Do you know any ‘unsung heroes’? People who quietly and diligently persevere, make wise choices, have a positive influence, are joyful in the face of difficulty? I know a few. Some would call them ‘the salt of the earth’. I just looked up the meaning of that phrase and found the definition: ‘those of great worth and…
Category: Reflections
Giving it All
I’ve been thinking this week about using what we have to make a difference. There’s a story Jesus told about a Boss who gave his workers different amounts of money to do what they could with. They didn’t all have the same amount – some had a lot, others a little – but all managed…
Encouragement, Dreams and Colour…
…Three strong, promising words. All these have been on my mind as I have gone about this week. I’ve been thinking about ‘encouragement’ for a while, though not necessarily under that name. I’ve been wanting to become a more positive person to be around, someone with the power to help others to feel lifted and…
Happy New Year
What is on your mind as you enter 2014? What are you reflecting on and looking forward to? This week has felt like a whirlpool as we process the year behind us and look ahead to 2014, which looks set to be a time of change for us. It is going to be full of…
A few words on Christmas…
This week I deleted my draft Christmas posts, which I promised a week or two ago. I found that I just couldn’t bring myself to add to the plethora of Christmas ideas that are surrounding us at every corner – TV, magazines, online, in the shops… To be honest I find it all rather dizzying….
Refreshers
I was reading the book of Philemon in the Bible today. It’s a letter sent by a preacher called Paul to his friends, and the personal first few sentences are brimming with warmth and inspiration. Some of the ways he addresses his friends include: *’dear friend’ *’fellow worker’ *’brother’ *’sister’ *’fellow soldier’ *’partners in the…
Small Things :-)
My ‘Small Things’ posts are about those little things that have brightened my week 🙂 This week, I’ve been: Listening to: Melaena Cadiz, who I heard about through Tomboy Style. Amazing voice! Watching: Monsters University – sooo funny 🙂 Also, a little randomly, I caught a programme on brown bears in Alaska. There was stunning…
Like living in a desert
Did you watch the news today? I caught half of a report on Syria. I saw empty streets, with deserted homes – a ghost town. Almost all the people were gone. A woman stayed because her son had died there. She said ‘I’ll stay here ’till I die, too’. A man said there is ‘no…
Saturday
Saturday was a good day. Walking Jamie and next door dog Nelly under very moody, sun-and-thunder kind of skies, shopping, Pizza Express, a warm fire, a magazine, Castle, and Dr Who. It doesn’t really get much better 🙂 OK, so there was also a fair amount of stressiness (on my part), work (largely racking my…
On Learning to Play the Violin
I am learning to play the violin. When I was younger, I started to learn it at school. The main things I remember about this are: *Being really excited to play ‘Greensleeves’ because I was a geeky little thing and obsessed with the Tudors. *Having to play the song from the Hovis advert with the…
Home
Last month I posted a series of pieces on ‘Home’ by various people around the UK. Everyone had different views but one thing was abundantly clear – it is important to have a place to call home among people you can be at home with. Today, there are thousands of people who have had their…
On my mind this week…
War. And the fact that in our country, it won’t be long before those who can tell us about the World Wars first-hand are gone. Tomorrow I am interviewing someone for a video we are making to use on Sunday, and in our preparation chat today I was so struck by the fact that it…
Life Lived 