faith

I hope this encourages you today!

2025 has gone. In some ways I am glad. There were so many good things that happened in 2025 but the year ended badly with my accident.

What does 2026 hold? I have a few ideas but that’s all. This morning my Wife surprised me by dragging some outdoor lounges from our front patio and made an alfresco dining area facing our garden. She then brought out a wonderful tray of eggs, ham and chorizo. What a blessing. The birds are singing, there is a gentle breeze.

I have hope that in 4-5 weeks I should be able to walk unaided. Can’t wait. No doubt like most years there will be triumphs and tragedies. There will be disappointments and unexpected surprises that make us smile.

I must focus on the One who holds the future and is also holding me. Jesus, may I never forget or take for granted your mercy, love, protection and grace.

Trigger warning: this post discusses childhood abuse.

As I am laying in my hospital bed I am reminded it’s been a month now that I have been in hospital because of the accident. An accident caused by someone else’s negligence.

Emotionally it’s been a challenge to work through the consequences of the other person’s actions. It’s cost me $8000 in medical bills so far. It’s placed a huge strain on others who have to cover my responsibilities at church. It’s been a month of intense physical pain and loneliness.

Where is God in all of this? Where He has always been. On the throne, and beside me, all the way. Was it Gods will that I get injured? Don’t think so. God gave us free will and unfortunately we make really bad decisions sometimes. The lady who caused my accident made bad decisions and her motives are not clear although her actions since the accident point towards the potential that she might have an unhealthy fixation on me. That is a side issue.

God has been with me. Encouraging me. Loving me. Providing for me.

I recall a vivid vision I had many years ago. It wasn’t a dream, I was awake. I saw me as a 4 year old. My Dad took me to his room and molested me. I won’t go into anymore detail than that.

I saw in my vision that as my Dad led me to his bedroom Jesus was pleading with him not to do this.

Afterwards I was back in my bedroom. I was in tears. Wondering what bad thing I did to warrant that punishment. If I knew I would never do it again.

In my vision Jesus walked into my room and held me. Held me tight. Dried my tears, rocked me in His arms and told me that He loved me. He assured me I hadn’t been bad.

Jesus loved me in my darkest and most confusing moment. He loved me then. He loves me still. Often things happen that remind us that this world is NOT heaven. Thank God for that truth. Sometimes bad things happen to good people.

In all of our pain. Jesus is there. May we always seek His face, may we always see His face.

I thought I should provide a detailed update to explain what’s been happening the past 2 weeks. Almost 2 weeks ago while I was attending a cardio exercise session one of the class members made a very careless error which resulted in me being knocked off my feet and landing badly on the floor. I knew straight away something serious had occurred as I could not move.

An ambulance took me to hospital where I was diagnosed as having a complex tibia fracture. My leg was cast in plaster and I was admitted to a private hospital. In Australia wd have public hospitals where the treatment is completely free but wait times for elective surgery can be over a year, and private hospitals where the standard of care is first class but you will often have “gap” payments even if you are privately insured, which I am.

Two days ago my CT scans were repeated because in spite of being on complete bed rest my pain has been getting worse. The scans showed the fractures need surgical intervention so next week they will operate and use screws and plates to fix my leg.

This means all up I am probably looking at 5 weeks in hospit and a 6k medical bill.

Pain management hasn’t been easy due to many factors and already I am very homesick and tired of the pain.

In all of this I am trying to see the big picture. Thank God I don’t have to go to the public system. My pain has an end date, many people live with pain every day without an exit hope.

One complication is I am not allowed to shave due to the risk of bleeding as I am on blood thinners. Excuse the shocking photo. I look like a fugitive.

God is in control. I am not. This I need to constantly remember.

Edward Hale: "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do."

#Depression #Anxiety #Relationships #FamilyAndFriends #Generosity #Faith #PTSD #MentalHealth

I strive to be transparent here, even it can be embarrassing. I like to be honest in the hope that it might encourage others.

Whenever I have bought a new pc or laptop the first thing I do is delete all the games. I do this because if I dont I will go down the rabbit hole of wasting time.

Lately I have been playing solitaire. a lot, on my phone. I realised yesterday that the true reason I have been doing this is not a form of relaxation but rather I have been avoiding confronting negative emotions.

I don’t know what those emotions are, or what is triggering them, but I realise that avoiding those emotions is dangerous, and unhelpful.

It’s frankly a bit scary to think of allowing those feelings to land, but that’s exactly what I need to do, and must do.

Do you use avoidance techniques?

This morning I will be preaching on the “Prodigal Son. It’s one of my favourite parables.

One of the points I will be highlighting is what the father did NOT say to his wayward son.

He didn’t say, “I told you so”, “You’re a screwup”, “You should be ashamed of yourself”.

God doesn’t use those words either. You have never gone to far from God that you can’t come back.

Jesus came to rub sin out, not to rub it in.

As my Wife and I continue our European holiday, this morning was quite stressful. When we travel my Wife and I discuss well in advance the itinerary but she leaves all the travel arrangements to me. We always book our own flights and accommodation rather than use a travel agent because we can be more specific about how we travel.

This morning we had to catch a local train for a 30 minute journey to a major train station so that we could get our train from the Czech Republic to Austria.

Ubers have been so good for the last 3 countries but this morning we couldn’t get one no matter what we tried. We had allowed some time buffers but it was getting dire. So in desperation I rang 3 taxi companies but no one spoke English. I then did, what I should have done earlier, I prayed.

Then, a taxi company I had ring contacted me through WhatsApp. They could send a taxi. The taxi was a beat up, old, dirty car. It was however a beautiful sight. We are at the train station and surprisingly the taxi cost the same as the Uber.

God cares about everything in our lives, even catching trains on time.

We are 2 and a half weeks into our European holiday. Germany was fabulous, Poland unforgettable and we are now enjoying the Czech Republic. We are a bit homesick as well. FaceTiming the Grandchildren is great but we miss their hugs.

Watching church via livestream is good but being there is better.

This is not a complaint. I am conscious of how blessed we are to be able to travel like we do. We are creating so many wonderful memories. But home is home.

During World War 2 my Dad fought for Australia in Papua New Guinea. One day he was crossing a river when the rope broke and he fell into a raging river. He drowned but was revived by some local people. He told me he saw heaven before he was revived. He said it was beyond his ability to describe but he said it was more beautiful and peaceful than he could express.

Sometimes we can be homesick for heaven. The world is wonderful but heaven is a place without sickness, tears of disappointment. We can hold onto this amazing hope.

Sometimes bad things happen to us and we think God is to blame. Sometimes Gods ways are bewildering to us. The longer I live the more I realise that I am perfectly capable of messy things up myself.

Tomorrow my Wife fly out of Australia for a 7 week holiday in Europe. It’s been a year in the planning and I have been very careful to ensure I am healthy before the trip. Our last two big holidays were complicated by me having a fall and fracturing three vertebrae and then the last one was after I had a triple heart bypass.

5 days I was cutting up some tree branches and the chainsaw kicked back and ripped into my hand. The hand is all stitched up and fortunately missed vital nerves. It is rather painful and uncomfortable. Was God to blame?

Nope. I was not paying attention and was a bit careless. The trip will still happen but I suspect my Wife might give my chainsaw away. Probably a good idea.