Cultivating a Spirit of Thankfulness

Today was very special for me; I walked the 20 minutes up a valley needed to see this beautiful bluebell carpet, it was breath-taking and the smell was amazing. Due to four years of chronic illness (more on that here) and living away from the area before then I haven’t seen them in years. The […]

Growing In Prayer

God has been really trying to get my attention recently on how absolutely vital prayer is. Prayer enables us to connect with God (Jeremiah 33:3), gain wisdom (James 1:5), and see circumstances change (Mark 11:24). I have recently read an excellent book called Dirty Glory by Pete Grieg. It’s about prayer, mission and justice. The […]

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 […]

Prayer Ideas: What Has God Put Directly In Front Of You?

Sometimes I find it hard to know what to pray about, the world is so vast and there are so many needs, it can be hard to know where to start. Or sometimes with my fatigue I struggle to think of anything to pray for. In these situations one thing I find helpful is to think […]

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 […]

Our daily bread: God’s provision

Matthew 6:8 says: ‘…for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.’ I have found that what I think I need and what I actually need are often different. I have begged God on so many occasions to heal me and I’m not completely well yet although I believe one day in his […]

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 […]

The Importance of Sung Worship

Worship is how we show our adoration and thankfulness for God. How we live our whole lives is worship to God, as Romans 12:1 says: ‘…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship.’ Therefore what we think about, how we spend our time and how […]

Not Letting Disappointments and Difficult Times Define You

Yesterday I heard an excellent sermon by Roger Bye which was focused on the story of Caleb as told in the book of Joshua. Specifically how he clung onto God’s promise that he would enter the promise land for 45 years! (Joshua 14:6-13) During this very long wait, Roger mentioned he probably felt at points bitter, […]

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 […]

What is the purpose of this blog?

Hi my name is Lucy, I’m a Christian. This blog is about purpose, identity and strategies for engaging with God when facing a difficult situation such as illness or bereavement. It is for those facing tough things but also for friends and family who are encouraging them in the Lord. I draw on my own […]