Happy new year ... and all that ...

The news tells me that at least 200 children are amongst those killed in the current war in Gaza.
The Geneva Zimbabwe Advocacy blog brings news of the daily catastrophe that Zimbabweans are living through.
This week I held a friend in my arms wishing her happy new year - somehow I try to make this a special hug, to make my hands communicate to her the compassion I have for her situation. Just months ago her brilliant son took his own life.
Another friend is in hospital again, her cancer has returned ...
Other friends have returned from spending Christmas with family of their nephew following his murder.
I received an email telling me gently but firmly that a friend and her husband are separating.

Others worry about their jobs and their pensions, want advice on what to do next, how to write their CVs, as their organisation cuts back and restructures.

Sometimes holding things together is hard. But then that is God's work not mine.