Paul Coles, Youthworkerish type guy. Present location: Targu Mures, Romania. Married to an amazing girl named Fiona. I'm on a JOURNEY and have no idea where I'll end up other than in the hands of God.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!

I just read this today in The word for today.

'Many Christians estimate difficulty in the light of their own resources, thus they attempt very little and they always fail. The real giants have all been weak people who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and His presence to be with them.' - Hudson Taylor

To me this came at just the right time... but I suppose everyday is the right time to be reminded of this.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Beautiful Targu Mures!


I don't know how well you can see from this picture but this is a sad view of the town we live in. Fiona and I went for a walk on Saturday up to the plateau that rises above our town. It was a great walk (about 1 1/2 hours) on a crisp and sunny day. We even stopped at the top on a park bench and shared a flask of steaming coffee and some chocolate chip cookies, yummee!

The area is mostly forested so you actually don't get that many great views over the city but it is a beautiful place to walk. Well at one point the hill slopes down from the road enough that you can see over the houses and you can actually view most of the city from this spot. Well it was a bit hazy so of course the mental pictures that I took turned out much better than the digital ones... but what can you do.

So the picture above is only worth about 50 words but I think you can make out the gist. From this view on a cold and hazy day TM looked like it had just been through a bombing raid. All you seem to see in the distance are giant plums of smoke bellowing up from a city lying in ruins.

However, what you are actually seeing are the pollutants rising from the very ugly and environmentally unfriendly, monstrosity of a fertilizer plant looming in the distance. It is disgusting to look at and it's the enemy of my nasal passages, but it does employ thousands of people, so I guess I can put up with it while I am here. Who am I to stop families from putting food on their tables. I just wish there was a better way to get the food there... for them and for me.

Friday, January 04, 2008

I stole this from Mr. Ben Jones' blog. Its truly worth a look. Absolutely brilliant!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

An old poem... for a new year.










And now you live dispersed on ribbon roads,

And no man knows or cares who is his neighbour
Unless his neighbour makes too much disturbance,
But all dash to and fro in motor cars,
Familiar with the roads and settled nowhere--T.S. Eliot

How do I live the greatest commandment, in the west, today? How do I live against prevailing culture, prevailing trends and against my own selfish interests? And how can I truly follow the only one who is worthy of being followed?

A new hope, a new life, a new day and a new year... and thankfully, His mercy is new each morning!