About

Welcome to the Have Life to the Full blog, a place to explore how to make the most of the life we have.  I am glad you are here.

You can find out more about me further down this page.

Jesus is the most influential man who ever lived.  He said he had come so that we can have life and have it to the full. I am curious to explore who Jesus is and what life to the full might mean for me.

Many people think of Jesus as a good man but irrelevant to their lives today. They hold a view of him they have gained from a variety of sources – family, friends, story books.  When Scott Peck , author of The Road Less Travelled, read the Gospels he expected to find accounts of Jesus where the authors had collaborated to embellish their biographies of him. His reaction to the Jesus he met in the Gospels makes challenging reading:

I was absolutely thunderstruck by the extraordinary reality of the man I found in the Gospels. I discovered a man who was almost continually frustrated. His frustration leaps out of virtually every page: “What do I have to say to you? How many times do I have to say it? What do I have to do to get through to you?” I also discovered a man who was frequently sad and sometimes depressed, frequently anxious and scared . . . A man who was terribly, terribly lonely, yet often desperately needed to be alone.  I discovered a man so incredibly real that no one could have made Him up.

What compels me about this incredibly real man, from very humble beginnings, is that he models for us what it can be like to know God and to live in relationship with Him.

And so this blog is about Jesus, what I can learn from him and what it means to follow him.

Join me in the conversation.  There are questions to ask, people to meet and ideas to explore together.

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About me
Hello, Thank you for joining me at the Have Life to the Full site.  I am a retired doctor, coach, grandmother, follower of Jesus and lifelong learner.  I live near London, UK.

I guess you are reading this because, like me, you are curious to know what it means to have life to the full.

Most of us find it difficult to get round to challenging our habits or exploring how to change what we know we want to change.  We muddle along until something significant happens that shakes the foundations of who we thought we were and causes us to question the purpose and direction of our lives.

My significant event happened when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I have been though the breast cancer treatment journey and passed the important 5 year milestone.  Life feels normal again and I dare to plan ahead. Others diagnosed at the same time as me do not have this second chance. Breast cancer brought many new things to my life and my thinking.   With my face pressed against the glass of my mortality I was forced to confront who I am and what my life is about.  I cannot be vague about God and I must be intentional about how I live my life.  I have learned that life is precious and vulnerable.  It must be lived well.

Jesus, as the author of life, said that he came so that we might have life and have it to the full.  Wanting this draws me to ask a lot of questions about Jesus and what his life might mean for me. Since I started asking these questions interesting people and inspiring conversations come to me. I am discovering that Jesus is incredibly real and very challenging. And I am discovering that he is the best psychologist and life coach I have ever met.

Please join me in this conversation to explore the questions, people, resources and choices that help us to have life to the full.