I've been having an affair;  a real, honest to goodness, affair of the heart.  It started a couple of years ago and it just keeps getting stronger.

I'm captivated, enchanted and inspired - and it all began in Church.

Now before you start writing frantic e-mails to my husband, Steve, or suggest that I make an appointment for some urgent counselling, let me explain.

This love affair is very one sided - all on mine.  It only took one sermon to ignite a passion for lighthouses that continues to burn brighter as time goes by.

It all started when our Pastor preached a message using a lighthouse as a symbol of the Christian life.  Over the following two weeks he continued the series, and because of his love for using visual aids, had two beautiful lighthouse prints continually on display.  They were both incredibly dramatic scenes, with waves crashing violently around the rocks as each lighthouse shone its beam of hope into the darkness.

From that moment on I was enraptured, and all I could think was, "Lord, let me be a lighthouse for You."

It was some weeks later when Steve casually mentioned that our Pastor had asked if we'd like the larger of the two prints.  Then my husband, just as off-handedly, said that he'd declined the offer.

The reaction in the Porter house could only be described as being somewhat reminiscent of when Mt. Vesuvius exploded!

"YOU DID WHAT?!" I responded in my most calm, cool and collected way.

Kylie was ambivalent, but with two members of the family ready to organize a lynching, Steve decided the best course of action was to make a very quick telephone call.

The next day I had my lighthouse on the wall, shining its welcome to everyone who walked through our front door.  I can't explain the peace that this picture gives me each time I look at it, but the fact remains that it always does.  There's such a warmth that floods my heart as I reflect on the incredible privilege we have in carrying Christ's light within us.

Not long after the picture incident, we went on a short vacation to the beautiful New South Wales' seaside town of Port Macquarie.  After a wonderful meal on our first night there, I asked Steve if we could take a short detour before heading back to the Resort so I could visit the local lighthouse.  You see, my imagination had already pictured it as standing tall and stately on the cliff, shining out a blazing beacon to all those on the water below.

Steve very graciously humored his wife and before long we were driving down Lighthouse Road (very imaginatively named) and then parking the car in front of "my" lighthouse.

Oh but what a disappointment!

Where was the mighty and tall tower?

Where was the powerful beam illuminating the darkness?

To be fair, the stubby, little structure was likeable enough in its own stumpy sort of way, but no matter how hard I squinted or strained my eyes, I just couldn't see anything that looked even remotely like a beam of light radiating out across the waves.

Looking as though I was a spectator at Wimbledon, my head swung from the ocean to the lamp, over and over again.  Each time there was the hope that maybe, as the lantern turned, it just might throw out a beam that hadn't been visible before.

Each time I was disappointed.

"Maybe the lighthouse keeper is out buying some new light bulbs."

Kylie's suggestion from the depths of the back seat brought a slight smile to my face.

Although Steve was quite happy to just sit back and enjoy the dark view of the ocean, I have to admit that for Matt and me the visit had been a bit of a let down.  Together we scanned the sea in the hope of seeing even a glimmer of light.

At times I thought I caught sight of a dull glow across the water, but each time it was gone so quickly that I just couldn't tell whether it had been real or only my imagination giving in to wishful thinking.

"Had enough?" Steve asked after a while.  All I could do was silently nod.

As we drove away from the little lighthouse, one of those gentle whispers from the Lord came softly to my spirit.  Just as each lighthouse will shine out with differing intensity, so too do we as Lighthouses for the Lord.

A lighthouse is purely the vessel that holds the light.  Its job is to keep the light lifted up high and to provide a large, clear opening through which the beacon is able to radiate the beam into the darkness.

It left me wondering just how often we, as Christ's lighthouses, fail to provide those things for the reflection of His glory?  How often do we fail to let Him shine clearly through our lives?

Sadly, the answer to that is probably all too often.

There are countless numbers of people living in darkness, straining their eyes for a glimmer of light; searching for anything that will lead them to a safe harbor.

As they catch sight of our lives, will we be standing tall and strong, on a firm foundation?  Will they see us radiating the light of Christ's love and grace?

Or will they pause for a moment with hope rising as they catch a tiny flash of light, only to turn away, still searching, when our light fades weakly into the inky blackness of the world?

Jesus' words from 2,000 years ago, cry out to His followers as clearly today: