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Our car is currently sitting in our garage until we can get it repaired. The expected bill is far larger than we can afford, so it may well be several months before we can get it fixed, with divine intervention!

I’m not happy with how easily I lost my peace when I was given the news about the problem, and probable repair costs. While I’ve matured I’m still a work in progress, and bad news is something I still need to learn to receive better!

Problems come along and can take us out without warning. They overwhelm us, sometimes to the point when we feel like we can’t breathe. Problem after problem throws itself at us, and we have no choice but to do the best we can.

If you’ve started with a lovely prayer time in the morning, you might be in a better mood when you get such bad news. But, have you ever noticed that these problem issues always seem to arrive when you’ve woken up and had to rush in to the day, so are utterly unprepared for what smacks you across the face like a wet kipper on a winter morning?!?

God is always good, so we can’t blame Him when things go wrong. Parts on cars wear out: at one level, the parts that need to be replaced on our car, other than being far more expensive than we’d prefer, are just parts designed to wear out and be replaced!

When problems come along how do you react? 

When intensity rises, what is your go to response? 

It really does reveal the side of us we prefer not to think of. However, God is watching us for our response.

Just a thought…

Andy B

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Happy Birthday BerryBunch!

In case you missed it we celebrated three years of producing free to download videos and resources here on the BerryBunch. On 19th April 2020 BerryBunch was born and our very first post was posted!

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Family Matters Podcast

Some exciting news is that there will be a brand-new Podcast called Family Matters and will be coming in June this year. A podcast created by the family for the family.

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I love cycling and I’ve been doing it as far back as I can remember.

I helped Jo develop a passion for cycling when we got married and I taught my own boys to cycle through the busy streets of a large City in England.

I’ve cycled through snow and through rain, through fog and through windy weather. But, one condition that makes nervous is ice. The other is gusty winds. That last one makes me not stops me in my tracks.

As a professionally trained driver, with a decade and a half of experience – I have no clue how many miles, but 56 Miles Per Hour for anything up to nine hours a day, over a 15 year period would be something towards how many miles I covered.

I have seen a lot of good and bad drivers.

I wonder what stops you from doing the things you’ve set out to do? Even things you enjoy doing.

I wonder what God has called you to do, that you’re too afraid to try doing.

I can promise you only one thing – if God has called you to do something for Him then, with Him, you can’t fail to succeed to accomplish what He will equip you to do.

Just a thought…

Andy B

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Two Sides! When you’re printing something, you need to consider that there are two sides to the thing you’re printing on.

It’s really the most basic of things, but you never waste a leaflet by printing on just one side because there’s a 50/50 chance it’ll be thrown to one side and just show a piece of white card!

So, you print on both sides.

The same goes for business cards. But, if you want cheaper business cards, then there are many companies who will print them for you, to a high quality, only 50% of the card will have their advertising on it.

Which isn’t great, unless you want business cards in a hurry and don’t mind advertising a business that has nothing to do with you.

Which leads me to a question – which side of you are people seeing?

Is it the side advertising something that you don’t want people to focus on? Or the side you’re crafting?

We’re not supposed to be two faced. And we’re not supposed to project an image that is false.

But, we do need to consider what people see and unless we’re careful, they’ll just as easily see the side of us we’d rather keep hidden.

So, what do people see when they see you?

Just a thought…

Andy B

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Weeds. They’re such a pain and I’m sure you, like me, have lovingly tended the odd one before we realised it really wasn’t something that deserved our care and attention!

Weeds grow and lie dormant under the surface of the garden just waiting for the right conditions to burst forth and ruin that lovingly weeded piece of garden that we spent hours sorting out.

Because are opportunists. They don’t need much of anything to go wild and create havoc.

We’ve all got weeds in our lives too – they lie under the surface and then suddenly guilt erupts.

If you want to deal with weeds in your garden you need to find the root and get rid of that, or they’ll come back.

Likewise, there are temptations in our lives that need properly cutting off and out – just like cancer – so they don’t grow back.

Just a thought…

Andy B

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It’s a great feeling when you finally fix something yourself; there is an immense sense of satisfaction when you hear that final ‘click’ as something goes perfectly back into its proper place.

I’ve seen that happen a few times, and it’s always very satisfying!

In life there are some things that we simply can’t put right. It doesn’t matter how hard we try – we just can’t make fix it or repair it.

When we lost our daughter she was just 11 weeks old. There was nothing I, or we, could do to prevent her death. It was utterly out of our control and it took me many years to finally work through that pain and loss and before I was ready to allow my wife and I to consider trying for another baby.

There are times when saying sorry is simply no longer an option, or even appropriate, to say.

In those times we have a single, healthy, choice to make. And it is the same choice whether it’s a video we’ve recorded, and subsequently lost, or the fracturing of a friendship or relationship.

That one healthy choice? It’s to let go!

When we lost our daughter, it took me years to reach the point of being able to let go. Sometimes life ‘stuff’ happens and we find ourselves utterly unprepared.

But I had to accept that I had lost my video, and I had to accept that I had lost my daughter.

I’m not being glib, or fickle, here - losing a video is not the same as losing a daughter! But it is the same action that we need to take on both counts – we need to choose to let go.

Just a thought…

Andy B

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Andy B and Jo continue in this new series of Marriage Matters improving the format further – just a few tweaks! In this second episode, Andy B and Jo take a look at when life gets hectic, when there might be too much going on and it might be difficult to find time for your spouse.

Times of busyness can cause problems and you may feel distant from each other in marriage, or it can bring you together as you do life together through the ups and downs and hectic happenings.

This week, Andy B reads from the book of Mathew, perhaps some familiar verses calling us to go to Jesus and find rest in Him.

• Mathew 11:28-30

The Take Away

Andy
Andy gives us a handy tip to ‘front load’ which means get things done ahead of time so when stuff comes in, we can handle it!

Jo
Jo highlights the importance of prayer in helping us through the busy times and staying strong together as a couple. And Jo notes we can cause our own busyness and to be careful of that.

Andy and Jo

This video will always be best enjoyed on our website: URL: https://www.berrybunch.org/Articles/660958/S03E002_When_Your.aspx

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In this episode of Endurance, the last of this season, Steven and Nathan are thinking about those bad days that we all have from time to time.

Endurance is your weekly spiritual workout, whether you think of yourself as a beginner, an intermediate, or advanced!

#GoDeeper

As Steven goes deeper into this week’s topic for Endurance, he begins with some examples of bad days. Jesus warned his disciples that they would face suffering in this world, but He also told them to be courageous because he had overcome the world.

Steven quotes a passage of Scripture from the book of James which commands us to rejoice when we face trails because they make us stronger.  In addition to this, he makes a few interesting points. One of which is that whether you’re having a good day, a bad day or a worse day you should praise God. He also challenges us not to write off a day just because something bad happens.

#GoDo

Nathan and Steven discuss this week’s topic in greater detail:

1.   You don’t throw away an entire box of eggs because one has gone bad.

2.   Are you having a good day?

Check out this week’s episode to find out how to navigate the mountains and valleys of life.

Steven and Nathan

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Today is Good Friday and marks the most important date in the Christian Calendar. After Christmas Day, Good Friday, is probably the most celebrated day of the year here in the UK, and around the world and, annually, for some 2,000 years, and for good reason!

There are two great certainties in life. No matter your status, your wealth or your success, they apply to you just as much as they apply to me - they have nothing to do with culture, geography, goodness or ‘niceness’.

The first certainty, of course, is that we will all be born. We don’t get to choose who our mother and father will be. We don’t get any say over brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, or the time and place of our birth.

The second certainty is that we are all going to die one day: we can keep ourselves fit and healthy, avoiding any – and all - potential dangers, and still die at a time and place that was not of our choosing through no fault of our own.

In the Nicolas Cage film National Treasure, we hear the following clue for the treasure they sought:

“the debt that all men pay”.

Now, in the film, it formed a clue to finding the treasure but that phrase actually comes straight out of the Holy Bible, and can be found in the book of Romans, chapter 6 and verse 23:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Unlike our birth, where we have no control, we do have absolute control about what happens when we die. And, that choice, affects everything while we’re alive too.

“The debt that all men pay” is super encouraging because we know that Jesus of Nazareth was a real man. Various Court Judges over the centuries have assessed the case He answered and found him not guilty. Various historians over the centuries have proven that He was the same Jesus of Nazareth who was put to death on a cross by the Romans at the time.

For you and me that is important because Jesus, literally, paid “the debt that all men pay”. And that means we get the choice whether we wish to go to heaven or not. 

You can ignore this Christian stuff as just a bunch of magical rubbish designed to make people feel better and act as their crutch to get through life. However, if we’re right about this ‘Jesus stuff’ then you might wish to reconsider what you ‘know’ to be true, or not.

If you want to know more about Jesus Christ – the reason it says Good Friday in your digital and paper calendars, why not ask Him to show Himself to you. If you’re right, what have you got to lose?

Just a thought…

Andy B

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What's coming up on our next Endurance podcast?

In this episode of Endurance, the last of this season, Steven and Nathan are thinking about those bad days that we all have from time to time.

Endurance is your weekly spiritual workout, whether you think of yourself as a beginner, an intermediate, or advanced!

Steven and Nathan

Keep in Touch with the BerryBunch
www.berrybunch.org

Support Us Online
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Catch us on Konnect Radio for our weekly show - Family Focus: Sundays, 3 til 6pm