After twenty years having the same middle aged single man living next door, we were surprised last Friday when a van arrived, collected his belongings and the house was empty. The next day, new neighbours arrived – an Eastern European family. Suddenly we have heard unfamiliar noises from next door – the pitter patter of…

While visiting my daughter and her children last week, my youngest grandson tripped and fell onto their hard stone kitchen floor.  Later we found out that he had put his top teeth through his bottom lip. At the time, all we and he could see was lots of blood. Through his tears and sobs, he…

Do you remember singing this hymn, by the American Marie D Holley, in Sunday school? Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see,Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see.There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love,Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see. Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear,Oh, be…

I was listening recently to a discussion on Radio 4’s Moral Maze programme. The question was, ’Who would you choose to picture on a bank note?’ and centred on what it meant to be a ‘hero.’ Although the panellists couldn’t agree on who they would choose, in fact one thought the whole idea to be…

Over the last few days, I’ve spent a lot of hours ‘watching’ : watching a friend play cricket, watching the lionesses bring the Euro trophy home, watching ITFC play a friendly match in Colchester, watching Eastenders and other dramas and documentaries. In Matthew 26:41, Jesus tells His followers to ‘watch and pray’ so they will…

I’m sure that you, like me, were horrified to hear of a recent court case in which grandparents were found guilty of the death of their grandson through ‘casual cruelty’. Any violence to anyone as a one-off crime of anger or passion is bad enough, but the idea of it being casual or habitual towards…

Psalm 84:1,10 ‘How lovely is Your dwelling place. O Lord Almighty!’……. ‘Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.’ I was reminded of these verses this last Sunday. Firstly, at our morning service we were delighted that one of our congregation brought along her young granddaughter, as she sometimes does. I’m guessing…

I’ve just returned from a weekend break in Norfolk, the highlight of which was a trip out to see the seals. I thought I would be squinting to catch sight of a few seals in the distance but was surprised and overwhelmed at the number and proximity of these calm and beautiful animals. Our guide…

The season of goodbyes and change. During the last twelve months, we’ve seen our football team go from hopeful celebration to disappointment and relegation. We’ve lost people we love and welcomed babies and new worshippers into our Church family. The world has become hotter, wars have started and continued, species have been lost and saved.…

I will never stop being amazed at how God works! I had no idea what to write about this week and it’s got to middle morning on Wednesday – usually by now I’d got it sorted. I made myself a coffee and went out to feed the birds.  As I did so, Pachelbel’s Canon in…