Wednesday, July 30
Tuesday, July 29
Still a very uncertain future
This is still the fallout from our troubles with our Vicar.
Mrs has now decided that since all of her plans, hopes, dreams and initiatives in the past have been thwarted by enemies (and sometimes by friends and family that don't share the vision) she will now do as she wishes regardless of what anyone else says. This may seem extreme and unreasonable, but it has to be seen in the context of everything that has been done to her; firstly as a perfectly rational response to those things and secondly as a symptom of the psychological harm that has been caused to her.
So she has decided that she is moving to another town, taking our 6 year old daughter with her. She will rent a place there until we sell our house, and then I will join her. Although to co-ordinate with kids’ education, we may still then rent a place in our current town to house our 14 year old who is just starting his GCSEs and our 17 year old who is half way through A-levels, until they finish their respective courses.
The fact that we simply do not have the money for such rentals does not seem to feature in the calculation. She is 'trusting God', and I am infidel for doubting him. Whereas I see it more that she is acting like Abraham, who having been promised a child could not wait and went through human channels (his wife's maidservant Hagar) to get a child, an action for which we still see the consequences today in the Middle East. I think that she is being impatient, impulsive, impetuous, and that she is sowing the seeds for future trouble. I think that there is a time and a place for everything, and that she should wait until the outcome of the tribunal is known next year.
She rejects this, because it would mean the youngest starting year 2 at the same school with a new head teacher who has already shown himself to be inadequate for the task.
And of course every time she does something like this, it is presented to the family as a done decision, without preparation and without negotiation. And so she stirs up resentment, and the truth is that the whole family is being torn apart.
Some may see this as proof that the Vicar was right. I say that she is the product of his oppression and that had she been allowed to flourish in her God-given ministry then none of this would be happening. The damage is real and severe. That is why we insist on a tribunal.
Mrs has now decided that since all of her plans, hopes, dreams and initiatives in the past have been thwarted by enemies (and sometimes by friends and family that don't share the vision) she will now do as she wishes regardless of what anyone else says. This may seem extreme and unreasonable, but it has to be seen in the context of everything that has been done to her; firstly as a perfectly rational response to those things and secondly as a symptom of the psychological harm that has been caused to her.
So she has decided that she is moving to another town, taking our 6 year old daughter with her. She will rent a place there until we sell our house, and then I will join her. Although to co-ordinate with kids’ education, we may still then rent a place in our current town to house our 14 year old who is just starting his GCSEs and our 17 year old who is half way through A-levels, until they finish their respective courses.
The fact that we simply do not have the money for such rentals does not seem to feature in the calculation. She is 'trusting God', and I am infidel for doubting him. Whereas I see it more that she is acting like Abraham, who having been promised a child could not wait and went through human channels (his wife's maidservant Hagar) to get a child, an action for which we still see the consequences today in the Middle East. I think that she is being impatient, impulsive, impetuous, and that she is sowing the seeds for future trouble. I think that there is a time and a place for everything, and that she should wait until the outcome of the tribunal is known next year.
She rejects this, because it would mean the youngest starting year 2 at the same school with a new head teacher who has already shown himself to be inadequate for the task.
And of course every time she does something like this, it is presented to the family as a done decision, without preparation and without negotiation. And so she stirs up resentment, and the truth is that the whole family is being torn apart.
Some may see this as proof that the Vicar was right. I say that she is the product of his oppression and that had she been allowed to flourish in her God-given ministry then none of this would be happening. The damage is real and severe. That is why we insist on a tribunal.
Monday, July 28
Announcements on a crowded train
"I can't depart this train with arms and legs and butts hanging out"
"Please remember there are small children on this train, so be careful not to [PAUSE] squash them"
"Please remember there are small children on this train, so be careful not to [PAUSE] squash them"
Thursday, July 24
My miracle baby is now 6 years old
How we prayed for that baby.
The doctor had just laughed - with is head thrown back and for a long time - when in our 40's and with six kids already we told him that we wanted a vasectomy reversal. Under these circumstances it wasn't available on the NHS, so we spent £2500 for it to be done privately. And then we took ages to conceive, with two miscarriages along the way. Where was the God we believed had told us prophetically to have another child?
But then at last came the successful pregnancy, and the astonishingly beautiful little baby girl, who was such a great delight to us and to all that know her. Six years later, she is still a delight, still wonderful, still beautiful, and now we also know she is bright, intelligent, confident, social.
She's not so great at church things though - "the Bible is boring". She likes an active and creative Sunday school, and she likes Messy Church, but she shows little sign of any underlying spirituality. Yet if God has purposed her into existence, we believe that that will come in time. God has certainly used her as a catalyst for my wife's church work, and we believe that he will continue to use her albeit in changing ways as she grows older.
Happy Birthday, my lovely baby!
The doctor had just laughed - with is head thrown back and for a long time - when in our 40's and with six kids already we told him that we wanted a vasectomy reversal. Under these circumstances it wasn't available on the NHS, so we spent £2500 for it to be done privately. And then we took ages to conceive, with two miscarriages along the way. Where was the God we believed had told us prophetically to have another child?
But then at last came the successful pregnancy, and the astonishingly beautiful little baby girl, who was such a great delight to us and to all that know her. Six years later, she is still a delight, still wonderful, still beautiful, and now we also know she is bright, intelligent, confident, social.
She's not so great at church things though - "the Bible is boring". She likes an active and creative Sunday school, and she likes Messy Church, but she shows little sign of any underlying spirituality. Yet if God has purposed her into existence, we believe that that will come in time. God has certainly used her as a catalyst for my wife's church work, and we believe that he will continue to use her albeit in changing ways as she grows older.
Happy Birthday, my lovely baby!
Wednesday, July 23
Tuesday, July 22
Kids Talk 4
My five -year old spells the word "result" as "wizult". I can see where she is coming from, and blame Michael Gove's over-emphasis on phonics.
Wednesday, July 16
Typing while asleep
Mrs asked me to type up her latest MA essay the other day. It stretched late into the evening, with her dictating and me typing. It went past the time I frequently fall asleep in fromt of the TV. So, while she dictated, I fell asleep. This did not stop me typing - I still typed 4 words. When I woke up again, I had actually typed the right words in the right order: each word having two spelling errors but still remarkably good, considering I was asleep at the time I typed! (I don't type that much better when I am awake.)
Later in the eveing I performed less well, giving her three lines of KKKKKKKKKK in the middle of a paragraph.
She is proof reading it today, so we will see how angry she is when I get home tonight!
Later in the eveing I performed less well, giving her three lines of KKKKKKKKKK in the middle of a paragraph.
She is proof reading it today, so we will see how angry she is when I get home tonight!
....but is it right?
..... to collect model railway track, engines, carriages and scenery, all costing £££, when there are stariving people in the world? I don't believe God expects us to ONLY feed the poor, but when it comes to the last judgement, the one who has fed the poor will go to heaven ahead of the one who has a finely-modelled train layout.
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