Hope For Today

Dear Friends, Next month my son, Josh, turns nineteen and a few months after that my daughter, Jess, turns sixteen. Where does the time go?  Being a Mum can be one of the most rewarding things in life, but it's also one of the hardest too. So I'd like today to offer you mums some encouragement. The kind of encouragement I know I'm also in need of. God has called you to be a mother to the child/children he has placed in your care. He knew exactly who they would need and he chose you. We are told in Psalm 127:3 that " Children are a gift from the  Lord ;" (NLT). Remember that God never calls us to something without equipping us for it. The writer to the Hebrews says " may he [God] equip you with all you need  for doing his will.  May he produce in you,  through the power of Jesus Christ,  every good thing that is pleasing to him.  All glory to him forever and ever! Amen." Hebrews 13:21 (NLT). When I ask God for his help in raisi...

Dear Friends, My sister and I regularly chat on the phone. She was sharing with me one morning about what was going on in her life. She had several decisions to make, responsibilities to order and things which were concerning her.  She was finding it hard and said that the picture she had was of a tangled ball of strings, all knotted and muddled up, yet as much as she tried she couldn't untangle them. But what is too hard for us is not too difficult for God! "Ah, Lord God ! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you." Jeremiah 32:17 (ESV) She took her concerns and worries to God, but as she did so she was still trying to find the solution herself. She suggested several answers to God.  For example, she would say to him, if such and such could happen then things can work out, or if you would do a, b or c, then this would be good.  After a while, she ...

Dear Friends, The theme for our Sunday morning services at church this month is “Peace” and I’ve been thinking a lot about it this week.   Jesus said in John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”   (NLT) The problem is we do worry, become anxious and concerned and this can rob us of our peace.   I think I was born a worrier, as a child I worried about all manner of things, small and big, I even worried about worrying so much!   Worrying is not productive and it’s not helpful, it can make us physically ill.   I’ve suffered with digestive problems and headaches as a result of worrying.   We can worry about the future and what might happen, but often what we worried would happen does not occur or is nowhere near as bad as we had imagined.   These are all reasons why Jesus commanded us not to worry.   “Therefore I say to you, do...