We all have lines around us. Mostly invisible. People cross the lines, and we are hurt, but we also cross the lines of others. The line had been crossed so many times that they were losing their own personal identity. Bullies, thugs, robbers, and thieves had crossed over into their […]
Nehemiah
22 posts
We think our lives have a strength to them, but remove a few Jenga pegs, experience a shock, and we can easily topple to the stress. So we build with each other and find new resilience. A couple of mornings ago, my son said ‘Nice Jenga Dad.’ I was puzzled, […]
If you want long-term gain, you need to accept short-term pain. We want ‘quick-fix’ solutions and instant gratification but reaping never comes before sowing. When my counselor said we would have to go through this unbearable feeling, I felt a kind of pulling back. Did I really want to go […]
Pressure within is building. How do you let it out without destroying precious relationships? You prick the balloon in a safe controlled planned out way. You need to let it out or it will eat you up.
The change was barely noticeable unless you knew them well enough to know that this was significant. It was a small change in their behaviour, a problem that had plagued them for most of their life, but now it was gone. They wanted a miracle, like the over night delivery of […]
‘If it wasn’t for sin I would be out of a job’. This was a little quip I came up with when I was a pastor. The life of sinfulness and helping people through the mess kept me employed, gave me a living. It does for many of us, especially those in […]
I didn’t realise life would be such a fight. I thought life was meant to be like a gentle stroll along a flower strewn pathway, chatting with best friends. Well that’s what I was designed for wasn’t I? In reality though I am in a fight, and you are too. […]
Fatigue seems to sap out any reserve you might have to go on. I remember visiting him in the Intensive Care Unit in our local hospital. After a huge overdose of pills he had woken up to discover he was still alive. His attempt at suicide had not succeeded. His […]
It’s OK to be angry, and seriously I think we could get more angry, about a lot of things, and it would actually help. In fact the Bible tells us to be angry!
I don’t think I could ever be a politician. I look at what politicians have to put up with and know I couldn’t handle it. Adulation one day, then a knife in the back the next. All those negative voices. People wanting to tear you down, and being ready to […]
Even you need to be part of the rebuild. There are some people who really get me fired up. They are the ones who in essence say ‘I don’t want to get my hands dirty’. They essentially don’t want to be part of what you are doing. As a child […]
I want to do it my way. I don’t need others help. I can rebuild my life and recover in my own strength. To admit that I need help is a sign of weakness. That I am just like them. No, I am better than that. I will continue to […]
The old saying is true. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. It’s also true that you can take the water to the horse, put the water in a china cup and sprinkle rose petals over and it still won’t drink. In my years as a […]
I love watching those ‘Mission Impossible’ shows. The script takes you to places where you wonder how this ‘Mission Impossible’ will be resolved because if it isn’t, then the whole city is going to be destroyed in a nuclear explosion. I have met people who live in the shadow of […]
Every Tuesday night in our church service, John would stand up and like a little mouse, he would come to the front and ask permission to share a passage he had memorised. The Living Room church service was set up to be an alternative to the mainstream services held on […]
He could have said it was their problem to solve. He could have told them what they should do. He could have sat back and given out ‘good’ advice. He could have done nothing and gone home. Instead he owned the problem as if it was his own, because it […]
On first appearances everything looked great until you went underneath. The old house had that lovely country cottage feel about it but as time went on discoveries were made of rotting walls, leaking pipes and drains not working properly. There was always going to more underneath than what was first […]
I recently watched some guys putting down a concrete path. Just before they laid the concrete down, a mesh of steel reinforcing was placed into the trench. The concrete was then poured around this mesh until hidden away. Now I have seen concrete work done where there was no reinforcing […]
Rebuilding Walls have weakened, crumbling, sinking low to ground, sagged like our spirits as they view the sorry edifice before us
I thought I could handle this one myself. That I didn’t need help from others. A ‘pioneering, do-it-yourself’ attitude had worked its way into the rebuilding of my life. I thought to myself ‘I don’t need others to know what is going on, I can handle it all, it will work out ok.’ […]