It’s Adveeeeent!
Today is the first of December, which means the first day of Advent! Waking up this morning there was frost everywhere, on my way to an appointment it snowed every so slightly and it definitely feels like the festive season is here! Logging into socials (usually the first thing I do each day, so bad I know!) and my feeds were filled with Elf On The Shelf, extravagant ways to mark the first day of the month with chocolate and toddler boxes, homes decorated to the nth degree…. It’s very easy to… Read More
It Takes A Village…
It is insane how far my family and I have come in the last few years. Three and a half years ago, pre-pandemic, we had just moved into our beautiful new house, ready to start our next chapter as a married couple with one on the way. Then Covid-19 hit, we went into lockdown and I lost my job. We had no ties to Barking (it was the only place within Zone 4 we could afford a bigger home) and living on 1 of the 2 roads that were then open and… Read More
A Huge Thank You…
Finally, the last week of January is here and we made it! Payday is in sight! But as a true digital native, I want to take this opportunity to have a little #throwbackthursday moment and reflect on our Christmas period. I don’t know if anyone else felt it, but because it was our first Christmas season out of lockdown, I had forgotten how hectic it gets with meet ups and parties. But in the midst of all the fun and frivolity, we had some really beautiful moments that built on Christmases past…. Read More
We’re Getting There…
Well Barking Riverside, we did it again! We made it through another really uncertain December and have almost come out the other end, as we draw January 2022 to a close. Even with a threat of another lockdown and the revelations of the government’s shenanigans in the past couple of years, we still managed to come together and celebrate Christmas. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have had such beautifully decorated trees across the estate, and if it wasn’t for our brilliant Street Tree Hosts, we wouldn’t have had any engagement… Read More
Advent Reflections: Love
I come from a very straight Anglican church background, we sang hymns and in the church choir we wore robes and cassocks. Though I love the style of worship we have at Church At Barking Riverside, I do sometimes miss the hymns and anthems I was so used to singing week in, week out. One of them being, God Is Love, His The Care. Again, not always upbeat and not really a Christmas hymn, but the lyrics stick with me and are very poignant to this week’s Advent Reflections on Love. 1… Read More
Advent Reflections: Joy
This week the video the Bible Project shared on their socials was about Love, but this week’s reflections are based on their video about Joy. You can watch the video on Joy here. This is one of my favourite Christmas hymns, it’s not the most upbeat but the lyrics get me every time! Most Christmas carols/hymns are about Jesus being born to Mary. But this hymn is about the joy that is to come. It is all about the fulfilment of what Christ came to do in the first place. Christmas is… Read More
Advent Reflections: Peace
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV Continuing on from last week’s Advent Reflection on Hope, this week we’ll be focusing on Peace – you can watch the video here. These days… Read More
Advent Reflections: Hope
Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather! “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. Psalm 39:6-7 ESV From this week we will start our advent blog series following Bible Project’s daily reflections and videos on hope, peace, joy, and love. Every Monday, we will share the weekly video then on Wednesdays we will post our blog reflecting on the video and daily devotional/questions. This week we’ll be focusing on hope – you can watch… Read More
Christmas Is Coming!
Christmas is coming! And boy are we looking forward to it! With last year’s lockdowns and having all festivities basically cancelled last minute, this year lets go bigger and better right? Maybe not. As we have learnt through our blog series reflecting on John Mark Comer’s “The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry”, wanting more and focusing on more, doesn’t always help our soul or get us closer to God. In fact it does the total opposite and distracts us from, not only what we really want, but most importantly, what we really need…. Read More
January (nearly) done.
Life can sometimes feel more like an endurance test than really living – so congratulations we’ve almost made it to the end of January 2021! With so many hopes rested on the start of 2021 and jubilation when 2020 became history, this year feels painfully familiar as we approach our first lockdown anniversary and a year of ‘seconds’. But enough with the gloom! Time to remember some excellent things. This isn’t really Throwback Thursday or Flashback Friday, how about Just-back January? Christmas wasn’t so long ago and we wanted to say a… Read More
