Saying hello to 2018



It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog. So much has happened in the past few months and if I’m honest it has been really really tough! As many of you know at the end of August I fell and broke my ankle pretty badly and after a lengthy operation, progress has been slow, painful, and both emotionally and physically draining. Although I have returned to work, I am regularly finding I can only do a fraction of what I was able to do before. 

However

God is good and I have learnt so much about God, myself and my ministry through it all. God has also been revealing to me where he leading me, and although it’s pretty scary it’s super exciting too. 

Over the past few days I have been considering the year ahead. In a lot of ways I will be glad to shut the door on 2017 and look to new possibilities. Don’t get me wrong I have had some truly wonderful moments in the past year. God has taken me deeper in my ministry, especially with women journeying through infertility, I went on an unforgettable pilgrimage to Israel and I have seen amazing answers to prayer. But it has also been filled with grief, depression and in the past week, yet another negative pregnancy test! 

However, as I have been praying into 2018, God spoke to me loud and clear as to where my focus should be and I have heard the same word over and again….JOY


I’m a pretty happy person, and I have been told once of twice that I always seem to have a smile on my face, but that isn’t really Joy. Joy is something beyond just happiness, it is not dependent on circumstance but is fully reliant on God. Joy stays unwavering in the face of infertility, insecurity and unrest. As Nehemiah 8:10 said ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength’ 

As I pondered Joy and what it may mean for the year ahead the Lord dropped this verse into my heart and as I sit with a blank page in front of me, I pray that this time next year I will have radical, grace-filled stories to tell about reaping in joy the harvest I have sown in sorrow







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