Earth is crammed with heaven

#MissingMillions is a social media campaign to raise awareness of the estimated millions of people who are missing from society because there is so little funding into ME/CFS research. Current NICE guidelines recommend graded exercise therapy. At worst this has caused disability. At best it has set patients back months, sometimes years. Our personal experience of this was when our son Ryan was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 2009. He was 13 at the time. Thankfully we found a Dr and physio who understood the illness. 18 months later he was fully recovered, after doing the very opposite of current NICE guidelines. He's now 22 and just completed a degree in Sports Coaching & Science. The irony isn't lost on us. ME is not a popular illness. Don't misunderstand me, no illness is popular. But ME was christened 'yuppy flu' in the 80's. I've heard it called the 'Pull yourself together disease'. Can you imagine how th...

I watch with bated breath every spring. But this one? This one was different. It had been uprooted from where it had grown for 13 years. A new home. New life. Different county. Different soil. Different world. Would it even survive the upheaval? Today it is flowering, 10 months on. More than that it's flourishing in it's new environment. Greater buds and blooms than ever before. Signs of growth. Of new roots being established. It was a precious cargo containing memories of lives and loves. A thing of beauty. Hardier than it appeared at first glance. Bringing joy Peace Blessing Promise. Thank you God for new beginnings. For a place to settle. For a world in which we love and are loved. May I trust your heart when I don't understand your plan. Now and for ever. Chris's parents bought us this chamellia Its simple beauty brings me hope. It blooms every year about this time.

I don't like Glenn Hoddle. Every time I see him on TV, which in our house is quite often, I say something derogatory. ' Why is he even on there? He was sacked as England manager.' Is my usual response to his punditry. Definition alert: Punditry is a technical term meaning a person, usually a man, who can talk incessantly about football. That's most men, as far as I can tell. On Saturday I was thinking about injustice. I'd taken a photo of the tills in Tesco, ready for my Lent photo challenge. But when I got home I took this photo. Warning: Photo also contains Michael Owen. I quite like him. Though he has an annoying voice. Not as annoying as Jamie Carragher. What happened to commentators having nice voices? #someonehelpme Here's the photo: Now I have my reasons for not liking Glenn Hoddle. He was sacked as England manager in 1999 for making a silly remark about disabled people. At the time we were leaders of...

Today is #TimetoTalk Day. The day designated to get people talking about 'mental illness.' As I type I realise that people often focus on the word 'mental', and don't get as far as the world 'illness'. And that's half the problem. I have an illness . A mental health illness. I don't have mental health 'issues' . I'm not 'mental.' I have an illness. An illness that doesn't necessarily make me sad, though sometimes it does. The symptoms I get make me feel empty, exhausted, anxious, unable to hold a conversation. and I get marshmallow-brain, or brain fog. Sometimes I struggle to put one foot in front of the other. Sometimes I'm irritable and snappy. Sometimes I can't sleep for night after night, and sometimes I can do it with my eyes shut.... Sometimes I'm tearful. Sometimes I can hold it all together to work, chat, socialise, laugh, do what's required, and you'd never know ...

Today is Candlemas. The day that remembers Mary & Joseph presenting Jesus in the Temple. They met Simeon & Anna; Both prophets. Both faithful. Both very, very old. God had given them a promise, it would seem. And it was many, many years before they saw Jesus, the promised One. Many, many winters. Long. Lonely. Maybe they had thought 'Is this the one?' Only to have their hopes dashed Over and over again. And you know I can relate. Maybe you can too? I live with an illness that varies in intensity, but never completely subsides. And with every prayer that is prayed for me and over me and with me, my hope rises. Now Lord? Is it now? Has healing come? And it would seem the answer is invariably, No. The last seven days have been difficult. I sensed 'an episode' on it's way. This time I didn't fight it so hard. I took some time. Cancelled some stuff. Watched some films. Slept a bit. Then slept some more, And worked when...

It's that time of year again. I'm not a resolution type person, there are too many goodies to finish off yet. But I do like the One Word 365 movement. And the idea of having a word for the year appeals to me. Past words have been BREATHE (always a good idea...) CONTENT as opposed to happy. But as I approached the end of 2015 I realised I couldn't remember what my word had been. As I looked back I realised my word could easily have been frustrated, shocked, disappointed or gall-bladder for the first half of 2015. Closely followed by surprise, trust or settle in the second half. Then yesterday I remembered... My chosen word was FREE. Interesting.... because even though I'd forgotten my word I had lived it over and over. In choices and decisions. In prayers and petitions. In an Abraham and Isaac moment where I put my all on the altar in order to be free, and at the last moment God showed me a ram in the thicket. So maybe it's not so m...

Christmas Eve. A night of possibilities. Light. Life. Love. As the sun sets, and darkness covers the earth the world waits in hushed expectancy. Stars appear more radiant. Lights seem brighter, We wait... 'Today you will know that the Lord will come, and in the morning you will see His glory.' Exodus 16:6-7 Tonight we will know... And In the morning we will see... Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace for you and me on whom his favour rests. Rest in his favour tonight. Feel His love. Know His presence. For His name shall be called Immanuel which means God With Us.