Blog
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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…
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Talking about books with RT Kendall
You may know that I run the Woman Alive Book Club. This month’s interview (reproduced here, uncut, with thanks to Woman Alive) is with the prolific writer, RT Kendall (author of over 50 books). He was the senior minister of Westminster Chapel in London for 25 years. He lives with his wife in Tennessee, and continues…
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Devotional of the week: Philippians 2:6–8
Human and Divine “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even…
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Are you content?
Ever notice how we feel envy at those just up a level from us, in our chosen field? So, for instance, I don’t feel jealous about Anne Graham Lotz’s publicity or multi-book contracts. She’s a planet away from where I think I could ever be as an author. But that new memoir doing the rounds…
