An Adventure in Ministry

  I have recently returned from a beautiful holiday in Norfolk. The last year has been so busy with working, studying, caring for a child with special needs, recovering from surgery and much much more, so I was in desperate need of a rest! As we prepared to go away I clung on to two scriptures to help me focus.  Be still and know that I am God: Psalm 46: 10  “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.” One of the things I love to do on holiday is read. Over the last year I have read so many books, some of them taxing, some of them long and some of them pretty dry, so I decided that this holiday I was going to read something a little different and so I went armed with the ...

It has been a while since I came back from the riverbank conference, a fantastic weekend for women of The Salvation Army, but I am still processing the truth that I heard and how I can apply it to my life as a minister in Macclesfield. One of my highlights (although there were lots of highlights) was the teaching of Dr Helen Paynter. In her second teaching session she focused on some of the women in the early church who are mentioned in the bible. She took us on a fascinating journey back through time to explore each of  these powerful women who were used by God and how they did great things because  ‘Nobody told her she couldn’t’ We were reminded that Pentecost included women, that the book of acts included many women who helped grow the church and that beyond the bible there were many extraordinary women who were used by God in a mighty way. Helen also challenged us to consider that the church today should include women, and as women of God in The Salvation Army,  that ...

  One of my favourite podcasts to listen to is called ‘Back porch theology’ by Lisa Harper, and a couple of months ago she shared something that I have returned to a number of times. She shared a concept written about by a Japanese theologian called Koyama Kosuke. He asserted that Jesus did the majority of his ministry while travelling on foot as the average speed of walking is three miles an hour, Jesus’ ministry was done at the pace of three miles an hour. Ministry at this pace makes space for conversation, thought, cultivating relationships and even interruptions. This is a challenge for so many of us today who live life speeding from one thing to the next! Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life together talks about living a life open to interruptions. “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and cancelling our plans by sending up people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks…...

I’m sure we all have things about our own character and actions that frustrate ourselves…(or maybe that is just me!!!) But one thing about me that I really annoy myself with is that I am so often in a rush that I have a tendency to put things down and lose things. I misplace my keys multiple times a week and now have lanyards on both my work and house keys to make them more difficult to lose! I am forever phoning my mobile phone to find it again and it’s often under a pile of things or shoved down the sofa cushion! However once in a while I lose something of great importance and it drives me mad!  Just before Christmas I lost something very precious to me. Over the years I have been collecting charms on my pandora bracelet and it held great sentimental value. There is a charm of a torah scroll brought on my pilgrimage to Israel, a charm that I brought to celebrate my daughter coming to be a part of our family, my first ever mum charm gifted on mothers day after years walking throug...

  I love singing! My husband laughs often as in the midst of conversation a word or phrase will bring to mind a song and I can’t help but sing it! Our house is always full of singing and music whether it is Paul’s, mine or our daughter - whose love for music is a strange and eclectic mix of The Wiggles, worship music, classical music and bagpipes!  I love singing in worship too and have enjoyed singing in choirs, worship bands and being a part of corporate worship. Worship and singing is pretty important in the bible too, with over 185 songs penned by a variety of writers and three books devoted to them in Psalms, Lamentations and Songs of Solomon.  The songs in the bible have many different topics including; Victory in battle, formation of covenants, lament, the death of friends, praise, romance, prophecy and waiting, to name but a few.  There are four beautiful songs in the bible that were written by powerful women of God. The songs of Miriam, Deborah, Hannah and M...

  My husband and I love being out in nature, and an ideal day for us involves a walk in the countryside where we don’t see another soul! When we are out walking, we like to identify plants and trees that might have edible fruits and are always on the look out for wild herbs that may have some medicinal use. This is known as foraging. I find that it is a wonderful reminder that God has provided us with everything that we need in this world…but that is another blog post for another day!  One dictionary definition of foraging says that it means: to search about; seek; rummage; hunt or to wander in search of provisions One of the things I love about walking at this time of year is blackberry picking and last year we found a beautiful walk with a spot that was just bursting full of blackberries. It has been a funny summer this year, and some of the fruit and veg we have attempted to grow hasn’t done too well due to the damp conditions, However we came to our blackberry patch last w...

  Recently we have returned home from a wonderful holiday taking our converted van to  Northumberland. We spent a glorious day on a beautiful beach 25 minutes from our campsite down picturesque country lanes and through the dunes, a workout pushing my daughter's special needs buggy!! It was worth it though as we saw the soft sand, the sparkling blue sea and the white froth of the breaking waves. We set up for the day and I began one of my favourite tasks…people watching! As time passed, I noticed something fascinating, and God began revealing a challenging truth to me. I noticed the people at the water’s edge and began to see that they tended to fall into one of 6 groups of behaviour.  The strollers - These people are on their way down the beach to a given destination and as they stroll (or even march,) they walk along with their feet in the water, or occasionally being touched by a wave.  The toe dippers - These people simply only want to feel the water on their toe...