Who is Nat?

My name is Natalie Husk, although most people call me Nat (except my parents!). I was born and raised in Cornwall and am proud of it! I have always been involved in the church, whether going to my local village chapel in Common Moor, joining with bus loads from Cornwall at MAYC events, helping at the District Children’s Holiday or even attending Synod a few times! I am very thankful to the Cornwall District, the Liskeard & Looe Circuit and of course Common Moor chapel for being such valuable parts in my journey of faith.

Today I live in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where I work as a youth worker for the Methodist Church. I run after school clubs, youth clubs, a youth fellowship, do outreach work and organise trips away. Not long ago I was asked by a youth group, to give them a weekly topic for reflection, an email containing something to focus them on God for the week. So every week I sit at my computer and write down my thoughts! It started quite small, with just the young people receiving them, and now lots of people of all ages find my thoughts in their email inbox!

It is a huge privilege for me to find that people enjoy and are challenged by what I have written, especially that I can now share what God has done for me with those who walked with me at the beginning of my journey. Ultimately these reflections are aimed at the young people I now work with, but if God can speak to others through them, how great is that!!

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December
Advice
I Love You

November
38. Bald is beautiful
37. Fire
36 Sleep
35 Music

October 2006
34. Stupidity
33. Painting
32. mmm Pasties
31. Built to last
30. Phlegm

September 2006
29. Meetings
28. Crime thoughts
27. Colours
26. Unwanted guests

August 2006
25. Comparison
24. Waterproof Mascara
23. Tasty MSG
22. Helplessness

July 2006
21. Attraction

20. Hair
19. Hero
18. Laughter
17. Factoids

June 2006
16. Voiceless
15. Bruises (ouch)
14. Sunburn
13. Mistakes

May 2006
12. Arms
11. Willow Tree
10. Eurovision
9. Chicken
8. Addictions

April 2006
7. Age
6. Celebrities
5. Language

March 2006
4. Commonwealth Games
3. Decisions
2. Drizzle
1. Trelawney

Willow Tree

Greetings!

I can’t believe the weather we are having at the moment – torrential rain and gale force winds pretending to be spring! It is freezing cold and anyone would think it’s the middle of winter. Next month sees the beginning of summer and yet looking at the storm outside, the warmth and sunshine of summer seems a long way off.

The house across from me has removed their hedge this weekend – there is something really satisfying about watching people working outside in the wind and rain, while you’re sat with a nice cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit! At first I thought they had hired these blokes to trim the hedge and although I know little of gardening, as I watched I thought their ‘trimming’ was a bit severe - the fact that they left no branches on the hedge at all that gave it away! After a couple of hours (no, I didn’t spend the whole afternoon watching them!) I noticed that they had in fact not cut back the hedge, but they’d cut down the hedge. All of a sudden I could see into their garden and even past into the next gardens, right up the street. It looks weird when I have been used to a big green hedge being there, for there now only to be a gap.

What has made this change more noticeable is my lovely little willow tree in the front garden. As I looked out today I saw it being battered and blown about by the wind. This may not seem unusual, as I have already mentioned how stormy it is out, but for my little willow tree this is a new experience. You see, before the neighbour’s hedge came down, my willow tree was protected from the wind, sheltered from the storm and it looked stable and secure. Now the safety of the hedge has been removed and it is vulnerable.

As Christians we can feel that our faith is strong and comfortable as we live our sheltered lives. We maybe have the protection of supportive friends, family and churches to shield us from the storms of real life. Sometimes it is only when we step out of that environment, or when something changes causing that shield to be removed, do we truly see the strength of our faith. It is at these times when we discover if our roots have been planted deep enough in the love of Jesus to survive the strong winds. It is these times that are the hardest and most difficult, yet it is at these times that, if we let Him, God will bless us and strengthen us to grow in Him.

So I challenge you to take a look at your life – are you safely surrounded by protection and comfort or are you standing vulnerable in the storm fully dependant upon God? Although my willow tree looks like it might break, I know that it will be stronger for having survived this storm, and it will be ready and able to stand through whatever ever this rubbish British weather throws at it. That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice for it to actually see the sunshine now and again!!

Willow Tree

Bring on that sunshine!!