Have you got Him?

The sonA wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art. When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son. About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.”

The young man held out this package. “I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.”

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way Continue reading

JESUS’ WHAKAPAPA

layersI was asking God to give me some inspiration when reading the first part of the Christmas story in Matthews gospel which I usually skip over because its full of the ‘begats’ – which ancestor ‘begat’ the next one and who he begat and so on. It just seemed a long list of ancient names till I discovered they just love this list in New Zealand, calling it in Maori, THE WHAKAPAPA of Jesus .

Intrigued I investigated the word further, discovering that Continue reading

ASHDON FUNERAL TRIBUTE

(Given on the 9th December)

walton slipwayWhen first asked to do this, I thought how can I pay a tribute to someone who by ending her own life has inflicted so much hurt on people I love so much and shaken up so many people? Please bear with me, this is hard.

You all have your own memories of what a lovely, affectionate girl she was. Continue reading