{"id":3275,"date":"2020-05-01T10:26:22","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T00:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3275"},"modified":"2020-05-01T10:29:20","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T00:29:20","slug":"from-barbaras-desk-01-05-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3275","title":{"rendered":"From Barbara’s Desk 01-05-2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello Faith Pals,
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Happy May!\u00a0 Where did January, February, March and April go?
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

One of the deep privileges in ministry, is meeting different people, and learning something of their story.\u00a0 God has made us all quite different-and isn\u2019t that a good thing!\u00a0 All of us have been through hard times, but we have also been able to celebrate wonderful occasions, perhaps the birth of a child, a wedding, a significant birthday, a graduation, etc.\u00a0 Good health, or healing from an illness or operation are also times for celebration, special occasions when we should give thanks.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Where is God in your life story?\u00a0 Reflect back on your life, and see God\u2019s hand.\u00a0 Sometimes it is good to travel back to your early memories, and see God in your childhood.\u00a0 When we are young, we are often more open to be free with our praise, or questions-more receptive to God\u2019s miracles around us.\u00a0 Who spent hours in the grass, watching beetles crawl, or ants parade back to their nests?\u00a0 Who sat under trees, watching the branches sway, or, lying flat on your back, imagining pictures in cloud formations? Or who remembers having an evening bath, and curling up warm and snug in bed?\u00a0 A parent\u2019s love can mirror God\u2019s love. If we watch the little, we are more likely to notice the big.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As we get older, we have a tendency to push God off the page, perhaps taking credit for something that is really God\u2019s doing. \u00a0Where have we seen God\u2019s hand writing our story?\u00a0 Have there been big changes?\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget Simon Peter, transformed from a humble fisherman, to becoming the leader of the church.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In our life story, there is no The End<\/em>.\u00a0 We are eternal beings, we continue on.\u00a0 Ecclesiastes 3: 11 says: \u2018He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart\u2026\u2019 (NIV).\u00a0 After our earthly life, there will be more\u2026much more.\u00a0 In the book The Last Battle<\/em>, the final book in the Narnia series, the children cross over into the afterlife.\u00a0 C. S. Lewis writes: \u2018But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.\u00a0 All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Live out God\u2019s story, which is written between the words, in the spaces on the pages of your life.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Blessings (and keep warm, dry and safe!)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara Allen<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello Faith Pals, Happy May!\u00a0 Where did January, February, March and April go? One of the deep privileges in ministry, is meeting different people, and learning something of their story.\u00a0 God has made us all quite different-and isn\u2019t that a good thing!\u00a0 All of us have been through hard times, but we have also been able to celebrate wonderful occasions, perhaps the birth of a child, a wedding, a significant birthday, a graduation, etc.\u00a0 Good health, or healing from an illness or operation are also times for celebration, special occasions when we should give thanks. Where is God in your life story?\u00a0 Reflect back on your life, and see God\u2019s hand.\u00a0 Sometimes it is good to travel back to your early memories, and see God in your childhood.\u00a0 When we are young, we are often more open to be free with our praise, or questions-more receptive to God\u2019s miracles around us.\u00a0 Who spent hours in the grass, watching beetles crawl, or ants parade back to their nests?\u00a0 Who sat under trees, watching the branches sway, or, lying flat on your back, imagining pictures in cloud formations? Or who remembers having an evening bath, and curling up warm and snug in bed?\u00a0 A parent\u2019s love can mirror God\u2019s love. If we watch the little, we are more likely to notice the big. As we get older, we have a tendency to push God off the page, perhaps taking credit for something that is really God\u2019s doing. \u00a0Where have we seen God\u2019s hand writing our story?\u00a0 Have there been big changes?\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget Simon Peter, transformed from a humble fisherman, to becoming the leader of the church. In our life story, there is no The End.\u00a0 We are eternal beings, we continue on.\u00a0 Ecclesiastes 3: 11 says: \u2018He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart\u2026\u2019 (NIV).\u00a0 After our earthly life, there will be more\u2026much more.\u00a0 In the book The Last Battle, the final book in the Narnia series, the children cross over into the afterlife.\u00a0 C. S. Lewis writes: \u2018But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.\u00a0 All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.\u2019 Live out God\u2019s story, which is written between the words, in the spaces on the pages of your life. Blessings (and keep warm, dry and safe!) Barbara Allen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Other Posts<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Hello Faith Pals, Happy May!\u00a0 Where did January, February, March and April go? One of the deep privileges in ministry, is meeting different people, and learning something of their story.\u00a0 God has made us all quite different-and isn\u2019t that a good thing!\u00a0 All of us have been through hard times, but we have also been…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3276,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3275\/revisions\/3276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}