Welcome to the Blog

 It barely seems ten minutes since Advent and here we are looking forward to Easter once again.  Thanks for joining me for the next 40 days or so as I ramble my way towards the most important weekend of our Christian calendar  Once again I thank you four your company, cheering and thoughts and hope I can in some way inspire, provoke, intrigue or indeed baffle.    Its already been a challenge just to get to day one as my laptop packed up a couple of weeks ago and Im now using Josh's old one - half of the keys on the keyboard dont work which makes it a challenge!   Its taken me the best part of an hour to log in and get started because its so slow  😊

As I start the blog the world is emerging from a Covid crisis and heading into a possible third world war.   Anything I can find to say here runs the risk of being somewhat.....feeble.  But perhaps its important in these days not to spend all our time looking at the huge picture and spend at least some moments every day listening to the still small voice for our own small lives.   We cant solve the world's problems, but perhaps we can find some solutions for the problems in our own worlds.?  I hope so anyway.

So today I start with a thought about prayer. And about children.

Keith has been working on short term contracts for quite a while now and is about to come to the end of another one.  Theres the regular possibility that he could be out of work for a while, but God has never let us down and something always turns up - usually at the last minute, and sometimes not at all what he was expecting.   I dont get at all stressed about it, although I think Keith does a bit as he feels the pressure to provide for his family.    A few days ago I found myself thinking that I really ought to be praying a bit more about his impending joblessness.  But as soon as I thought that , God reminded me of the kids I childmind.   They are 6 and 8.  It never occurs to them that their parents will not feed them or clothe them or put a roof over their heads.  They dont ask their parents for food or clothes or shelter.  Im pretty sure they have no real concept of the fact that it is their parents who work to feed , clothe and shelter them!.   They just get on with living and playing and having fun without a care in the world.   And I think that's how we should be with God.  

God has promised to meet our needs, to answer our prayers, to never leave us or forsake us.  So do we need to be constantly asking Him to provide for us?  He has already said He will.   BUT.......  theres that pesky little ' give us this day our daily bread' thing.   Why should we have to daily ask for stuff God has already said He is more than willing to give us??    If we are to be like little children, who basically just trust that food will appear in the fridge and all will be well, then do we really need to pray about the very basics of life?   And doesn't it seem ridiculously selfish to be praying for our own needs when there are so many bigger, scarier more important things that need our prayers?

OK.  So here's where I've got to with this.   Jesus teaches us to ask for our daily bread, but He also says that man cannot live by bread - man needs to live by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God ( Matt 4:4)  so perhaps we are not to be asking so much for our physical needs to be met but for God to meet our spiritual needs every day by His word, written and spoken, coming towards us and being apprehended and inwardly digested.  This is why I write the blog.  To try to make myself focus every day on whatever it is that is proceeding out of the mouth of God for this day.  As my daily bread.  Trusting that He is already providing me with the loaf I need for lunch.





Lord, thank you for all the things that you provide for me every day and which I take utterly for granted.  Thank you for food on the table, a roof over my head, peace in my country, education and healthcare systems, democracy and church, family and friends.  Thank you that You are with me and will never leave me.  Thank you that you know me, love me and meet all my needs.  This Lent help me to listen for the daily bread in your word which proceeds from your mouth and is speaking to me.  May I not only hear it, but digest it and live by it.   Amen


Addendum.  Between writing this and posting it Keith has heard his contract is being extended for another 10 months  😊

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