Let’s start this early January message by getting the seasonal necessities out of the way as we wish you a very happy New Year…challenging though this might be in a deep American storm or a European energy crisis!
But God.
Have you ever stopped to try and feel or even picture what life would be like without Jesus in it? If you couldn’t turn to Him with your problems and woes? I can’t, but I’ve been trying to, and I’ve been doing that in an attempt to write what I wanted to be a 31 day version of ‘Wonderfully Free…no going back’ for everyone, Christian or not. And, to date, it’s a book that remains uncompleted because I just cannot get my head around a life without hope. To me, there’s an impossible bleakness when I try and imagine life with no saviour. How about you?
But God.
Knowing that we rest in the palm of His hand is something that has come into clear focus for us recently. For reasons too boring to foist on you, Anthea and I find ourselves having to sell our house. A challenge at any time, we find ourselves thrown more than ever on God’s grace as we seek to hear from Him about What Next? Do we want to find ourselves in this position? Not a bit, but it has caused us to reflect on where we are in life and to realise how easy it is for us all to stop moving forward in our faith and calling. Life is, after all, a journey, not a car park and we recognise that maybe we’ve become a little too comfortable in where we are, spiritually, if not altogether physically! We have no idea yet what the What Next? looks like, but we’re excited for it. Jesus told Simon and Andrew to put their nets, but really everything, down to follow Him, and we sense that we’re at that point too.
If you’d like to buy a lovely little house in Wiltshire, let us know!
In amongst all the above our Sozo ministry continues apace and we’re so grateful that we constantly see miracles in the lives of those who apply to us. It’s such a privilege to be a part of God’s revelation of His love to those we see. It’s a privilege, too, to work with all those on our extended Sozo team and to be a small part of their lives. Sozo for Couples took us to Mexico in May and to New Jersey during the summer and we loved every moment of both those adventures; we would love to do more marriage ministry! Roughly 40 couples attended the long weekend marriage retreat we ran in Mexico and we saw marriages being restored as couples deepened their understanding of what makes relationships both dive and thrive! More, please!
2022 also saw us launch both Anthea’s ‘Wonderfully Free’ sessions (Wonderfully Free Sessions…one-to-one sessions that allow folk to find their true inner selves, a mixture of exploration and prayer that leaves you feeling more connected to yourself, God and others. These sessions minister to any core beliefs or feelings that may be getting in the way of you being able to fully be and represent the true you) and my ‘Coaching for Purpose’, details on the website! In many ways, 2022 was the year of the ‘soft launch’ of our www.wonderfullyfree.org website and the ministry behind it. Amongst everything else going on we hope to solidify and grow these new ventures, as well as the one-to-one couples work we do. If there’s anything about any of these you’d like to know more about, just ask! And, of course, if you’d like to support us…!
Many blessings for 2023!