Stingray Wanderings
A book, a writing space, a longing
Back before Christmas a group of my closest friends gathered for a few days away at the beach. One late afternoon, with the cerulean sky stretching above us, and the wind gently rippling across the waters, we made our way down to one of our favourite places, an area known for its rock pools. It’s where, years ago, we found a blue-ringed octopus, naively rescuing it from drying out on the rocks before realising that using my flip-flop instead of one of our hands probably saved our lives.
But, this day, it’s where we saw an ocean creature of another kind.
Monthly Musings: Stringray Wanderings
The four of us stood side by side, enjoying the clear waters, wondering if we would spot any toadies or other small fish, when suddenly this little marine friend coasted into view. Ooohing and ahhing, we marvelled as it fed, flicking up sand to find little creatures with flaps of its wing-like fins. It meandered along the rock pool, its flat body propelling itself through the water with small ripples.
Watching it brought a sense of child-like joy and wonder, leading to worship of the God who has created the strange and beautiful that live below the surface of the waters. Meet our friend in the video below.
What about you? What’s filling you with wonder these days? What’s leading to worship?
Book News
As some of you will have heard, a collaborative constellation of people from across the globe have gathered to contribute to The Barnabas Factor. We are pretty excited about seeing it released into the world in June 2026.
With each chapter written by a different person, I thought I’d begin introducing you to the others involved. Here are two of them:
Jay Matenga has a shared Māori and European heritage. He is the Director, Global Witness and Executive Director, Mission Commission for the World Evangelical Alliance. He is a idea-theorist, speaker and writer for all things mission. Jay has written Ch. 4 - The ‘Alongsiding’ Factor.
Mary Lederleitner has impacted the lives of many people, including mine, when she wrote the book Women in God’s Mission, looking at the research-based data of the women leading in the context of mission. Mary has written Ch. 5 - The Trustworthiness Factor.
Feel free to pre-order on:
Subscribe for free to receive new posts and join this community of people as we – together – long and lean into being Shaped by the Spirit.