A Wizard is never late...

I am loving life at the moment, but the future is ever present in my mind. I am in the process of trying to sort it out so I can stay in the Area and work for Urban Promise. I know that God has it in his hands but i'm not blessed with an abundance of patience.



I'm reminded of this scene from Lord of the Rings (i know, I use Lord of the Rings for many examples), and it speaks of the Character of God, that he won't be rushed by our narrow-minded, short term vision.God is never late, or early, but instead God arrives exactly when he planned to, seeing the whole picture not just the immediate.

God is the Alpha and Omega. He is the First and Last. He sees the breadth of Human history and has my life in his hand, along with the timing. It is very frustrating though. Its like standing on top a mountain, where the view should be spectacular, but everything is covered with mist, not revealing the incredible things underneath...

Home

I've been told from time to time that where my heart is, there also i'll find my treasure.

Well, It is here, amongst the broken sidewalks and pain filled lives that I find a potential without measure.

It is in a city invincible, ignored by the great. In the shadow of Brotherly Love, yet marred by hate.

It is here that i find my heart alive. It is here that I feel in synch. But remember, Beauty in this small city is shy, and you'll miss it if you blink.

I've been told from time to time that home is where my heart is. And this know for sure. It is in this city with a people so strong, that I find the home that I've been looking for, all along.

Some ancient, invisible, Saint Nick in the Sky

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

$10 Billion to give everyone clean water. $450 billion spent on Christmas?

Enough said...

Hope is Kindled

Matthew 5:14-16

14 “You are the light of the world. A [beacon] built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

              

 

I was really inspired last week. UrbanPromise, the organisation that i work for, despite being formed in Camden, NJ, it has not been contained to this city. Beacons of Hope have been spread to the whole world.  Last week we had the UrbanPromise Summit, in which the UrbanPromises from Malawi, Honduras, Miami, Toronto, Vancouver, Wilmington and Trenton gathered together.

To hear the stories from all around the world is amazing. In Matthew we are told that we are light of the world, that a "beacon" on a hill cannot be hidden. At the summit it was incredible to see so many beacons lit.

I remember the scene from Lord of The Rings where the Beacons of Gondor are lit, and it struck me that one tiny flame, can produce a chain reaction which cannot be stopped and cannot do anything except drastically change the world that we live in.

So whatever you do, be this "beacon" that spreads light, because you never know what effect it will have.

Memories Frozen in Time

A few pictures from Urban Promise including our trip to the Philadelphia Zoo... 

 

I’m no Superman

I have in the last days come to realize that I am not Superman.

I don’t mean this in the sense that I cannot fly or catch bullets or turn back time.

I mean it in the sense that I cannot save the world. I cannot, no matter how much I want to, save those who you love the most.

I’m not going to go into detail but I was in a situation where I was trying to save the world, whilst ignoring the hurt that it was causing me. 

I heard someone talk a couple of weeks ago about self-care. He talked about how the first thing we should do when trying to help someone is make sure that we are in a position to help those who we aim to help. He gave the analogy of when an airplane loses cabin pressure. Do we help the person next to us put their oxygen mask on first?  No. Because if we pass out then we are of no help at all. So we fix the mask on ourselves first.

In my head I was (am still am) being pulled in two directions. It does make sense to look care for yourself but on the other hand, when appealing to my caring nature, it seems selfish. It was taking more that I had to put myself in this situation. And with hindsight I can see that I was tearing myself apart, which was resulting to me not being able to help and possibly being more of a hinderance.

So my advice to you is that if you wish to help those in this world that you hold dear, then make sure that you are in a position to help