5 – Waiting Still

I have a special friend who has a dog. Angus isn’t just any dog. Angus is a springer spaniel. Those of you who have ever been in contact with a springer spaniel will know that Angus is different. Angus is a nutter. Until my health took a turn, I used to take Angus out for…

4 – Where is God when you need him?

Look at the image above. What do you see? Probably a black spot. It’s a small spot, but you don’t really notice all the white around it. That small spot is in fact actually only 0.2% of the whole image. But it’s a big small spot, isn’t it? It’s also a powerful small spot -…

Compared to others

A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leapt within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has…

Promises promises

Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.Joshua 21:45 NLT When paper currency first came into use everyone new that it wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. The paper wasn’t the important part –…

Incomparable Help

There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendour. The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He drives out the enemy before you; he cries out, ‘Destroy them!’(Deuteronomy 33:26-27 NLT) My God isn’t like anything…

Spread it around

Libby and I are very alike in a lot of ways, but in some we are totally different. Spreading butter is one of the things in which we are different. Libby spreads very carefully and makes sure that she covers every bit of the bread, right up to the edges. She perhaps has this feeling that if she misses a bit then it won’t taste the same. Not me – I go for speed. Get as much on, over as large an area as you can, then take a huge bite, on the assumption that there will be the right amount of butter and bread in the gob, and just mix it all up as you chew. Fast food.

Heel yourself!

I’m a cat person, mainly because Libby and I have a cat. Actually, that isn’t quite accurate. The cat has Libby and me. We are here to serve.

I haven’t always been a cat person though. I had a dog as a kid, and then a few years ago, Libby and I went to a dog rescue place and found the perfect dog to take home. We selected it especially for two reasons. Firstly, it had huge, soulful eyes. Secondly, the girl told us that it had had a broken leg, and so it wasn’t very active – that was ideal as we thought it would be a good way to get me some gentle exercise.

So, a few days after we got home, I took this slightly lame dog with the big eyes out for a walk. I seem to be getting a bit inaccurate quite a lot in this post. The correct way of telling the story is to say that this slightly lame dog had big eyes that wanted to see the whole world. That day! To achieve that purpose, the slightly lame dog dragged me round for two hours, rendering me exhausted and with one arm longer than the other!

No forgiveness, not this time!

I just love what Judah says! “Joseph is family, so let’s not kill him – it will only make us feel bad. Instead, let’s do the decent thing and sell him.” Some families really know how to look after each other, eh? Caring just comes naturally! The best thing is that Joseph wouldn’t have been able to phone home, or go on Facebook to tell them that he was missing them, because that would have made them feel bad too, perhaps!

I’m sure that none of us has been sold into slavery, but I’m also sure that we have all had a dirty done to us. Some of us will have suffered at the hands of brothers, sisters or parents; some at the hands of husband, wife or partner, some by friends, some by strangers. We carry the scars and the pain. Often that pain is so great that it changes us, changes our lives, changes our whole direction. We often become slaves to the consequences, perhaps just in the way we behave, the way we relate to others. Sometimes we become slaves to drugs or drink, just to hide the pain, or to hide from it.