Lynda's Blog

  I had a busy day ahead so scrambled out of bed extra early and into my exercise clothes. Before I was barely awake I was walking to the nearby park enjoying the quiet of the early morning. The park is a beautiful place and displays God’s artistry with a wild abundance of trees and wildlife within a carefully manicured lawn, a stream and several small lakes. There were only a handful of people walking at that hour of the day, mostly with dogs. I spontaneously worshipped as I walked through that peaceful, spiritual place. I felt God near. Gazing ahead at the winding pathway, I could not see around the corner but felt a delicious sense of expectation even though I already knew what was ahead. I have walked that path many times. How often do we look ahead in life and wonder what is around the corner, yet filled with the expectation that God has gone ahead of us and we can be assured of his presence as we continue our walk. The path may take us to green pastures where we can lie d...

  There is a saying that ‘sometimes life just hits you in the face’! I had one of those times this week. One evening my husband was in terrible pain and feeling nauseated from a pre-existing condition. I took him to the local out-of-hours medical centre where we waited for nearly two hours before being told that the doctor was leaving shortly and didn’t have time to see him. We were strongly advised to go to the ED Department at the regional hospital around twenty minutes away so off we went. When we arrived there, my husband was triaged quickly then asked to wait in the waiting room. About an hour later he saw a nurse, had blood tests and was offered paracetamol for pain. Another three hours after that, my husband felt so ill he just wanted to go home to bed. I talked him into staying a bit longer. Within half an hour, he was seen by a doctor and a CT scan was ordered. A few minutes later he had a bed in ED and we waited another hour for a member of the surgical team to come and...

 I was reflecting on the health issues people get as they grow older. I have arthritis in my thumbs, plus my back and neck are often painful. My husband has surgery today on his hand. He also has shoulder problems, needs a knee replacement and has a large and painful hernia. He is likely to be on the waiting list for a long time for the hernia and in the meantime is unable to stand for long. So he cannot indulge in his hobbies or go anywhere to socialise and spends most of his day in front of the television. Last night it was put into perspective. I was watching an interview on the Outside of Sunday podcast on YouTube (Episode 84). The young woman being interviewed has terminal Stage 4 stomach cancer. She has a husband and children and is a health professional. Her testimony was amazing. God has already worked several miracles during her cancer journey and she is expectant of more. Often when I am tired or in pain, I find it hard to concentrate on reading my Bible and sometimes...

  I start my day with reading my Bible, maybe working through a study or sometimes just immersing myself in the Psalms. This is followed by a short prayer time. I talk to God frequently throughout the day and discuss all sorts of things with him, totally relying on him to be present—as He has promised. I pray before going to bed. But my absolutely favourite time with God is talking to him as I walk outside in his beautiful creation every day. I am blessed to have a large park not far from my home. It takes me around thirty five minutes to walk there, walk around the park and then walk home—a nice distance of three and a half kilometres. It helps me stay fit but the mental, emotional and spiritual benefits far outweigh the physical. There are many trees throughout this park, two ponds and a stream, a picnic area and a children’s playground and skate-park. As I follow the footpath I am overwhelmed with the variety and colours of the leaves, the amazing tree trunks all different s...