Guernsey Cream

We are now back home in sunny Wiltshire, having spent a couple of weeks in rainy and then sunny Boscombe. We were going to stay all day today, but decided that it would be good to go to our own church, so got up early and left before 8 a.m. We were back in plenty of time and enjoyed being back with our church family.

One thing I do miss when we are away is our lovely garden and it always looks so much better when the sun is shining. This morning was no exception and I had to make time to take a few pics before we left for church.

We bought this Guernsey Cream Clematis about 6 years ago, and thought a few months ago that we had lost it, but it has struggled through the harsh winter and cold and rainy spring to present us with some lovely blooms. This flower is a little past it, and has obviously suffered from being battered by the wind and rain of recent days, but to me it is still beautiful and has that distinctive green bar down the centre of each lovely cream sepal, so I will enjoy it for a few more days.

Sometimes I feel a little "jaded" and if I believed everything I read in the newspapers and listened to some of the drivel comments made by politicians, I might feel that I am past it and not worth anything BUT God's Word tells me a very different story - He says that I am beautiful, that even if I have scars and haven't been air-brushed to look perfect, He sees in me what I could become if I allow Him to work in my life. I can either listen to the world with all its negativity and cynicism or to God - I know what my choice will be!

Don't depend on things like fancy hairdos or gold jewelry or expensive clothes to make you look beautiful. Be beautiful in your heart by being gentle and quiet. This kind of beauty will last, and God considers it very special.
1 Peter 3 : 3-4
Contemporary English Version