St Johns with St Barnabas

I really can’t believe it, here I am halfway through the year. January with all its hopeful intentions and new beginnings, now feels like it belonged to another life and person entirely. And yet here I am in June, a month of long evenings, slightly optimistic garden furniture, and the growing realisation that some of, to be truthful, most of my New Year resolutions have quietly stepped back.

There is something slightly humbling about this point in the year. Life has settled down into a rhythm now. The ideal version of myself that I imagined in January has either been achieved, adapted or gently abandoned.

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And yet, June does not seem particularly worried. The grass keeps growing. The weeds are not particularly discouraged, and the geraniums are actually flourishing.

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Spiritually, halfway through the year can feel like a good moment to take stock. Not with a clipboard and a sense of ’I could have done better’, but with something gentler: awareness.

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How are we really doing? The honest answer is usually a mixture, some days steady, and some days where simply remembering what we walked into the room for, feels like a small victory.

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And yet through it all. God has not moved. While our attention shifts, and our energy fluctuates, God remains quietly faithful, not measuring us by productivity, or progress charts, but by His presence and grace. That is perhaps the most comforting truth of this season.

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Jesus spoke about The Kingdom of God being like a small mustard seed. Not a polished tree, but something small, alive, and still growing. That is good news for those of us who do not always feel finished. June invites us to loosen our grip a little. To accept that not everything needs to be complete now. Some prayers are still unfolding, some growth is still underground. Some days are simply about carrying on, trusting that God is at work even when we cannot see it.

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There is also mercy in the ordinary. The washing gets done again. The kettle boils again. Mopsy dog still needs feeding. Faith too is often found in repetition, in returning, in showing up, in continuing.

So, halfway through the year, perhaps the invitation is not to do more, but to notice more: grace already present, God already near, life already held in His Hands. June does not demand perfection. It simply asks us, gently, that we are not doing it alone.

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A Prayer for June

Faithful God, as we find ourselves halfway through the year, thank you for your steady presence in all that has been, and in all that is still to come.

Remind us that your grace does not measure us by achievement but holds us in love. Teach us to notice your goodness in ordinary days, to rest in your faithfulness, and to walk forward with quiet confidence in your care. Amen