Lately I’ve heard some pretty sad stories and seen some pretty sad things. People are living with real emotional pain and all the effects of trauma and loss; children are neglected and bearing loads they should not have to carry; illness steals people from our lives and injustice is rife. We want to patch up…
Category: Reflections
How to Savour Winter not Suffer it
Winter is my least favourite season. I really struggle with the cold weather and the dark mornings and evenings (and quite often in England, afternoons too!). It can feel like a time to just shut down or hibernate, or just to ‘get through’. Lately though, I’ve been making lots of resolutions to be grateful and…
This World We Live In
On my next day off, I’m spending the day in Paris. I’m going to dress like a French girl. Maybe some flats, maybe a simple but sweet necklace, a scarf perhaps, and a spritz of the Chanel perfume Andrew’s mum gave me. Breakfast will be hot chocolate and fresh bread, followed by a stroll in the fresh…
Life Lately/Writing in Pencil/Small Things
The last few weeks have been full of uncertainty in terms of my future, which I think, on balance, has been good for me. I’m getting stuck in to the process of exploring what I might do, taking initiative and being proactive, whilst accepting that anything could happen. I’m reading a great book at the…
Small Things/ My week so far…
My week started badly. I was in the wrong frame of mind on Monday morning, so negativity swept across my day like a hurricane. It’s destructive, letting yourself travel down the road of despondency. My New Year’s Resolutions – things like ‘see God’s goodness’, ‘keep hopeful’, ‘be thankful’ – seemed to be slipping away as I…
New Year’s Resolutions when you really don’t know what the year will hold
My sister and I love the ‘what’re your New Year’s Resolutions?’ discussions on New Year’s Eve, and as I wrote here, I’ve tended to be a big fan of looking ahead and giving ourselves goals and hopes. I really buy into it. This year, though, I have found it hard to come up with anything…
2014
How would you describe 2014? For me, it was a year of two halves, one of change and growth. During the first 6 months, I finished my job in Buckinghamshire without really reducing the pace of life and work at all, had a lot of fun with friends and family with dog walks and trips to London and meals…
Small Things
The last couple of weeks for me have held a few ups and downs. When people use that phrase they are usually thinking more of the ‘downs’ than the ‘ups’, and that is the case for me: self pity often seems to be nipping at my heels lately. It is in this frame of mind…
Finding Faith in Christmas 2
Recently I posted about the goodness of God – how knowing He is good can help us to rediscover the true joy of Christmas. But it can be hard to find faith in this: when we see those around us suffer, when we feel our prayers have not been answered, when we feel forgotten as we…
Finding Faith in Christmas 1
I love this quote from Ann Voskamp (image downloadable from her website): It’s what I’m thinking about as December drifts in. Everyone’s getting ready now for the big day, aren’t they? Presents and food and outfits and parties… Amid the excitement, I’m feeling a little subdued if I’m honest. It’s not that I don’t enjoy…
An Uncomfortable Read
I have just finished a novel – a good book with a great story to tell, but one which I found a little uncomfortable to read. You see, there was so much in it that I identified with, so much that felt painfully close to my own heart. Perhaps that is what made it a…
Life Lived 