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Showing posts from February, 2018

A Season of Grief

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  There is one thing I have been most afraid of my entire life, I have had a fear of death…and not just for myself, for those who are closest to me. It’s not because I fear that there isn’t a God who promises life eternal in heaven or that deep down I don’t believe I’m saved. I think it’s more to do with a fear there will be pain in dying, and being a highly emotional person, I fear the brevity of my emotions. So when my sister was first diagnosed with stage four cancer, I was suddenly forced to grapple what I had long feared the most, the potential of loosing a loved one. The confronting realisation that all of us will die, our lives are in God’s hands, and none of us know how long we have to live in this world. It was taking an abstract biblical truth and then putting flesh and bones on it. A lot of big emotions ran through me on a daily basis, and at first I found it to be a very confusing time as my relationship with my sister was very close but at times complicated. Cancer in ...
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Letting things go

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  Have you ever been told to, “Let it go?” It has become a bit of a cliche phrase in recent years (thanks to an over-commercialised song), however being told to let things go can be a challenge; especially when you believe it’s something worth fighting for. I sometimes find humour in singing to my daughte r Let it go, when she has worried long enough about a problem that it begins to impede her ability to move on. Her audible groan and exaggerated roll of the eyes communicate her dislike of being casually told to get over it; not something a 14 year old can do easily. While I try to make light of her world crushing problem (slightly thoughtless, as I was once 14, and yes it is world crushing at the time) the truth is as a parent there are equal moments when issues arise with our children that we feel we cannot let go of. The reason for the struggle to let things go can be many factors: pride, the importance of being in control, an unresolved injustice, or a clear understanding tha...
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New Beginnings

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  New Beginnings: two words that hold such promise and hope. Just saying it out loud I can’t help but breathe out slowly and then smile; I love a new beginning. I was reminded this week how starting a fresh can be so mentally positive. On Monday afternoon my mother rang to wish me and the children a blessing for the start of a new school year. She said, “Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it” (a favourite quote from Anne of Green Gables). I have closed the book of 2017; putting it on the shelf of life. While I’ve done this happily (some pages I wish weren’t written), I know it contains valuable lessons I will one day be glad to read again. However, for now I begin a new book, the story of 2018. Unlike the New Years resolutions that get made on January 1 and are invariably broken by January 31, my only resolve is to look ahead with hope and courage.   Allowing yourself a new beginning, is an important part of being resilient. It’s a positive mindset that says you’re e...
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