Having a range of tools to engage with God: getting creative

When I was really sick I often couldn’t read more than a verse or two of the Bible at a time or attend church meetings. I had to find some different ways to engage with God, I needed more tools in my toolbox. One of these was painting with worship music on, I had never […]

Ideas to help those with physical limitations engage with church

Some friends were so desperate to get their sick friend to Jesus that they made a hole in the roof where Jesus was preaching (Mark 2:1-4). Jesus didn’t make comments about the mess; he saw their faith and forgave the man’s sins and then healed him (Mark 2:5-8). He clearly wanted the sick to be […]

Difficulty and Discouraging Situations: The Little Picture

As a Christian how should we tackle difficult and discouraging situations? This is something my husband David and I have thought a lot about in the last few years. We think it is important to have the right perspective when looking at the big picture by focusing on God’s greatness and purposes without losing sight […]

Difficulty and God’s re-direction/re-commissioning

Difficult times such as illness force some reflection on what is important in life and how to spend one’s energy, time and money. God can in fact use difficult times in our lives to recommission us or redirect us in the way he wants us to go. God has redirected me from work in International […]

Jesus Our Good Shepherd

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the references in the Bible to sheep; specifically Jesus being our good shepherd (as outlined in John 10:1-21) and what this means for those of us in tough circumstances. I find it pretty humbling to be compared by Jesus to a sheep (John 10:3); if you have […]

God’s gentle reminder of his providence on a bad day

I’m really tired today (when I wrote this a few weeks ago not when it was published) and also depressed. Not a great combination with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as they make each other worse… I find it really hard when I’m like this. Well meaning people remind me that this would have been a good […]

Where is your identity found?

As detailed in my post entitled Identity with Chronic Illness, I had to confront and wrestle with the fact that getting sick showed me my identity was closely linked to my academic/career success and not just to the fact I was a Child of God (John 1:12). The truth is that as a Christian, whether […]

Strategies to engage in sung worship when sick

My last post was about ‘The Importance of Worship’ particularly sung worship. Now if you have a chronic illness engaging with sung worship may be difficult, here are some of the strategies I have used, please let me know some of yours: If you are able to, listen to worship songs or even parts of […]

Identity with Chronic Illness

Something I have had to wrestle a lot with since becoming ill is my identity. I have loved God for many years but when I got ill an uncomfortable truth I had to confront was that my identity was closely linked to my academic/career success. I’m still very much on a journey with this and […]

Some Thoughts on Psalm 62

I have been looking at Psalm 62 and have been greatly encouraged by it because it shows how God is the best place to come to when life is tough. Below are some thoughts on a few verses from the psalm. Seek refuge and shelter in God: ‘Truly he is my rock and my salvation; […]

Testimony is powerful!

Every Christian has a unique testimony and this is such a powerful resource for sharing with others about God’s love. As it says in Revelation 12:11: ‘They triumphed over him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.‘ I absolutely love hearing people’s stories, how they have faced the highs and […]

Giving God Your Best Time

Let me be upfront I find giving God my best time really hard and I often don’t manage it. When I get some energy I will often go straight to my ‘to do’ list (which is always long) without giving God a second thought. It isn’t easy to stop and decide to engage with God […]

Some tips for interacting with people who are sick

Do you wonder how best to interact with people who are sick? Or maybe more to the point what not to say and do? Clearly everyone is different so there are not hard and fast rules but here are a few of my thoughts after 3.5 years of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome an ‘invisible illness’ where […]

Repeat words of truth

I have challenged myself to say these verses to myself whenever I feel low during the day: ‘This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.’ Psalm 188:24 (ESV) ‘…the joy of the Lord is my strength.’ Nehemiah 8:10 I find these verses super challenging. The last […]

Utilise Digital Christian Resources

Sometimes when reading the Bible or a Christian book has been very challenging I have found other forms of Christian media really helpful. This post is going to explore a Christian film I watched and how it challenged me and also how Christian radio has been a brilliant help to me. War Room I recently […]