Author: Heather McEwan

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A raffle, a baby and a heart full of hope

Once upon a time a little 9 year old girl folded her heart full of hope into a tiny piece of paper with her name written on it, to go into a draw for the most desired prize she’d ever heard of. With every fold, her heart was pleading ‘please, please’ to be one of two from the class able to travel with the relief teacher to visit their much adored year 3 teacher at the hospital with her brand new baby.

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Take Two Bananas & a Blackboard

Sometimes people put 2 and 2 together and come up with 4 – but what they don’t realise is the digits they added were not the correct ones in play. If you need to add 2 bananas to 2 bananas because you see 2 bananas and 2 bananas on your kitchen bench – that is great. But if you are analysing someone elses life and assume what you see is a 2 and what you’ve read or heard causes that problem is a 2 you likely don’t know that your equation is a full size blackboard covered in chalk short of accurate information.

No this is not about someone passing judgement on me and mine – but I can say it because I’ve experienced the pain of that. And I’ve done it. And am very ashamed.

We all just need to stop it.

This has been a VSP 🙂

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A gift of love & delight

A favourite moment in my memory was a day two beaming toddlers stood in front of me offering up a bunch each of yellow sour grass flowers. One bunch of similar lengths neatly held by the elder of the two. The other clutched in a tiny little fist complete with roots dangling from some of the ends. Their gifts were held up to me with certainty of welcome, surety of my delight.

There’s a massive difference between gifts of love and gifts of duty.

God is not interested in our pride based offerings. Those given to impress or those given to manipulate or those given for compulsion or tradition sake. He wants our heart. And He wants us to be sure of His welcome no matter the nature of the gift. He receives with delight.

This has been a VSP 🙂

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Busy bodies – kids holiday challenges

I’ve never considered myself our kids entertainment agent but having a small person without in-house playmates is very different to to previous crew of 6 who always had someone to play or hang out with. The idea of this chart is to help Miss T stay busy through the holidays, not rely on media, have a storehouse of ideas, keep experimenting and have fun in a way I’ve semi-planned for her – though she still has many many choices.

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Table Travellers – Week 7

Yoooow! Yuh gud?

The inspiration to create this Jamaican dish came from the heap of bananas we had in the freezer! We wanted to find a way to use them up without making cake! Mum googled “recipe – international – banana” and we found recipes for Jamaican chicken with banana chutney. We didn’t have much time as we were going out for the day so this dish was convenient as it didn’t take long to make and it was delicious. I didn’t think I’d be a fan of the chutney but I actually really liked it.

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I am but clay

Not everything that we don’t get right is about sin or pride. Sometimes it’s just that we’re not God. Sometimes it’s that ‘we are but clay’.

There is plenty God can do that we can not.

There is a place of rest to be found when we see the difference.

I am not everywhere at all times with all knowledge, all wisdom and all power.

Not excuse making. Just resting in the process of releasing the reliance on my own understanding – turning my thoughts, my face, my direction – more into relying on His.

This was a VSP 🙂