Joyful Sparrow

I’m sure most of us will agree we have fears of some kind or another, both rational and irrational – from public speaking to heights, spiders to the dark, we can fear anything. I’ve alluded to in a previous post that I worry about numerous different things, but I think that one of my biggest fears, and the one that most can be linked to, is a fear of the unknown – the worry of ‘what if’. This worry displays itself across several areas of life where I cannot control (or think I know) the outcome. I have recently been on my first overseas mission trip to Montenegro with a Christian charity I work with and, as you can imagine, the ‘what if’ worries were in plentiful supply: ‘what if I can’t cope well in the heat?’, ‘what if I get ill or travel sick (one of my main, irrational fears is being sick in public – irrational because it has never happened!)?’, ‘what if no one talks to me at the events I go to and I stand around looking awkward?’, ‘what if I can’t communicate well with people of a...

It’s the time of year where people start to think about New Year’s resolutions and goals for the next few months, where the phrase ‘new year, new you’ seems to be used in abundance.   What will help me achieve ‘new year, new me’? Well, thankfully a quick Google brings up several articles that promise to provide answers, such as: ‘75 Best New Year, New Me ideas’ and ‘65 Achievable New Year's Resolutions You'll Actually Keep’. Even without researching, just by listening to the media, there are answers implied to what might help make me ‘new’: updating my wardrobe, booking a holiday for my next adventure, getting fitter, having a career change, moving house, altering my diet, and the list goes on. But what does ‘new year, new you’ mean? According to the Oxford dictionary, the word ‘new’ means ‘something that is not familiar, not existing before, or recently made, invented, or introduced.’ Whilst it’s nice to go on trips, get healthier and enjoy some new clothes, whilst it’s impor...

Being strong physically has never been a word that I have naturally associated to myself (unless it was being used with irony!)  I’ve never been able to do a pull up, went on a body composition analysis machine which deemed my body type as ‘weak’, and even use a special grip to help open those jars that just won’t budge! Whilst physical strength can be helpful, what about when tough times come in life? What about when everything seems against us and we feel weak emotionally and spiritually - when being able to open a jar without assistance just isn’t cutting it. Where do we then get our strength from? Different people will have different answers - some will reach out to family and friends, others to their mental health toolkit, some will go for a run, or book a holiday, and others will raid the chocolate stash. There are lots of ways (both helpful and unhelpful) that we use to give us strength to face life’s challenges. For me personally, whilst I utilise many of the above for temp...

  As someone who doesn’t generally share personal things with those outside of a small number of close individuals, the idea of starting a blog has been daunting and yet, despite that, here I am preparing to share a bit about me with you, in the hope that it may encourage you as we travel through the exciting, challenging, scary road that is life.   I think the best place to start is with the name of the blog. ‘Joyful Sparrow’ was the name a friend and I agreed on for a business idea we had. As Christians, we wanted something that would reference the hope we have knowing we belong to One much bigger than ourselves and a few verses from Matthew 10 came to mind: ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.’    As someone who can naturally be quite anxious, the comfort and confidence tha...