Greetings my friends and best wishes for making it to another New Year

How are you doing as you enter into January?

Full of expectation or full of trepidation?

New year- maybe new opportunities, promises, resolutions, goals and targets or just bobbing along with a ‘business as usual’ approach to life hoping that everything will fall into place and happen just as it always does!

Well if you are anything like me you may have failed miserably at Veganuary already and you are ticking off your ToDo list of projects or Places to Visit this year.

Whatever your plan or no plan at all there are some things in life that can pass you by to quickly .

One of my goals for last year was to visit as many art exhibitions as possible especially as I was facing two eye operations and wasn’t sure what my sight would be afterwards and wanted to make the most of my visual interests.

Our dear son bought us a membership to Artfund which enables you to reduced admission cost to art exhibitions as a Christmas present, so we made good use of it throughout the year !

I also decided that I would develop my writing,drawing and painting skills, yes I enjoy a challenge and like to set myself goals and targets, possibly from working in the education sector for too long !

So last year 2017 I managed to visit The Australian impressionists, Laurence Alma-Tadema, America after the fall, William Morris Gallery, The Wallace Collection, Matisse in the studio, Mile End art exhibition of London artists, Museum of Childhood, Grayson Perry, Roger Mayne photography, Jewish museum on British design and the Sukkot exhibition, Geffreye museum Christmas in the Home, Festival of Print, Rose Wylie…… the list goes on!

I started on a little course in Hoxton with a group of ladies and a great art teacher and we are doing drawing and painting skills culminating in a joint exhibition in Holloway, London in the summer.

I also was asked to be on a prayer team for a big evangelistic event at the Emirates stadium which involved attending lots of meetings and gatherings finishing with a great open air stadium event with music and various celebrity speakers .

So to say I thought I was going to be ‘stuck’ inside not being able to do much I’ve had a busy year, also looking after my grandsons regularly .

It made me think about the mindset and how we can get stuck in a rut and not change direction or be afraid to try something new.

When recently taking our grandsons for a trip to the local city farm we passed by a Roman Catholic Church with a big crucifix with a figure of Jesus on it. When our 3 year old grandson Matisse enquired ‘who is that on there Pampa? ‘We both chirped up ‘well it’s Jesus! ‘Matisse said ‘Jesus is stuck on there Pampa!’

We both quickly replied ‘well he’s not actually Matisse,Jesus is alive in heaven he’s no longer stuck on a cross !’

Matisse quickly retorted ‘ yes and because of Jesus were not stuck either are we Pampa ‘?

Great bit of theology from an almost three year old.

Think about it …..because of Jesus we’re not stuck !

Stuck in a rut or stuck in our mess or stuck on earth without hope – no we have a hope that we can one day be with Him in heaven so if there is one thing to consider this New Year it has to be ‘ Are you stuck ?’

If so unstuck yourself change direction, take on a new challenge, challenge what you believe and why, you may decide to not believe in anything or find hope and a sense of purpose in your chosen cause, that’s great you may find by the end of the year that you are Unstuck!

In an ever evolving world be ready for new things, challenges, directions and I look forward to hearing about them.

From one pearl to another

Happy New Year xx

Love Mags xx