THE ENCOURAGERS LIFE

  Details of the book referenced in this article will be listed at the end.   As I rolled around my back garden, developing games with my child, I never could have predicted the depth they would also bring to my walk through life.   My story of Hip Hooray and Robot Ray sailing the sea only to be eaten by a whale, involves, in every moment, the backpack that Hip carries with her on their journey.   Even though he has grown up. My child and I still play the game. We still sing the song. We still talk about the story. And most recently the backpack has become a focus of our deeper discussions.   I was surprised and humbled that God had made His way into a funny song and story. Making me see that He is part of the story.   In the book, the backpack is something they open up when they face troubles. The backpack is something they carry wherever they go. They rely on the backpack always. Much like how Christians rely on God. ...

Disclaimer Please be advised that the following article has details and description surrounding surgery and childbirth which some people may find upsetting.   I lay on the operating table as nurses and doctors buzzed around me.   One male nurse stayed with me.   I had had an epidural, a top up and then when it failed to numb the necessary, a got a spinal tap. Although I couldn’t feel my feet, or much else for that matter, I began to feel a burn.   They had retrieved my son from my stomach.   The hard part was over.   They had wrapped him and gave him to my husband.   I had even fed him whilst lying there open to the room full of people.   But I knew something wasn’t right.   I was there far too long.   The female doctor who had performed the caesarean looked panicked.   They nodded to each other from across the carnage that was my belly and one went and picked up the phone.   I was surprisingly calm.   Maybe it was the d...

  From my days as a youth worker I remember one particular night when the conversation went to Christianity. There was a great atmosphere that night. The usual group of guys were in and playing pool became the center focus. We laughed, played and chatted over their day and plans. One lad piped up and said, ‘I don’t think that I could become a Christian right now. I will just make too many mistakes. I just know I couldn’t do it. So I will wait and hopefully I will be able to be one when I am older.’ When I look back at the conversation it hurts. The boy hasn’t become a Christian and I  feel, it’s a testimony of a living a half life.  Its an example of having something inside you, call out, but yet you feel you aren’t worthy or capable of answering it. Therefore it simply doesn’t happen. How many people have had the same experience? Unrealised dreams? Untapped potential? A yearning never fulfilled? All because they looked at their lives and thought, maybe one day I will be ...