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| While World War 11 in Britain did bring about a nation of children who were taller and healthier than they had ever been, and while the war also narrowed that informidable gap between rich and poor, at least as far as nutrition was concerned, there are no words for the loss and the insurmountable grief that landed itself in so many people's hearts. |
Many people currently from their various countries are facing unexpected austerity. People are looking for skills and even personal support so as to survive during a time of economic recession or perhaps natural disaster while they live in the midst of a generation which too frequently wastes not only food but also other material goods - a generation where many eat junk food, suffer ill-health at an early age and where even young children are obese.
Can our battle for survival and self-sufficiency be an exhilarating one - rewarding us with a sense of pride in meeting the challenge to stay strong and healthy within our families while we also develop friendships through our co-operation with others in our communities.
What is the legacy that our war heroes have left behind – and what is the legacy that we will leave behind when we pass from this world? But perhaps more to the point - What is the contribution that we are currently making to today’s world?
Do we even know our neighbours - speaking to them, laughing with them,
encouraging them, helping one another to have more meaningful lives and to survive
through our own difficult times?
REFLECTING AFTER A YEAR OF BLOGGING
To what place has my one year of blogging in 2013 brought me?
It has brought me to a keener awareness of being a member of community with a desire to contribute to the welfare of my community. How I contribute will partly depend on what I am personally interested in and where I am motivated to contribute, and simply what crops up in my life as I keep my eyes and ears open to my city around me with its multitude of challenges and happenings.
It has brought me to a keener awareness of being a member of community with a desire to contribute to the welfare of my community. How I contribute will partly depend on what I am personally interested in and where I am motivated to contribute, and simply what crops up in my life as I keep my eyes and ears open to my city around me with its multitude of challenges and happenings.
I am challenged to:
*Be a caring wife, mother and grandmother for my own family; along with
being a good neighbour to those in my immediate neighbourhood;
*Continue to enjoy the local bird life, and join the bird-watching
society;
*Continue to take nature photos;
*Decide on the area of my community where I want to serve – in 2013, it
was in a volunteer capacity, visiting clients in a nursing home and in a paid
capacity, teaching English to refugee children. Perhaps in 2014, there will be
a new area such as supporting teenagers in need, possibly teenagers who were in
foster care prior to them turning 18, when they reached the age where they no
longer qualified for government foster-care;
*Work on a more sustainable home garden and liase with other gardeners
in my city; and
*Perhaps write a weekly blog entry on some of my life experiences... I might call it "By the Grace of God, Go I!"
And so it is goodbye to all of you wonderful blog readers who have shared this year with me. May your lives be enriched by the goodness and grace of our heavenly Father, and may you be blessed in body, mind and spirit through all your life's seasons.
