GEMMASOPHIE

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Three months ago we moved back to the UK having spent 6 months living in community in Basse Normandie, France. England is great but theres a ton of things we miss:

community, family

slow food, slow evenings

light, sunsets, blinds open  

digging, growing, chopping, doing

praying, talking, dreaming BIG

We’re trying to be intentional in bringing some of these things into our life in the UK.

Food has been a great place to start so we’ve been foraging, cooking, preserving and eating with family. Our favourites have been wild garlic pesto foraged from the local park, chilli jam made and given to friends and chorizo and fennel spaghetti with pangritata for an evening with the parents. All recipes are from Bex in The Bless Kitchen.

It’s fun and we recommend it. Get involved.

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liveforothers:

You can also sponsor us during the Bend It Like Bless Tour by texting ‘BEND99 £5’ to 70070. All money raised will directly resource our go2bless summer missions. #BILB

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liveforothers:

Red Café uploaded some photos from today’s game, this is our favourite.

Match report to follow shortly. #BILB

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Bless v Swansea #BILB

The Bless shop is now selling wooden iPad/iPad Mini stands.

Get your hands on them now.

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BOOMBOX BARGAIN

We have finally received our last package for PrayerHouse 2013, just in time for the Bless Team to leave for Spring Harvest tomorrow.

Chez loves it. We love it. Do you?

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lauraamyliderth:

Prepping for PRAYERhouse. #Cassett

joncherry:

A couple of weeks back I visited The Bristol Bike Project and took some snaps. I saw this on the wall somewhere:

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand”

Great quote.

Here at Bless we are pretty much in love with pallets. We think they are great. They are so useful & the burn well too.

Justin (@Juststuijv) made a sweet pallet kitchen shelf in Rotterdam.

Why don’t you tell us the best thing to make with a reclaimed pallet and we will make our favourite over at Bless HQ a la France!

Tweet us your ideas @blessnetwork #palletable

Sometimes simple is sufficient

Everything stripped away

Raw. Uncomplicated. Childlike

Bedsheets unceremoniously draped over an array of furniture and weighed down with big books and pegs

Forming a kids den

A Holy space

A tabernacle

Gods perfect presence

A scrap of orange paper taped to the wall

‘Wall of thankfulness’

Ice cream, hand outlines and stickmen adorn the wall

‘Thank you for my friends’

God of the simple things will hide me in the shelter of His sacred tent

Written by thelongnow. Photos by Laura. 

Emma made a den in the prayer room to remind us to have a child like faith and to pray simple and expectant prayers. 

It is so great.

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Hello. I’m Gemma.

I have a passion for cinnamon swirls, kiln fired coffee mugs and France.

This is my first foray into the world of online storytelling…

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City Highlight #1

Green Light District:

Last night three teams spread out across Caen with backpacks of clothes and arms full of flasks to meet the homeless. Lou and I prayer walked the cities streets. 

Starting at the Gare de Caen we headed straight up Av. du 6 Juin to the Chateau, passing through 11 sets of traffic lights. As we approached each intersecting road:

Revelation 3:7 says ‘What he opens no one can shut and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut’.

ACE.

This afternoon we are heading into Caen to spend some time with the city’s homeless community. We will be armed with hot soup, donated winter woolies and some homemade postcards that can be posted back to Bethanie with their prayer requests.

A separate team will be camped at Thierry and Mylenes house praying for the city and for those of us out on the street.

We are hoping that this evening will be the first of a number of opportunities to bless the city and create lasting relationships with the local people. 

It’s going to be great. I’m also pretty nervous. Have a pray.

lauraamyliderth:

Rad People, Rad Poster.  Follow here.

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Andalusia, Summer 2012