Hope For Today

Dear Friends, Last year I watched the film "12 Years a Slave" which was based on the true story of Solomon Northup.  It was not easy viewing and I was sickened by the extent of the wickedness of humankind.  As I watched it I found myself comparing it with the life of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Solomon Northup was a freed black man enjoying a prosperous life in New York with his family in the 1840s.  He was tricked and kidnapped by two men who stole his free papers and sold  him into slavery.  Everything was taken from him, his freedom, his family, his identity.  For 12 years he was viewed as a white man's property and viewed as less than human.  He endured extreme brutality on the cotton plantations of Louisiana.  Punished and whipped severely on many occasions for no real reason, he didn't deserve any of the harsh treatment he received.  But he was helpless to stop it.  He tried to escape, but was found and sold once more to another evil slave owner.  Ev

Dear Friends, Do you know that God considers you his prized possession? Maybe you find that hard to believe. You may think that because of what you've done or what's been done to you that you are not special, that you are not worth much. You may have a negative self-image and you may compare yourself with others and believe they are so much better than you. But the truth is that you are so much more than what you think you are. How do I know that? Because that's what the Bible tells me and if I want to know the truth about God and myself I go to the Bible. It's there I learn that being prized by God means that I am treasured, valued, cherished and much loved by him. At the moment I'm reading the book of James, and rather than rush through it I'm taking my time so that I can really feed on it and digest it. It's taken me most of the week to read the first chapter, but it's been a good investment of my time. It's why today I'm writing about

Dear Friends, Have you ever been on a guilt trip?  I have and usually it relates to my role as a Mum.  There are more than likely some Mums reading this who can relate to what I'm saying.   I've bought the ticket more than once for the guilt trip and got the souvenirs (or rather the scars) from the trips I've taken.  As an overcoming perfectionist I can look back and see how I expected myself to be the perfect Mum, to get it right 100% of the time, which of course wasn't possible.  I put tremendous pressure on myself, which resulted in a lot of guilt when I didn't live up to my own expectations, when I failed, and when I made mistakes. A guilt trip can take you down some really dark places and lead you to feelings of hopelessness, despair and unworthiness.  It has taken me to places where I remember how I  wasn't able to bond for some time with my baby boy because of my ill health and depression.  To the times when I couldn't look after him as much as I

Dear Friends, Stepping out in faith, in obedience to what you believe God is calling you to do, is not easy.  If it was easy we would not need to exercise any faith. It can become even harder when others misunderstand you or you sense you are being misjudged by them.  When you experience this it can be very painful and you can feel as though you are alone.  People may not understand or be able to make sense of what you are doing, they may think you are wrong, they may tell you you're mad to think you can do this, that you haven't got what it takes, that you're not qualified, they may even tell you that it's not God's will for your life.  They may misjudge your motives, judging that you're doing it for your own glory and recognition, that you're doing it to promote yourself. It's painful and lonely because ideally we all  like to feel supported and encouraged.  We like to know there's someone for us, who's in our corner.  Especially when we