A Day All to Yourself?

Have you ever said, ‘I just want one day to myself?’ I thought that’s what I was going to have on Friday. Then Thursday night I found out our choir had a concert on Friday at one of the local nursing homes. ‘Oh no, I thought.’ After a crazy week including along with the usual housework and writing project, two other concerts, shopping, and a book launch I was organizing for GROW- UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS – an anthology edited by Anne Hamilton and Lyn Hurry and containing a number of Christian writers that included me, the last thing I … Continue reading →

Evidence of the Holy Spirit

The other day at our church ladies’ breakfast, one of the women had a locket around her neck. ‘Does it open? And does it have a photograph inside?’ I asked. She admitted it didn’t. I have a large silver locket my mother bought for me many years ago. Inside it for years were two photos of Mick and me when we were both about eighteen and ‘going steady.’ Then one day I decided the engraved silver was tarnished and needed a clean, so I left the locket closed, got the silver cleaner out and cleaned the outside. I never thought … Continue reading →

The Blessing of Prayer

How wonderful to know others are praying for you! One of the great things about family and friends is they way they jump on board when I am doing something. Like this morning I was the speaker at our ladies breakfast. As of Wednesday night I had no idea want I was going to talk about. The only thing I had written was in my opinion a disaster. I was starting to panic. At bible study I raised it as a prayer point. The next day I was still no further advanced and resolved to go and play tennis and … Continue reading →

5 Tips for Combating Loneliness

If you’re struggling with loneliness what can you do about it? Here are 5 tips for combating loneliness. Join a church if you don’t already belong to one. If you do and you’re not making good friends there, then maybe you ought to start looking for another spiritual home where people are actively trying to live out the Christian life and that means connecting with others and putting ourselves out for others. Don’t just go along to church on Sundays but become involved – join a bible study group? There you will get to know people in a more relaxed … Continue reading →

A Sweet Fragrance

The sense of smell is the most evocative of the sense in regard to memory. It is one I often use as a trigger of memories in creative writing workshops. More importantly though, whenever I go to teach a Sunday school or SRE – special religious education class I always make sure I put on a nice perfume, usually Dewberry or Ananya. Why do this when teaching? Because I want everything about children learning about Jesus to be a pleasurable experience. I’ve had more than one child tell me ‘you smell nice.’ It’s only a little thing but I consider … Continue reading →

Loved into the Kingdom

For those of you interested in writing, here’s an interview with Anne Lamott. I learned about it through the Writing Life newsletter which I receive. I have Anne’s book ‘Bird by Bird -some instructions on writing and life.’ Like many books I own which I refer to time and time again, I’ve highlighted many passages. I don’t know if it was in that book or another interview but I remember Anne saying was that she was, ‘loved into the kingdom.’ Certainly in the acknowledgements in ‘Bird by Bird’ she says – ‘I do not think I’d even be alive if … Continue reading →

Diagnosing the Problem

Today started with a drama. Minutes after being let outside our pup started screaming. I rushed out. I found her still shrieking and our other dog looking guilty. It appeared they had an altercation and she came off worse. When I tried to pick her up, she shrieked even louder. Soon we were in the car, on our way to the vet, with me still in my slippers! The moment we got in the car, our pup started shaking. By the time we reached the vet’s door moments after they opened, our pup was starting to freak out. She knew … Continue reading →

What Price a Hero?

I’m feeling stunned. I’ve just come back from watching The Dark Knight. Like a lot of people I couldn’t help but be affected by Heath Ledger as the Joker and couldn’t help but wonder whether playing a part like that every day would somehow affect the psyche of the person playing the part. Is it as easy as that for an actor to switch off? What do others think? As we left one of the part owners of our local movie theatre commented, ‘Even when he’s not on screen, you’re waiting all the time for the Joker to come on.’ … Continue reading →

A Specific Prayer Answered

In recent blogs I’ve talked about prayer. This morning I want to share with you a specific answer to one of those arrow prayers that go up throughout a day, where a situation arises and you just need God’s help. In Friday I looked down and noticed the sapphire was missing from the ring My daughter had bought for me several years ago. ‘Oh no!’ I yelled My darling husband came running when he heard my cries of alarm. ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘I’ve lost the stone from my ring.’ ‘Were were you? What were you doing?’ ‘How do I know? I … Continue reading →

Praying Over Tasks For The Day

In a study my darling husband and I are working through together, called Proverbs and Parables – 16 studies on God’s wisdom for living by Dee Brestin, it suggested a special daily assignment. This was to ‘each morning prayerfully commit to the Lord your work for the day and let Him direct your thoughts. As he brings various activities to mind, list them on paper. Then let Him show you what you should do first, second etc.’ This is an application of Proverbs 16:3 which says ‘Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.’ This suggestion … Continue reading →