God’s chosen child was despised by those who were still praying fervently for the Messiah’s arrival. I might have enjoyed the irony if I hadn’t been so hungry. And lonely.
Can you see God in our faces? – (Alexander’s story) Prepare Them Room #3
Our geography was not quite so good as our astronomy. You would think that a group of world-renowned natural scientists who could calculate the draconian month in any given Saros cycle, forecasting the exact hour of an eclipse with pinpoint accuracy would be able to navigate their way from Herod’s palace to Bethlehem – but, no.
11 Fiction Reviews May-Nov 2018
The books featured were:
The Trick to Time – Kit de Waal
The Only Story – Julian Barnes
Everything We Never Knew – Beth Morey
Vinegar Girl – Anne Tyler
The Explorer – Katherine Rundell (kids’ book)
Three Things About Elsie – Joanna Rundell
The House of the Mosque – Kader Abdolah
The Summer of Impossible Things – Rowan Coleman
A Christmas Case – L B Hathaway
A Storied Life – Leigh Kramer
The Optician of Lampedusa – Emma Jane Kirby
‘You don’t want a Messiah.’ (Herod’s Story) – Prepare Them Room #2
The media have twisted it to say I was slaughtering innocent children. But I’m the hero – destroying a traitor who could bring down this whole country.
The security of our country was at stake – do you even realise that? It wasn’t about power, it was about the good of the country.
What if God Comes in Disguise? Prepare Them Room #1
They were filthy, both of them. The donkey, too. They stank, and the woman was drenched in sweat. So, there was that, for a start.
Plus, they couldn’t have chosen at a worse time to turn up – the house was already teeming with Roman soldiers, and I was out of ideas to keep the kids entertained quietly. Trust me: you do not want to annoy an armed Roman soldier.
Last Minute Advent Book
If you’re looking for an Advent book to read, and you haven’t yet read mine, check out Those Who Wait. It’s about how to find God in times of disappointment, doubt or delay.
When your burden doesn’t look heavy (and how to help)
You need a friend to say, ‘the burden you’re carrying is heavy.’ You’re carrying too much, and that’s why it’s hard. Maybe you will hear that, and you will cry because in your soul you knew it was heavy, too heavy, but no one else had noticed.
Telling the Old, Old Stories – in marriage and faith
This is what we do when we’re first in love – we gush about the stories of our love and make long lists of what we love about our beloved.
And when that love has gone on for many years – still, we tell the stories of our love.
We tell our love stories to remember our history, the path we forged alongside one another, the foundations and pillars that hold us together.
