do it, do it....
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
So finally I am getting to update some stuff on here. I have been full ofgreat intentions for days now but either too tired or too busy to do it. This morning however is different. It is 7:00am and I have been sitting at this bloody computer for 3 1/2 hours trying to make myself tired enough to sleep by playing Championship Manager.
I took ill yesterday. I don't know where it came from or what it is, but I feel miserable. My throat is so sore I can hardly swallow, my head feels like a big lump of lead and my chest just hurts. My glands are a wee bit painful and this all reminds me of the viral stuff that I had going on just before summer 2004. I really hope it nothing like that again - that one wiped me out for a few weeks.
Stevie left last week and has now discovered this blog. I want to thank him for his cool comments, they gave Margaret and I a laugh last night. There are a bunch of others out there that I am discovering have found this wee online diary and I am well pleased that I get to share my life and the life of my family with you. I really hope you enjoy it and it is a blessing in some way for you.
Eva has been doing so well. She just keeps growing and growing. I must confess there are times when I wish she could stay at one stage or another for just a little bit longer so we could enjoy it for a while more. But there is no stopping genuine growth is there? I suppose our job is to watch her grow and continue to notice the things she can do differently every day. The other day I was looking after her while Margaret went to her water aerobics class and I put her in her crib and started her wee musical mobile forf her - she loves to look up and watch as the music plays. I came to the computer and switched on the moniter so i could hear her. After she made some noise it all went quiet and so i got up to go check on her and when I got in there she was sound asleep. I had not fed her to sleep which is what had become normal - she just went over peacefully herself. What a cool thing.
Church is going well also - it is frighteningly busy right now with our movement through hurricane recovery from last year as well as the plans that are afoot for our new building over the next couple of years. Add these things to an already hectic schedule of programmes and it all makes a tasty meal of busyness. prob too busy. We met as staff yesterday and did a SWOT analysis on our own performance as a team and church and we concluded that there are things that demand more concentration and that those are the things we should focus on. We all agreed that our primary focus should be our own spiritual formation and nurture - we are nothing if we are not growing in discipleship ourselves.
The other major thing this week is the devastation caused by hurricane Katrina in Louisianna and Mississippi. Last year we were hit by two category three hurricanes in quick succession and our community was ripped apart by them. However, our suffering is nothing to that of the people of these two states. Hurricane Katrina was a category 5 when she made landfall and as she progressed became a category four. She blew gusts of up to 200mph in some places and the rain thatshe brought with her has caused immeasurable damage in various towns and cities. The television footage we are seeing breaks our hearts and we all wonder what it is that we can do. From our end of things at church we hope to put some kind of team together to go up there and help with some recovery in the mid term future. Right now what is needed there is money and the experts that know exactly what they are doing. Those of us with a heart to help in whatever way we can are maybe better used after the emergency response has been made and things become somewhat settled.
As the storm made its way over the Gulf of Mexico, one weather man was asked what the people of New Orleans could do. "Get on their knees and pray to God", he said. Some TV reporters and those they are interviewing have made references to this being further proof that we are in the end times. I find it interesting that at these times we always seem to ask the spiritual questions, wondering if this is the work of God and why on earth God would do such a thing. I think in my last post I made reference to the fact that I don't believe that God is the author of all suffering and that I choose to belive rather in a God who heals the pain of suffering and gives us the ability to let it go and move on. I believe we (Christians) are part of that plan to relieve suffering by being God's representatives here on earth. The call for us now in the aftermath of this atrocity is not to complain and blame and question. Rather our call is now to ask how we may serve and bring recovery, how we may be the comfort and love of God in what is a very uncomfortable situation, how we may be used by God to ease the pain and suffering of the people affected by these storms.
Margaret and I are going to get a visit from an old school friend of mine today who is in Orlando on holiday. Other than that we have nothing else planned - it should be a nice day of illness and discomfort. each time I feel like that though I will think of those with no home or no power, no food or maybe a missing relative and I will get over my self pity.
Hope you enjoy the pics.
Blessings
I took ill yesterday. I don't know where it came from or what it is, but I feel miserable. My throat is so sore I can hardly swallow, my head feels like a big lump of lead and my chest just hurts. My glands are a wee bit painful and this all reminds me of the viral stuff that I had going on just before summer 2004. I really hope it nothing like that again - that one wiped me out for a few weeks.
Stevie left last week and has now discovered this blog. I want to thank him for his cool comments, they gave Margaret and I a laugh last night. There are a bunch of others out there that I am discovering have found this wee online diary and I am well pleased that I get to share my life and the life of my family with you. I really hope you enjoy it and it is a blessing in some way for you.
Eva has been doing so well. She just keeps growing and growing. I must confess there are times when I wish she could stay at one stage or another for just a little bit longer so we could enjoy it for a while more. But there is no stopping genuine growth is there? I suppose our job is to watch her grow and continue to notice the things she can do differently every day. The other day I was looking after her while Margaret went to her water aerobics class and I put her in her crib and started her wee musical mobile forf her - she loves to look up and watch as the music plays. I came to the computer and switched on the moniter so i could hear her. After she made some noise it all went quiet and so i got up to go check on her and when I got in there she was sound asleep. I had not fed her to sleep which is what had become normal - she just went over peacefully herself. What a cool thing.
Church is going well also - it is frighteningly busy right now with our movement through hurricane recovery from last year as well as the plans that are afoot for our new building over the next couple of years. Add these things to an already hectic schedule of programmes and it all makes a tasty meal of busyness. prob too busy. We met as staff yesterday and did a SWOT analysis on our own performance as a team and church and we concluded that there are things that demand more concentration and that those are the things we should focus on. We all agreed that our primary focus should be our own spiritual formation and nurture - we are nothing if we are not growing in discipleship ourselves.
The other major thing this week is the devastation caused by hurricane Katrina in Louisianna and Mississippi. Last year we were hit by two category three hurricanes in quick succession and our community was ripped apart by them. However, our suffering is nothing to that of the people of these two states. Hurricane Katrina was a category 5 when she made landfall and as she progressed became a category four. She blew gusts of up to 200mph in some places and the rain thatshe brought with her has caused immeasurable damage in various towns and cities. The television footage we are seeing breaks our hearts and we all wonder what it is that we can do. From our end of things at church we hope to put some kind of team together to go up there and help with some recovery in the mid term future. Right now what is needed there is money and the experts that know exactly what they are doing. Those of us with a heart to help in whatever way we can are maybe better used after the emergency response has been made and things become somewhat settled.
As the storm made its way over the Gulf of Mexico, one weather man was asked what the people of New Orleans could do. "Get on their knees and pray to God", he said. Some TV reporters and those they are interviewing have made references to this being further proof that we are in the end times. I find it interesting that at these times we always seem to ask the spiritual questions, wondering if this is the work of God and why on earth God would do such a thing. I think in my last post I made reference to the fact that I don't believe that God is the author of all suffering and that I choose to belive rather in a God who heals the pain of suffering and gives us the ability to let it go and move on. I believe we (Christians) are part of that plan to relieve suffering by being God's representatives here on earth. The call for us now in the aftermath of this atrocity is not to complain and blame and question. Rather our call is now to ask how we may serve and bring recovery, how we may be the comfort and love of God in what is a very uncomfortable situation, how we may be used by God to ease the pain and suffering of the people affected by these storms.
Margaret and I are going to get a visit from an old school friend of mine today who is in Orlando on holiday. Other than that we have nothing else planned - it should be a nice day of illness and discomfort. each time I feel like that though I will think of those with no home or no power, no food or maybe a missing relative and I will get over my self pity.
Hope you enjoy the pics.
Blessings
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
What a week. This past week has been an up and down, rollercoaster ride of emotion for us. We have had some pretty major things happening in our lives, not all of which can be shared. i will bring you up to date as much as I can.
I blogged last week about how things had been awful last Tuesday for a couple of reasons. I am still unable to share those reasons but I wanted to let you know that in both horrible stories, there have been improving developments. Justice seems to have been served in one of the stories and the individual concerned in the other has decided to move forward with life. I know thats vague - some of you will know what it means and some of you will not have a clue what I am talking about. I wish I could say more but now is not the time.
Over the weekend we received some further devastating news regarding the son of an old friend of ours from Belfast. Our friend had just lost his wife to cancer last November and then on Saturday had to be told that his 40 year old son had been killed in a boating accident. I cannot imagine the pain that he is in tonight and my heart completely goes out to him. I also know the man who died as his two sons were in my youth group back in Belfast - apparently they are just stunned.
I guess it is times like this were we all ask the why questions of God. Why did he have to die so prematurely? Why should these two boys have to go through the pain of losing their Dad? Why should a Dad have to lose his son in such a horrific way? It is these times were our faith is tested as it is stretched and pulled in so many mental and emotional directions. I wish I knew how to answer the questions - I really do - and I presume I am not alone in wishing that. But would it really make a difference if we did know why? Would it not cause us more bitterness and anguish in our hearts if we believed that a tragedy like this was 'reasonable'? I just don't know. What I do know is this - I can't believe in a God that would knowingly let stuff like this happen and have a reason for it. To me, a deity with that kind of function, is simply sick. I can though believe in a God that hurts like we do when these devastating things happen. I can believe in a God who, rather than causing the pain, is right there with us as it happens and who brings us through it. I can believe in a God whose love and grace is so abundant that we can find healing for the deep wounds caused by pain like this.
My prayers are for Henry and for David and Lewis and everyone in the family circle. My prayer is for those friends that will carry them though the coming months and years. My prayer is that they will know the God that is with them through this dark and pain filled leg of the journey.
As for me and my house, we are doing okay. Stevie is still here and we are having a lot of lazy fun together. We played Golf on Saturday with my good friend Alan. I must confess to having played the worst golf in the history of the game -I was so bad that I did not even keep a score. But the day was not about playing golf - it was more about sweating our nuts off!!!!! It felt like 110 degrees out there!!!! Seriously though, it was just a lot of fun to get out and chase after that wee white ball for a few hours.
A regular occurance when Stevie and I are together is the playing of a certain computer game. Championship Manager has been a formative part of our lives and we have been playing since he arrived two weeks ago. Last night was a momentous evening as we took our teams to League and Cup glory. Stephen led Balckburn Rovers to the FA Cup and I took Liverpool to the top of the Premier League were at 2.00am this morning we were crowned Champions for the 2004/2005 season. To some of you this will seem completely fickle, but it was a huge moment for us both.
Eva just keeps growing. We have been taking her here and there with us as we go out and do our thing and we never cease to be amazed at how good she is. It is so cool that she seems so content. She is smiling more and more - though rarely for the camera - and has wee conversations with us each day. We never have a clue what she is talking about but we are sure she is right with the game and knows exactly what she is saying.
Okay, margaret wants to check her mails and I am getting ready for bed. Hope you enjoy the pics - don't be afraid to leave a comment for us, we like those.
Blessings
I blogged last week about how things had been awful last Tuesday for a couple of reasons. I am still unable to share those reasons but I wanted to let you know that in both horrible stories, there have been improving developments. Justice seems to have been served in one of the stories and the individual concerned in the other has decided to move forward with life. I know thats vague - some of you will know what it means and some of you will not have a clue what I am talking about. I wish I could say more but now is not the time.
Over the weekend we received some further devastating news regarding the son of an old friend of ours from Belfast. Our friend had just lost his wife to cancer last November and then on Saturday had to be told that his 40 year old son had been killed in a boating accident. I cannot imagine the pain that he is in tonight and my heart completely goes out to him. I also know the man who died as his two sons were in my youth group back in Belfast - apparently they are just stunned.
I guess it is times like this were we all ask the why questions of God. Why did he have to die so prematurely? Why should these two boys have to go through the pain of losing their Dad? Why should a Dad have to lose his son in such a horrific way? It is these times were our faith is tested as it is stretched and pulled in so many mental and emotional directions. I wish I knew how to answer the questions - I really do - and I presume I am not alone in wishing that. But would it really make a difference if we did know why? Would it not cause us more bitterness and anguish in our hearts if we believed that a tragedy like this was 'reasonable'? I just don't know. What I do know is this - I can't believe in a God that would knowingly let stuff like this happen and have a reason for it. To me, a deity with that kind of function, is simply sick. I can though believe in a God that hurts like we do when these devastating things happen. I can believe in a God who, rather than causing the pain, is right there with us as it happens and who brings us through it. I can believe in a God whose love and grace is so abundant that we can find healing for the deep wounds caused by pain like this.
My prayers are for Henry and for David and Lewis and everyone in the family circle. My prayer is for those friends that will carry them though the coming months and years. My prayer is that they will know the God that is with them through this dark and pain filled leg of the journey.
As for me and my house, we are doing okay. Stevie is still here and we are having a lot of lazy fun together. We played Golf on Saturday with my good friend Alan. I must confess to having played the worst golf in the history of the game -I was so bad that I did not even keep a score. But the day was not about playing golf - it was more about sweating our nuts off!!!!! It felt like 110 degrees out there!!!! Seriously though, it was just a lot of fun to get out and chase after that wee white ball for a few hours.
A regular occurance when Stevie and I are together is the playing of a certain computer game. Championship Manager has been a formative part of our lives and we have been playing since he arrived two weeks ago. Last night was a momentous evening as we took our teams to League and Cup glory. Stephen led Balckburn Rovers to the FA Cup and I took Liverpool to the top of the Premier League were at 2.00am this morning we were crowned Champions for the 2004/2005 season. To some of you this will seem completely fickle, but it was a huge moment for us both.
Eva just keeps growing. We have been taking her here and there with us as we go out and do our thing and we never cease to be amazed at how good she is. It is so cool that she seems so content. She is smiling more and more - though rarely for the camera - and has wee conversations with us each day. We never have a clue what she is talking about but we are sure she is right with the game and knows exactly what she is saying.
Okay, margaret wants to check her mails and I am getting ready for bed. Hope you enjoy the pics - don't be afraid to leave a comment for us, we like those.
Blessings
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)