One of my most cherished moments ever, is sitting by a lake with a dear friend, talking about our favourite things. It was this moment, following the realisation of our shared preference for chocolate leibniz biscuits (the best biscuits in the world) that inspired a song-writing challenge - to rewrite the words of My Favourite Things. Unfortunately, his favourite things included curry, sci-fi, and brown corduroy trousers. Which made for an interesting musical composition and momentary, but justifiable admiration of my poetical abilities for fitting in Dr. Who into the original song as well.
Each of us have things that are important to us, people that we love, photographs or memories that allow us some sort of perspective other than our own when we're faced with uncertainty.
January 12th marks one year on from the earthquake that hit Haiti. Infastructure, communication and government brought to a virtual standstill. 200 000 people died. 1.5 million people were left without homes.
But behind each number is a real story. A person, a livelihood affected on a scale far beyond anything I can imagine.
Over the past year, Tearfund have been working to bring some normality back to the lives of people. Out of this chaos, there is a wealth of stories of hope and transformation, of joy and restoration. One of those stories is this beautiful little photo gallery. These are photographs taken on disposable camera by school children of their 'Favourite Things'.
I think this is truly awesome such beauty comes out of brokenness. And perhaps also it;s a reminder that it is possible for joy to be restored from a place of hurt and suffering, pain and anguish. Romans 8:28
