hope

Hello! Yes I still exist. I have been busy preparing to speak at Revive08 - the conference I mentioned earlier. Oh, and my husband went away last week, which always makes things more hectic! I spoke on Saturday at Revive - I was asked to speak on transformation and I ended up speaking about hope as key to transformation. It went well - thanks to God, and lots of prayer and support from people. My prayer is that my words will make a difference.

My favourite bit of praise? Sparky (who is turning 4 in about 9 days time) came up to me a couple of days later and said "Mummy, I am so proud of you". I'm not sure he really understood what I had been doing, but he had heard my parents and his Dad talking to me about it. Quite a bit recently, he has been making encouraging comments of this kind. So what I liked most about it is that he is starting to see that he can make a difference to others through his words to them.

Forbearance versus forgiveness

I had thought I had grown in how I dealt with people hurting me - but recently I think that I have grown in forbearance - being able to turn the other cheek , turn away harsh words with gentle and so on - but not as much in forgiveness - which strikes me that while an improvement it is still quite external. And really I haven't got to the heart of the matter then. These musings have come about through studying Joseph in Genesis - he used to be one of my least favourite biblical heros (see the arrogance with the dreams and the tricks with the cup and money), but since re-studying him I am in awe at his forgiveness for the brothers who sold him. The reconciliation between the brothers is like that of the prodigal son and the father (see the picture by Rembrandt). So, thinking about moving beyond simply bearing with people to having a giving generous heart.

Comeback and Talkback

New laptop finally - and I'm back!

So what do I say now I'm back?

I want to ask what YOU think.

I'm speaking at a conference thingie in a bit less than a couple of months- on transformation. I have been thinking lots on how this occurs, but I thought I might ask you what you think plays the biggest role in transformation (of individuals and communties). Or maybe you could share a story?

image by pdphoto.org