Try something new today...

I was hunting around in our cupboards looking for something interesting to put in my sandwiches and hidden in the back of the cupboard I found some Marmite. I have never hated or liked Marmite, but I've not had it for ages so I thought I would try it one more time. I put it in my cheese sandwich and it was great! 

This is part of me trying to shake things up a bit. Trying to do things differently, walk Daniel to school a different way, talk to new people in the playground, ask people different questions, listen to a different radio station...trying out writing a blog. I am also trying out new things spiritually, spending time in quiet, praying at different times, listening to different music about God.  

Things all become a little too normal sometimes, I get stuck in a rut, just doing the same things day to day. I hope making a few changes will bring some new understanding of the people around me and about God.

Try something new, spend some time in quiet, close you eyes and stop... (maybe have a few beach sounds playing in the background)

A tree by a river – How God healed me

My wife and I were about to go and work abroad for a year but five months before I was ill and just didn't seem to be able to get better. We were thinking about calling off the trip when we met up with our church leaders to talk about the trip. During the evening they gave me a verse that that God had them to. It was this:

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. it has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit”

God's Healing

On that night and through the following days God healed me through that verse. It is amazing! I still get a sense of awe in what God did for me. I come back to that image when I feel stuck or lost and it reminds me that whatever the circumstances around, because my roots are in God, I will have the strength to get through the dry seasons.

That healing has given me a knowledge that God is close and not far, a knowledge that God is interested in each person.

Listen

“Who am I that the Lord of all the earth would care to feel my hurt?” Have a listen to this song...Casting Crowns - Who am I?

How about you?

• What is your experience of God?
• What objects, places, poems, Bible verses are important to you?
• What do you turn to when you feel stressed or worried? To God? To a quiet place?