An Adventure in Ministry

A few months ago our lives were turned upside down (in an utterly gorgeous and beautifully fulfilling way) when finally, after over five years of praying, waiting and believing we brought our beautiful adopted daughter home to her forever family. It has taken me  a while to get used to the title of ‘mum’ and to realise that those aisles in the supermarket that were once too painful to walk down are now the ones I frequent the most!  Having now settled down with miracle I have begun to ponder some of the things that God has taught me through our journey to grow our family. They are lessons that I am still  learning daily and there are burdens that are still very real. I am painfully aware that  although I now have the most perfect little poppet to call me mum, I have never seen a positive pregnancy test, never given birth to a baby and I’m still know as someone with unexplained infertility.  Over the next few week I would love to share 5 th...

Here in the uk for the past months, we have been experiencing a heatwave. The media has been telling us that it is likely to be hotter than even the great summer of 1976. I have absolutely loved it. Every opportunity I have had, I have been swinging in my hammock, listening to podcasts and sipping on mint tea! Although some people have really struggled, wishing for rain and remembering cooler days gone by. I have been making the most of every moment of summer, not quite sure when it all might end. Through this time God had been speaking to me really clearly about seasons both physically and spiritually. I enjoy each of the seasons and believe that each of them brings a different beauty and joy. I would like to think the same is true for the seasons of my life. I try to see joy and beauty in each of these seasons too. I love the verse in Ecclesiastes that reminds us: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:” ‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3:1‬...

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending and serving on the team for Women and God weekend (or WAG weekend!). This is a weekend conference run by The Salvation Army with 300 women of all ages learning what it means to live a life sold out for God… And what an amazing weekend it was For me the weekend was full of service, ministry, knock-you-off-your-feet God moments and coffee! On Friday morning before the ladies arrived, we took time to pray over names, situations and words from God, and this set the tone for the spirit-filled weekend ahead.   I had also been asked to lead a seminar/workshop on the Saturday afternoon entitled ‘Grace Through Adversity.’ Based on Psalm 34, we talked about the importance of sharing our stories of how God has moved in our times of difficulty. I took some time to share my story of grace through adversity and my walk through infertility. We had a chance to reflect on those things we have been through. We shared Isaiah 61:3 and exchan...

It has been awhile since I have last posted a blog. This has been for many reasons, work has been busy, family life has been busy and I, a lover of routine, have found it difficult to get into the routine to sit down and write.  Ministry is fabulous. At times it can be lonely, exhausting and demanding, but God is moving in The Salvation Army (can I get an amen?!) and he is certainly moving in The Salvation Army in Mold. We are seeing lives transformed, commitments made, prayers being answered and dreams being dreamed.  We are hearing testimony of God drawing people deeper and we are seeing new members Literally being drawn off the street.  When God moves in a mighty way, the devil gets angry, and we have had our fair share of attacks; our brand new boiler has broken for the second time in three weeks and conflict has sprung up in unlikely places. But the most subtle way in which I have seen the devil attempt to work is by making people busy believing they can achi...

I am in such a blessed position! My husband and I are the commanding officers (pastors) of a wonderful church and community outreach, and the people are gorgeous!! In our short year in leadership in this place we have seen God moving in a really powerful way; We have seen people coming to Christ, We have seen people touched with the Holy Spirit, We have seen people blossoming and flourishing before our eyes, We have seen prayers answered in a powerful way, We have seen God provide for our needs, We have seen more and more people who are lost and desperate come through our doors Yet I  WANT MORE! Recently at a conference I was challenged to dream big! To lay aside things that hold us back and press on to the goal. You see it is so easy to get bogged down in the day to day flow of life. It is easy for the little things to become the big things, and then the big things seem to fade away. The devil doesn't play fair! He always plays dirty.  BUT! ...

The English novelist Iris Murdoch once said “Prayer” is the most essential of all human activities” and I must say that this is so true. In the past few months I have really tried to focus on creating a regular rhythm of prayer in my life and I have seen just how essential prayer is to every moment of my day. Around 9 months ago I attended a spiritual day for Salvation Army officers and envoys in the North West, led by Majors Mel and Kath Jones. In the afternoon we had the opportunity to pray and reflect. One of the prayer stations was on the Stone Pillar of Jacob. It talked about Genesis 28 when Jacob sees the ladder to heaven. When he awakes he says: ‘Surely the Lord is in this place’ and calls is Bethel which means ‘The house of God.’ We were encouraged to consider where our own Bethel is. In our booklet there was also a quote from Henry Nouwen about finding a place of prayer which has been on my mind ever since it says: “As Jesus invites us, we need to find that private pl...