I must start this blog with an apology to those who read it
every week. Last week, for the first time in over a year, there was no blog. I
forgot. I’m sorry. To tell the truth, last Monday came and went before I
realised that, well, Monday had come and gone. My illness doesn’t really have a
pattern or a routine, and consequently, nor do I really (although I try).
Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad, without any apparent rhyme or
reason, so I do what I can when I can. For the most part this works very well,
but it does mean that I have very little concept of time at the moment, as
there doesn’t seem much by which to mark it. Strangely, in a way, this reminded
me of my time in Papua New Guinea.
I have always loved the seasons and the way the British
countryside changes over the year and then comes right back to where it
started. I have considered it a real joy to be back in England to watch the
cycle. Whenever anyone asks me what my favourite season is, I find it difficult
to answer because I genuinely love them all and the next one always seems to
come at just the right time. But for me, it’s always been more than just an
adventure, it’s a marker of time. As one season rolls into the next it’s a time
that reminds me to look back and what has happened, the good and the bad. A
time to take stock and reflect. And a time to thank God, because whatever has
happened good, bad or indifferent, there are always great things that God has
done if we remember to look for them. |
| The four seasons |
Papua New Guinea only has two seasons; a dry season, and a
wet season. Whilst they are very distinct from one another, somehow there
doesn’t seem to be the noticeable transition that there are between the seasons
in Britain (or perhaps there was just too much going on for me to notice). As a
consequence, with so much happening as I looked forward to the future, it was
easy not to appreciate all that was and had been happening. Sometimes life is
like British seasons; there’s lots of things happening and they’re all very
noticeable. Other times life is more like the seasons in Papua New Guinea,
things don’t really seem to change and the things that happen go almost
unnoticed.
My life feels a little bit like that right now. Whilst in
some ways every day is different and when I wake up in the morning I don’t know
how I’m going to feel that day. But on the other hand, in the bigger picture,
nothing seems to have changed for nine months; in fact my circumstances seem to
be exactly the same! Then I stop and look and think about what life was really
like nine months ago and what has happened in that time and I realise that
whilst there has been no big step change to my circumstances, God has been
working in so many ways! And so even when life seems to be the same as always,
I will try to always find the time to look and see all that God really has been
doing, and to thank Him that He never stops.
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