Blog
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New year; new word?
Have you chosen a word for the year yet? This movement seems to be catching on, which doesn’t surprise me. It’s a simple but powerful idea (read my review of the book behind it here). One word is something we can remember and return to throughout the year. The word can inspire or encourage us;…
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Devotional of the week – The New Self
January strikes a cold note in the hearts of many. After the excesses of December with its celebrations and feasts, the new year dawns and we wonder if we’d rather just stay under the covers. We drag ourselves to what in an image-obsessed culture might be the ultimate reality check – the scale – and…
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What’s your word? A book review for the new year
Are you a list person? Do this; do that; scratch it off your list. Lists can focus the mind, but sometimes we create lists to foster (or manufacture) spiritual growth. Change this; read that; be that person. And yet we aren’t made to respond to such dictates, as if we were robots. Love, rather than…
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“Prepare the way for the Lord” – an Advent poem
Advent is all about waiting for the coming of the Lord. Well, it’s supposed to be. I’ve now cleanly disposed of any and all of my good intentions this year, having started Advent already behind. I was going to do less – fewer cookies and decorations, more time in prayer and meditation. Nope, that didn’t last.…
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An Advent Poem
Regular followers of this blog (love ya, Dad!) will note that I’ve been silent since Thanksgiving. Advent can be a shockingly busy time, which is ironic I know. Regular service here will resume in January, but here’s an Advent poem I recently came across, which I wrote in 1997. It’s admittedly on the twee side,…
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A time to give thanks
As an American in the UK, I’ve now spent a significant number of Thanksgivings out of my home country. It’s a day where I feel the cost of living here, being separated from family and friends. But we celebrate the day, and work hard to make memories for our children. They feel special for they…
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Devotional of the week: Philippians 2:10–11
Lord of Lords “…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10–11 As I looked around at the multicultural faces on London’s Tube recently, I stood in…
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Tragedy and hope – living in the Philippines
The recent typhoon that hit the Philippines has shocked and moved us. I watched as day by day the angry colors on the meteorological map of the BBC website move closer and closer toward the island where one of my dear friends has lived for decades. Knowing someone there makes the crisis more personable;…
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Devotional of the week: Philippians 2:9
Name Above All Names “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name…” Philippians 2:9 A year or so ago, CutiePyeGirl uttered “Jesus” as the world often does (or in this case, some of the pupils at her school). My shocked and strong reaction communicated unreservedly that…
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The Sound of Silence
One from the archives. I wrote this for Quiet Spaces in 2008; it later appeared in Woman Alive and then in Inspiring Women Every Day. And now for its final resting place… The incongruity of reading a murder mystery during a time set apart for communion with God was finally too much even for me. I…
