An Adventure in Ministry

In the last couple of weeks our world seems to have been turned upside down. As a mother to a daughter with complex health needs and as some deemed at risk because of health complications of my own, our lives have changed in many ways and we are committed to a minimum of 12 week isolation in order to keep ourselves safe. This has changed everything about the way I parent and has made ministry a challenge. However one thing I am really grateful for is that we are still able to get out in the countryside to walk the dogs. Living in a rural context has always been a blessing but even more so at this time, a God always speaks to me in such a profound way through nature and this week was no exception. Earlier in the week we went to a local forest to walk the dogs and enjoy a picnic in the sunshine. It was a glorious day and as always our little girl slept through most of the walk but made sure she was awake for the picnic, and the dogs loved running through the trees. We h...

I have got a bit behind in my blog writing recently. Life has been Choca-block and it seems that every time I sit down to write, the baby cries, the phone goes or some crisis seems to appear. However I have taken the chance today as I sit in a coffee shop with a deliciously strong Americano to consider my next blog in the series of five things I have learnt in 5 + years of infertility.  I am a wholehearted believer in God’s timing and I think it is great that this should be the next in the series as it is the name of my book that has been recently released (I certainly didn’t plan that when I wrote my first blog in the series early in 2019) Through my five + years journeying through infertility I have often felt like I have been walking through a wilderness alone, dry and completely without direction. However through it all God has taught me so much about how I could not only survive in the wilderness but I could flourish. The only way I could do this was through havin...

Our final stop of the day was to see the Jesus boat – a 2000 year old boat discovered on the shore of Galilee. After we had seen this we then went on our own ride over the sea of Galilee. Words cannot even begin to describe my experience there and even writing this, I can feel tears coming to my eyes. As we began our journey with the beautiful sun on our skin, we listened to songs of worship. I simply couldn’t stay in my seat or keep my hands by my side and as we sang ‘My Jesus, My Saviour’ the tears poured. Then the Bethel version of ‘It is well’ played. As the music washed over me, I was reminded of the promise Jesus had given me already on this trip, and the words from the song brought such deep peace. Paul was then asked to read from Mark 4:35 where Jesus calms the storm. It was overwhelming to know that the very story happened where I was sailing. Then, after a short thought we sang 10,000 reasons. This song is so special to ...

This morning after a beautiful breakfast we left Tel Aviv and headed to Caesarea. Here we saw an ancient town including a Roman theater and a hippodrome where horses raced and eventually gladiators fought. As we sat in the seats of the amphitheater we read from acts 10. We considered Cornelius, the roman centurion, from Caesarea, who was the first gentile to become a Christian. We considered the legacy of this one man’s faith and I was challenged to ponder what legacy my faith will leave. Caesarea was stunningly beautiful. The sea so blue, the sun so hot and the remains so striking. In this place of such beauty we paused to consider the nature of Roman occupation and what that meant for the early Christians. We thought about the counter-cultural message of Jesus and the fact Jesus calls us to still be radical and counter-cultural with his message of love.   I was also fascinated by the archaeological evidence of the excavations found along our walk. ...

As many of you will have noticed, over the past few weeks, shops have been filled with ghosts and ghouls, witches and monsters, and all manor of ‘scary’ things. On Monday, many people in our country will celebrate Halloween.  Now I am not a fan at all of Halloween and this time of year, for me, seems particularly dark.   The trailers at the cinemas are full of dark and scary horror films There are places people pay to visit with people dressed up in scary costumes and chase you around with knives and other weapons! Children are encouraged to go and do, one night of the year, something which they are told is incredibly dangerous the rest of the year… which is knock on a strangers door and then accept sweets from them!! The dark things in life are celebrated and revered and people even dress up to be like them! Not only all that… and that is certainly enough to give me nightmares! But there seems so much more darkness. Not only are the nights drawing...