I ordered two lattes and was asked by the lady behind the counter, “what’s the name for the order?” I went to pay my electricity bill on the internet and after the account number, I was asked to fill in the following… name? What’s in a name? So, I can be recognized that it’s actually me. That I have given the authorization to make, do, buy, give etc. It made me reflect in prayer about the name of Jesus, given to Joseph by the Holy Spirit. Matt 1:21 “She will bear a son, and you are to name him, Jesus, for He will save His people from their sin.” Jesus,…

In different seasons of my life, I find myself praying with my thoughts. Let me explain. I’m thinking about circumstances in my life, people in my life, issues I am facing, and I start adding prayers to my thoughts. It’s not necessarily my designated prayer time, but it just happens, especially while I’m doing housework.  Faith with prayer or praying with faith in the trenches of life is how I would describe it. Faith with prayer can bypass the earthly dimension we live in. Prayer enters God’s heavenly realm. All prayers are heard in heaven from the saints (that’s us) that send them, for we are all capable of being…

It started with an itchy, irritated eyelash, and within a few days had advanced to a swollen eyelid that affected my vision and was sore to touch. It turned out to be an infected tear duct, and so I started on antibiotic eye cream and warm compresses.  During the next few days, I reflected upon how a little irritation can literally ‘blow up’ in your face. It was annoying me continually. Even without thinking, my hand would go to the edges of the eye and wipe the water that slowly dripped from it. I was conscious at times of this irritation and other times, I was unconscious. Is this not…

I’m physically tired to the point that my shoulders and neck muscles are contracting and giving me a migraine. My fault actually. Bruce and I drove in convoy to Brisbane for Christmas, so I could have Christmas – for the first time in 35 years – with my parents, my children, my brother and sisters and all their immediate families (well most of them anyway – 49 in total, another 19 of them could not make it.) We took two cars from Sydney to Brisbane because we were loaning one car to my son and his wife and three children coming from Perth. That way, it saved them from hiring…

Lady issues. That time of the month. Any men reading this, please keep reading. Hang in there and it will all make sense. Ladies, you will know what I am talking about. Even in the bible, ‘lady’s issues’ were brought up with the story of the haemorrhaging woman, a woman who bled continuously for twelve years and was described in two of the four gospels. This woman had a chronic condition. No doctors, no money, no treatment had been able to fix her problem. It is not necessarily the issue of the bleeding that makes this story so wow but what is culturally, practically and spiritually deeper, behind the words,…