A sense of belonging
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Written by Ruth O’Reilly Smith   
Tuesday, 01 December 2009

A sense of belonging

Hellooooooo Scotland!  And England. And Wales. AND Northern Ireland!!!  

When I started working at UCB in 2006 I had no idea the vision for national Christian radio would be fulfilled while I was around. What an amazing honour. Over the last few months with the addition of some pretty amazing staff, our Facebook page, Shareathon and now with us broadcasting to the entire nation, I feel privileged to be part of what has quickly become a warm, welcoming family.

I live very far from what I still call ‘home’ as my folks and four siblings are all in South Africa and I was only recently talking about the basic need within the human soul to belong and how family is key to this sense of belonging. You’d think I’d feel part of family after living in England for ten years, but it was only two years ago that I finally knew what it means to be settled and at peace with being so far from my birth country – my children were born. I now have a family, a place I can call ‘home’ and a fresh sense of belonging, no matter where I live. There are naturally days when I miss my folks and my brothers and sisters but knowing that I’m not only blessed with my own little family but am also part of the body of Christ means I have an even greater sense of a physical and spiritual family.

Today, if you’re feeling alone, lonely and isolated, know that as a follower of Jesus you are part of the family of believers all over the world and therefore you belong – not only to Christ but also to a beautiful living, breathing, ever changing family. You bring a very special something to this family, something no one else can bring and as the daughter or son of the King of Kings, you are highly valued. 

May our Abba God soften your heart to hear His voice and respond to His call for you to come back to the place where you belong. With great affection, Ruth
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Fear knocked at my door...faith answered
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Written by Ruth O’Reilly Smith   
Monday, 14 September 2009
Hello there, A guy in Australia found a 3 metre long python curled up in his toilet – the snake man who dealt with the problem said it probably crawled up through the drain and was slithering about the house at night and resigning itself to the toilet bowl in the day – that is SCARY! Snakes are pretty much at the top of my list of things i’m scared of. Now being afraid of snakes is one thing but allowing fear to dictate your every move, your every thought and word or lack thereof is something completely different.  The great evangelist Billy Sunday once said, "Fear knocked at my door.  Faith answered...and there was no one there."  That's the proper response to fear.   John Mason writes, our worst imaginations almost never happen, and most worries die in vain anticipation.

Fear holds you back from flexing your risk muscle.  It's been said that worry is a darkroom where negatives are developed.  Like a rocking chair, it keeps you going, but you don't get anywhere.

Most of our fears can be traced back to a fear of man.  But the Bible says that "The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?" (Ps. 27:1).  People would worry less about what others think of them if they only realized how seldom they do.  They are wondering what you're thinking of them!

Many people are so filled with fear that they go through life running from something that isn't after them.  Fear of the future is waste of the present.  Fear not tomorrow.  God is already there. 

- John Mason, from the book You're Born An Original, Don't Die A Copy
I often remind myself of the verse in 2 Timothy 1:7 – God hasn’t given me a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind. I pray that you will have the courage to move forward in faith, rather than being paralysed by fear.
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Do more...
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Written by Ruth O’Reilly Smith   
Friday, 03 July 2009

This has been an interesting and sad last week. The passing of many notable people can really make you think and re-evaluate your own life. Life is too short to just dream of great accomplishments. You've got to stay awake and DO them. A man of words and not of deeds is like a flower bed full of weeds. Don't let weeds grow around your dreams. To only dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are.

 

The average person's life consists of 20 years of having parents ask where he or she is going, 40 years of having a spouse ask the same question and at the end, the mourners wondering the same. Abandon yourself to destiny. . .

 

Do more than exist, live.

Do more than hear, listen.

Do more than agree, cooperate.

Do more than talk, communicate.

Do more than grow, bloom.

Do more than spend, invest.

Do more than think, create.

Do more than work, excel.

Do more than share, give.

Do more than decide, discern.

Do more than consider, commit.

Do more than forgive, forget.

Do more than help, serve.

Do more than coexist, reconcile.

Do more than think, plan.

Do more than dream, do.

Do more than see, perceive.

Do more than read, apply.

Do more than receive, reciprocate.

Do more than choose, focus.

Do more than wish, believe.

Do more than advise, help.

Do more than speak, impart.

Do more than encourage, inspire.

Do more than add, multiply.

Do more than change, improve.

Do more than reach, stretch.

Do more than just live, live for Jesus!

　

-John Mason, from the book Know Your Limits Then Ignore Them

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Age
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Written by Ruth O’Reilly Smith   
Monday, 29 June 2009
Hello there,  I’d like to come clean and admit that I have AAADD Thankfully there is now a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better even though I have it!! So I’ve been diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
and this is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table,
put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back
on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,
since I'm going to be near the mailbox
when I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,
and see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
so I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,
but first I need to push the Pepsi aside
so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,
and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,
a vase of flowers on the counter
catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and
discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,
but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,
fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote,
but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,
but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,
get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to
remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
the car isn't washed
the bills aren't paid
there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
the flowers don't have enough water,
there is still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,
and I'll try to get some help for it,
but first I'll check my e-mail...  
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