You’ve probably got some in a drawer in your kitchen. They’re all different sizes, so they won’t stack neatly. Many of them are stained with a tinge of red, scratched, or even cracked. A few have no matching lid, and even more lids have no matching container – but you hold onto them, just in …
Like a dog chasing its tail, I could spend hours a day following my children around trying to keep the house in order. A few days neglect and the washing basket is overflowing. A morning of schoolwork and the dining room table and floor are covered with scraps of paper, pencils and flecks of rubber. …
In the opening chapter of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge weighs up the cost of Christmas, and finds it lacking in value: “What’s Christmas-time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer… Much good it has ever done you!” The cost …
The majority of life is made up of one mundane moment followed by another. Occasionally, we have exceptionally exciting events, but then, as surely as autumn follows summer, ‘normal life’ kicks back in. Floors need sweeping, plants need watering, food needs cooking and messages need responding to. I wonder, which are the moments that truly …
This series on words is coming to end. However, we would be wise to never stop seeking to improve how we speak. As the Bible says: “We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.” (James 3:2) Speaking without fault might …
Gentle words can turn away anger. They can make a person feel welcome, bring healing to the hurting and hope to the shamed. Yet, in our culture, gentleness is often associated with weakness. In fact, one of the definitions in the Oxford dictionary for gentle is ‘not strong’. In 1 Peter 3:4, Paul says that …
One way we must use our words daily, is when disciplining our children. Discipline is a difficult process for both the person disciplining and the person being disciplined. Having to decide on and set clear expectations, and then come up with reasonable consequences for when those expectations are not met, is no easy task. Add …
My husband and I have an unusually large number of children (5 in a country where the average is about 1.9[i]). This is highlighted by the reaction people have when we meet them in the street. Rarely can I go out without at least somebody stopping to ask me: ”Are they all yours?” We have …
In early 2020, before the first lockdown, I was at a comedy club, with a couple of good friends. One of the comedians performing that night was from Malawi. He joked that he needed to go back home to see what a stable government looked like! The Malawian government is not known for its stability, …
God can bring about good, from even the worst situations. In the last blog, I looked at Joseph. Joseph was forced into slavery, unjustly imprisoned, and still God used those 13, seemingly wasted years, to bring about good. Through them, Joseph learnt skills that helped him to lead Egypt through a national famine, saving thousands …