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