As a child, I somehow knew that men and women had different roles. I was never explicitly told, but my job - my role - was to care for my brother, watch over my cousins when we were out, and help in the kitchen. I was expected to be quiet, calm and sensible - a lady. I learnt to be a host from a very young age, and while I don’t regret learning this skill, there was a noticeable difference between the way I was raised and what my brother was expected to do. And, this differen

A couple of months ago, I was packing up at the park with Rosa when this other mum started a conversation with me. I could clearly see she had a purpose behind the conversation, and I was curious to see where she was going with it. To be honest, I figured she was a lonely mum looking for connection so imagine my surprise when she finished the conversation up with an invite to her church. I graciously explained that I was already a member of a church and left, and as I drove h

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” [Luke 2:14] It's a good time of year to rest, right now. Add to this natural ebb in the year the restrictions we are currently observing because COVID-19 has flared up recently, and we can take a moment to stop. But how do we do that? How do we do rest, well? I'm certainly no expert I know how to switch off. But to rest... The angels are quoted above in Luke's Gospel record declaring th

How would you finish this sentence: "What the world needs right now is..." Would you say: more peace. more civility. more tolerance. more forgiveness. better leadership. It's certainly a conversation allot of people are having right now. And everyone seems to have an opinion. For us who follow Jesus, the most crucial question to ask is - how would Jesus end this statement? What's In A Name? We're preparing our hearts to celebrate Christmas - particularly the birth of Christ.

Over this past three weeks we have explored the concept of the Observing Self and how we can use it and the Thinking Self to hear God's voice clearer and without distraction. In doing so, we have explored cognitive strategies to work with our thoughts including diffusion and mindfulness. However, not all of us are good at using thought based strategies to quieten our mind and instead find that visualization techniques are a more effective strategy. In our final week on this t

First, a recap Over the past 5 weeks, we have been exploring the different stages we experience when going through change and different strategies to cope with these changes. "Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." - Exodus 13:22 We began with recognizing the grief that occurs when situations change and we have to mourn what we have lost. We discussed the importance of recognizing the impact that something ma

"No one who has treated me with such repeated contempt will see [the Promised Land].” [‭‭Numbers‬ ‭14:23,‬ ‭MSG‬‬] These are pretty arresting words from God. There's a cycle that the people have "repeated" - contempt that has brought on God's appropriate judgement. How do we break such cycles of negativity, towards God, towards ourselves, towards the world around us? 10 Israelite leaders were the latest to practice this contempt of God - but the Israelite's hadn't long moved

"Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, “Let’s go up and take the land—now. We can do it." But the others said, “We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are.” [‭‭Numbers‬ ‭13:30-33,‬ ‭MSG‬‬] In previous weeks we have talked about how Joshua and Caleb returned to the Israelites describing a completely different promised land to their 10 other companions. We know that all men visited the same land but their perspective ended up entirely

"Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night." [Numbers 14:1] Sometimes it’s really hard to quieten the voice of fear or doubt when it is whispering to you. Especially in these uncertain times, when both the mainstream media and social media can be quite focussed on reporting the negative, maintaining a Godly and positive perspective can be tricky. In Numbers 14, Joshua rebukes the Israelites for being afraid of the people of Canaan, reminding

"The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us." [Numbers 14:7-8] In Numbers 13 and 14, Moses sends 13 men to explore the Promised Land of Canaan. Ten of them return describing the people who lived there as “strong” and the cities “fortified” (Numbers 13:28). They did not believe that the Israelites could defeat the men and were afraid. Mea

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6, NIV What causes you to give up? It depends on what we're talking about, right! If it's doing endless loads of washing, maybe about 3 loads and I'm started to get fed up (soft, I know!) If it's reading a good book on a rich theological, biblical, or philosophical topic, maybe a few days and I'd probably