A Little Book of Rest By Sheila Jacobs Sometimes we don’t really know why we’re fearful. It might be that we are generally anxious people. We tend to worry about everything. Of course, some fear can be quite legitimate. But if we find we’re overanxious and it’s...
The Art of Waiting By Sheila Jacobs Once, when praying about a situation in my life, I had a ‘picture’. In this picture, I saw a bus that just went round in a big circle, finishing up at the same bus stop. I realised I hadn’t actually checked the destination on the...
The A to Z of Christian Dating S is for Seasons If you’ve been searching for a relationship and begin to date someone you really like, there’s a tendency to want to press the fast forward button and accelerate your commitment to the relationship. And pressure to do...
The Importance of Emotional Intelligence: EQ - when seeking to find that loving special relationship with another human being. So what is EQ (Emotional intelligence)? Most people have no idea what this actually means in theory or in practice. Daniel Goleman wrote a...
Moving out of your comfort zone I have my 9 year old God-daughter to stay recently and we decided it might be nice if I gave her a tennis lesson. I am not a tennis coach but I play to a reasonable standard and have taught quite a few family members over the years. Her...
Book recommendation The Shed that fed 2 Million Children This is a wonderful book that I’ve read recently – nothing to do with dating but all to do with inspiration for our lives. I was interested to see it’s now been updated to 2 million children – which is no...
I recently received my old school magazine and in it the address given by a former pupil (Dr Claire Ives) for Speech Day was included. It’s a brilliant speech which left a big impression on the pupils, parents and staff. The principles are just as relevant whatever...
Good Friends and the Art of Taking Things Slowly By Sheila Jacobs My mother died in October 2021. She’d had dementia and other health issues for a long time, and had lived in a care home for thirteen and a half years. Someone had warned me that although you ‘lose’...
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer Who are you becoming? That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. By outward metrics, everything appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren't pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for...
Be focused. What you focus on makes a difference to what happens I’ve been running friends1st for quite a few years now and up until two years ago not much had changed with the way we operated. However about two years ago I joined a local business club and I’ve been...
The A to Z of Christian Dating R is for Rules Now we have reached R in our A to Z of Christian Dating rules. R stands for Rules – not the rules of dating (as if there are any) but one feature of dating that I teach many of the clients I coach. It’s called The 3 date...
The downsides of choice I saw an advert on facebook recently for a beautiful necklace with the cross and word FAITH incorporated into it. I bought it straight away thinking how lovely it was and how happy I’d be wearing it around my neck. Then something interesting...
A quieter day (still) is not coming I don’t know if it’s anything to do with living in the 21st Century but it seems as if most of us lead incredibly busy lives. I think some of this is self-imposed – and some of it is habit – we’re just used to rushing around and not...
I can’t recommend this book highly enough if you wantan easy read, and gallop through the Bible in a way thatbrings every story, piece of history and love of God forus, to life.Here’s what others say about it:Master storyteller Walter Wangerin Jr. shares the story...
Communicating with other members on our app Occasionally members give us permission to log onto our app as them to help them with something they need assistance with. I did this last month and was shocked to see some of the messages they’d received from other...
The A to Z of Christian Dating Q is for Quiet This article is about various aspects of being quiet. It’s rare that I talk to anyone these days who doesn’t have a busy life. So many of us seem to have lives that are totally full – and we rush from one thing to another....
Who Should Pay on a First Date? Just like other elements that can make or break a romantic relationship, the way you manage and talk about money with your partner needs to be established slowly, and considered as things grow. At first glance, it seems that there are...
More couples getting together It’s been a happy couple of months for us with couples telling us they’ve got married and sharing their stories with us. We’ve been reaching out to ex members and have been so heartened to hear so many of them are now in relationships or...
friendsfirst's founder and Director
I’m Katharine, founder of friendsfirst, the UK’s longest running, and largest off-line, Christian friendship and introduction agency. My amazing team and I provide direct coaching, personal support and introductions to single Christians in the UK and Ireland.
Hundreds of people have married through friendsfirst and many babies have been born, including triplets!
I have a huge passion and energy for life, believing that life is a wonderful gift from God that should be lived to its fullest. When I’m not matchmaking, I like to live on the edge by riding sport horses and leaping large hedges.
I’m happily married to someone who’s completely different to my wish list and I count my blessings every day that he asked me to tie the knot!
I believe God will bring the right person into your life at the right time. If they aren’t there, God hasn’t finished yet…
