the gas grill to make our breakfast. The one sad let down was that we forgot to bring a big water bottle and had to keep hiking back to the front end of the campground to fill whatever we could find with water to trek it back to our campsite! (Side Not: Buy camping water jug!).

After breakfast we lined up for showers, which again were included in the campground cost. They were warm and spacious, but again showing in Campgrounds is not my favorite so I just showered and dressed as quickly as possible and got out of there!

Once we were squeaky clean we went back and packed up camp, got our re-fund for half a barrel of unused firewood and got out of there! A wedding was getting set up for that afternoon and we were happy to leave them to it.

All in all, the camping experience was amazing. We loved how easy it was to get there and set up. Loved that we could drive our car right to our camping site. Loved that they supplied us with wood (wish it could have just been a bit cheaper, but glad for the re-fund). Loved our OPEN CAMP FIRE. Loved the atmosphere (though there were 5 million children everywhere, they did mostly keep to themselves and didn't bother us a bit). Loved how cute and friendly the campground and staff where. Loved the tree rope swings. And Loved that it only cost £16 for a campsite.

We both give it a two thumbs up and can't wait to go again!

We love camping!

For those of you who didn't know, Ramadan is a time that Muslim people set aside a whole month to fast and pray. This is really important to Muslim people because the Muslim Faith has 5 'must do' or 'pillars' that help confirm a persons faith and acceptance by God.... and practicing a month of praying and fasting or Ramadan is one of those 5 pillars.

And Also if you didn't know Ramadan is happening right now! From 20th July to 19th of August.

As a Christians, Muslim people should be very very close to our hearts. If you look (and you don't have to look that hard) you will see that our story is one and the same....

Once upon a Bible Story there was a guy named Abraham. He was just your average guy, but God chose him to do something special. God chose Abraham to be a part of His plan to save all the people in the world... (remember when God originally made the world it was suppose to be a place where no bad things happened, but because humans made the mistake of letting evil things (or sin) into the world by choosing bad over God's good i.e. naked man and woman in garden munching down fruit from the tree God asked them not to eat from... #EpicOops... God now had to come up with a way of getting his creation out of the dirty mess we made.)

So back to the Abraham... He agrees that he will be a part of God's rescue plan and then God tells him that the way he is going to do it is through Abraham's family... that Abraham will have a son and that son will have sons and they will have more sons and then... duh duh duh... God will send his own special son through this family into our world to rescue us from the mess we got in.

Abraham was more than happy to hear the plan, but also a little confused. See, he and his wife Sarah were childless and on top of it all God decided to tell Abraham his plan when he and Sarah were much to old to have babies (think of your grandparents and then add a few years!)...

But God told both Sarah and Abraham to just trust him that he would work it out. But ... you guessed it, true to our human nature Sarah and Abraham just had a hard time trusting that God could work this miracle child into their story... So they decided to take matters into their own hands... Sarah told Abraham to sleep with her servant girl and to get her preggo. Abraham did it and the servant girl, Hagar, became pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy named Ishmael.

But this wasn't what God had promised. He had promised that Abraham and Sarah would have a baby... not Abraham and Hagar. And to top it off once Hagar had her baby Sarah couldn't stand the sight of her or the baby and started to treat them horribly (even though this was all her idea to begin with!).

God reminds Sarah and Abraham what he promised and soon Sarah becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy they name Isaac. Isaac goes on to have twins name Esau and Jacob... Jacob goes on to have twelve sons who become the 12 tribes of Israel... the 2nd born of this twelve is Judah who descendants have the famous King David (yep the boy that killed the giant Goliath) who's descendants have Mary and Joseph who become the parents of Jesus, God's promised child to rescue our world...

The End....


If only it was all that simple.... but see the one thing that humans keep forgetting is that their actions and re-actions to God's plans have consequences. God is in control of his plan and what is going on, but he isn't a puppet master. He lets us choose what we will do and also the fall out from that. If we choose to get involved in God's plan the fall out is God's amazing blessing. If we choose the opposite it often brings with it issues that make things complicated, but still not impossible for God to work out his plan... but way more complicated.

Remember Ishmael... well Ishmael goes on to have loads of kids too and his descendants believe that Ishmael was the child God promised. This has caused loads of tension between these two families... and that tension has continued as the two families have tried to tell the story of God's plan... one family divided by a moment in time when humans decided again that we knew better than God.

Ishmael's descendants have continued in their faith and are known as Muslims. Isaac's descendants have continued in their faith and are known as Christians. One family broken by humans trying to work out the promises of God through their own power instead of trusting God in his. 


Both believe in the same God, but struggle to clearly understand and see who and what are God's promises. Muslims have missed that Jesus is the promised child because they are two caught up in trying to earn their place in God's story. Christians often miss the full importance of Jesus by failing to make the connection between the Muslim and Christian story of God, as well as failing to honor Jesus through a lack of love and care for Muslims.


So, Why do we pray for Muslim people?

we pray for them because if we look back at the story we realize that they are our closet brothers and sisters.

we pray for them because we realize that, through no fault of their own, they are often mistreated and hated.

we pray for them because often the way Christians treat Muslims completely dis-honors the Jesus we claim is their savior and loves them unconditionally.

we pray for them because they are so near to the story of God that its hard for them to see how Jesus is more than just a prophet but is actually the promised child of their and our great ancestor Abraham.

we pray for them because just like us before Jesus came and took our place, we to felt like it was through deeds and good works that we had to earn our relationship with God and it was hard... even impossible... and we want them to experience the freedom of knowing that Jesus has completed every law on our behalf and we are free now to just be in relationship with the one true God we all love and pray too.

we pray for them because we love them!

Join Colchester Boiler Room on 17th August 2012, 8p to midnight to pray during this season of Ramadan for our Muslim brothers and sisters. We all have much to learn and praying for broken families to be re-united is exactly the love Jesus died for us to show!

message me at rockstartina83@gmail.com to get involved.

If God is so good then why the hell (if there even is a hell) does evil exist in this world? This is a question that often comes up when people find out that I love God and think that being a Christian is one of the most important decisions I have ever made in my life.

Most the time when I hear this question I know people are more wondering why bad things have happened in their personal life... so often there is no reason to really try and defend anything because mostly people are just using this question to open up a space to talk about why they have experienced hurt in their own life and all they really need is a listening ear.

However, when I have these conversations with people I always find myself (after that moment) flipping through my bible asking God the same question... "Geez God, if you are so good and so powerful, why do we have so much crap going on in our world?"

Steve and I are responsible for telling the bible story for Messy Church this coming up Sunday. So, the other night we thought it might be good to read it again. After I complained about having to read 4 chapters of the bible in a row... (flip how spiritual do you think I am? 4 chapters is a big ol'chunker *wink/wink*) Steve and I settled down into reading the story of Noah.

The Story of Noah starts off as God looks down on the world and sees that everyone around him is doing evil, evil, evil. It says that God was sorry that he had ever even made humans because all they seemed bent on doing was bad things and it was breaking his heart.

So, God decided that he would just get rid of all the evil in the world. But in order to do this that meant he had to get rid of all the human and animals that were caught up in this evil. God probably considered just forcing the humans to do good, but he didn't want slaves or robots- God desired a family, relationships, he wanted people to want to choose to love Him. But not only were humans choosing not to love God they also decided doing evil was more to their liking and it was destroying everything good in our world- and God couldn't let that happen!

None the less, God being all good and powerful decided (as I hear many people ask today) to get rid of all the evil in the world... but getting rid of all the evil in the world comes with some pretty heavy consequences and let me just say, we as a human race don't fare well...

If you are familiar with the story of Noah, you will know that after God decides to purge the world of evil he can't bear to put everyone through it because he sees that Noah is a good man, who loves God and enjoys doing what pleases God. God decides to save Noah and his family and warns them what is coming and gives them instructions to build a massive ark that not only Noah and his wife and three sons and their three wives can escape in, but also two of every kind of wild animal, farm animals, bug, birds... the whole lot!

True to his world after the ark is built and Noah, his family and animals are safely inside the rain comes... and as the story goes for 40 days and 40 nights the entire world is flooded. God did what I'm sure the good people of that time were constantly asking, he got rid of all the evil... but that meant he also got rid of all the humans (save the few that were on the ark).

Now if all of this hasn't been an epic of enough story for you then hang on to the end. There Noah and his family are floating around on this new 'Water World' wondering if God had forgotten about them. But then the water starts to recede. And exactly one year after God gave his warning to Noah and his family  they were able to come out of the Ark on to dry land. They were so grateful to be alive that they worshiped God and thanked him for saving them.

And in that moment God looked down on the world and I can only imagine the amount of joy and heart-ache he was in. Though he was glad to be rid of evil he hated that humans got swept away in that process. So God did something that would change the face of history for all time. He made a promise to all the humans left on earth... He promised them that never again- no matter how bad things get (and God knew humans had a bent toward evil), but never again would he kill every living thing as he had done during the time of Noah. Then he put a rainbow in the sky and said he would use this as a reminder to humans and himself that he would never punish his creation like that again.

****Pause****

Do we realize what a precious time we are living in? God is staying true to his promises. In spite of gangster using violence to control their neighborhood, dictators using their power to murder millions of their countrymen because of skin color, mothers abandoning their children for the next quick fix of sex or drug, despite thousands of westerners abusing millions of southerners so they can shop in air-conditioned malls and buy a shirt for less than a fiver and congratulate themselves for getting such a bargain as they rob helpless families of decent wages, regardless of men and women using each other for sex and claiming to be searching for love and not being prudes, of oil companies bent on making money at the expense of the environment and healthy community development, of 11 year old girls and boys being trafficked from eastern parts of Europe to the UK to become sex objects and toys for visiting guest to the London 2012 Olympics, despite toddlers starving to death in slums because they were left orphans when their parents died of HIV.... need I go on? famine, war, disease, .... or as the story of Noah would say "evil, evil, evil".... yet where is our great flood?

Why is God not hatching another natural disaster plan to rid this world of evil? Are we not tired of hearing and seeing evil?? God being all good and powerful can't you do something!?!?!? Do we really want him to? They say history has a way of repeating itself- what if God really did cleanse this earth from evil- would we survive? Would we be on the inside of Noah's ark or banging on the outside as the cleansing flood waters rise?

****Pause****

God is just as heart-broken now as he was in the time of Noah- But he made a promise... never again to  make a plan to get rid of evil by killing off humans. God loves us to much to let that be the plan-

So a few thousands years ago God made up a new plan and then he told a guy named Abraham the plan and made him a new promise that involved Abraham and his family to being chosen as a special group of people that God could use to keep the promise that he made to Noah. See God's new plan was simple- instead of holding humans accountable for the wrong things they did he would send his son to take the heat for them... for all of them.

For the next couple of thousand years this family of Abraham lived waiting for this promise of God- as the world got more and more evil (because humans just keep choosing bad over just loving God)... then  a couple thousand years old the beginning of God keeping this promises began. A preteen girl (yep she is related to that Abraham guy) in a no-where fancy place was visited by an angel and told she would carry the son of God in her belly. This girl believed what she heard and gave birth to Jesus.

Then Jesus did something no one else on this planet had the ability to do-  being100% man and 100% God (wrap your mind around that one-  you got it- Jesus was a super human) He chooses to cast off his power and ability to wipe out the earth's evil by any choice of natural disaster and instead chooses to take the blame for all the evil ever done (though he had never done one wrong thing his whole life) and then wipe himself out and all the evil with it!

That is what Jesus hanging on the cross symbolizes- all the evil being killed once and for all! But The story doesn't end there. See God still wants people to choose him. So he wanted all the people on earth to hear about how much he loved- how he loved them so much he sent his son to make a way for them not to be punished to death for the wrong things they had done, but to realize how much God wants them to be in his family- to be in relationship with him...

So in an extreme act of mercy God chooses to wait and let all the people in this world hear this great story that start thousands of years ago- A story about a very good God wanting humans to choose to love him, of him making them promises that keeps them alive and of him taking radical and extreme measures to make sure Humans survive the world being rid of evil.

So the next time you start asking yourself the question "Why is such a good God not stopping all the evil in the world?" consider the story of Noah... because just like during that time when God saw evil happening on this earth, said "Enough", hatched a plan to get rid of it, gave people time to prepare and choose weather they were inside the ark or outside and then followed through on the flood.... we are living in the sequel of that story.... God has seen evil again on this earth, he has said "Enough", he hatched a new plan that to get rid of evil and set it into motion when Jesus came and died for all the evil in this world- but the story doesn't end there... we are in the part of the story where God is giving people time to prepare and choose weather they want to love him or not. There is a time when God will rid this world of evil- once he knows everyone has heard what Jesus has done and they have been given the choice to love him- Jesus will come... and the rain he brings with him will bring more change to this world then was ever experience before- even more then Noah's story!

In a world where jobs are hard to find and people are wondering how they will find purpose and meaning I am here to tell you the community I am a part of is in need of workers.

We need teachers, videographers, event coordinators, youth workers, housing support workers, young dad mentors. footballers, graphic artist, dreamers, nurses, financial advisers, community developers, police officers, play specialists, musicians, politicians, cheese makers, theologians, mentors, girls club facilitators, includers, students, photographers, carpenters, moms, agriculturalist, fitness trainers, social media experts, trainers, advertising agent, shop assistants, information officers, electricians administration, natural conservators, activators, journalist, restaurant managers, encouragers, engineers.... and so many more!

Do you see yourself in this? Want to get involved in a body of Christ where you are really NEEDED? you are welcome and needed here in Colchester... and if you ever felt like you weren't I am here to say you are needed, valued and essential! God is doing a good work in Colchester and you can be a part of that.

If you ever wanted to be a part of a christ-centerd community where prayer and action go hand in hand and where hard work is anticipated and enjoyed... then I invite you to come join us in the amazing work God is doing in Colchester essex...

There are load of Job Opportunities here. Do you have the guts to apply?

message me and I will let you know how you can get involved! rockstartina83@gmail.com

I met up today with two really amazing women from my town who are helping to organize the operation of 'praynet' a group dedicated to increasing prayer in Colchester. We had a delightful time chatting about prayer and how we were going to use the resources, connection and networks that are at our finger tips with effectiveness and efficiency.

I kept wondering, "Why do we care so much if people pray?"

We talked about how prayer is this beautiful conversation that happens between us and God. It also allows us and God an outlet to work out all of what is going on in life (the good and the bad)... all in all my conversations with God have shape more of the person I am and the life I live than any other conversations I have every had.

This further got me to thinking... in this day and age... how do we promote prayer in our towns?
It has to link to awareness... but digging in deeper how do we promote prayer awareness? How do we remind people in this age that when life smacks them across the face they don't have to turn to alcohol, lonely movie theaters, dark corners of libraries, busy pubs, isolated homes, over active lives to distract them from the realness of what they are going through?

How do we remind people that prayer is real... a real connection to a real being that really cares? How can we let people know that you don't have to be hyper spiritual to pray... you just have to start talking to God... just like you do with your mate... start with the everyday stuff and as you get more comfy and familiar with God start telling him about the more personal and intimate stuff...

As I thought about this question and browsed a bit on line I found this picture that I have posted on the right linger on the side of a prayer website... the bigger the words the more times that word was tagged on this website about prayer... What do you think this tells us about what people are interested in getting involved with when it comes to adding praying into their normal everyday routines?

I don't know if any of you have become as obsessed with the new TV show "Once Upon A Time" as I have, but woah! Beside pure entertainment I find it an interesting parallel to The Kingdom of God that we read about in the Gospels (Specifically the Gospel of Matthew). See if you can see the Kingdom values that I did.

For those of you who don't know, the concept of the show is based around a character named Emma, who happens to be the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White. However, the twist of this fairytale drama (or "Dram-airy" as I like to call it) is that Snow White's evil step-mother, The Queen, arrives the day Emma is born to steal away Charming and Snow's 'Happily Ever After'. The only way for Prince Charming and Snow White to save their daughter and the Kingdom is to put their daughter in a 'Magical' cupboard where she is transported to another realm where the evil Queen's magic doesn't exist.
When The Queen finds out that the baby has been hidden away she buys a curse potion from Rumpelstiltskin to banish the whole Kingdom to a place where they is no magic. This is so she can take away everyone's 'Happily Ever After'... and thus all the beloved fairytale characters that we know, are cursed to our world and live in town called Storybrooke. The only way for the fairytale character to get their 'Happy Endings' is for The Savior, or Emma (the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White) to break the curse...

Fast forward 27 years and Emma has grown up in our world; completely oblivious to who her birth parents are, the way her life was saved, the place she came from and the place she is meant to be in. Through a long and random series of events Emma find her son, whom she gave up for adoption at a young age, (the young boy was adopted by the evil Queen who lives in Storybrooke and in our 'world' is their mayor). Out of a deep desire to rekindle her long lost relationship with her son, Emma stays in Storybrooke and takes an open Sheriffs job.
Her son found a fairytale book that contains all the fairyland characters and their stories. The show explains that Emma's young son trust everything that is written in the book simply because he believes, a classic child-like trust. Emma on the other hand is not so easily convinced. She constantly is telling her son that the stories are not real. However, her son is adimit that the stories are true, that Emma is a part of the Story, that the Story is not yet finished and that she can play a very significant role in how the Story ends.

Pause

In Matthew chapter 13 Jesus is desperate to get the idea of what The Kingdom of God is across to His disciples. Jesus knew that the hope he was promising His followers was wrapped up in them believing in Him and His Kingdom. So he wanted to teach them what His Kingdom is all about. He knew he needed to describe it using terms and life situations that the people around him were experiencing. In this world we describe kingdoms, cities and fortresses simply by the physical material that has created them or their physical location... but as Jesus describes the Kingdom of God He uses stories that paint a picture, not of high walls or rich markets or  beautiful architecture... instead he explains the Kingdom of God in action, as a living and breathing form of life. Jesus took situations that the everyday normal person would have done to support their life (gardening, making bread, harvesting, treasure hunting, fishing) and explained how these were a reflection of Life in God's Kingdom...  a space for people to mature, to grow, to have good, to be accepted, to be treasured, to be protected. God's Kingdom is a magical place that will exist regardless of weather people believe or not... BUT people can only get involved in this viberent Kingdom if they first choose to believe....

Pause

So what does this have to do with the T.V. series Once Upon A Time? In one episode Emma is getting closer and closer to believing the fairytale stories, but still is keeping a very healthy distance. In once episode Pinocchio (now a grown man named August living in Storybrooke) was reminded that he was supposed to help Emma believe in the Story. As long as Pinocchio helps Emma believe he could be human, but if he couldn't help her believe he would be turned back into a wooden puppet. In one desperate scene Pinocchio/August is telling Emma who she is, how she came into the world and that she has to believe in the Story. Emma refuses. Pinocchio falls over in pain as his leg begins to turn back to wood. In desperation he yells at Emma, "If you wont believe me then you have to believe this..." he then pulls up the leg of his trouser to relieve his wooden leg. Emma walks over and more confused then ever explains that she sees nothing. In shock Pinocchio realizes that Emma's denial to believe the truth prevents her from seeing the reality of what is happening. They both become more confused and desperate.


In the season finale The Evil Queen is beside herself, desperate to make sure that Emma never believes. The evil Queen (who in our world is the mayor of Storybrooke) bakes Emma a poisoned apple turnover. Emma's son, desperate to make her believe in the story, eats the poisoned turnover and instantly falls into a deadly coma. In this life or death moment Emma tries to rationalize all the events of her life only to come face to face with herself asking the question "Are all the stories about the kingdom, her parents, her purpose really true?" An in a moment she decides to believe. A pulse of change instantly sweeps over Emma and the entire town of Storybrook... Through her belief Emma remembers the Story and her part in how it unfolds.

Emma runs over to Pinocchio/August house to find him laying in bed; his arms and legs completely wood. And for the first time she sees the real world she is in. She then realize that she has a part in the Story and if she want to get her happily ever after back she is going to have to get involved...

All this to say, I wonder if Jesus was here in this time (being born in our time rather than 2,000 years ago) if his use of the culture and everyday ordinary life situations to describe the Kingdom of God would go something like this:

"The Kingdom of God is like a fairytale kingdom. A kingdom made for happily ever afters, but trapped in a curse when it was attacked by an evil Queen. The Queen banished all the fairytale characters to a world where they forget who the real King is and who they really are. Under the curse no one believes in their King or the Kingdom. Even when the story is told to them they laugh at it and say it is not true, a story for children, a fantasy, a lie. The more the story of the fairytale kingdom is told, the more angry the cursed fairytale characters get. Even when special characters sent by the King are brought into the story to help them believe and to see the kingdom right in front of them they just can't see it because they refuse to believe. But for those who can be brave enough to believe that a kingdom of happily ever afters does exist and there is a King fighting to bring them back to his Kingdom, their eyes are open to see the truth; the truth of who they are, what they were made for and the Kingdom and King before them. Seeing this truth gives them the courage to claim the happily ever after they were created for."

I think its important to ask questions about life.  I use this blog space often to tackle spiritual issues of development. This is mainly done by asking questions and providing resources for supporting and sustaining one's spiritual journey.  However, I think spiritual developers also need to remember that life is made of three equal and essensial aspects including: Mind, Body and Spirit. We need to be asking questions like the following: How are we helping to develop metal stability? What practices are we putting in place to ensure the physical world can support our physical bodies? etc!!

I ran across this video and was really challenged by this take on our energy supply. I think the line that hooked me was when they said people in the UK are addicted to energy. Addicted seemed like such a strong word, but as I watched the video I realized more he is totally right.

The physicist, David Mackay, in the video suggested a few things that people living in the UK should do to ensure that the energy crisis this generation and especially the next and the generation following that will face can be decreased or even eliminated.

His number one suggestions is GETTING A BIKE!

Followed by an increase in WIND FARMS and WAVE (TIDAL) MACHINES.

He also encourage building up nuclear plants (but that one I am not so much in favor of so I wont dwell on it!)

I think as people that are concern about life and spreading messages of hope and more meaningful lives we need to practically live that out by supporting the present life this planet is fighting for. As spiritual developers we must care about the whole person not just one part of what makes up a person.

Take the time to watch the above video and consider how you can change your engergy consumption....

also for those of you who must drive or have a deep love for your car check out this movement in Colchester called "Love UR Car Colchester" and take advantage of the hard work, informative tips and USEFUL INFORMATION about reducing your fuel consumption! http://www.loveurcarcolchester.co.uk/