Well, here’s some good news in the midst of horrible ongoing suffering for crash victims. Homes are being set up for folk to live in whose lives have been decimated by a road accident.
Where does a person live who needs round the clock care? In a hospital? A nursing home? Where? Now a solution that has some promise of hope for the victims, and their friends and families.
My heart felt a surge of joy that something good was being done to help others. And, my prayer is that this sort of thing would continue and grow, that compassion and kindness would be words that have more and more prominence in our world today. There is so much violence, so much hatred, so much pain, that a good dose of kindness and compassion is needed to change the climate of our country.
“A cheerful heart is good medicine” Proverbs 17:22 NLT
In times of trouble, you can always find a reason to rejoice when you remember Who is on your side. Doctors have confirmed what the Bible teaches: laughter de-stresses you and strengthens your immune system.
Follow the above link for a wonderful story of letters from the war fronts that revealed so much about a soldiers life and experiences in the 2 great wars. I would like to see them published but expect that many would be of too personal a nature. I am glad, however, to have this glimpse into someone’s heart… a heart that could not give words to what it was like, except perhaps to someone else who had similar experiences.
Been a while since I gave an update… so here’s a quick one on progress for the retreat.
My house is finished and I’m now living in it. Have been here for 2 months now. Still settling in and I think this will go on for months to come.
The shed/garage up behind my house is now also finished. Today the guys added a cement verge, laid a slab for an annex and made a path to my back door. In a couple of weeks they’ll come back to build the annex itself.
The ground is a mess. We’ve had so much rain that the trucks have churned things up and I now have very deep gouges all over the place. Some time after the rain stops and the ground dries out a bit I’ll need to have a grader come in and fill in the ruts and smooth things out. It’s a right royal mess at the moment.
After all the above is sorted then I can turn my attention to the cabins and prayer room.
The retreat centre that I’ve dreamed of for so many years is beginning to come to fruition. Building is well underway of a house for me. This is phase 1 of the project. As funds come to hand then phase 2 will move forward. This includes a 2-bedroom cabin, a 1-bedroom cabin and a prayer room. I’ve added a photo album to Hope Today and you can find it at Hope Today Photo Album, or click on the link at left.
For more information about the Hope Retreat Dream click on link, or on the link at left.
The retreat centre I am in the midst of developing is about 20kms from my friends’ place at Braidwood. This beautiful view is just a taste of the beauty that I will be looking at every day once I’ve moved down. This photo has been turned into photo art using several software programs. I find it very relaxing and refreshing to take a photo and turn it into a piece of art. I hope one day to have a printer that will be able to print some of my art of good art paper… maybe even sell some.
If you look carefully at the picture you can see a little bit of a rainbow in the sky on the right hand side.
The rainbow keeps on reminding me that God is creator, I am one of his created ones, and he cares about me. Very delightful!
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all…” James 1:5 NIV
When we tap into God’s wisdom, it’s amazing how clearly things come into focus. With God’s wisdom comes a remarkable absence of fear. We’re no longer intimidated by circumstances or the opinions of those around us.
Been doing some fun stuff with my photos and experimenting with various artistic filters. Here is St Stephen’s church at Majors Creek. The church is very old and the filter applied adds to the old feeling for me.I like this one especially.
One fun thing about the many filters available is that any photo (good or bad) can be turned into something spectacular.
“‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.'” Psalm 51:17 NIV
God brings beauty out of brokenness. When every exit we try to take is blocked and we come to see that He alone is our answer, we make a life changing discovery: when God is all you have – God is all you need!
‘The Lord longs to be gracious to you…therefore He waits…’ (Isa 30:18 NAS)
There are certain prayers God won’t answer for our own good. Unanswered prayer is God’s gift…it protects us from ourselves. Unanswered prayer protects…breaks…deepens…and transforms. Past unanswered prayers, which left us hurt and disillusioned, act like a refiner’s fire to prepare us for future answers.
