Hope For Today

Dear Friends, You may know this week is Mental Health Awareness Week and so I've decided to write today about mental illness. My depression began back in the mid-nineties when I became ill with ME, although I wasn't aware then that I was suffering from depression. It became worse just after the birth of my son because of post-natal depression. Although those close to me were aware I was struggling, I hid most of it from them. I hid it from my midwife and health visitor because I was afraid of what they might think, say or do. Once my son reached his first birthday the depression did ease a little. But I made a promise to myself that if it got worse again then I would do something about it rather than suffering in silence. I also didn't want to make life harder for those closest to me. Depression is hard not just on the one suffering but the ones who care for them too. When my daughter was born I did need to seek help from our Doctor and I was prescribed antid

If you would like to listen to this devotional, please click  here Dear Friends, Who Are You Following? Who are you following? We all follow someone or something. It may be a sports personality, a pop group, a film star, some other celebrity, etc. With social media, there are more and more ways to follow others, such as via Facebook or Twitter. Who or what we follow shows where our real interests lie, it shows what's important to us. We learn everything we can about the person we are following. We copy them and are influenced by them. We spend time and money in our pursuit of following them.  These things become a problem when they take the place of the only one who is worth following. When they take the place of Jesus in our life. Following Jesus means: 1. Hearing and Responding to His Call When Jesus walked this earth, he called people to follow him, to be his disciples. For example in Matthew 9:9 we read As Jesus was walking along, he saw a

Dear Friends, I was particularly looking forward to reading this book for several reasons. First, I had enjoyed a previous book from another series by Donna Fletcher Crow, secondly, this book is set in the Victorian era (I enjoy reading historical novels, and this period of history is amongst my favourites), some of it is set in Brighton, not far from where I live and, lastly, I am also drawn to books which include mystery and intrigue. I like to try to add up all the clues and discover who the suspect is before they are uncovered. I wasn't correct in my assumptions, however, I much prefer it this way round, rather than for it to be obvious from the very beginning.  This is the fifth book in the series, Lord Danvers Investigates. I have not read any of the previous books in the series but this book can be read as a stand-alone one. However, I will now read the earlier ones as a result of enjoying this one.  Donna has obviously carried out a great deal of research in pu

If you would like to listen to this devotional, please click  here Dear Friends, Even if . . . Photo by luizclas from Pexels I grew up in a Christian home and regularly went to Sunday School as a child. I loved hearing stories from the Bible about people such as Esther, Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary and Joseph. One story I've liked since childhood is that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the Fiery Furnace, which can be found in Daniel 3:1-30 . These three Jews living in exile refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar's huge golden statue. The King punished them by having them thrown into the fiery furnace because they refused to worship anyone but God. However, when they were in the furnace the King saw a fourth man walking around with them who he thought must be a god. As a result, the men were released - they were unharmed and their clothes didn't even smell of smoke. The King praised their God and acknowledged their right to worship the one true