Know the stakes

May 20, 2022

I do not know what the future holds. Storms rage – emotional and spiritual as well as physical, bad times crack open the secure base of life, warnings of worse to come cause fear.
Three stakes hold me:Faith in God; The support of people who believe in moral struggle; A determination to take each day as it comes and make it better.
I work with others to eradicate poverty https://atd-uk.org/about-us/atd-fourth-world-uk/ and the challenge can feel overwhelming in difficult times but with those stakes in the ground, I know we can do it. … More Know the stakes

Both and….

May 6, 2022

The basics of good writing:- having a story arc, building tension to keep the reader’s attention, creating believable, complex characters, developing a unique voice, showing how the characters change through the story, the seven deadly sins, we all have one or more, but it is how our characters deal with them that is intriguing. … More Both and….

Running efficiently

April 22, 2022

I love to run things. I joined my first committee at fifteen and was on a mission board in my early twenties. I love the way people interact around a table, I hear their passion and their fears. I experiment with ways to provoke a response if there is too much silence, or to create a space where those who are naturally reticent or reflective have time to speak. The secret of meetings is to vary the pace, and keep a perpetual eye on the end goal. … More Running efficiently

Explore

April 9, 2022

I have come to the end of a complex task, which has involved my time, and brain space, almost to the exclusion of everything else. Monday was a day of closure. I should feel relieved but have been restless and uneasy. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Before exploring new plans some restoration may be necessary! I hope you have a restorative weekend. … More Explore

Coffee and ink spots!

April 2, 2022

The coffee bean has a split in the middle, perhaps to remind us that all things in life come with a good side and a bad side. It depends how you use them. I find that is particularly true of personal gifts. Anger can be a righteous passion for change, campaigning for Fair Trade, and rights of workers, or it can be an uncontrolled indulgence that hypes us up when we should be resting. Coffee is a choice as well as a personal preference! … More Coffee and ink spots!

Springing up – one brick at a time

March 25, 2022

Guildford Cathedral was built one brick at a time by public donation. Do you ever experience chiaroscuro moments when light and shade contrast? As representatives of the many Mother’s Union groups paraded their banners down the aisle from the darkness of the entrance into the sunlit nave, it seemed as though we joined with Mother’s Union members worldwide. I have seen parades in many cathedrals in South Sudan, usually involving more dancing and clapping than is common in the UK! There are conflicts and sorrows in our world today but there are many who join hands and spring up to do a new thing.

… More Springing up – one brick at a time

Heavy hearted, but held in safety

March 11, 2022

The pictures I see on the news of people urging their elderly relatives forward as they scramble across bomb craters, and over bridges made of planks, in order to flee the country they have loved all their lives, burdens my heart with compassion. I can send money, and clothes, pray, join others in prayer, but I cannot heal their trauma, only God can do that. ‘For you, Lord, see the trouble of the afficted; you consider their grief and take it in hand.’ … More Heavy hearted, but held in safety

Carrying on

March 7, 2022

We set out on a task and it turns out to be more burdensome than we thought. Do we give up, or carry on?Resilience is what we get when we don’t get what we want. It can only be acquired by carrying on when life gets tough. Whatever we are dealing with in life let’s pr … More Carrying on