The Art of Celebration
Two recent weekends stand out as great examples of celebration; a celebration of what God has done in our midst, a celebration of one another and a celebration of the gifts God has given us.
Holding onto Hope: Preparing for a spiritual battle
Living for Jesus and serving Him as we await His return is like the battlefield. The spiritual battle is intense and everything points us towards a place where we give up on hope. Yet Jesus wants us to stand firm in His strength and with the armour He provides.
When it all goes pear shaped!
Two weeks ago we had a somewhat challenging period of about 5 days. It was challenging on a whole number of levels and was one of those times when everything felt like it was going ‘pear-shaped’. My most striking memory of pears comes from my mother who during my childhood was particular motivated to see me benefit from what she felt were the enormous health benefits of eating pears. There was no getting away from them and if I did…
Milestones on the adventure
I’ve been thinking recently about dates and anniversaries. September/October time is a period in which I celebrate a number of key milestones. Here are a few key things which happened to me around this time of year. Milestone #1: Meeting my first love (24 years) My first milestone takes me back 24 years. Around this time of year 1993 (5th September to be exact) I first committed my life to following Jesus. I was 14 years old at the time…
Three Peaks Challenge #4: Some reflections
I survived Three Peaks Challenge #4: I reflect on the experience, on the journey and what it takes to make it through all that life brings our way…
Lambing Time: The Sheep and their Shepherd
We can have confidence in a God who knows us and treasures each one of us, knowing our individual personalities, gifts, strengths and weaknesses, and being able to tell us apart from everything else He has created.
Faith that can move mountains
Following a work conference this past weekend we returned to Southampton and five minutes from home filled our car up with petrol ahead of the week ahead. I filled up the tank, paid for the petrol, headed home and thought nothing more of it to be honest. Today was our day off and we pottered around Southampton with the usual array of school drop offs and collections. However towards the end of the day there was a distinct smell of…
Making sense of Faith, Hope and Love
So its been quite a while since I last posted anything here! We’ve been in Norway (4 weeks), the Lake District (8 days) and my wife Debbie recently spent some more time in the Mother & Baby Unit. Suffice to say that we are now moving into a somewhat calmer season of our year and so as life starts to find the rhythm of its new norm I thought I would post some of my thoughts from the summer. In particular I…
Remembering God’s faithfulness
Its been a while since my last post when we announced the safe arrival of baby Aaron. To say that these past six weeks have been difficult for us is probably putting it mildly! A few days after Aaron was born Debbie began suffering again with another bout of Post natal depression. On the advice of the doctors she went back into the Mother & Baby Unit (where she had spent 3 months in 2014 along with Jacob). The rational was partly…
Jars of clay: Power made perfect in weakness
“If you are a child of God, you don’t lose your status if you have a bad week.” Tim Keller A few days ago I shared this quote on social media; I don’t know about you but following our holiday in the Lake District it has been a bit of a challenge to adjust back to work and everyday family life in Southampton. Its definitely not been easy getting out of bed in the mornings! I am not sure whether it was just holiday…