A child's example

As I was preparing for this week’s lunchtime service at Priory, I came across a moving and heart-warming story from America. It concerns a young girl called Rachel Beckwith. From an early age, Rachel appears to have had a very generous spirit. At the age of 5, she learned at school about an organization called Locks of Love, which uses hair donations to make wigs for children who have lost their own hair because of cancer or other diseases. Rachel then asked to have her long hair shorn off and sent to Locks of Love. After the haircut, Rachel announced that she would grow her hair long again and donate it again after a few years to Locks of Love.

Then when she was 8 years old, her church began raising money to build wells in Africa through an organization called charity:water. Rachel was aghast when she learned that other children had no clean water, so she asked to skip having a ninth birthday party. In lieu of presents, she asked her friends to donate $9 each to charity:water for water projects in Africa. Rachel set up a birthday page on the charity:water web site with a target of $300. She was a little disappointed that the total raised was only $220.

Then, on July 20 2011, Rachel and her family were involved in a serious motor accident. Although the rest of her family was unhurt, Rachel was left critically injured. Church members and friends, seeking some way of showing support, began donating on Rachel’s birthday page and donations surged past her $300 goal, and kept mounting.

When it was clear that Rachel would never regain consciousness, the family decided to remove life support. Her parents donated her hair a final time to Locks of Love, and her organs to other children. Word spread about Rachel’s last fund-raiser. Contributions poured in. One 5-year-old girl sent in the savings in her piggy bank of $2.27. When the donations page was finally closed, the total raised was a staggering $1,265,823, including donations from all around the world.

Scott Harrison, the founder of charity:water, commented: “What has been so inspiring about Rachel is that she has taught the adults. Adults are humbled by the unselfishness of this little girl.” And Rachel’s pastor stated: “Rachel wasn’t about words. She was about action. I think we could all learn from that. Small steps of loving sacrifice are the keys to unlocking big dreams.”

The Miracle of Life

A regular feature of Monday mornings at Priory is the senior ladies keep fit group. If I happen to be in the church office on a Monday morning I generally pop in at the end of the session to have a cuppa and a chat with the ladies. When I walked into the hall this morning I was greeted with a chorus of "hello grandad!" Some of the ladies knew that a week or so ago my first grandson was born.

Max Joshua Clark was born at 8.53am on Sunday 8 January; I received a text message from my son Chris informing me of the news just as I was about to set off for church. Later in the day, Sue and I hot-footed it down to Leicester to see Max (not to mention his parents, Chris & Megan). The image shown is of Max when he was less than 11 hours old! For a very newly born baby he seemed remarkably attentive.

Though I had witnessed the birth of our 3 children, when I held Max in my arms I was bowled over again by the miracle of human life. I thank God for his amazing gift of a grandson. A few days later I came cross a video clip on YouTube which highlights just what a miracle human life is. I would encourage you to watch the clip here. We serve an amazing Creator God!

Getting rid of the clutter

As the year 2012 arrived, the realisation began to hit home that in just a few months time we will be leaving Doncaster, when we move to a new place of ministry in Leicester. Although we are excited by all that lies ahead, it will seem very strange to leave a place and people we have come to love.

The experts say that moving home is one of the life experiences which can cause major stress. One element of house-moving which can be stressful is making decisions about which possessions (clutter?) we should take, and which can be disposed of in some way. I know that Sue and I don't always see eye to eye on such matters!

As I had a few days off this week, I did make a small start on preparations. I disposed of an old wardrobe (I took it apart and transported it to the tip), cleared a space in one of the bedrooms, and brought down a few boxes from the loft. I also began the process of sorting through some of the books which have been lining the bookshelves in my study. A number of them were brought when we arrived in Doncaster 11 and a half years ago, and have not been touched since. I have managed to fill 5 carrier bags full of books which I will be happy to give away!

One of the realities of modern life in the western world is the accumulation of "things", many of which we just don't need. If I can pass on some of my books to other people who might appreciate them, so much the better. In fact, one of my Christmas presents this year was a Kindle. This should mean that in the future I won't need to buy nearly so many books, I will simply be able to download an electronic version onto my Kindle - so not nearly so much shelf space required (nor luggage space when going on holiday).

As I have was thinking about all the items we have in our house which we don't really need, and could easily do without, into my mind came a verse from the New Testament book of Hebrews: 'let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.'

There are things which can bog us down in our Christian journey, and distract us from the path to which Christ has called us. Just as Sue and I will need to be fairly ruthless in deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, we, with God's help, need to lay aside anything which may be preventing us from living the full Christian life. Come to think of it, that's not a bad idea for a New Year's resolution!