Today’s guest post is a blinder – and it’s from a very dear friend, Jeanette Howard. It struck a chord with me; and I think it will with you too. Jeanette writes; I am single and I live alone. I am now into my 12th day of no physical contact with another human being. Not that I’m counting. Much. I don’t even have a pet to connect with; something that breathes and moves and takes notice of your presence. Feeding and …Read More
Thank you to Sharon for this wise and timely post. In it she talks about the little steps we can take, even when struggling with mental health issues. Sharon writes: “But I’m too ill… My thoughts are disordered… I can’t concentrate… God would understand…” I was struggling with depression and at times my thoughts were bordering on psychotic…again. Living back in the community after four and a half months in hospital, I was coping, but only just. At the same …Read More
Slice me open and I bleed anxiety. I always have. I grew up in 80s/90s Northern Ireland; a place riven by chaos and conflict. If fear was a contagion, back then, we were all infected. At the same time, the headlines (those I remember) were full of the AIDS epidemic — a terrifying and fatal disease with no cure. My child-sized skull echoed with warnings: you can’t be too careful. You can’t be too safe. Aged 13, I developed anorexia. …Read More
This question rattles around my head like loose coins in the washer: “What are the bits of me that God wants to change, and what if it feels like those bits are the very core of who I am?” Take my desire for order and routine. It’s been a part of me since I can remember. From the toddler policing the sand-pit; to the adult who can’t sleep till she’s unpacked her case… I cannot imagine a me that does …Read More
A huge thanks to Miriam S for this week’s guest post. It’s powerful and wise; and deals with an area we don’t read about very often. She writes… A broken hope: How breakups point us to the Ultimate Romantic It’s easy to think that God and the Bible don’t have much to say about relationship breakups. It’s not something that is spoken about much in sermons. You don’t hear topical talks about them. Serious breakups don’t even seem to have …Read More
What are the challenges that are facing you this week? Perhaps you’re dreading a difficult boss or conversation. Caring for elderly parents, small children – or both. Maybe you’re studying for exams or recovering from illness; swamped by emails or demands or an addiction that seems bigger than you. Perhaps you are grieving – for a person or relationship or situation that you hoped would last forever. Whatever you’re facing, it’s not a surprise. We’re broken people living in a …Read More
Whatever lies ahead, here’s what we know for sure… We have a loving Father who is working all things together for our good. Sometimes we’ll feel angry or sad or overwhelmed or unsafe or crazy. These feelings are not the truth and they will pass. Our circumstances will change. Suffering has a “used by” date and there is hope. Only Jesus’ future is forever. Whatever mistakes we make, there is always more grace in Jesus than there is sin in us …Read More
Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything, That’s how the light gets in. Leonard Cohen, Anthem The world is broken. Systems are broken. The government is broken. The environment is broken. We are broken. And with it, we are brokenhearted. Amazingly—given how universal brokenness is—we never seem to make our peace with brokenness. It continues to outrage us, even though we’ve never known anything different. But our hearts break for …Read More
by Glen We were talking about singleness but we could have been talking about anything. “Finding someone” was the way into the conversation but the way out requires us to set aside “finding someone”. Hopefully we’ll be able to do that in this post, even though we’ll begin with that issue. Really I want to talk about “satisfaction in Christ” and “finding your identity in Jesus” and all that stuff that trips off good Christians’ lips. What on earth does …Read More
