The writing's on the wall

It seems a long time ago I finished our series in Daniel and even longer since I last posted about it...so time to catch up - here's Daniel 5.

For King Belshazzar, the writing is, quite literally, on the wall. Many of the themes that we have met so far in Daniel resurface again. Here is a king who is proud of his achievements and who pays no regard to God. A king who has not learnt from the experiences of those who have gone before him. He is making the same mistakes as Nebuchadnezzar.

How often do we go on making the same mistakes? How often do we make a new start but soon slip back into old habits?

And so the judgement of God is pronounced by this hand that appears and writes on the wall: mene, meme, tekel, parsin. Words that only Daniel can read and interpret for the king. And so Daniel tells the king: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end; you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.

This is a reminder to us that we are in the hands of God - which may be an encouragement to us or fill us with fear.

It is an encouragement to know that the future, that events, that timings are all in God's hands. What happens is all a part of his plans - even if we don't understand what is happening. God has promised to carry us through these things. Nothing can happen outside of the plan of God. This can give us peace even in a turbulent situation.

But it can also be a fearful thing to realise that we are in God's hand - the God who judges.

Thankfully on the cross Jesus dealt with the problem of our sin so that we can know the forgiveness of God - allowing us to know the encouragement of being in God's hands.

Summer Holidays

Thought I'd start the come back with a short update on our family summer holiday. We had a really good time helped by some very good weather. Quite a contrast to last year's camping experience on the top of Bodmin Moor where our concerns swung between drowning and blowing away.

This year we took our tent and our bikes and a few other camping essentials (like kitchen cupboards and a carpet) to Bedgebury Camping, just south of Goudhurst in Kent. Most of the year this campsite is simply farm fields but for a couple of weeks and a few weekends in the summer it becomes a very relaxed camp site. The facilities are on the basic side but are perfectly adequate. There is plenty of space and the girls loved just being able to hop on their bikes and ride up and down. Even visiting the nearest eco-toilet required the use of their bikes! They loved the sort of freedom that they can't get at home.

Our enjoyment of the week was helped by the almost total lack of rain - making this probably our best camping holiday ever. Over the week we visited Bedgebury Forest and Pinetum a couple of times. 

Walking in Bedgebury Forest

The second time we hired a buggy to fit on the back of the bike so that we could all take advantage of the many different cycle trails through the forest. We also got attacked by a legion of wood ants as we tried to find a geocache - the ants won. There is lots to do in the forest - well worth a visit. The girls are still too young to be able to do 'Go Ape' and by the time they're old enough we'll be too old to join them.

Out for a family bike ride

We also went to Hever Castle and Bewl Water, which were both good days out with lots to do. The rest of the time was spent relaxing on the camp site - several evenings spent around the camp fire toasting marshmallows. 

Bedgebury Forest was only 1.8 miles away (by foot) so I was able to get quite a few runs in around the forest - only getting lost a couple of times.

Reading the Faraway Tree while we wait for the fire to die down so we can toast marshmallows

Is this a campsite we'd think about returning to? Definitely.

Then it was on to Devon for the second week of our holiday, spent with my parents. The girls love a week at Nanny and Granddad's and this time all my sisters were there for some or all of the time - which meant that the girls got to spend some time with their aunties and uncle and cousins from my side of the family.

Let's go fly a kite...

Considering we were on holiday it seems like a very busy time - early morning running was required as we were out most days. We visited the beach, Bicton Gardens, Escot, the miniature pony centre, cycled along the sea front, went swimming, went for a couple of walks and visited the cinema to see Despicable Me 2. I'd recommend all those as great things to do/great days out.

The only complaint I have about this year's holiday: two weeks is just not long enough!

I'm still here

It's only a couple of days until it will have been a whole month without a blog post...so thought I'd better get something together. 

That was it! Worth waiting for I hope.

More (proper) posts in the next few days - Holiday Bible Club, the rest of Daniel 1-6, summer holiday camping fun...

In the meantime I'll leave you with this...