The Moon, The Stars And A Planet Made of Diamond.

September 3rd 2011

When I was a little girl most people didn't have telephones in their house and we certainly didn't. So there were telephone boxes dotted in convenient locations and that's where people went to ring their relatives, friends and the odd sneaky call to a boyfriend armed with a handful of coins. The box near my house was where you'd go and sit on the wall to wait for whoever was in there to either finish talking or run out of money and hope the person was calling long distance as a local call had no time limit. My mother used to telephone her sisters in Scotland and Northern Ireland from there and the calls were quite expensive (and the telephone box freezing in Winter). Co-coincidentally, that wall beside the telephone box is where John and I spent many many hours sitting chatting when we were dating as it was half way between our two houses and is where the foundations of our marriage were dug. The box is gone now but there are many memories a lot of people hold in which it features...good news, bad news, giggling teenage chatter and old friends passing time together...a lot of memories.

(This isn t the actual box)

Well anyway, long distance telephone calls were expensive and inconvenient and Ireland being Ir

eland a lot of people had to save up for calls to sons and daughters or other relatives in UK, America or Australia so conversations were the occasional treat and people would generally make notes to keep the conversation on track and not waste a moment on idle chatter.

Every now and again the charging mechanism on the telephone became faulty and wasn't able to detect whether the correct money or indeed any money at all had been inserted and so calls could be made free of charge. (technically this wasn't stealing as a telephone engineer once told me that the process of telephone calls doesn't actually cost anyone anything so what you're paying for is the service and the maintenance of the lines which is fair enough) Anyway, when this happened it would usually take a day or two for the P&T to realise the fault and would quickly fix it. It was almost always the children who would make this great discovery and would quickly and enthusiastically spread the word and so parents were able to have long relaxed conversations with their absent children, little boys rang NASA and little girls rang Disney, Florida.

 It was great and everybody benefited thanks to the children who discovered this treasure and didn't keep it to themselves.

I use this story a lot to illustrate why people who discover something really great and know it will benefit someone else commit an injustice to keep it to themselves, especially when YOU know it because somebody else has told YOU.

And this is why if you know me a wet weekend you will know that I believe in God. And it is why I am quite happy to pass on what I know because I remember that broken telephone box. Belief means to hold AS TRUE. If something is true, you should pass it on.

So what I'm trying to say is I believe in God and I think He LIKES us.

Imagine a loving parent who delights in their child. That Mummy or Daddy gets real pleasure in seeing their child happy and secure and loved. A few days ago I saw a post online offering free printable little notes for leaving in a child's lunchbox in this back to school week. I thought that was a lovely idea though I'm not sure if my older children would appreciate it unless I tucked them somewhere where their friends definitely wouldn't see them :-)

Any parent who loves their child will sometimes leave a little surprise of something beautiful for no other reason than to show how much that child means to you or to remind him or her that you're thinking of them.

There are numerous children's books with the theme of the parent and child relating to each other the immeasurable extent of their love for each other, each trying to outdo the other in their 'I love you this much and that much...'

Quite often the story leads to I love you as much as the Moon and the Stars...

But lets have a look at what the moon and the stars actually are...the moon as far as astronomers know is a lump of rock and the stars are made out of recycled material which is burned as gas and in fact oftentimes by the time the beauty of the star reaches our eyes it is long burnt out and actually no longer exists. So I love you as much as the Moon and the Stars maybe doesn't quite say it.

So our loving Father God delights in His children and like any loving Father He wants to leave a little surprise to illustrate how much we mean to Him and that He's thinking of us.

 But what to leave? What to leave? Think, think...

Last week astronomers announced to the world that they have discovered a planet made out of DIAMOND!!

So this is what I think...God has just upped the stakes...To Him we are not just worth the Moon and the Stars...we are worth the Moon, the Stars and a Planet Made Of Diamond!! Now beat that!!

 (and maybe just maybe He broke the telephone box as a little treat for His children too? Just saying...)