These are not new revelations, but I have found I need to do three things in order to strengthen my faith.

The first is to remember my past. To remember the many times when I have felt stuck and had no path forward. How God has answered my prayers, provided for me, healed me miraculously and spoken directly into my situation on many an occasion. This reminds me that He is real and actively interested in me. Father God is my provider, protector and healer.

The second is to feed on the Word of God. To meditate on the promises in the bible. To remind myself of these promises and to let Him speak to me through the verses that I read.

The third is to worship. Sometimes this starts as a sheer act of will, a sacrifice of praise, but soon it shifts and worship becomes almost like a balm to my soul. It quietens my fears and reminds me of who He is. It supercharges me.

I suppose it is surprising that I don’t list prayer in this list. Of course, it is incredibly important, but when I am struggling my prayers can feel ineffective and God can seems distant. I am sure He still hears all my prayers (which are often as simple as “Jesus Help!”), but I struggle to hear Him, if I don’t take the time to sit and remember and read and worship.

Why then do I hear so many people say that they aren’t creative, they can’t paint or draw, they can’t sing a note etc etc? In fact, by the time we are adults many of us have convinced ourselves and others that creative pursuits just don’t apply to us. There is no point on even starting, because what we produce just won’t be good enough. Somehow we have come to believe that the value in what we create is the end result. What we can show people. We are concerned about whether it will measure up to scratch, when in fact, we shouldn’t be measuring it up to anything.

The value in creating is not in the end result, but in the process of creating. The act of putting pen to paper, brush to canvas or lifting our viewfinder to our eye is where the true joy of creating lies. I have witnessed so many people experience release and healing through the mere act of creative expression. Being concerned about what the end result of our creative endeavours might be is the death of creativity and mars the experience. If we can learn to let go and just enjoy the process, we can start to step into our true creative identity. So the next time you get the urge to do something creative, just grab what ever tools you need and go for it!

“Jesus said, “blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted”. In America we avoid pain at all cost so instead of mourning with those who mourn, we often think it is our job to cheer people up. But mourning and grieving is the road to wholeness and peace. David said, “weeping endures through the night but joy comes in the morning.” Sometimes the “night” is longer than 8 hours; it is the dark season of the soul. In these night seasons it’s important to remember that God is bigger than our pain. If we don’t stuff our pain but allow the process of grieving to bring closure to our lives…the season will change and joy will return.

One more thing; trying to figure out “why” in the midst of our pain, usually leads to wrong answers and bitterness. Not only that, it prolongs the “night” season of mourning.

Sometimes people get “stuck” in grief and they need us to take them by the heart and lead them back to joy. But shutting down mourning prematurely will lead to incomplete healing and chronic heart pain.

Love NEVER fails!”    Kris Vallotton (kvministeries.com)

A little while later, however, I dropped my daughter of in the forest and saw that it wasn’t merely fog that had greeted me, but a freezing fog, which means that as the water touch any surface, they freeze. So 30 minutes later, my son and I ventured out into the freezing weather. It was too beautiful not too! The area around our apartment had been transformed into a crystal palace. It was enchanting. While out in this icy scene, I had the thought, “Every season is beautiful in its own way”. I then realised how profound that thought was. My family are facing some pretty big challenges for 2013. It isn’t an easy season up ahead, but if we look closely enough, if we focus on the Source, I am sure we will find that even this season is beautiful in its own way.

Christmas isn’t always an easy time, for many reasons. So as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I pray you find beauty in the season you are experiencing and that you are blessed abundantly in 2013.

We haven’t been having the easiest of times lately. There have been many challenges, from health issues to other very stressful problems. It has felt as if we have been under immense attack, both physically, emotionally and spiritually. At times like these it is so easy to lose focus and to get lost in our own navels and problems. The trouble is, that this doesn’t solve anything. It just leaves one feeling despondent, frustrated and trapped. Which in turn makes smaller challenges loom even larger. So we get stuck in a cycle of negativity.

I was challenged a few weeks ago when my daughter was given a Gratitude Journal to complete every day for a month. I realised that I wasn’t being thankful for the many blessings that we have been given and the list is very long. I then listened to a sermon by Bill Johnson that was about stewarding favour on your life and the importance of gratitude. I read the bible and, unsurprisingly, the same message kept cropping up.

I am now trying to rework the disciplines of thanksgiving, praise and worship back into my very full life. I need to daily acknowledge the source of everything. Jesus. He is so worthy of our worship, our praise and gratitude. Meditating on these truths shifts the focus from the negative and back onto the positive. Not only in our thought patterns (which can become toxic), but also in the spiritual realm. We open the door for breakthrough and can change the atmosphere that we inhabit.

I am not saying that we ignore or deny the challenges and struggles in our lives, but rather that we acknowledge them and then shift our focus onto the answer. That despite what we are having to overcome, we remain thankful for what we have and that we stand in awe of our Creator and we give him the glory that is due to his name.

I am meditating on 1 Chronicles 16:8-36, David’s Song of Thanks. It is my reminder on where my focus needs to be during these times of trial. I hope if you are going through a hard time that you can take comfort in the love of our Father for his children and in the fact that He is faithful.

The trouble with blackberries is that while they are abundant and produce tasty berries, they are covered in thorns and prickles. I think this is a fine example of creation mirroring truth. Often our best fruit comes with thorns. No person is immune to suffering in one form or the other. Life is full of hardships. Surprisingly, these times of hardship are often also our most fruitful. Maybe not at the time itself, when all we can do is hold on with everything we have, but when we look back we can see the blessings along they way. We can see how the experience has helped shape us into the people we are and has given us the skills/empathy or giftings that we needed.

I personally, don’t choose the thorny times, but when they come, I hope that I can take heart in the fact that they will be redeemed and blessings will come from a difficult time.

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”     Romans 5 : 3-5

 ^“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”  Romans 8 : 18

I recently read the blog of someone I know, a 29 year old mother with a 5 month old son and inflammatory breast cancer. It was amazing to read wonderfully uplifting and positive words from someone who has every reason to be angry with God. She continues to keep her eyes on Jesus and to witness to His love and grace. Such an inspiration.

Sometimes worship and praise comes easily. The high points of our lives: the birth of our children, a promotion at work, our wedding day or just when things are going swimmingly well. It is easy to stand and sing, “How great is our God” at those times. At other times, however, that same praise is a sacrifice. It comes at a price. It doesn’t even have to be song, just professing His name in times of trial or even persecution, can be hard enough.

Personally, I experienced this after my miscarriage. I arrived in the UK only to discover at 13 weeks pregnant that my baby had died at about 7 weeks. I was devastated. A week and a half later, I was standing in church singing praises to our good God. It wasn’t easy and my heart continued to break. It was a sacrifice, but it was powerful. I could feel something shift and, of course, I was comforted.

I cannot imagine the road my friend has to walk on, and I know many people have incredibly difficult journeys. Some are short lived, some last a lifetime. In those times, if we can continue to openly profess His name and offer a sacrifice of praise, He will meet us we we are. We will be comforted. Of course, the amazing thing is that if we can’t do it, He will still meet us where we are. We will still be comforted, because His grace and love exceeds anything we can think or imagine.

So why should we offer a sacrifice of praise? Because Jesus went outside the city walls. He suffered humiliation, disgrace, pain and death. All for us. I think if we could actually continually get our minds around that one thought… praise wouldn’t be such a sacrifice after all.

Anthony Gormly sculpture in Winchester Cathedral

This spring is no different, except this year God is speaking to me about New Beginnings. Ecclesiastes talks about there being a time for everything and I think everyone has experienced different season or times in their lives. Some are abundant and full of life, while others can be very painful or just grindingly difficult. Those times can be incredibly dark and there can really feel like there is no hope. However, spring does come again and the dead, cold, lifeless trees do spring back to life. We see it in the natural, but also in Scripture.

Jesus is all about New Beginnings and New Life. This can be in a seasonal sense, after a long dark winter. St John of the cross talks about the “long, dark night of the soul”. If we are in a season of hardship, we can take heart that “weeping may last for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” Psalm 30:5 These times of challenge strengthen us and help our roots deepen, but they are not fun! Spring does come again, though and often the dead wood of the past adds beauty (or wisdom) to the new life and new season that we enter into.

Thankfully, we can also have new beginnings on a daily basis. When we mess up and make mistakes, when we take back control and try to do things our way, when we “miss the mark” – again, we can come back to Him. Through his blood we can come to the cross and start anew. His mercies are new every morning! I think so many of us stay tied into the past and struggle to break free because of all our own stuff. We don’t need to. Whatever is on our hearts, whatever struggles we face, we can boldly approach the throne and start again.

7 things about me:
1. I have 2 children (4years and 8 months) and an amazing husband.
2. I love to dance, particularly ballroom with my man.
3. I am possibly a little eccentric, thanks to my upbringing.
4. I am known for my belly laugh.
5. I went to 6 schools and have lived in at least 8 cities and 3 countries.
6. I think that chocolate is proof that God is in a good mood.
7. My favourite place in the world is Sossusvlei, Namibia – to visit, not live in!