Jesus said, "I am the light of the world..."

A powerful prayer written by Max Lucado:

Dear Jesus,
It's a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.
These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.
The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?
Your

 world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod's jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.
Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.
Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won't you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.
This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.
Hopefully,
Your children

Is there really a baby in there?!

Well it's been an exciting week. Getting to announce the news about "baby Mc7ey" was such a joy. Jamie and I were truly overwhelmed by all the support and encouragement we received. I can still hardly believe it. I look at my growing bump, morning sickness, loss of appetite, remember the 3 positive pregnancy tests, chat to the midwife, yet am still in disbelief. You can ask my husband. Most days I am not convinced. Is there really a baby in there?! I find myself  asking this several times a day.I am simply too excited. But what a joy! What excitement. A new life, and God is allowing ME to carry it and bring it into this world?! What an incredible and humbling privilege.

I must admit, I have found the Christmas story to be extra exciting this year. All of a sudden, I can relate to Mary the mother of Jesus?! What?! I catch myself reading and wondering. What that must have felt like for Mary to carry God in her womb!? I wonder the emotions and feelings of joy, anxiety, and excitement she must of had. Instead of asking, "Is there really a baby in there?", I can imagine her asking, "Is God really the baby that is inside of me!?" Wow. What an amazing miracle. The divine invasion: Christ coming to earth as a baby. A helpless baby. Coming in the womb of a teenage girl. I stand amazed. I stand in awe. How could this be?

Yet, I look down at my bump, and yet again, I stand amazed. How could this be?! How could He choose me, for this?

What an honour. What a joy. What a wonderful Saviour.

Reading earlier in Luke's Gospel, we read of Zechariah's encounter with the Angel Gabriel. He has just found out that him and his wife Elizabeth, though quite far along in years, will be expecting a child! My response to the news I received is similar to Zechariah's response over 2,000 years ago: disbelief.

"Do not be afraid , Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God." -Luke 1: 13-16

I can't help but read this and softly pray: Lord, may this precious child you have given to us point to the one who has come, Christ Jesus our Lord. May he or she find favour in the sight of the Lord; yet, I pray that most of all, he or she might bring many people back to God, bringing glory to His name.

"Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard." I love that...

All my life I have dreamt of being two things: a wife and a mom. In 2011, the first of those dreams came true. And now, here we are in 2012, my life-long dreams have both been fulfilled. It is as though, God has heard the cry of my heart, and has answered the prayer that I have prayed since being a young girl.

We have always wanted to be parents; those of you who know us well will know that we are beyond overjoyed for what lies ahead, we praise God that He has given us this incredible life so anxiously awaited. We know we have a lot to learn, but for now we say: what a joy, what a privilege, what a Saviour!

"But our citizenship is in Heaven.."

My heart feels full this morning. I feel encouraged and joyful. I feel secure and strangely at peace, though my circumstances haven't actually changed.

For some of you that have been following a bit of mine and Jamie's story, you'll know that we've been thinking and talking about visas. It may seem boring and meaningless to you, but for us--this simple document has the potential to change our lives entirely--our life, our love, our family, and our marriage is on the line.

Everything is at stake. The cost is great, but the loss would be far greater.

The UK government  (for understandable reasons) has imposed a new law upon couples in which one of the partners is international. Thus, the rule applies to our situation. Unless you and your partner can financially meet X amount of money or assets, the future does not look good for you. In fact, in your future you might even face the threat or reality of separation from the one you love.

How could they do this? How could they separate YOU? These are just a couple of the many questions we've received. I know it doesn't make sense. I know it doesn't seem possible, or fair. Trust me, I've had this same conversation with myself. But whether we like it or not, in this day and age, the government has the final say. The decision is theirs.

Based on mine and Jamie's circumstances, money is limited, lacking, or non-existent. You see, we aren't in the "line of work" that we're in for the money, and we knew we wouldn't be. We didn't want to be. We simply are here to serve God, young people, and the community in which God has placed around us. We want to live lives that reflect Jesus' glory in all that we do.

We are students who fell in love, were separated by an ocean, got married and involved in full time youth ministry, and now...we're facing the unbearable question: will we be separated again? Could it really all come down to these coins and pieces of paper? This very thing that we have tried so hard to be content without? Even though we've trusted that God has and would continue to provide for our every need as we seek Him? Well, the answer is yes, and no.

The government could infact deny my visa application, making it very difficult  for me to remain living in the UK, and that would be down to our financial capabilities, or lack of them.

However, what God has joined together, let no man separate (Mark 10:9).

So, you see. We are up against the rulers and officials of this world; yet, we do not fear a "decision", and we do not lose heart, because nothing can separate US from the LOVE of CHRIST (Romans 8:28-39).

Sure, we as two people could potentially be separated; but hear this. Nothing. N.O.T.H.I.N.G can separate us from God's love for us. And therefore, we will be just fine. My soul rejoices in this truth. I take great delight in my Saviour who has rescued me from the worry of things such as this. Things that appear big and impossible, that He has proved time and time again, are of no real challenge for Him. He is faithful.

So with that said, my soul is full today knowing that the paperwork is finished, the headaches can leave, and I can rest secure knowing that my visa application has been completed, paid for, and is now on it's way to the Home Office. I feel incredibly excited about this, as strange as it may sound.

And you know what I will hold on to today? Philippians 3:20-21...

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly away a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring EVERYTHING under control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body."

Wow, what a day that will be.

You see friends, even if I am allowed (and I pray that I will be) to settle in the UK, I will still not be fully home. My home is in Heaven, with God. And it is for THAT citizenship that I look most forward to! I cannot wait for the day when I will not have to get out my passport, walk through customs, or fill out 100 million pieces of complicated papers. I will simply fall at the feet of my Saviour, with inadequate paperwork to show for my insignificant life on earth, and will bask in the grace and citizenship that HE has so FREELY given me.

My, oh my. What a joy it will be to be to hear my Saviour say, "Welcome Home." And to know that no passport or visa is needed, nor accepted in this Kingdom.

Are you confident where your true citizenship lies? Today, you can know for sure.

The Greatest Poverty

‎"The greatest poverty in the world is a lack of friends: you wouldn't let your friend live in a cardboard box; you wouldn't let your friend be sold or prostituted, and you wouldn't let your friend starve to death." -Patrick Reagan

Inspiration from a 10-year Old

Check out what Samuel, a 10-year old who comes to Central Hall in Plymouth, wrote to conclude his school project on Buddhism. Amazing. Thank you Samuel for sharing your faith in Christ so boldly and for standing up for what you believe in. I am so proud of you. 

Sugar-coated

The other night I had an awful headache. It was my own fault as I, being the talented person that I am, ran into a glass window with my head, but that is beside the point. Anyways,  as he always does,  out of care and provision for me, my sweet husband encouraged me to take some ibuprofen to help manage the pain.  As a stubborn person who has always hated swallowing tablets, I tried to refuse the pain for as long as I could, denying it the right to stay. However, my attempt to trick my own mind failed miserably. Eventually, it was so painful that I knew I had to give in to these two little, round sugar-coated tablets. As I tried my best to overcome my mental hatred for medicine, the tablets refused to go down; they floated around in my mouth as I threw back my head and made funny faces, cringing at the taste of the sugar-coated tablets. This got me thinking.

Why sugar-coat something that is naturally disgusting? Why try to disguise something as something it is not? After all, we all know that tablets are not going to taste good, no one takes them because they enjoy the flavour—they enjoy the affect that comes after taking the tablet. Yet, it is as though health manufacturers are trying to trick us into believing that just because they have coated something horrible in something (supposably) nice or better tasting that all will be right with the world.

As I continued to fight my own mind—one side of my brain begging the tablets to slide down my throat whilst the other side of my brain discouraged them to do so,  I wanted it to all be finished. Of course, at the end of the day it was just a headache and ibuprofen and it didn’t really matter, yet the moral of the story did matter to me.

Why? Because we do this with so many different things in our lives; we sugar-coat things to convince ourselves that some things aren’t as bad as they might seem. Whether it’s a sin we are struggling with, a temptation or addiction--we sugar-coat it as though it’s “not that bad” or "we've got it under control". Yet inside, we continue to fight the war that is waging within our souls. Or maybe it’s a wound that we keep bandaging in the hope that if we put a plaster on it, it won’t actually affect us because we won't be able to see it. It happens in families, it happens with parents. Sugar-coated marriages and homes portraying everything is fine when actually, nothing is fine and divorce is just a few days away. We sugar-coat because we are afraid to taste that which is horrible and disgusting at its core—bitterness, pain, grief, anger, and more. We don’t want to feel it, so we, like the healthcare partners, try to trick our consciences.

Sadly, things are even sugar-coated in church. The gospel is sugar-coated. We want people to know Jesus and find hope for their lives, yet out of fear of what they might think or our own reputation, we back down, become quiet and reserved, and miss massive opportunities to change the world.

Personally, I don’t want to be a sugar-coated anything. Christian, wife, daughter, youth worker, sister, or friend. I want to be real. What you see is what you will get. Yes, it will be painful but isn’t it worth it? Isn’t it worth not adding all the extra hassle to our already hectic and somewhat chaotic realities? Life is already a struggle as it is.

Let’s be human—admitting our weaknesses, not being afraid to fail and learn from those mistakes, broken people who simply want to be healed and find community in all of the destruction. Let’s be human again, forsaking our sugar-coated ways. They are deceiving no-one. We’re all in this together, Christians, Atheists—everyone. We are all living, so it’s time we were real. Let’s talk about what matters, but also what hurts, and together, let’s find hope in the One who can save us from the headaches, wounds, addictions, and more. Let's find Jesus in the midst of it all, together.  

Today for Me will not be Today for You

Today I have been challenged with this idea. Today for me will not be today for you. What I mean by this is that whilst my day is full of good things, peace, healthy marriage relationship, and more your day very well might be full of pain, tears, or suffering of some kind.

Of course we all have our days. Good days, mediocre days, and then days perhaps we wish never even happened.

Today I want you to know that I am thinking of you and praying for you. Whoever you are and wherever you might live. My thoughts and prayers are with you for whatever today might hold for you.

To those of you who are feeling weak, my prayer is that you would find your strength in God.

To those who are feeling overwhelmed, I pray that today you will find and experience God's peace.

To those of you who might be in some sort of trouble, my prayer is that you will find security and comfort in God's love for you.

To those of you who are insomniacs, I pray your tiredness will be turned into refreshment and rest for your soul and mind.

To those of you who are grieving a loss, I pray that the peace and love of God would hold you and keep you from collapsing.

To those of you who are feeling empty, I pray that today you would find purpose and meaning in the story of God.

To those of you who are in an unhealthy marriage or relationship, I pray that you and your partner/family will find hope and restoration in a relationship with God.

To those of you who are experiencing addiction of any kind, I pray that today you will find release and freedom in Christ.

To those of you who are experiencing the breakdown of your family, I pray that God would begin to heal your wounds today and bring reconciliation to that which has been broken.

To those of you who will experience things that I will not today, I say I am sorry for your pain, yet remind you of the hope that can be found in Jesus.

To those of you who are feeling content and happy, I pray that God would sustain you and fill you with even more joy and gratefulness.

This is not the end. There is a God in heaven who has been pursing you since before you were born.

Will you pursue Him until you die?

Whatever today will hold for you, know that you are being prayed for.
Blessings to you all. Grace and Peace be with your spirits.