Devotions

 

 

 

​ "My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it." - Brenann Manning ​If you grew up in certain Christian traditions, like I did, you were handed a heavy lens through which to view yourself and the world: the doctrine of total depravity. Under that framework, humanity is often portrayed as a crushed rose or a hopelessly shattered pane of glass—ruined from the core and inherently tainted. ​Yet, long before the first sin entered the picture in Genesis 3, there is Genesis 1:31. When God finished forming humanity in His image, He didn't look at us with regret or disgust; He declared that it was "very good." That original blessing is our foundational baseline. God’s stamp of approval came first . ​As Brennan Manning reminds us in Abba's Child , this is where our true identity must be found: ​ "Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Ever...

Recently I started a course called Wellbeing with Horses at Drum RDA in Edinburgh. I'm already a big part of the way through. The end result should be a healthier lifestyle and also just sheer joy at getting to work with animals. So far so good. Here are some snapshots of that journey:  Starting out: Learning to lead the horse and mindful grooming: Practiced getting a pretend horse 🐎 ready then doing it for real and leading them out the barn for a trot. Setting up a handy pony course and leading the horse around.... Today was the final day, which is rather bittersweet.