Month: April 2026

The God of Odd

The god of all including grief,

Who offers us all such relief

Led me to an expanding retreat

Not only based on what I did eat

Grief can make me feel out of my head

And often want to take to my bed

Especially when I’ve been very well fed

Of good food, company and scenery

There’s a lot to be said

I had large portions of all on this treat

Where lots of interesting folk, I did meet

We talked, we listened & we laughed a lot

There was so much variety in the pot

We all have many stories to tell

And when we’re open to hearing, we really gel

When we’re willing to learn from each other

There’s much that makes us like sister and brother

We all share in this human spirit

With its up and downs, it requires real grit

More so for the lessons that are seriously shit

But offer deep learning when approached with wit

The learning literally never stops

And calls me now to change my socks

To walk in new ways and shoes

So to my great God, stay entirely true

Thank you God

For making me odd

I own all that I am

Cos I trust in your plan

Let’s get this party started ….

The holy sabbath

The holy sabbath

This morning as I hung out with Jesus, I was able to submit enough to seek what He wants to say over what I want to hear! And Jesus does not disappoint. Which is not to say he does not allow experiences that disappoint!  Do not confuse the two!

I was reading about the Israelites spending forty years in the dessert – what a long time. I’m grateful I only spent thirty years in the pre-knowing Jesus desert. Anyway, God used the daily provision of manna (grub), to teach the Israelites to trust Him as provider. He told them to obey his command to take only enough manna for each day and to trust that God would provide enough for every day thereafter.

Of course, human beings were just as wilful, doubting and disobedient back then as we are today. Subsequently, some of them stored up more than a days’ worth of manna, just in case God failed to deliver on his promise of provision. Consequently, when the non-trusting took more than a days’ worth, the excess went off and stank. God was serious about providing enough for each day and no more. He was also serious about commanding them to trust him enough to believe his promises. (He’s the same God today!)

The exception to this daily provision of manna was on a Saturday. God promised to deliver two days’ worth of food every Saturday to provide enough for Sunday too. This was done to establish God’s principle of rest via taking a weekly sabbath/rest day. And when the Israelites followed these instructions, the excess taken on Saturday did not go off. It remained fresh for Sunday. God’s words are true and he delivers on his promises. (Not just back then!)

God was showing his faithful, trustworthy character as a God who provides what we need, to sustain us for the day ahead. God still provides for our daily spiritual, physical and psychological needs, when we remember to ask him. And, like the Israelites, we often doubt him, take things into our own hands and treat him as if his ways are like ours. In other words, we sometimes apply the, ‘if you want a job doing properly’, motto to him. If only we could learn to trust him and his timing, all the time and especially in the super shit looking times. Sigh.

Anyway, I was struck by God’s command to REST in this scripture.

This is not, nor has ever been an optional extra, reserved for the indulgent. It is an essential principle for healthy, God led living. And it is considered a break of his commands to fail to apply it in practice. Gulp.

The sabbath does not have to be on a Sunday. It does have to be one day a week. While the sabbath and rest are not new concepts, they are more significant than ever in these increasingly rest-less times we live in. Which we are worse off for.

Now is the time to re-establish this Godly principle, for this exists for our own health, protection and longevity.

We neglect it to our detriment.

So, what is rest?

Rest is resisting asking anything of our minds, hearts or body’s. Stopping. Refusing to make demands on ourselves or accept demands from others. Of course, this requires a more creative response to those responsible for little people along with their never-ending demands! We all have different challenges and blessings and can seek God for how to work with these. Even then there will always be the exception where something must be done on a sabbath day. But the point is, the exception is supposed to remain the exception, not become the norm.

What might rest look like?

Rest is not necessarily a nap. While a nap is usually a restful, non-negotiable part of my day, this is a complete shutdown of the system. This certainly refreshes and reboots the system, for some of us. We are all different. And the research on the benefits of naps is conflicting at best.

But rest is something we benefit from including within our waking moments. Or rather it is a call/command and invitation to include it for our own benefit.

This requires sufficient self-knowledge to recognise and implement what is restful for us. Again, as we are all different, what works for me, may not work for you.

For me, my favourite form of rest is what I call ‘wall gazing’ time. I literally get comfortable, preferably horizontal, or at least sat with my legs up, and I gaze in to space. Or out the window at nature, or out to sea. The point for me is that I am not actively asking my mind or body to do anything. I am letting my body be still and my mind wander wherever it wants to go.

My mind typically likes to go through the events of the day or to envision dreams for the future. Or to think about the humongous gap between what us Christians say we believe about God and what our lives reveal us to really believe! And more importantly asking God to show me to how to live more like I know that he means what he says. (unlike most of us humans!)

I let my mind roam free and play spontaneously and creatively. I love indulging in wall gazing time. And I rarely prioritise/permit myself to do it!!  Feel free to judge! I don’t profess to be perfect! But I am committed to learning how to do things better. And to being taught by the most phenomenal teacher, who just happens to be available and calling us all.

As someone who needs to process on an extremely deep level due to the depth of my feelings and the breadth of my thoughts, this time is essential REST that allows unconscious processing to occur. And I need to practice more of it.

Rest could also look like laying down listening to music, meditating on the lyrics or simply feeling it.

Or it could be laying down with the cat snuggled on to me with his loud purr-o-metre reverberating through my system.

And sometimes, it is sitting in the sauna, jacuzzi or steam room. I love being warm, I love being in water and when in either of these places, with nothing to physically do, I stop and rest! This offers an embodied reminder of how wonderful it feels to be still.

Rest really is the best. It replenishes our supplies for whatever the day requires of us. It is not only a weekly requirement in the form of a sabbath day. But something we each need varying amounts of every day.

Grief reminds me that I need more rest than usual and I haven’t been having it. God’s perfect timing means I now have a good portion of it stretching out ahead of me.

The question remains … along with a reminder from a prayer partner, will I allow myself to practice this REST malarkey as much as I need it?

Perhaps, as God is the one reminding me of the importance of it, I’ll ask his help to apply it! I often observe how it feels like God answers my prayers for others more than me (so unfair!). Yet I know the ‘help me implement rest beyond and including the sabbath’ prayer, is one that he’ll be all over!

And the best time to practice this rest-fest is NOW … the sofa is calling and the window needs gazing out of …

Let’s talk curtains, by Jesus Christ and Jo Loach!

Let’s talk curtains

It’s Easter Saturday … this offers the stillness, silence and space that so many of us struggle with. During our life span, we will often find ourselves in our own Easter Saturday, no longer where we were, but not yet where we will be. It can be hard on Saturday to trust that Monday will come. Easter offers us an annual reminder in recognition of our tendency for spiritual amnesia, about what we need to remember most.

This morning I was thinking about all of this. I love the magic of the early mornings, and this morning was no exception. If I sleep through until 5.30am, I take this as a win. My overactive mind has always interfered with my body’s need for sleep.

Anyway, when I went downstairs and wondered into my conservatory, I was greeted by the most musical, magical sound of birdsong. It doesn’t matter how many times I hear this or witness all things Spring, they still make my heart leap for joy. These are the moments that set me up for a day of seeing all things through the lens of my relationship with Jesus Christ. How grateful I am to have eyes that see and ears that hear – when I remember to look and listen!

The first few hours of my day are dedicated to hanging out with Jesus because he feeds me on a way deeper level than my muesli does. He gives me wisdom, insight, encouragement, comfort, strength and whatever else he knows I’ll need for the day. Love is the non-negotiable most important ingredient for any day. And He’s a generous God who always gives more than we need so there’s enough to share with others.

As I read my UCB daily devotional, I was struck by the word ‘curtains’. Obviously as it’s Easter Saturday, the reading is about what Jesus came to do – to become the connector between our flawed selves and our perfect God. This isn’t new news for any Christian, but our God is not a dead or dry God. He offers us new, fresh, living ways to see and share his life, death, words, ways and wisdom every day, when we seek him.

Each morning, I look back and thank God for all the blessings I noticed from the previous day. And I ask him to speak to me in preparation for the day he knows I will have. As a God of his word, who’s ways are not our ways, he does what he says he will. Always and without exception.

As soon as I clocked the word ‘curtains’ in my reading, I remembered a conversation from earlier this week. It was about the impending funeral to celebrate the life of the one who died unexpectedly. The question was asked whether we wanted the ‘curtains’ to be closed at the end of the service. This typically symbolises the final curtain call of life as one moves beyond this world to the next. The answer was a resounding ‘no’ from us all. Too visual, too final, too painful.

I sat with this and sought God’s insight. I considered how God uses the torn curtains to symbolise the end of Jesus’s life in human form. While what Jesus came to do was finished, this was not the end of his life or his reign. It was the beginning of Jesus taking up his life through the hearts, minds, bodies, words and ways of us, his flawed human but still-used-by-God, people. Upon giving our hearts to Jesus, he begins to reign within them in a way that blesses and helps us through all the trouble we’re told we’ll have. And he gives enough to sustain us and share with others, to show something of who God is. 

For Jesus, the curtains represented his physical death, but the start of his life through our physical bodies and spirits. That’s you, me and us. The curtains represented a boundary between us and God. Hence the curtains splitting in two removed this leaving us free to be with God anytime we want to. We can be as connected to him as we want, for he has gifted us the free will to choose.

I’m learning to have God on an intravenous drip because whenever I try life my way instead of his, I get myself in an almighty mess. How grateful I am that God is almighty enough, gracious and merciful enough, to always welcome me back with open arms.

For us, curtains symbolise the end of our life in these human body’s. It doesn’t end there though, as Jesus calls us to eternity with him, in brand spanking new bodies.  And in a place where there is no more tears or suffering – wow.

We live in a world, in a time full of suffering. Much of which is unnecessarily driven by the human ego and its need for power, at the cost of human life. No wonder Jacinda Ardern, former prime minister of NZ, was vilified by the patriarch for prioritising human life in NZ during Covid. If only men and women could acknowledge, celebrate and collaborate with each other to utilise our respective gifts and perspectives. I’ll pray but I won’t hold my breath on this front. Dinosaurs are far from an extinct species and remain one which endangers life.

But back to the point.

The curtains that split when Jesus died, removed all separation between us and God Almighty, FOREVER. This means that no matter what trouble our ‘Good Friday’ seasons bring, nor how long before our Easter Monday comes, Jesus is with and for us. In this life and beyond.

I love to worship God through song and as I sang/screeched along to the lyrics of a song this morning, I was particularly struck by the truth of these words.

“Where is God in all of this?”

This is often the cry of the human heart when life or death happens in a way that makes our hearts hurt, over what our minds are unable to comprehend. I imagine it is the cry of many a human heart right now, the world over, with all that is happening.

Jesus promised us trouble, but he also encouraged us to ‘take heart’, because he has overcome. He overcame the cross to connect us to the Father forever, if we choose to accept this ultimate invitation from the giver of life. And this father, gives us everything we could possibly need to navigate the toughest, most heart breaking of times. He gives comfort, calm, peace and the love of good people. None of which can be bought. Not even from Amazon. And the best bit of all, the life and death of Jesus that invites us to experience the fullest version of life, the one where he lives in and through us, is FREE!!! Honestly! I know it sounds too good to be true, but I’ve got over twenty years lived experience of testing this! And I can testify that this promise is truer than true! As well as being an offer with no expiry date, until the day we die.

Now that’s what I call good news.

Oh yes, and because God knows how easily I become distracted, he often confirms what he wants me to write about, at least three times. This typically succeeds in getting and securing my attention. He knows I love the number three for its holy and magical qualities! So, just to be sure this morning, I had a notification come up on my FB market page. It had a picture of a pair of red curtains that I had advertised for sale, with the rather original title, ‘Curtains’! I burst out laughing! I love Jesus and the way he works, plays and rests with me! Especially when I let him drive and I stop being such a front seat driver.

“Ok, Jesus, I hear you, I’ll get up and write this piece for you – what a privilege during this annual reminder of what an amazing God you are, to write in a way that points to you!”

I’m always confused when Christians look at me like I’m mad, deluded or both when I share what God has said to me. Of course, I am fallible and I can and do get things wrong at times. But I’ve learned to accept that if I do my best to share what God asks me to share, it’s between God and others to test its truth. And this free’s me to stop staying silent just because my critics remain committed to misunderstanding me and underestimating God!

I will not be silenced, and I will speak on God’s behalf – please do test what I say for yourself.

Happy celebrating and recognising the call of Jesus weekend, one and all. 

What an awesome God we all have.

Always trust that your Monday WILL come. No matter how long the weekend turns out to be, nor where it delivers you to.

And if you are wondering what this messed up world is all about and seeking something of real meaning, open your heart to the call of the giver of life this Easter. Please don’t let us, God’s imperfect people, put you off from God’s perfect-ness. The Church continues to earn her poor reputation in many ways. But she also does a lot of good, so please don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

And please be assured that a relationship with God is separate to the Church, which remains full of flawed people like me. However, there are a growing breed of us, God’s people, who are working hard, despite the internal resistance, to lift the carpet. The Church is no different to the average family in that much of the mess and pain gets swept under the ceiling tickling carpets. As if somehow this pleases God, rather than green lighting the one who works oh-so-subtly against God.

But God is different in that he calls us to let him help us deal with what’s under the carpet, not live in fear of it. Or worse still, allow it to grow and fester by pretending its not there. God is not fooled! Neither does he call us to be! He really does call us to be free.

Ps in answer to the question of, ‘where is Jesus in this?’

 As the lyrics say,

“He’s right here, where he’s always been”.

Halleluyah!

PPS give me a shout if you want these freshly washed red curtains! Dear Jesus, please help me find the buggers …