ALL THINGS MADE NEW

Shirley"s Pen

‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be nor more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’

Room 205 was a welcome sight.  Visits, conversations, penetrating my thoughts.  My mind racing as I made my way down the corridor.  ‘Lord, these waves are too high, I am sinking, I’m going to capsize’.  Overwhelmed with the fast flowing floods of suffering of those I had left behind, hope gone, the tempestuous winds blowing with great adversity, alone with the anguish of their personal trial, their hearts crushing beneath the pain. Frail bodies (wasting away), voices so weak they reach out just to touch your hand. Is it enough, is it over (for me) when I ‘share a moment’; ‘spend an evening’; ‘show I care’? It can never be over, my heart needs to be fixed, to be settled, even though I question, my faith, my trust will know His leading.  Oh the impact, the tranquillity of a loving word, but more importantly, a living word that will cause them to know in their hearts that the Lord is the source and the God of all comfort.  I thought of Job: ‘And after my skin is destroyed, this I know that in my flesh I shall see God,’ Job 19: 26. They not only need ‘Daily Bread’; they need ‘The Bread of Life’. Read more

To God be the glory

Shirley"s Pen

Breakfast Time is never dull in Emanuel University, students hurriedly making their way to class for 8 a m – but this particular morning, a certain Professor was sipping a hot cup of coffee, glancing through the window,  as I was preparing to leave,  when suddenly he rushed into our tiny kitchen area ‘Shirley, it’s finally arrived’.  ‘To God Be The Glory’.  Plans change quickly in Romania.   ‘The Moore’s made their way ‘quickly’ down the many steps and by the time we reached our destination the 45ft curtain sider truck was already parking.  The excitement filled the air – my husband searching for available students to assist offloading while I contacted Casa Grace, Emanuel Hospice, Orphanage and Ichoebed.  Soon the work commenced – it was interesting !

The staff of all  departments arrived  and removed their designated items with Casa Grace transporting the items to the Centre for the new Therapy Room.  The following morning Monika, Mahai and I met Dora at the Centre..  Within two hours all boxes were unpacked, toys assembled and placed.  ‘Sister Shirley, please thank everyone for loving these children by sending so much, they have never seen anything like this . …..’ Elena (Director of the Centre) and Lavina (Director of the Abandoned Baby Wing) were overwhelmed by the choice of educational toys, volume, attention to detail in supplying the beautiful patchwork quilts, sleeping bags, medical creams …….   I only wish I could have seen the ‘little eyes’ filled with wonder as they entered the following morning, it would resemble a typical Christmas Morning but then methinks Christmas Morning in the Centre is not what we know at home?   And so I say to you all:  ‘Thank You’ from my heart and ‘Multumesc’ from all your friends at the Centre.

You will never know the difference you have made in so many unwanted, unloved little gems.

Rebuilding

Shirley"s Pen

Our land lies in ruins now, but we will rebuild it better than before.  We will replace the broken bricks with cut stone, the fallen sycamore trees with cedars’. Isa: 9:10.

‘Change and decay in all around I see…’  Heartfelt emotion of lives in ruins, desperate cries for help. But how much of myself can I give?  I can identify with the prophet Nehemiah who when he first saw the ruins of Jerusalem, wept.  I have struggled these past few days, yet I am assured that God’s love is stronger than my heartfelt pain. I must be drawn by love to build a ‘Bridge of Hope’ that will join us in the bond of humanity and love.  Before departing from Northern Ireland, I sensed a ‘wind of change’ and thought I was prepared,   I remind myself that my passion, my vision has not changed, yet question why this particular path of darkness, brokenness, seems the most difficult.  I think of Anna who has been trying to ‘rebuild’ with two of her children a ‘Home’ after they spent six years in an Orphanage. Two days ago, the ‘Home’ she shared with ten families, burned to the ground.  Her land lies in ruins!  ‘Just a little glimmer of light’ I prayed.   He is able to restore, rebuild and so I wait knowing ‘My hope is in the Lord’.  At the outset of this mission trip, I pray that the Word of God will penetrate the darkness surrounding many and that they will know in their heart there is ‘Hope in the Midst of Shadows’. Read more

"Home"

Shirley"s Pen

 ‘Sister Shirley, bring warm clothes and long boots, it is cold in Romania’  read Dora’s text.

‘It is cold in Romania’.   How those words burned into my heart.  I thought of the emptiness, the sadness, the finality of separation surrounding those I love.  The water of ‘time’ is flowing fast and the waters continue to rise.  I sense the need to return home.  There is a longing in my heart to ‘spend a morning’; ‘share an evening’; offer a few moments of my time to listen, trying to understand the road of towering mountains, unanswered questions many walk just now.

Distance, change of climate, unfamiliar surroundings, my favourite chair,  yet I do not feel a stranger, I have One who walks beside me, who knows my heart and whose promises are my ‘silent companion’.   This ‘abiding place’  is home to me.  An abiding peace, an abiding faith, fills my heart as I remember that ‘here we have no abiding place’. We are on a journey with the One who never changes and who will abide with us wherever we are.  Home is a place of security, filled with the love of a father, mother, husband, wife, the joy of brothers, sisters, yet as I plan my visits,  I realise there will be an empty chair, a silence in a room once filled with joy.  ‘Change and decay in all around I see, O Thou who changes  not, abide with me’.  The freshness of those words whisper ‘no need to fear’ because I know that wherever I am I must be ‘ALL’  there (Jim Elliot).  ‘In my father’s house are many mansions’, a ‘Home’ a place of dwelling,  prepared and waiting – Eternity! Read more

BACK TO SCHOOL

Shirley"s Pen

It was not a mild cheery day, rather a brisk wind filled the air, leaves that once graced the trees were blowing furiously filling the sky with a richness of beautiful autumnal colour. The clouds darkened as mild raindrops hit the car windscreen soon followed by torrential rain.  Summer had gone and the boughs of the tree were bare, but then all seasons come to an end.

It was another ‘busy day’ for ‘The Moore’s’  – every traffic light  ‘red’.  Waiting (patiently) for the ‘green’ to flash, I smiled as I gazed through the window watching the children crossing over, holding tightly to their brightly coloured lunch boxes,  back packs as they hurriedly made their way  to the other side of the road. Many entering a new season, a new beginning, the smaller ones skipping excitedly to school.  A future of opportunity stretching before them.

Aeryn (5) (my husband’s third grandchild) sent her grandad a picture – ‘My First Day At School’ with a tiny message ‘Thank you grandad for my back pack’. His smile as he opened the image said it all! How much we can learn from a child, I find myself lingering a little longer than necessary in their childlike world, it is the simple expressions of childlike spirit that captivate my thinking and fill my heart. My thoughts were clearly back home in Oradea as I thought of the hundreds of children without a back pack. Shirley, have you loved or felt enough?’. My thought mode was interrupted as I was alerted we were entering Ballymena where I was to meet my friend Alison McCloy. Car change completed successfully Dr. Moore made his way to Nicholson and Bass to finalise the production of his new book ‘Hope in the midst of Shadows’, available at the end of September. Read more

Silent Lives

Shirley"s Pen

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Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God’.

(Jim Elliott)

This evening as I watched the shadows deepen, my thoughts turned to those who live silent lives of suffering in the Shadows of Life.  Shadows are silent, yet possess a beauty, differing in shape and size.  The summer sun can create a shadow, as can the pale beam of the moon, yet all bring a distinct silence.  The words of C.H. Spurgeon: ‘There are some of your graces, which would never be discovered, if it were not for your trial’.  I have known the silence of shadows but I came to know through personal experience that in the darkness of night when the silence was deafening ‘Standing Somewhere In The Shadows’ was One who could enter the depth of despair.  I had to learn to ‘dwell,’ to remain close at all times in all situations of life.  Psalm 91:1 ‘He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow ……’  What need I more ? Read more