David Francis

Some years ago, I had an amazing revelation when attempting to make my own yeast to raise my bread. I took equal quantities of wheat, flour and water, mixed them together & left it covered in a dark cupboard. Incredibly, after 3 days and 3 nights, it had risen!

Ian Revie

We were on holiday on the west coast of Ireland - bleak, barren and beautiful land and sea-scapes all at the same time. Our youngest daughter wanted to hike in the Blue Stack mountains, so we found a 'moderate' 5 mile hike around two hills & a river.

Lucy Holt

In the summer, in an art gallery, I saw a kintsugi vase. It's a way of repairing very precious ceramic. Rather than throwing away the beautiful but broken object, it is repaired using gold as a glue to hold the pieces together. It is more beautiful than the original.

Helen Francis

Music & singing has always been a love of mine and I've recently been revisiting songs & hymns that have been meaningful to me throughout my Christian journey. I began to consider more deeply why these hymns had stayed with me for over fifty decades.

Joy Revie

Sometimes I have felt that it's only the big things in my life that I should ‘bother’ God with - choosing a life partner, career, job change, relocation, family crisis, illness, bereavement, divorce. But does God only require my focus and my Yes at these times?

Emma

It is very difficult to have hope without God. To me, hope is not just about believing things will necessarily get better and mustering up inner strength, but trusting that God is in it with me, trusting in His promises and in His faithfulness.

Ian Revie

Sometimes I have days where I am unsure about my life purpose & calling, and I love that God has a purpose for our lives, and that we will experience our highest levels of happiness & fulfilment when we discover and begin to fulfil that purpose. But how do we find it?

Helen Francis

It's easy to get into a habit of praying only through the lens of our own solutions: we think we know what is needed, so we pray for that outcome, and look in that direction for an answer. Then when answers to prayers are not meeting expectations at some point, we ask "why"?

Louise Harris

Ancestry is an interesting factor in understanding who we are, and where we come from. It can be incredibly emotive, and it is surprising how many traits, interests and even physical characteristics pass down the generations.

Elaine Utting

A couple of weeks ago there was a ‘Fake Festival’ on The Stray, with bands playing ‘non-stop, adrenaline-pumping mega anthems that are just screaming to be rocked!’ As humans, we need those times when hearts are joined together - by songs touching on shared experiences of life.

David Francis

Elections consume a lot of nations time and money, yielding human hope and aspiration for ‘Change’. Christians proclaim a message that will wipe all these tears away! There is a new world coming - and we see glimpses of it breaking through even today.

Joy Revie

I really love our times of worship in Harrogate Vineyard. As we sing, the sense of the Holy Spirit's presence is tremendous. The words of one of my favourite songs, Make Room, challenge me every time. What's my reality of daily accepting ‘Your way is better’?

Sheree Morris

I was thinking about the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, and how the Sower tells his servants to wait, letting the weeds in effect grow up alongside the wheat until the harvest, and I was challenged as to how we can successfully do this.

Ian Revie

Often in my life just now it appears to me that God is contradicting the vision He has given me to plan and deliver. When I look back on my life, the contradiction appears to be connected with my impatience, and often there is a long wait in the journey. Why?

Helen Francis

As many of you will know, at the moment David and I are spending five weeks touring the Highlands and Islands of Scotland in our caravan. As well as being able to revisit places we've been, we are enjoying the delight of discovering and exploring new places together.

Louise Harris

I have known God’s tender comfort and healing when my heart has been broken, and I’ve experienced this directly and also very often through others. It leads me to think how do we reflect this in the way we treat others around us.

Elaine Utting

During a hot spell a pot in my backyard had become very dry. The root growth had filled it, so there was no room for the water, and it was running off the sides. Once I’d noticed, I began to give it a little water several times a day instead.

David Francis

Horlicks and Ian Dury and the Blockheads! Not a combination you might think would in any way connects to this week’s inspiration. However, our visit to Colonel Sir James Horlicks‘ Achamore gardens provided "reasons to be cheerful" (Ian Dury reference) at every step.

Joy Revie

Ian and I have recently completed walking the West Highland Way - 96 miles through everchanging landscape. Often the path seemed daunting as we looked ahead, yet perfectly manageable when we looked back! Looking down gave a very different perspective.

Nam Biyani

Every-time I read the story of Peter walking on water with Jesus it makes me think that was it not obvious that a man stepping out of boat into the sea would drown? But, in Peter’s case, God made an exception.