“God’s promise of enjoying his rest still stands. So be careful that none of you fails to receive it.” Hebrews 4:1

Rest is good for our bodies, our souls, our spirits, and our families. Rest replenishes us and enables us to get up and go again.

But rest is also more than that.

Rest is a holy place.

Rest is a place where we meet with God.

Rest is a chance to delight in God, and delight with God.

I met him at church, we shared the same faith, the same values, the same interests. We made each other laugh. We got on well with each other’s families. 6 months in we were talking about getting engaged and I was envisaging myself joining the circle of shiny, happy Christian marriages I had been so inspired by and so longed for growing up. Then, all of a sudden, it fell apart.

It seems like Christmas gets earlier every year. Many people have had their tree and decorations up for weeks already. Just putting it out there, I’m not always a major fan of Christmas for a few reasons. Don’t get me wrong, there’s great elements of it I do love and lots of fun things happen at this time of year, but it can also be overwhelming, especially after the last 18 months where we’ve been restricted in who we can see/what we can do. 

There are many positive experiences I associate with these 3 words. The excitement of buying new shoes, getting the latest pencil case or cool pens, seeing friends again and knowing that there is a fresh year ahead full of possibilities…but going back to school can bring up other feelings too – anxiety and nervousness about the year ahead, worries about how I will come across to my colleagues and pupils, fears of failure.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ response to a global pandemic or to lockdown. Some people have found it easy to follow the rules, some people have found it impossible, some people have chosen to follow them and some people have chosen not to. Wherever you fit onto the scale of emotions right now I want you to stop for a minute, close your eyes and tell yourself – it’s OK to feel this way.

We can often view prayer as just asking - almost a sort of Christian magical wishing well. But asking is more a result of the purpose of prayer - not the purpose itself.

In this day and age, influencers rule the world. They are the people with the ‘best' cause, the most attractive look, the most controversial opinion. They are the ones with tonnes of followers and who get all the paid partnerships. But what if I were to tell you that God made YOU to be an influencer? YOU, my friend, are called to influence.

We are so excited to be launching our new website full of great and exciting new content that we have been building over the last year. It’s been great to have something to look forward to in amongst all the uncertainty of the world around us.

It’s easy to get caught up in the negativity of the present situation and feel overwhelmed by it. That also includes the lifting of restrictions and what might be the daunting thought of going back to normal. But what if we choose to see things from a different perspective?