Inspiring Women Every Day - May/June - Eleanor Hewitt

In May's notes, entitled 'Water of life', Eleanor Hewett explores the rich variety of references to water throughout Scripture. Water is symbolic of life, healing, cleansing, renewal, joy, fruitfulness and blessing. All life needs water to live - and water was present at the very beginning of creation, as it will be in the new creation at the end of time. As Eleanor looks at the very practical uses of water: for washing, quenching thirst, feeding and sustaining growth in plants and trees, she draws parallels with our spiritual lives, in which the Holy Spirit within us is likened to a spring of bubbling water that never runs dry. Dew, rain, rainbows and floods are all part of the biblical narrative too. As well as being used for baptism, water was also often present in miracles: Jesus turned water into wine; Naaman was healed by bathing in the Jordan; the Red Sea (and Jordan River) were parted miraculously; water spouted from a rock; and Jesus both commanded the waves and walked on them. Eleanor helps us to understand how our lives can be enriched by God's water of life.In June's notes, entitled 'My times, God's timing', Carol Herzig explores the mysterious concepts of time and timing. Looking firstly at Jesus' life, His self-knowledge, His priorities and use of time, and His extraordinary sense of timing, she encourages us to re-evaluate our own priorities and awareness of God's timing in our life, in the light of knowing who we are: His beloved children. By studying biblical characters (especially those in the nativity story), Carol then considers the truth that God's ways and timing are not ours - so how do we react when God cuts across our plans? Times and seasons of life come and go: looking at Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes Carol discusses a few aspects of life that it is important to make time for. And finally, we live in a temporal world, yet our hearts are set on God's eternal purposes. How can we live our life so as to make it count for eternity? These and other questions are considered, as we are encouraged to live each day in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the presence of God.