I had messages from people asking if we ‘loved it or listed it’? (spoiler alert: we loved it… happy wife, happy life and all that ) and were Phil and Kirsty good to work with? (They were fabulous )

But one message came in that got me thinking… it simply read ‘what a beautiful home you have’
My response to that was ‘thanks, but you do realise that five years on there’s a lot of paint scratches, dints, chips, coffee stains and muddy marks’ !!

This lent, I’ve been reflecting on two parallel themes: what is seen and what is unseen along with what was then and what needs to be now.

I’ve found myself challenged by passages which on the face of it I can easily say and preach on but at a heart level there is serious self examination. One in particular from that well known chapter in Corinthians has in it the phrase ‘love keeps no record of wrongs’ has caused some forensic soul searching on my part. Does the ‘front facing’ Chris chime with the internal Chris?

This is where I need to bring the dints, scratches and muddy marks et al of recent times to God’s throne of grace and confess my failure and know His Forgiveness.

I need to acknowledge that this self diagnosis goes hand in glove with the ‘then and now’; needing to allow God to do a work in me which frees me from what was in order to live in the present with the Holy Spirit having freedom to move for God’s glory and not be restricted by my clinging on to things unhelpful and detrimental in my journey as a follower of Jesus.

I don’t look back wistfully on a ‘beautiful house’ from five years ago, I don’t look back through the aesthetics of a ‘shiny’ house but rather through the lived life focused on tears of joy and cries of sadness, of impatience and outrageous grace, of tension and a peace beyond my understanding, of utter despair and divine filled hope; on the constancy of Caroline and the children throughout… but above all…. A God who has promised -and continues to promise- that in spite of and because of my warts and all, He will never leave me.

As we move close to Easter, may these last few days of Lent draw you nearer to the Father heart of God with authenticity and vulnerability. May you allow Him to shine a light on all the dints and scuff marks and, in His outrageous and restoring grace may His Healing Hand work a miracle of joy and hope in your hearts.

In His Grip
Chris