Worshiping at the Altar of Family

This is a very interesting post from Ted and Kristin Kluck on the idol of family- definitely convicting and challenging. It comments:

"Churches encourage our husbands daily to not make idols out of their careers, and to not look at porn. But how are we, as wives, encouraging and exhorting one another not to make idols out of perhaps our greatest gifts: our families?"

Read the rest here

2 Years...

    

The Lord is good to all,

and his mercy is over all that he has made.  Psalm 145:9

 

 

My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD.  Psalm 145:21

Joined

On Tuesday it will be two whole years. Two years since the day I walked up that aisle shaking on my Dad's arm. In awe that this was really happening to me.

Two years since I walked down that aisle. Mr and Mrs. Bursting with joy.

Two lives joined.

Joined forever. Through the good and through the bad.

Those vows we said, they joined us together. But that was only the beginning. For each day we become closer and closer.

And I can't wait to spend the next two years with him. And the next and the next. And forever. For he is mine and I am his and truly we are joined.

Femininity: June Cleaver, Clair Huxtable, or the Valiant Woman?

Sometimes I tire of the constant debate that seems to go on in the Christian world. The debate as to whether women should or shouldn't work outside the home. Personally I feel that the best place for women to be is taking care of their home and children, full time but I also know that this is not always possible. I love this balanced article over at Desiring God Blog, in it Trina Nowell comments:

 

"As we rightly fear God and honor his design for femininity, the details of how that gets worked out in our homes will look differently for each woman."

In the Midst of Life

After watching Call the Midwife on the BBC earlier this year I've become quite a fan of Jennifer Worth's writing. So far I've read Call the Midwife and Shadows of the Work House which were both excellent memoirs of social history. In the Midst of Life did not disappoint. It is a fascinating read, providing a record of the changing attitude towards death in the UK over the past century.

Although the subject of the book may be somewhat morbid the book is written with warmth and at times humour. There is also sensitivity concerning death. You are faced with the reality of the fact that death comes to us all and many questions arise such as: How long should an individual continue with treatment? When should resuscitation not be allowed? Do we hide death to too great and extent?

It is unlikely that you will agree with everything that Worth says, for example I felt that she was too accepting of Euthanasia but this is defiantly a book to get you thinking. As a secular book it may be useful in causing people to think about the brevity of life and what happens after death.

Stretch

I've never been one much for public speaking. Or being the centre of conversation. Phoning people still gives me knots in my tummy. My report card from school always stated I needed to speak more in class.

I am naturally so very shy.

In a family of incredibly out going siblings I could always hide behind someone. They would talk for me... generally.

But then I grew up.

They grew up.

So we all went our separate ways in life.

So no longer could I hide.

No longer could I depend on my dad to make that phone call. My brother to order in a cafe. Suddenly I was the grown up having to speak at the front of kids club.

I was stretched. So far beyond my comfort zone.

But you know sometimes being stretched is so very good for us.

The Lord wants us to be stretched for Him.

So naturally I'm still so very shy. But just because we're naturally something doesn't make it right. I mean we're naturally sinners. But that's so not right.

I have been stretched.

So that sometimes, just sometimes when people see me at the front of kids club or talking to someone in work they don't realise that every. single. word. I say is a stretch. But sometimes being stretched is good.

Good vs Best

With Trev heading to College in the next few weeks we're looking to a whole new way of life round here. I'm trying to decide what to do with my time; what ministry opportunities to commit to, which to drop and so on. This post from Girl Talk Blog is a timely reminder about how sometimes we have to give up what is good, to do what is best.

They comment: It’s frequently the good things that distract us from the best things. How true this is!

Read the rest of the article HERE

A New Name

At school I studied Home Economics to A-Level. I loved finding out about food. The chemical reactions thatoccured in your body from eating. The effects foods had on your body. I began to lose weight. I went to University in Edinburgh to study Human Nutrition. I was surrounded by weight obsessed individuals. As part of a project we had to carry around scales and weigh what we ate. I became concerned my results were going to show that I ate more than everyone else. So I cut back. After the project was over I continued to cut back and back. I had cards written out with what I could eat each day. I used to walk for miles. I lost so much weight. Thankfully my story ends there. Through God's grace, friends, family, the fact that I am not determined and dropping out of that University and returning home I started eating properly again and never descended into anorexia. However the experience made me realise how easy it could be to descend down this path.

A New Name outlines the story of Emma Scrivener and her struggle with Anorexia. This isn't a  story wrapped up in pretty ribbons. This is a story which outlines the truth of this terrible condition, a Emma comments "The face of anorexia is not a glossy model in a perfume ad.". We see Emma descending from a happy child in Belfast into a deeply troubled teenager who is imprisoned by the desire to control what she eats. We see her seemingly recover only to descend again into the condition in her twenties.We see her recover from anorexia but still suffer from the consequences of the condition.

I really benefited from this book. It is beautifully written and shows how ultimately it was God who could pull her from the trap of anorexia. It seeks to raise the profile of this condition which is so damaging but so often ignored. It is a brutally honest book. Some of the language and expressions used take me back to being at school and this may offend some; but the use of such expressions reflect reality and highlight the issue of bullying. Also I was a little confused as to when her actual conversion happened. However all in all I felt that this was an excellent read and would do everyone good to read especially mothers of teenage daughters, those with an interest in anorexia and youth leaders.

Published by IVP

Here

I've always been a dreamer. To a fault. I spent my early years dreaming of the future. Of my prince charming. Of the perfect semi in the suburbs. Of chubby cheeked dark  haired little ones. It took up my days. I passed my hours designing my house in my head. Naming my babies.

Fast forward 20 years. The man of my dreams is here. But the rest? The rest has not materialised. That perfect semi? A rented terrace house. Those chubby babies? I whisper the word infertility under my breath.

I am here. 

It's not where I imagined I'd be.

But here is where God has me.

And as He alone is wise. Is perfect.

As He alone knows my end from my beginning.

I will cling to Him in the here and now.

For it is here that He wants me to be.

 

The Bible and the Pain of Infertility

Within a day this article came to my attention twice- pretty crazy as it is about 7 years old!

It is so so good; read it if your struggling with infertility to make you realise that you are perfectly normal in your responses, read it if your not so that you can encourage those who are. Most of all be encouraged by it's Biblical response to this issue.

Read it HERE