A shady bough of a jacaranda tree hung its branches of purple flowers over the garden.  A little blue wren  made a sibilant note .  Eleanor  sat on the garden seat with her sketchs.   Her compendium fell on the lawn, and an old sepia photograph lay there.

She picked up the black and white photograph and studied it closely.  The plate was the same as in a frame on the mantelpiece in the drawing room at the Manor and the same as in her reverie.  It had Fanny dressed in a bonnet and in a lacey white frock outfit  and petticoat with primrose gloves, swinging in a garden seat.  A book of homilies in her hand and a keepsake diary.  The letters that are enclosing her diary Eleanor reads to herself, and its leafs open the window to an illicit dream.  She sees herself in it that  splendid late morning, and diarises about her dream. ......by  julie Ralphs

wise dear words

Hi Julie,

Thank you for your kind words about the Healing Rooms. It is always Jesus Who gives you answers and ministers His healing touch. The glory goes to Him! He just uses people!

You can know that you are very special and beautiful in His sight. His love for you in incredible, unchanging and overwhelming, and He rejoices over you with singing.  As for your mother, you know that when you forgave her, you handed her over to God Who is the righteous Judge. You are also choosing not to blame or hold her actions against her. Jesus on the Cross had every right to ask God to punish those who were torturing Him, (they deserved to be punished) but all He said was “Father forgive them…”And He gives us the grace to say the same to everyone who may hurt us. In the forgiveness prayer, we then ask God to bless that person in every way. So now, when thoughts of your mother’s words come back to you, you also remember that you have forgiven her, and you say “Father God bless my mother in every way.”

We find our self-worth in knowing how God sees us, and what He says about us. I know you as a beautiful child of God, but you don’t really need me to tell you that; because you keep looking to Jesus, and listening to what He has to say. You find your self-worth in knowing what God thinks of you, and what He says about you, not anyone else. He sees you as beautiful and precious in His sight; and God loves you just as much as He loves Jesus! (John 17:23) If you keep looking to people for their approval, then you become dependent on them, and will always be let down. But once you understand just how much Almighty God loves you and has you in His care, then you are free, and you walk in freedom!

With much love and many blessings

Marion