More than Writers

Photo by cottonbro studio I’m going to share something that blew my mind, and I just know you’re all going to say “Well, duh, of course, that’s how it’s always been.” In that case, well, the title of this piece can also refer to me. I wish I could remember where I first heard this. It was very recently. I mentioned it to a friend, and he said excitedly, “Yes, I saw that too!” But he also couldn’t remember the source, even though we went through all the different sources of Christian input we enjoy. Anyway. Matthew 13:44-46 – the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price. The gist of each is the same: a man finds something immensely valuable, and sells everything he has so that he can purchase it. This apparently describes the kingdom of heaven. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always read this as the kingdom of heaven being the field or pearl, and we being the lucky finder who sells everything to get it. Translation: the kingdom of he...

When I was a little girl, growing up a village in West Essex, entertainment for entertainment’s sake was thin on the ground. Everyone else had a TV apart from us. This made watching telly an absolute thrill, even in the days of three channels and precious little specific programming for the younger audience. We spent most of our time outside with our friends, playing games, roller skating, engaging in marathon sessions of Top Trumps in our big apple tree (you could fit eight children in it) and generally enjoying each other’s company. Apart from board games, the only other way to pass the time was to read. I learned to read when I was about three and a half (I can still remember the exact moment) and honed my skills at the local primary in Class One with lovely Mrs Hubbard and her gentle lilting Welsh accent. Church was a big part of our lives. Every Sunday morning, my grandmother (who lived at the bottom of the road), my mother and the two of us would walk from our house across the Gr...

Hey. You there. Feeling overwhelmed; weighed down. This is for you.  I know that you're so, so tired.  I know that you've got static in your head right now; thoughts going round and round and I know that it's all jumbled up and confused and you've given up trying to make sense of things. I know that you feel that everything is going wrong and that you're further than ever from where you want to be. I know that you're exhausted trying to keep up with your racing thoughts as you struggle to work out what to do next; what to say, where to go, what to think, what your next move should be.  I have a message for you.  You're not on your own. I know what you're going through and I am right there with you, even in the dark. I never lose my way, and I will not allow you to be lost either, because you are my beloved child.  '...even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you....

I write devotionals very regularly, but I recently had the unexpected task of producing a piece of writing that reflected a biblical passage without revealing where the inspiration came from. My dad was getting married again and had asked my husband and I to speak at the wedding. We had agreed, and decided to base our talk around Colossians 3:12–14. Then came the phone call saying that, as it was to be a civil ceremony, their council allowed no religious texts and we couldn’t mention God at all either. They also wanted to see the final transcript for our talk by the following week! My husband was busy preparing his preach for that weekend, which meant he wouldn’t have time to work further on the wedding talk until the deadline day. So, somewhat flippantly, I said, ‘How about I write a poem based on the passage we were going to read out? We can then talk around it.’ Everyone agreed, I got off the phone and then wondered why I had volunteered myself for such a task! I be...

Kintsugi or  Kintsukuroi  is the Japanese art of mending b roken pottery with gold resin I have been amazed as I look back over the last few years of my life to see just how far  God  has brought me. Broken dreams had left my life in pieces. I  no longer believed in God and my dreams were in tatters around my feet. But 5 years later and my faith is stronger than it ever was and the broken pieces of my life are being put back together into something even more beautiful. And in the process God healed me of  food addiction and is now using me to help others suffering in that way. In the course of research for a sermon two years ago, I came across websites talking about the Japanese art of Kintsugi, or Kintsukuroi. This ancient Japanese art fascinated me immediately. I knew God was  speaking  to me through it.  Kintsugi (Japanese: golden joinery) or Kintsukuroi (Japanese: golden repair) is the Japanese art o...