Maps have been featuring a lot in my life recently. This started with the prayer walks in January, since it’s helpful to have a map to know where you are going when you are dividing up an area among several people so that you avoid all going to the same place and leaving some streets unvisited! It was decided to have a ‘prayer map’ of all the streets in Goldthorpe so that we could continue to pray even when we were not physically walking on the streets. Having a cartographer for a friend proved useful, as she was able to access Ordnance Survey maps and edit them to show just Goldthorpe. Thus began an ongoing process to produce a large ‘prayer map’ to go up in the foyer at church to remind us where the things we are praying for are located.

The map was produced and personalised with the church name and logo.

Compass points were added (not only to orientate the map, so to speak, but to remind us of Ezekiel 37:9 (“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live’ “) and Isaiah 43:5-7 (“I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back”), verses which have been significant words from God to the church.)

Then the map was taken to a printer’s so that we could have a large version. The laminated A1 version then needed to be fixed to a board so it could be hung in church with stickers to remind us where things were and photographs to remind us of the prayer walks. I assumed (naively, as it turned out) that we would sail into B & Q, pick up a large board, stick the map to it and that would be that. I ought to have known better (B & Q is not that kind of place…!) There were no suitable boards large enough, so we had to buy two boards to fit together and at that point, Garry decided that to make this suitable, we also needed to make a frame for the boards.

Collaboration is definitely the name of the game in church work! Mark donated his mitre saw to this project (thus making Garry’s job of making the frame from off-cuts of wood easier) and the making of the board began.

Two separate boards…

Two becoming one…

The board was then covered to give a more finished look:

Now all that remains to be done is to attach the map, labels and photographs to the board and hang it in the church!

Jeremiah 31:34, quoted in Hebrews 10:17, says “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” The Bible reassures us that our sins are forgiven through Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice on the cross. Psalm 103:9 says “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” This reassurance is the basis for our acceptance into God’s family and should never be forgotten.

Jeremy Camp’s song ‘We Must Remember’ contrasts our need to remember this forgiveness with God’s willingness to remember our sins no more. Technically, God does not forget; He chooses not to remember. But the song’s poetry contrasts remembering and forgetting:

“We must remember
That You have forgotten
And You don’t remember our sins anymore.
We must remember
That You have forgotten
And You, You died once and for all.” (‘We Must Remember’, Jeremy Camp)
‘We Must Remember’, Jeremy Camp

Christ has won for us a great victory and we are cleansed from all our sins.
“The power of Your blood is all that we need.
You laid down Your life and the captives were free.
The veil was torn and there was victory.”

The wonder of God’s forgiveness is that it is all-encompassing and ongoing. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God’s forgiveness is available to us on a day-by-day basis. Let’s remember that daily and live in the freedom of forgiveness.

Igor does not mind sharing his adventures. Having enjoyed his trip to Las Iguanas without Garry, this time, he returned with his rightful owner and a few other friends:

However, he was happiest when taking in the foliage:

… unlike the others, who were happiest with the food:

I’m wrestling and struggling with so many issues right now. The way of faith does not seem to get any easier! I would expect it to, hope that each time I learn something more of God’s character, it would make it easier to surrender the next time He challenges me. But in all honesty, I don’t find it that way. Each step of faith, each leap of faith, each risk God asks me to take seems insurmountable and I wrestle, longing to please God but at the same time all too aware of my human frailties and fears.

Then I hear a song that articulates for me the struggles, the longings and I am broken again. I offer myself again to God and ask Him to reign in me – simple words, but for anyone who has faced these battles, you will know why I write this with tears streaming down my face and no answers to all the many questions. If you don’t understand this and think that this is one blog post too far, then I apologise. But God understands. God knows the struggles we go through to submit to Him. If Jesus wrestled with doing the Father’s will, I’m in good company as I yearn to allow God to reign in me.

“I have seen so many teardrops
Fall to the ground
I’ve held the hand of God’s children
Once lost and now found

Reign in me, reign in me
(In my heart, in my mind, in my soul
Be the Lord of my life, take control)” (‘Reign In Me’, Jeremy Camp)
‘Reign In Me’, Jeremy Camp

As I eagerly await the arrival of Jeremy Camp’s new album ‘Reckless’ (released today, with a preview of the title song available here and with the title on its own bringing a smile to my face as I realise more and more how God wants to shake me out of my comfort zone to live utterly and totally for Him, which to the world so often looks like recklessness!), I am working from home and listening to previous albums.

“Staring at this empty canvas
Waiting for the next stroke of my life
It seems to go by so fast
Another day I’ve wasted wondering
How it all ends up instead of resting
That it’s all in Your hands” (‘Slow Down Time’, Jeremy Camp)
‘Slow Down Time’, Jeremy Camp

I spend so much time wondering how it all ends up instead of trusting and ‘resting in Your words that never fail’.

Styles vary from the rocky ‘Giving You All Control‘:
“Take hold of these impurities
Giving You this wretched soul
I’m giving You these insecurities
Giving You all control” (‘Giving You All Control’, Jeremy Camp)
‘Giving You All Control’, Jeremy Camp

…to the more lyrical ‘There Will Be A Day’, with its promise of hope and peace:
I know the journey seems so long
You feel you’re walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you’ve walked out all alone

Troubled soul, don’t lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that’s in store
Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting (‘There Will Be A Day’, Jeremy Camp)
‘There Will Be A Day’, Jeremy Camp

… and ‘Surrender’, which captures my heart’s desire to surrender to God’s authority:
‘I surrender to Your throne
I surrender to Your throne
And I will make my heart Your home
I surrender to Your throne.’ (‘Surrender’, Jeremy Camp)
‘Surrender’, Jeremy Camp

I suspect you’ll be hearing the new ones as they too speak into my life! Incidentally, whilst on this random musical theme, Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin won Grammy awards this week for ‘10,000 Reasons’ (best contemporary Christian song and joint award for best contemporary Christian music performance.) I am pleased that such a fantastic song received recognition, but was also touched by Matt Redman’s response: “We wrote this song for the glory of God, so He gets all the glory today too.” That’s humility.
Grammy award photo

How do you know, as a parent, if your local school is good or not? Do you go by what the OFSTED report (issued approximately every three years) says? Do you judge by league tables? How do you know if your child is doing well at school? Do you know what National Curriculum level they should be at? Can you help your child with homework? Do you know who your school governors are? What do you do if you want to find out more? What do you do if you have a complaint?

Schools, like every workplace, have their own jargon and their own ways of doing things. These always look intimidating to outsiders – and parents can feel like outsiders at times! The plethora of educationally-related phrases – awarding bodies, controlled assessments, SATs, Allen tests, diplomas, GCSEs, EBCs (no longer to be introduced after all), peer assessment, NC levels – can all seem daunting and unfriendly. It’s tempting to just send our children to the nearest school and hope for the best.

But our children are given to us by God and we have a responsibility for their care and education which ought not to be fobbed off onto outsiders. So it is important as parents to find out what we can about schools and to be actively involved in our children’s education if at all possible. ‘Leaving it to the experts’ is not always the best option. We, as parents, are the experts on our own children! Don’t let any teaching professional tell you otherwise!

At primary school, most children have a class teacher who provides a point of contact with a parent. Some are easier to talk with than others, but all should be the first point of contact if a parent has questions, concerns or worries. As children go to secondary school, there is usually a Head of Year or member of staff with pastoral responsibilities who can be a point of contact for everyday concerns and queries. Most of all, though, a parent needs persistence in approaching schools and should not feel belittled or demeaned if there are concerns to raise.

There are two extremes that parents can have. One is a naive belief that schools get everything right and that this absolves the parent from any further responsibility as a parent. The other is to demonise the school and blame it for every difficulty or problem the child may face. The truth usually lies in the middle, with parents and schools needing to work together for the child’s ultimate good. Sometimes that will mean upholding discipline. Sometimes it will mean drawing the school’s attention to problems they might not otherwise be aware of. Always it involves trying to keep the channels of communication open and listening more than we speak.

There are lots of ways that parents can be involved in school life (including becoming a parent governor of the school.) Most of all, though, a parent needs to take time to listen to their child and to work with them. As the teenage years hit, sometimes it feels like the child views both parents and school as enemies, to be battled at every opportunity! The truth is the opposite. Parents and schools generally want each child to fufil their potential and to grow into rounded adults. We need to pray for our children, but in the wider church context, we need to be prepared to ‘parent the parents’, offering support, time, love and a listening ear to both parents and children alike. Children often benefit from the adult role models in church: it’s easier to pour out woes to another adult at times than to tell Mum or Dad. Young parents often benefit from older adults in church who have been through the same struggles and have lived to tell the tale! A listening ear and a timely word of advice often work wonders and can be a tangible way of helping others.