Hope For Today

Dear Friends, I receive devotional emails from the website "Soul Shepherding".  In one of the emails several months ago Bill Gaultiere shared  "The Apprentice Prayer". I have printed it out and placed it in my journal so I can refer back to it and pray it again.  This is the Apprentice Prayer:  Jesus, I love you! Father, I adore you! Holy Spirit, I rely on you! Lord Jesus, I seek to live as your apprentice in all that I do today. My life is your school for teaching me. I relinquish my agenda for this day and I submit myself to you and your kingdom purposes. In all situations I abandon outcomes to you, praying, “Your will, your way, your time.” Dear Father, I ask you to ordain the events of this day and use them to make me more like Jesus. I trust you, Sovereign Lord, that you won’t let anything happen to my family or me today, except that it passes through your loving hands. So no matter what problems, hards...

Dear Friends, My two children couldn't be more different from each other.  Their personalities, strengths, giftings, interests, etc. are so different. Josh is outgoing, loud, academic and a born leader.  It's great watching him in his new season in life as he finishes at college and prepares to start in a new role as intern at Harbour Church, Folkestone. Jess, at fifteen, is coming into her own now, still quiet but has a great sense of humour, guaranteed to make me laugh no matter how I may be feeling, and is so creative. Both have their own growing faith in God and it's wonderful to have a part in helping them to develop as individuals.  They are both becoming the people that God has created them to be and it's a pleasure to watch this unfold. Sometimes I'm amazed at how different they are - considering their upbringing and parentage is the same.  If you're a parent of more than one child, you probably feel the same. ...

Dear Friend, Do you ever find yourself thinking random thoughts or humming random tunes and wonder where they came from? Last Summer I found myself singing a Christmas song as I was doing my housework.  When I realised what song it was, I thought how strange for that one to be in my head - particularly in the middle of Summer.  I then realised that my daughter had been singing it earlier (yes, I know, I have a crazy daughter!)  Without being conscious of it, my mind had obviously taken it in at the time and I was now replaying it. Thursday morning this week I woke with another song on my mind.  It was one we had sung four days ago at my church.  It was a fairly new song to me, and I didn't know much of it, but what I did remember replayed over and over in my mind throughout the day: "Unending praise be yours, God, forever, all my praise be yours, God, forever...unbroken praise be yours."  (From the song by Matt Redman 'Unbr...

Dear Friends, As an early birthday present Jason paid for me to go on a Women's Weekend run by the Inspiring Women Team from CWR.  I was really looking forward to it, and decided to go alone rather than with a group of friends.  Jason and I agreed that I needed time on my own with God and time to rest and be refreshed.  I went with high expectations and hopes of hearing from God. As I entered the hall of the building where I would be staying for the weekend, I looked around me at all the women there.  Everyone seemed to have come with friends and they were all chatting happily together.  My immediate thought was: "Why on earth did I make the decision to come by myself?!"  I felt awkward and very much out of my comfort zone.  You see, I'm an introvert, and while I am happy to chat one-to-one or with a few friends, I struggle when it comes to socialising in a crowd. As I settled in to the single room I had been allocated,...