Hope For Today

Dear Friends, If you have children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, you'll know there are times when they bring you great joy.  Such as when you know they've tried their best at school and come home with a school report which says they're a pleasure to teach, or when they show generosity by sharing what they have with others, or show responsibility in working hard in a part time summer job, or make a stand for what they know is right, even though it may be difficult. Our earthly families are to represent our spiritual family, so just as children bring their parents joy, we too, as children of God bring him joy.  It's an incredible thought isn't it?  That you and I can bring joy and pleasure to our Heavenly Father. In the very beginning, creating the world, which included created people, brought God joy.  In Genesis 1:31a we read that " Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!" (NLT)  The Amplified Bible puts it this...

Dear Friends, Many of our fears, when expressed aloud, can seem irrational.  Those who know me well know my fear of spiders.  Why would anyone be afraid of these small creatures?  I can't even really explain it myself.  I can cope fairly well with the smaller ones, but the larger ones with big bodies just send a shudder through me and my heart pounds, and usually it takes a cry out to Jason to come and deal with it before I can begin to calm down and relax. One September as I lay sleeping in bed I felt something tickling me on my shoulder, being only half awake, and not knowing what it was, I just brushed it off with my hand.  (By the way, in case you were wondering, it was a big spider.) It landed on Jason's chest, which woke him up, he grabbed it and flung it away from him where it hit the wall with a soft thud!  Sad to say, (for me anyway) it crawled off somewhere and we never found it.  I struggled to return to sleep, believing that it might fi...

Dear Friends, Some weeks back, my daughter, Jess, had an after school detention.  She was told to attend the Athletics Club and practice the long jump.  When she came home after the detention she told me how one of her friends had come along to the detention too.  It turned out that this friend had not been given the same detention, had not even been in the same P.E lesson where Jess had been given the detention, but had gone along with her just to support her.  When Jess told me this, I thought what a great lesson in friendship it was. We all need a good friend in our lives.  Not one who is just there to enjoy the good times with us, but one who stands by us when times are difficult.  In The Parable of The Lost Son ( Luke 15:11-32 )  the father gives his youngest son his inheritance and " Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living." v13 (NIV). Wh...

Dear Friends, I've recently had another intense period of migraines which was a real struggle to get through.  I find that when I'm not feeling well physically, the whole of my being also suffers.  I became quite low having to deal with the pain which was constant for a few days, then lifted for a day or two, only to then return.  When it's like that I also find my mind is affected, I don't think clearly, everything gets blown out of proportion, I become frustrated with the time that is wasted when I have to stay in bed and not able to function on a "normal" level (whatever that may be).  Then too there is the spiritual side of it, it's tough when I believe that there are things that God has called me to do, which have to put to one side at times like these, when what I really want to do is just get on with them. It really felt as though it was more than just physical, that I was also facing a spiritual battle and I became battle weary.  I wonder too i...