Tag: God cares

Grief, Healing, The Word of God

A SNACK AND A SNUGGLE (LOVED AND HELD)

joymargetts

Our 4 year old grandson has just started school full time, finishing at 3pm every day. It is a milestone in his life and we are very proud of him. He has coped very well – he was already doing part days – but school every day, all day, is a new and demanding routine for him. Inevitably, he is tired.

Photo of young boy walking away with a school bag on his back

When we picked him up from school the other day, he was so excited to see us, excited to be able to come to play at Nana’s house with his little sister. But within minutes of getting in the car he burst into tears, over something and nothing. It was obvious that in his tiredness he was just overwhelmed by all the emotions coursing through him.

‘Shall we have a snack and a snuggle?’ I suggested, when we got home. He sniffed and nodded. We put a favourite video on the TV, and had juice and biscuits and a cuddle on the sofa. After a little while he was happy and settled enough to go and find some toys and play with his grandad.

The unexpected overwhelm

Sometimes a surge of emotion hits us out of nowhere. We might be overtired, over stressed, triggered by the unexpected. Sometimes we might not even know why we are upset, why overwhelm threatens, and what makes us lose control. We want to cry, or scream, or lash out.

I am in a season of grief and loss. Lately I have been doing ‘well’. Life, with all it’s blessings (grandchildren included) has been good. The grief moments have been less, in both frequency and intensity. But last week was my late Dad’s birthday, the first one we have faced without him. I thought I might feel sad on that day, but the unexpected wave of grief I experienced, surprised and threatened to overwhelm me. The dam broke – there haven’t been many tears lately – and it seemed they weren’t going to be held back. The more I cried, the more tears came, along with memories both good and bad.

Let me wrap you in My arms…

I have a Father in heaven. Yes, my earthly father is there, but I also have a perfect heavenly Father. And He knows me so intimately. He knew why the tears came that day, He wasn’t surprised by my messy grief. He well understands loss, grief and pain. He weeps for my tears. He reminded me of all this as I poured out my heart to Him. His response was a whispered, ‘Let me wrap you in My arms, today. Let Me hold you.’

A snack and a snuggle?

God knew that all I needed was to feel loved and held. I didn’t need answers. I didn’t need to be told to pull myself together and stop the silliness. I just needed to rest back into His embrace. He fed me – taking me to verses in scripture that reminded me of my value to Him. And then through the words of a song that just happened to be playing, He reassured me that He loved me, in ways that my heart needed to hear. I wrapped myself in a soft blanket and sat imagining Him holding me. His peace descended and I knew He was there for me. I felt comforted, strengthened, and able to face the rest of the day.

Image shows three sparrows, two resting on twigs and the third in flight, with the words 'you are of more value that many sparrows' .

Loved and held

We knew instinctively what my overtired grandson needed – he just needed to be reassured, loved and held for a little while. God, our Father wants to do the same for us, if we will let Him. If we will come to Him in our vulnerability, just seeking His presence and not expecting Him to answer, heal, or act. He invites us to come to Him, in our messiness, and find a place of rest, in His more than capable arms.

Joy Margetts is a published author and blogger. Her books are works of Christian Historical fiction. Set in medieval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, they tell stories of faith, hope and God’s redemptive power. Her debut novel ‘The Healing‘ was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021.

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022, and her third novel, ‘The Bride‘, published on 20th October 2023. ‘The Stranger‘, her fourth full length novel was published 22 November 2024 by Broad Place Publishing.

Her first non-fiction book, an Advent Devotional, ‘Christ Illuminated‘ was published in September 2023 and her latest 40 day devotional, ‘Because of the Cross‘ was published 7 February 2025

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here

Christian Writer, Faith, Lessons from life, Thankfulness

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS

joymargetts

Door knobs. Who knew how vital door knobs were to finishing off a kitchen re-fit? The kitchen cabinets went in relatively smoothly, and the worktops went on a treat, and the kitchen was done. Except that it was completely unusable because we had no door knobs!

The handles we had ordered with the kitchen, many, many weeks ago, never actually materialised. No sweat – we got them refunded and went online and ordered some direct. Actually, we were rather pleased as they were much nicer, and cheaper than the originals! They duly arrived within days, only for us to discover that the bolts supplied were too short to go through the new cabinet doors! And so the saga continued. For almost a week I had a beautifully fitted kitchen, but with doors and drawers that could not be opened. All for the want of some properly fitting door knobs.

It’s the little things that make all the difference.

SO BLESSED

We have been incredibly blessed to have tradesmen in the house who share our faith. We have laughed more than we have sworn – at the inconveniences of delayed supplies, and wonky walls, and misplaced electrical sockets. And the many other irritating little things that are part and parcel of home improvements. When I jokingly said I might write a blog about the little things – like door knobs – one of them shared a great story with me.

Back when he was a new Christian, he wanted to download some Christian music to listen to while he worked. There were four songs that had particularly spoken to him and he could remember the titles of three of them, but frustratingly, not the fourth. He decided to pray about it and asked God to remind him of that illusive song. He then chastised himself. Surely with all the problems in the world, all the big prayer requests God had to deal with, asking God to do such a little thing for him was at best cheeky, and at worst irreverent? Having decided so, he stopped praying and opened up Facebook to message a friend. There at the top of his Facebook feed was a photo of the sheet music of the very song he was trying to remember. Co-incidence? Not likely. Even in the retelling, his eyes moistened. As a new Christian it was a massive thing for him to learn: that God really cares about the little things in our lives.

And the song? It was ‘How great thou art’. God needed him to know that He was great enough to respond to his little prayer, and great enough to deal with all the big stuff too.

Little things are important

Those door knobs had become a bit of an obsession for me. Now, I’m pleased to say they are where they should be, and my kitchen is fully functional. They may have been little things – by far the cheapest components of the whole new kitchen –  but they were so important in the big scheme of things.

God responding to us in the little things shows us just how important we are to Him. In the big scheme of things it builds our faith, demonstrates His extra-ordinary power, and reassures us just how much He really cares about us.

‘What is the value of your soul to God? Could your worth be defined by any amount of money? God doesn’t abandon or forget even the small sparrow he has made. How then could he forget or abandon you? What about the seemingly minor issues of your life? Do they matter to God? Of course they do! So you never need to worry, for you are more valuable to God than anything else in this world.’

Luke 12:6-7 TPT

Joy Margetts is new to blogging, and new to being published. Her debut novel ‘The Healing‘ was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021. A work of historic fiction, set in mediaeval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, it is also a story of faith, hope and God’s redemptive power. Joy has also self- published a short novella, ‘The Beloved‘ as both a companion to ‘The Healing‘, and as an easy to read standalone story, which is available to buy on Amazon Kindle.

More information on Joy and her writing can be found here www.joymargetts.com