I’ve been thinking a lot about trust recently. I say I trust God, but do I really? It’s easy when things are going along smoothly but when the upsets of life come along – members of your family get diagnosed with cancer, others get scammed out of £thousands, fathers can’t see their children, and the…
How far would you go to be noticed? I heard recently of a teenage girl who wanted to be noticed and was told by a friend that if she took drugs – then she would be noticed. So she did. Wanting to be noticed is a human trait. No-one enjoys being ignored – even if…
Have you ever had a panic moment, when someone asks if they can visit and you look around and your home is a mess? I had one recently and woke up in super energised cleaning mode to see what could be done before the impending afternoon visit. So, I dusted and wiped, polished and vacuumed…
The Twyford church in Hampshire, UK has a tradition of ringing its bells every year on October 7th. I wonder what the residents think about that? However, the origin of this tradition goes back to the 18th Century when a local resident called William David became lost in heavy fog while riding home at night.…
Last night we went to the first evening of a talk tour by the international editor and journalist Jeremy Bowen. The title of which was ‘Truth Under Fire’. He spoke and showed video clips of his life reporting from war zones and reiterated that today, more than ever, the world is a dangerous place. Although…
Revelation 3:20 “Listen! I stand at the door and knock.” As regular readers will know, our little friend next door is a bit of an escapologist – taking any opportunity he can to get out of the front door and set off on an adventure. His parents now habitually lock the front door and place…
I was invited to our Boys Brigade awards evening last night. I suppose I go along maybe once a term to help out with craft activities or to gatecrash their carol service. I always enjoy it – we have a small but lovely group of enthusiastic boys and some excellently dedicated leaders who put together…
As I write this, I am in the middle of preparing a service to celebrate the start of Ipswich Town’s new premiership season. I was reminded of the Chelsea song ‘Blue is the colour’. That led me to think about blue in nature – and there isn’t much – a few flowers – no fruit…
Something I’ve been doing this holiday is participating in a book challenge. I’ve always loved reading and I always used to envy my children taking part in the library reading challenge – being encouraged to read six books in as many weeks and then answering questions on them to receive a small reward at the…
I love scones. However, they must be the most controversial treats available. People can’t even decide how to pronounce them – is it scone to rhyme with ‘gone’ (favoured in Northern England, Scotland, Southern England, Home Counties and East Anglia) or scone to rhyme with ‘tone’ (Eastern Midlands, Ireland, Essex, Cornwall)? The source of the…