Hope For Today

Dear Friends, We recently had our bi-annual family outing to the dentist.  I don't mind having a check up at the dentist; to tell you the truth, I'd rather have a dentist appointment than an appointment with the doctor.  Jess, on the other hand, does not like visiting the dentist.  At this particular appointment the dentist wanted to clean her teeth as there was a build up of plaque.  If she was tense before that comment, she was even more tense now, especially as he told her to just lift her hand if it got too painful.  As I sat watching the proceedings I could tell she was anxious, scared and in pain at times.  Now, the casual observer would not have picked up on it, but, as her mother, and  knowing her so well, I knew exactly how she was feeling.  I found it very hard to sit and watch my little girl suffering (at 12 years old she doesn't like me calling her that, but that's what she is to me!) and my natural in...

Dear Friends, In my Life Group this week we looked at the account of Hagar in Genesis 16.  Here was a woman completely broken by her circumstances.  As Sarah's servant she was told to sleep with Abraham so that she could conceive a child on  Sarah's behalf.  Then, when she's done as she's told she's mistreated and abused.  With no control over her situation, Hagar thinks her only option is to run away, rather than face it. At this point, the lowest point in her life so far, she has an encounter with the Living God.  At the time when she feels completely on her own, deserted by everyone, with no-one on her side, God makes his presence known.  He makes it clear to her that he has heard her distress and he cares about her. "And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress."  Genesis 16:11. (NLT) This will be a powe...