Daily devotional

TADA!

Christian, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , One comment

A wonderful time for many is almost upon us, but it is SUCH a busy time. I’m 54 years old and I feel like my life should be slowing down a bit, but honestly, at the moment (and for most of this year), it feels like it’s speeding up. Can any of you relate? Sometimes I feel like there are so many thoughts in my head of things I need to do, and the list is getting longer. I’m convinced that much of this is to do with the chaotic world we live in. Have you seen the Kitkat advert? A man’s sitting at his desk, overwhelmed with the work he has to do, so he decides it’s time to take a break. As he leaves his desk and walks out of the office, hundreds of post-it notes follow him and stick to him from head to toe. At this time of year, many of the things we need to do are in preparation for a special time, but it can still make you feel like you’re drowning in your “to do” list.

For the man in the advert, it’s a Kitkat that brings relief but I believe that it’s God who can truly bring us peace in the chaos. He’s with you every second of every day and it’s hard for Him, because when we’re so distracted, He can’t bring us rest. Though it feels like it’s so difficult to switch off and rest in His peace, He’s waiting to take you to a spacious place where He can bring you rest. Miraculously, He can do that right in the midst of the chaos…we just need to give Him a small amount of time and attention. Funnily enough, that’s what Christmas is meant to be…a time of peace! God sent Jesus to earth ultimately to bring us into freedom and relationship with Him. He’s here to help you.

I find it really helpful to commit my day to Him at the very start and ask Him to order it. When I do that and recognise His presence right at the beginning of my day, it’s amazing how much I can get done and how much things fall into place.

I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

A friend once told me about the “tada” list. It really helps you to focus on the positive. Instead of looking at your “to do” list at the end of the day and thinking “I still have soooo much to do”, look at it and think “tada” I got this done, this completed and I managed to do this and that. What I didn’t get done, I’ll do tomorrow”. Just a thought and it really helps me.

Today, commit your day to God to manage and see how many things “tada” you got done!

Have a wonderful and peaceful Christmas and New Year. He’s got you!

Quinoa!

Christian, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I’m so sorry it’s been so long since I’ve been able to blog.  Life has been a chaotic whirlwind this year and we have been having our kitchen done…dern dern dern!  Never would I have thought there would have been so much involved in this and so much more to be discovered that needed to be dealt with!  Anyway, finally, we were enjoying the peace that filled our workmen free home and our beautiful new kitchen.  Everything seemed so clean and so neat and tidy…until…quinoa descended! 

We’ve been trying out one of the well known companies who deliver fresh food and indeed all the ingredients to make a delicious meal and it’s going really well.  One of the items, however, on this sunny Tuesday, was quinoa! Glen, who does all the cooking in our house, as I’m unable to due to my health condition, had never cooked this before.  He was completely unaware of its need to escape the bowl and hide in every crevice!  Yes sure, we enjoyed eating the meal but every time we thought we’d got rid of it, more appeared!  In fact, we were finding bits of quinoa for days afterwards, so it is now banned from our lovely shiny new kitchen!

Of course I’m joking about something trivial, but it’s like when you have something troublesome in your life that you keep having to deal with.  Something that you know you need to learn or something that God is trying to teach you and it keeps on cropping up at the most uncomfortable times. You think you’ve just got on top of it and it rears its ugly head again.  It keeps on getting in the way of you just moving on with your life.  

 As so many of us are often striving for perfection, we struggle with those niggling things that keep on arising.  I know, you know already but let me tell you – no-one is perfect and you cannot fix everything neatly.  There are many things we have to learn over a period of time and that involves living life and facing that particular issue in different ways.  Maybe it’s because of something that happened in the past and now you overreact when a similar situation arises.  Maybe it’s a fear of something and an area in your life where you find it hard to trust God and certain circumstances trigger it.  It might be that anger arises in you too easily and you find it hard to control it.  There are many many examples I could use but all of them point to the same thing. We need to accept that learning and healing takes time and we can either go with the process or we can resent it.  One is the path to peace and the other to frustration.  

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV in the Bible says:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Today, at this point in your life, choose to relinquish control to the God who loves you beyond measure and trust that He will take you on this journey of life in His perfect timing.  He’s got you! 

In His Hands

Christian, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

It’s Good Friday today and though we think about it regularly, it’s the day we particularly choose to remember what Jesus did for us on and through the cross. If He suffered such a terrible death, why do we call it ‘Good’??  It’s hard for us to imagine what Jesus went through, which would have been terrible and absolutely excruciating, and He willingly did that so that He/God could have a close relationship with you and I and so that the sacrifice would be paid for the debt of all we do wrong, so when we pass away from this world, we will spend forever in heaven with him.  We know that transition is quick because Jesus said to the repentant man on the cross beside Him, “I promise you—this very day you will enter paradise with me.” Luke 23:43 TPT

Christ suffered for our sins [the wrong things we’ve done] once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18 NLT

Now, because of His sacrifice, Jesus is with us in everything we do.  He is with us when we go through the difficult times and He is with us when we celebrate and feel great. Thanks to His incredible sacrifice, when you go through hard times in your life, you can look to Him for help and for comfort.  Christians will often use the phrase “place it in His hands.”  The Bible says in  1 Peter 5:7 TPT 

“Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you.”

Incredible! So, how do we actually do that?

It all centres around sharing and believing.  When we keep things inside, they often build up, and our anxiety can rage.  We need to believe that He’s there and He’s listening.  You can literally talk out loud to God/Jesus or do it in your mind and heart and tell Him how you’re feeling.  You don’t need to use elaborate language, just chat with Him like you would your partner or a friend.  It’s amazing how much better you feel in sharing it with Him, but so much more than that, you’re actually giving Him permission to work in your life and on your behalf.  The really difficult thing is not ‘placing’ it in His hands, it’s ‘leaving’ it there.  We want to be in control but the truth is we can’t be anyway.  Jesus says in Luke 

“Does worry add anything to your life? Can it add one more year, or even one day?” Luke 12:25 TPT

We need to believe that God is in control.  He can see far beyond what we can, and to truly trust Him,  we need to “place things in His hands” and BELIEVE that He will take care of us.  On this “Good” Friday, remember that Jesus made the way to be able to stand with you in all you face, and thank Him.  

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, [7] then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:6-7 TPT

You’re wasting my time!!!

Christian, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , View all 2 comments

I have a wonderful doctor who is so compassionate and caring but still, on a cold Tuesday morning when I’d seen her about something valid and she’d been amazing, I walked out of her surgery with my mind racing, thinking that I’ve wasted her time.

A week later, I stand in the hospital room, gowned and ready to be x-rayed and two rude operatives refuse to do the procedure for various reasons.  They’re being awkward and it’s deeply embarrassing, and I walk out with that reinforced thought of “You’re wasting my time!!!”

Yesterday, I had to go and have my knee drained and a steroid injection put in.  The consultant didn’t believe I needed it to be done until she pulled a load of yellow fluid from it and all the while, that age old line is ringing in my ears “You’re wasting my time!!!”

Please hear me here, I’m not criticising the NHS as they do an amazing job.  I know it’s the enemy using people and situations to have a stab at me and pull me down.  You see, many years ago when my daughter was a baby, I took her to see a doctor who I’d been under for a long time and she was always really lovely.  On this particular day, I don’t know what had happened previously, but she was out of sorts.  My baby had been ill for several days and I had sat up with her all night trying to get her temperature down.  As instructed “if you’re ever concerned about anything, bring her down”, I took her in.  I was abruptly told “SHE’S WASTING MY TIME!!!”, “YOU’RE WASTING MY TIME!!!” and it’s stuck with me for the rest of my life.

Have you ever had that happen?  Someone in your past said something to you when you were vulnerable and it comes back every now and again.  Satan wants to pull us down in any way he can.  He wants to pull us out of the fight, the race of life, and make us weary and he will use whatever he can to do it.  

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. [9] Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. 1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT

If you’ve ever seen the film Gladiator, you’ll know that just before the fight at the end, the evil Commodus has a knife thrust into Maximus’s side to grind him down, so he has much less strength to fight. That’s what the enemy tries to do with us.  He presses on an old wound and brings it back time and time again.

So what do we do?? Whenever it happens and that lie is reinforced, we need to turn to God to dissolve it with His Truth. No matter how people choose to treat you, He always has you close to His heart.  He gets you, he understands you, he cherishes you and loves you more than you can every imagine.   If you keep focusing on Him, eventually that lie will lose it’s power and you’ll grow strong again. 

Sometimes this process takes a long time and we have to persevere with it but if we ask the Holy Spirit to help us, He will give us the strength to keep going.  It’s funny isn’t it, it’s always the negative things that we remember.  Though we’ve had many really positive experiences, the bad ones are always the ones that seem etched in our memory, but God is always here to speak affirmation over us…we just need to ask Him. 

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty saviour. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Zephaniah 3:17 NLT

I pray over you today, that God will wipe away those lies that have hung over you for many years and that He will sing beautiful songs of affirmation over you.

How can I not be afraid???

Christian, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Lord, even when your path takes me through the valley of deepest darkness, fear will never conquer me, for you already have! You remain close to me and lead me through it all the way. Your authority is my strength and my peace. The comfort of your love takes away my fear.

A couple of weeks ago, Glen and I had a very strange experience.  Both of us had slept badly and I woke up with a heavy sense of dread.  I had no idea why, so I prayed protection over each of my loved ones.    After praying, I cracked on with my day, still feeling heavy, but ignoring it.  It was mid afternoon when I realised that something was seriously wrong with our cat, Tia.  

Tia is so very precious to us.  She came to us as a pure gift and has enriched our lives so much with her love and chatty personality.  To say we love and treasure her would be an understatement.  

This particular afternoon, she was not chatty at all.  In fact, she wasn’t opening her eyes, was inactive, not eating and barely responsive.  She was cold to the touch and seemed to be getting worse.  I suddenly realised that this was why I felt such dread and was filled with overwhelming fear and emotion.  Tia seemed to slip into a deep sleep and was responding to nothing.  I was convinced we were losing her and I had no idea what had happened.  As a family, we all prayed over her and I called the vet. 

During the few hours between that phone call and being able to take her to the vet, I felt like I was walking down that valley of deep darkness and I was afraid.  I was so afraid.  So emotional.  However, I knew that whatever the rest of this day held, God would be with me.  He was walking down that valley with me.  I couldn’t stop being afraid.  However, I knew whatever I had to go through, He would be with me and would comfort me.  This would not overtake me, He would enable me to get through it.  

It turned out that God rescued Tia that evening and to our great relief, we brought her home and she is recovering well.  We still don’t know what happened but it is wonderful to know she’s safe and curled up on my knee once again.

I think we read so often in the Bible, the words “do not fear”, “do not be afraid” that we maybe feel like we should never feel those things, but in our humanness, there are things that are incredibly scary and I don’t believe for a second that God would expect us not to be.  Some things in life are shocking and frightening, but the important thing is that we know that…

“The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” Psalms 34:17‭-‬18 NLT

How does He rescue us from it? Well this time He completely rescued us from that terrible pain, but one day it will be a reality and I can be assured that He will be ever close to my broken heart, just as He will be to yours when painful things happen.  I believe He rescues us by being with us and in us, whilst enabling us to walk through that reality, one step at a time.  Whatever you are facing today, let Him into your heart and mind and walk you through it holding your hand.  He can be your comfort, your peace and your strength and He loves you more than you can ever imagine.

Please send someone else

Christian, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The acting world lost one of it’s most famous voices in recent history when James Earl Jones passed away last month. I always imagined that if God ever spoke to me in an audible voice, it would sound like James Earl Jones. Obviously, not like Darth Vader, but his normal acting voice and his voice for Mufasa in The Lion King. With great depth and care. However, would you believe that he was nearly mute for almost eight years of his childhood? Some difficulties in his family caused him to begin to stutter at the age of 5 and he became so embarrassed by it, that he virtually stopped speaking all together. After 8 years, a teacher who believed in him encouraged him to begin to read his own poetry out loud and he went from strength to strength.

I had no idea about James’ background or story until after his death but it made me think about how easy it is to discredit ourselves from doing things. More often than not, it’s because we feel we are not enough or someone has told us so at some point in our lives.

As many of us are aware, Moses in the Bible had a stutter. When God asked him to go to Pharaoh to tell him to release the Israelites from slavery, he felt completely inadequate because of this and tried to get out of it.

He said, “Oh, Master, please! Send somebody else!” Exodus 4:13

How often have we said that to God or even to others, when we don’t feel confident to step out and do something that we’ve been asked to do or feel we should do? Maybe it’s because we don’t feel equipped like Moses or maybe it’s because we’re shy or embarrassed like James Earl Jones was about his stutter.

Sometimes this can be a problem which spans many years, like it was for James or sometimes it can be one line that can stop us in our tracks at a point in our life that makes us feel shame. I didn’t paint anything for many many years because when I was ten years old, my teacher looked over my shoulder at a painting I had done and said “Ugh, it looks like a four year old has painted that!!” It was like a statement that rang in my head every time I thought about painting and it also stopped me from drawing, which was something I had loved as a young child. I still loved craft and was creative in other ways but never did any freehand design after that. Until, one dull Thursday evening in a staff meeting, we were taught how to “winkle”. This was painting with a very thin brush and making an impression on the paper with water colours. I was astounded to see that I could do it and surprised colleagues when I told them I hadn’t used paints since I was a pupil at Junior school myself.

Many of you will know that I wrote songs and performed them at venues and also on the radio. I probably came across as very confident but it wasn’t always like that. When I first started to use the voice God had given me, I couldn’t sing in front of anyone. I used to stand in the kitchen and make them sit in another room so I wasn’t able to see them looking at me. It took a long time to build up the confidence to sing in front of an audience, but God was with me every step of the way.

God sees you and all the amazing potential you have. If James Earl Jones had never taken that risk to step out and read the poetry that he had written, then he may never have been the person we remember with the powerful voice. Is God speaking to you about something He wants you to step out and do, but you feel afraid you might fail? He will always equip you with everything you need. As He says in Jeremiah 29:11

“I know all about the marvellous destiny I have in store for you, a future planned out in detail. My intention is not to harm you but to surround you with peace and prosperity and to give you a beautiful future, glistening with hope.”

Whatever you need the courage to do today or to begin today, look to God to equip and inspire you. He would never call you to step into something that would cause you shame but always has you as you take one step at a time. In Exodus 33:14, He said to Moses

“I will personally go with you Moses, and I will give you rest – everything will be fine for you”

He was with Moses and He will be with you…always. Take that first step today! He’s got you!

Between the gates

Christian, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

What an odd way to start a blog…not IN somewhere or something…but between it! 🙂  This is where I feel I’ve been for quite a while…between the gates. 

It’s that place where you’ve emerged from one gate and closed it but haven’t gone through the next one yet.  At first, being between the gates may feel like a relief…you’ve just come out of a job, a difficult relationship or an era of your life that’s come to an end.  Maybe you feel a sense of completion or maybe you feel lost – having no idea what is coming next.  Maybe you feel hurt or tired and need healing or time for restoration.  It’s difficult because you can see where you’ve come from and know what that feels like, but you can’t see very much of where you’re going…maybe just a glimpse but certainly nothing you can be sure of.

Dwelling between the gates generally feels like a safe place in the beginning.  It’s kind of like the no man’s land where you can rest and very little is expected of you.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly”  Matt 11:28-30

It’s a place where God can gently strip away habits or ways that He doesn’t want us to carry ahead with us and where new creativity can be born and grown.  It’s super important that we rest in God as long as He calls us to and don’t try to go rushing straight through the next gate.  Some of God’s greatest work is done within us in this place between the gates.  Our relationship with Him deepens in ways it could never do when we’re rushing around in busyness and distracted by new and exciting adventures.  Of course there’s learning in that too…but it’s different.

When we are here, we are not hiding or isolating…we are resting, healing, being restored and later being equipped. I implore you never to rush ahead when God is calling you to stop.  You’re just not ready yet.  After a while, God will begin to equip us, to bring fresh vision and dreams, to grow some of our gifts and prepare us for the next step.

Sometimes for some of us, we decide to camp here between the gates and not move forward when it’s time.  It feels safe and we decide we’ve done enough in the past and don’t want to move forward.  In fact…sometimes we want to be back in the previous field because we’re afraid to embrace what’s coming next.  We can wait too long between the gates.

As I stand here, I can hear loud voices through the next gate and I feel intimidated.  They sound self assured and loud.  Maybe I will wait here for longer.  I know I should have walked through the gate a while ago but I feel like there’s a huge invisible wall that’s grown in it’s way.  Where and when did I lose my confidence?  Was it in the diagnosis I received?  The pain of a broken relationship?  The loss of my loved one?  Or was it because I have waited here too long?  Maybe a mix of all of these. 

If I stay here too long my life will become dry and stale.  However, God is encouraging me to push through that new gate.  To trust Him.  To take a risk, though it’s not a risk at all because He is with me all the way. 

“I hear the Lord saying “I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life.  I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with my eyes as your guide”  Psalm 32:8

As I turn to walk through the next gate, my heart is racing but I know God is with me.  I see a new meadow and the freedom of a blue sky and feel His motivation nudging me and spurring me forward.  In the place of lethargy, I feel fresh ideas rising up and creativity begin to stir. 

Do you feel like you’re stuck between the gates? 

Are you feeling impatient and wanting to race into the next field?  Wait and allow His love and healing to soak into you and give time for Him to equip you first. 

Do you feel like you’ve been here too long?  Take courage and trust in His leading.  He’s with you and He has so much more for you.

Unfailing Words

Christian, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

“For no word from God will ever fail” Luke 1:37

I’m sat in a well-known coffee shop enjoying a bowl of hot soup on an average January day.  I’ll be completely honest, I’ve found it so hard to get motivated this week and really didn’t feel like writing (not that I don’t love chatting with you – but you know what I mean :D).  Being a goal orientated person I generally love a clean sheet to begin getting organised and make fresh plans and I’m sure many of you are the same.  So…why is it SO hard to get motivated in January!! We have a whole fresh year ahead of us and for most people January is fairly bland and empty, so it’s the perfect time to crack on and get into things – yet we’d rather sit on the sofa with a hot chocolate and watch films all day! It’s funny, because in a few months when the weather starts picking up and we’re going out much more, I’ll be wishing I had more time to do these things!

As always God gave me my word for the year on New Year’s Eve and this year it is literally The Year of the Word…Awesome!  January’s so often a time when we think back to ‘Words’ God has spoken to us over the past year and re-position ourselves once again.  Many people make New Year’s resolutions at this time of year which tend to fade pretty quickly, but God’s word over our lives NEVER fails.  I was really excited when I read this scripture this morning as know it’s a promise each and every one of us needs to hold onto.

When God speaks a Word into our lives we generally feel so encouraged, sometimes nervous and often excited.  It’s interesting sadly though, that as time moves on, it’s like the truth and power of that Word seems to dilute.  Of course, this is not because God’s faithfulness changes, it’s because our faith and patience wanes.  To put this tiny but powerful scripture in context, this sentence is spoken by the angel Gabriel to Mary – straight from the mouth of an angel!!  I reckon if anyone knows God well, other than Jesus and the Spirit, it’s the angels!  He spoke this to Mary as he told her about the coming of Jesus.  He declared it as a fact and a promise for her to hold onto.  I wanted to share this with you today to encourage you to keep this scripture in your heart and mind and speak it out whenever you need it this year.

There are so many promises in the Bible to read and hold onto.  Be assured today that He will never leave you or forsake you; He knew you before you were even born; He who began a good work in you will continue it until completion; He loves you with an everlasting love; if you believe in Him He will give you eternal life.  He walks beside you, loves you, heals you, directs you, knows you.  Whenever you doubt that, remember this very special verse from an angel “For no word from God will EVER fail”.

All those words spoken over your life WILL come to fruition in His time.  Hold onto Him and let Him walk you through each day, knowing He has you, He will never forget you and He will never forsake you.

Father, thank you for Your word.  Thank you that You speak into my life in so many ways.  Thank you for Your promises.  I’m so grateful today that You understand how hard it is for me to hold on sometimes but you give me Your amazing word to keep me going.  Thank you that Your word will NEVER EVER fail.  In Your Name, Amen.

 

Burning Fire

Christian, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fire

“Why do you turn away from me?” Job 13:24

Sitting glaring into a crackling fire always makes me feel at peace.  Unfortunately, we don’t have a real fireplace in my house or a wood burner but I find having a crackling fire in 4K still does the trick. There’s something about the constancy of the burning flames that calms my worries and fears. Last week I was chatting to someone at church and actually caught myself saying to them, “Well, all we can do now is pray and trust God”. What??? This is something I think we say a lot – or is it just me? ALL we can do…well actually that is always ALL we can do. For some reason we feel this compelling desire to help God to do His job and to try and control outcomes. Then when we’ve exhausted our resources we finally let go and allow Him to move and work. Thinking about it in this moment it’s quite amusing – we, who are weak and dependant on a God who has all power to change any situation and has an amazing plan for our lives, for some reason behave as if we can do better and don’t surrender and allow Him to work.

This year I’m determined to read the Bible in One Year and I’m using Nicky Gumbel’s brilliant app to do so. A short while ago the OT readings were in Job. I don’t think any of us will ever fully understand why God allowed the things to happen to Job that took place in his life but sitting here looking into this crackling fire, it makes me think how constant He is in our lives. How terrible it would be to lose my family; to lose all my possessions; to be covered in incredibly painful sores as he was…but not only that…to have to go through it all without the intimacy of God’s presence. That was the most painful part for Job. Of course, eventually everything was restored to Job far more than before but as he was walking through the valley he must have felt so helpless.

Today, let’s not take for granted the constancy of our Father’s love and provision for us. No matter what turmoil we are in, His unending love burns and crackles for us…the flames of His compassion and the roar of His power to carry us and heal every pain never dies down – never grows cold. Trusting in the steady, safe and sureness of this should be our full focus. Knowing that when we rest in Him in surrender He takes care of everything. There’s nowhere His love and power can’t reach. He plans our very steps and walks with us as we take each one.

Remember today, He has gone before you and He is with you. Trust in the constancy of His love and support – He’s got you and He will never let you go.

Don’t despise the Small Things

Christian, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

hobbit photos

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin”

Zechariah 4:10

Anyone who has met me in person will know I am not the tallest person around…in fact, though I have a rather loud voice, I’m only a mere 4ft 11. Throughout my life, I’ve often felt like there are far more drawbacks to being small than gains…not being able to see at events; dreading anyone sitting in front of me at the cinema, not being able to reach things in the supermarket (even yesterday!); always being called ‘cute’ at secondary school (you might think ‘Aw’ but when you’re trying to make your mark on the world it’s not helpful!); people thinking I was always younger than I actually was (I would welcome this one now! :D). Recently though, God has been teaching me to embrace my ‘smallness’. Not just height-wise (though that is part of my uniqueness), but who I am – me – a normal, down-to-earth person.

We spend so much of our lives wishing we were someone else or feeling the pressure to become ‘someone’. All the while God desires that you be ‘you’! There’s only one ‘you’ and never will be again. I encourage you today to make a decision that in 2019 you are going embrace ‘you’. ‘You’ as a friend, parent, child…’You’ designed, loved and cherished by God. Life and love are built one small moment at a time by normal people. God doesn’t need you to succeed by becoming something or someone – He wants to be you to be ‘You’ – the amazing person He created.

If you allow Him to use you as you are in the small moments, He will accomplish great things through you in and through the small moments of your life. I used the picture of The Hobbits at the beginning of this blog because in The Lord of the Rings it isn’t the mighty warriors that overthrow Sauron – it’s the small Hobbits. One tiny step forward at a time, loving and supporting each other, they climb into Mount Doom and destroy the ring of power. Looking at them they look very normal (apart from the hairy feet!) and nothing special, yet the assignment they accomplished was of great importance. I’m sat in a beautiful tea room writing at this moment and I’m surrounded by mothers and daughters, couples and friends happily drinking tea and eating together – sharing life…Normal people but each with a special assignment of sowing into each other’s lives.

Embrace your smallness – be You! Make the most of life’s moments and watch how God uses you to sow into people’s lives. I once read a book about a woman who experienced heaven for a few moments. She said she expected to see all her relatives and friends that she’d lost waiting there for her but instead she saw streams of connection where she’d shared life and God’s love with people and how that in turn had affected others. The streams went on and on and she was blown away by how God had used her small moments of connection and commitment.

The scripture I quoted at the beginning refers to the rebuilding of the Temple, which was built one brick at a time. Keep building those bricks of life and relationship and embrace your uniqueness today and every day.