We are cycling, and I look down and see on the side of the track a small white cross. Grief. Pain Someone lost. I look up at the mountain above; I see a large white cross. Hope. Peace. Jesus found. In our world, wherever we look, we will see loss and pain. Whether our office… Continue reading Rom 6v23 – Look up
The joy, the tears, the laughter, and the applause all mingle together in a weave of celebration at the graduation. I’ve attended many graduations as a lecturer, but this one is special as each student’s struggles and strengths are shared at this celebration. Their paths, all different, have not been easy, yet despite this they… Continue reading Col 3v24 – Graduation day!
What a crazy and enthusiastic welcome we get every time we return home…from our dogs. Even if we have only been gone 30 minutes, they bark and lick and bounce and spin in a show of joy as if we have been gone for months. Dog years and dog time aside, it is the most… Continue reading 2Ti 4v8 – True Love
We have lots of emojis for it – 😃 😊🤣😁 – joy, happiness. Yet what is it that brings us joy? Getting a new phone? Going on a holiday? Meeting a long-lost friend? Our sports team winning? Many things can bring us a surge of joy, but it’s a joy that soon fades as the… Continue reading Mat 2v10 – exceeding great joy
Shame; “a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behaviour.” How often in your life do you experience this feeling? We just said a hurtful thing about a close friend. We were angry with a family member. We were dishonest at work. Shame destroys our happiness, health, and… Continue reading Psa 34:5 – Sparkling
There’s a well-known phrase, “blood, sweat, and tears”. It’s an idiom for putting in an extreme effort to achieve something. Most things in life that are worth achieving require sacrifice be that completing a degree, learning to play a musical instrument or running your first marathon. However, while these are all amazing pursuits, the joy… Continue reading Psa 126:5 – Harvest of joy
We wake up and look at the time. If we go now we can get to the beach in time to watch the sunrise over the ocean. There’s always something special about a morning sunrise. Each sunrise is a unique piece of art, as God takes out his palette of morning colors and splashes it… Continue reading Mal 4:2 – The sunrise
The heat is relentless as it bakes down on the dry, cracked earth. Life is impossible here. However, despite this, the slightest hint of water changes everything. In the harsh Namibian desert poking through the parched soil we find a flower, delicately juxtaposed atop a thorny plant and the cracked clay below. Sometimes life feels… Continue reading Isa 35:1-2 – Flowering desert