Last Friday my alarm woke me as usual, I reached for the snooze button and responded on its second sound. It was a work day so I had to get moving. As I ate breakfast I read a Psalm. I’d got to Psalm 130. “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O…
Tag: hope
Coffee, Mountains, God’s Faithfulness
Shhhh! I have a morning off. Don’t tell anyone. I allowed myself to sleep in until 6.45am this morning. There are no appointments. I don’t have to get anyone anywhere. There is no work – nowhere I have to be right now. There is a list, but the list can wait. I have a large…
The Day After Valentine’s Day
Since I woke up on Valentine’s morning in a less than romantic mood, and my long-suffering husband and I didn’t even mention Valentine’s Day until after work, I thought it best to leave the lovey-dovey posts to others yesterday. Valentine’s Day is often not the most romantic day of the year – for us anyway….
Palaces, Concert Halls or Out in the Fields
When I was a little girl, I went through a stage of wanting to be famous. I wanted to be a TV presenter. I wanted to be noticed. I don’t know where this ambition came from. It’s clearly not a dream that came true. I was asked to read a story in our Church family’s…
Farewell Christmas Lights
Our street is still cheered by the warm glow of Christmas lights on the houses at night. I like them lighting up the snow. In only a handful of days they will be switched off – to be taken down later when it’s a little less like a freezer outside. Still, the Christmas festivities will…
Looks Like Work or Looks Like Glory
I stood in the line at Costco. I was buying a handful of things, including a big 10kg bag of flour which was in my shopping cart as it’s a bit heavy to lift onto the belt. ‘Is this yours?’ the cashier asked the lady in front of me. As I opened my mouth to…
The Life in Life Group
On our one and only flat windowsill in the house I have tiny pots of seedlings. Shoots are springing up, but the chili seeds are very slow. There’s not been a sign of any life until this morning. When I pulled up the blind this morning there was the first little shoot in one of…
Hope for the World
In an hour period listening to the radio this morning while I did some housework and then loaded up our advent calendar with chocolate, I heard of disillusionment with big business, loss of faith in governments, threats of increased world unemployment, worries about tyrannical leaders, breakdown of treaties between countries and fear of world war in…
Hope in the Shape of a Rose
We have a small rose bush in our front garden. It was given to us as a house-warming present over six years ago. Each year, until this one, and to my amazement, it has come alive again after the long cold winter and bloomed all summer long. This year it didn’t. I’m not certain why – I’m…
New year, new beginnings, new hope
Something strange happened on the last couple of Saturdays. As we sipped our morning tea and coffee (me tea, Tim coffee) Tim asked, ‘What shall we do today?’ Not such an unusual question, but Saturdays are not often like that for us. For the past I don’t know how long Tim has worked at the…
A little street life
I think we could call this, ‘the day the street woke up’. A bit of warm weather, the merest whiff of spring, and everything and everyone comes alive. The day started with sunshine coming through the window. I love that on a Saturday when the day is ours, and with a quick bleary-eyed glance at…
Emma's English Kitchen 