Hope For Today

Dear Friends, Occasionally after preaching a message on a Sunday morning at church I will have people come up to me and say "I don't know how you can do what you do.  I never could." But the thing is, no-one is more surprised than me that I am standing up preaching to a crowd of people. You see, very few people today know what I was like growing up, but I do, and it's nothing less than miraculous that I am able to stand in front of a group of people sharing God's truths. As a teenager I was painfully, painfully shy.  I had a handful of friends, but was so shy around the rest of my peers that I could hardly open my mouth and I only spoke in class when I was pushed to by one of my teachers. Although I love reading and writing, I found some English subject lessons quite hard-going. In English language we were expected, every so often, to give a 3 minute speech to our fellow class mates. Now, this might as well have been 30 minutes as 3 to me.  I struggled ...

Dear Friends, I guess at one point or another in your life, things did not go as you had planned, dreamed or hoped for.  I've certainly experienced that and it took a long time for me to come to terms with this. I grew up in a Christian home where I was taught how to have a personal relationship with God and how to seek his will and direction in all I did. Believing that God wanted me to be a Primary School Teacher I applied to University and with God's guidance I chose the one that was right for me.  Those four years at university were tough and more than once I wanted to give up and go home.  But believing I was where God wanted me to be, gave me the endurance I needed to keep going.  At the time my plan for my life was to become a teacher and I firmly believed that was God's plan for me too. In my prayers I asked God to direct me to the teaching post he had for me.  I never doubted that I wouldn't get a job as a teacher.  When no job was offered...

Dear Friends, We recently enjoyed a family holiday in Belgium.  When I say family, I mean the four of us, my parents, my sister, her husband and their daughter. It was a real blessing to be away together.  I loved to see my Dad playing board games, such as Scrabble, with my kids.  And Jess painting our female relatives' finger nails.  It was so good to watch the three generations of our family interacting and having fun together. When we went out during the day we would vary the kind of activities that we did, so that everyone got the opportunity to do the things they really wanted to, such as visiting the zoo or going to a war museum.  Compromises were willingly made because we wanted everyone to have fun. It was good to enjoy some quality time together in an unrushed, relaxed atmosphere. Everyone contributed to making it a good time away.  For example, Jason did what he's good at - cooking.  Jim (my brother-in-law) would often tak...