Day 1 Help me to listen


As I start this sabbatical, Lord, help me to listen. You know how hard I find listening to you, so develop my hearing in order to tune in and resist all those wonderful distractions.
Then, Lord, help me to listen to the people around me so that I can tune in to their particular situation and worldview and be a conduit for your presence. 
Finally  Lord, help me to listen to myself so that I am ready to receive all the blessings you want to pour into my life.
Thank you for listening to me!
Amen

Popular posts from this blog

Michael Nhonya - or is it Eddie Murphy?

Image
My host for most of the last 3 weeks has been Michael, the General Secretary of the Baptist Convention of Tanzania (BCT), a collective of about 1,500 Baptist churches. He is a quite extraordinary Christian and someone I have grown to love and hugely respect. He is a doppelganger for Eddie Murphy, but twice as much fun! Through long journeys (here he is eating his beloved sumaki/fish, tilapia, while driving) and the sharing of stories and many meals together, we have become friends - kindred spirits! His story will amaze you. Here I am with his family as I took them out for a thank you supper on my last night at the old New Dodoma Hotel. Born into an Anglican Christian family, Michael's father was a natural evangelist and church planter - around 20 in his life thus far. The Anglicans made what he considered an unreasonable demand on him, so he became a Baptist (Hallelujah!) and he continued his work for God. Having lost his mother at an early age, Michael became a troub...
Read more

Paul, Lydia, Philippi and a few tears

Image
We got up before the sun rose. The apostle Paul and Philippi beckoned and we wanted to make the most of the cool of the morning. It was 20C when we left. This was the view from our apartment as the sun made its daily appearance. We arrived at 8am, the opening time for the ancient site, only no one seemed to have told anyone there! It only took a few minutes and we were the first in. Number 1 on the map was the acropolis, so we took advantage of the hill being in shadow and started to climb. We were told that there was a zig zag path up, but it was badly signposted and we couldn't find it, so we made our own way up over boulders and loose rocks - how hard can it be? Very. My fit bit (I call it my fat bot) didn't know what had hit it and it started buzzing at me every few minutes as some new target had been reached. It was tough going but with a bit of 'push me pull you' we made it, glad of the shade of the Byzantine fort, a cool breeze and a bottle of water. ...
Read more