Some catch up stuff

About time I blogged....

We've had a good holiday, in general. I've not been so well but it was good to get to mum and dad C's and have a good rest, and having Tim around so much has been fab, trying not to get too used to it for when we are back in the real world! Here's a few catch up pics and snippets.

We went to Luton for a day to catch up with some friends - we kept it a surprise from the kids till we got there, at which point Tabitha went slightly wild with excitement. It was lovely to see some very dear friends we miss very much.



The kids had fun making Hot Cross Buns with daddy on Good Friday. They also went along to the Good Friday march of witness in Beeston, where scenes from the Easter passion were played out along a route. Tabitha was fascinated by it all...lots of questions!

They enjoyed a couple of Easter Egg Hunts organised by church, and on Easter Monday we went off to the grandparents new pad in Dudley. The kids loved exploring the new house and eating lots of chocolate.



Tabitha then had her dancing exam on Sunday - she did two, salsa and samba, and I was very proud of her - she really put her all into it and looked very beautiful. :o) She enjoyed it lots - we went along with one of her best friends and they certainly let off steam in the car on the way home...giggly 6 year old girls, fun.
Here she is all ready for her dancing.






Now we are almost back to normal - T back at school, at least. N starts at his new nursery (the school one) next week proper, and I start work officially next Friday. I have just found out I have been accepted for the counselling and pastoral care course starting in September, so am looking forward to getting into thinking mode again.

Feelings of Futility

You may have heard or seen over the last couple of days the pictures commissioned by Oxfam from the refugee camps in Darfur.
Last week there was another attempt to make us realise the scale of the problem out in Darfur. The US Holocaust Museum has mapped all the villages that have been burnt out using Google Earth. You can zoom in on the satellite images of the area and see the shells of the houses that used to be there.
So, there is no doubt that there is something horrendous going on out there. What am I going to do about it? All it takes for evil to prosper is that the good do nothing. But I am here and Darfur is a long way away. I have a family to be responsible for. I can write letters and maybe even give money, but I don't believe that this will stop the insanity of the conflict. The UN appears to be stalemated and the international community has little appetite or resource for another peace keeping intervention.

We have just celebrated Easter, and I am in the middle of writing an essay on the Work of Christ, and particularly the Cross. To my mind, situations like Darfur show beyond all doubt that left to its own devices humanity screws things up and can't fix them. We really do need saving. That does leave me with a question though. Why doesn't God, if God is powerful and loving, sort this situation out. God is constrained by none of the things that constrain me. I don't really know the answer to this, but I think that I have a start.

In coming to live on Earth God, in Jesus, took on the constraints of humanity. Despite being innocent, Jesus suffered unjust torture and death. Parent and Child were ripped out of each other's arms as the Child took on humanity's sin. As Jesus was raised to life, God declared that sin and death were defeated and that relationships could be remade.

Because of Easter, we have access to God, and can intercede with confidence. We can uphold those who are working on the ground, blessing them with wisdom and endurance. We can speak against the powers of evil, reminding them that they are defeated and binding them. We can pray for an end to the violence and the outbreak of peace.

Because of Easter, we have Good News and need not be shy about sharing it. However, we must live it as well. Our response to Jesus' cross should be for us to take up our cross and follow him. The temptation for me is to be over awed by the situation. My actions may not be the whole solution, but that should not stop me being part (however small) of something that might become the solution. In fact, it is in being obedient and taking up the cross that I am able to bear, that I testify to the power of the cross that I couldn't bear, to be the source of healing and reconciliation for the whole world.

TimC

My new hobby!

I've always loved mucking about with photo imaging programs, have played with free trials of photoshop, paint shop pro etc. We have recently installed the Gimp
which is a free download but has pretty well all the features you can find on these other (much more expensive) programmes. It is a little more of a learning curve but fun nonetheless. I have been playing with it for a while but recently been getting into Digital Scrapbooking, which is much like paper scrapbooking but involving no glue and scissors and countless bits and bobs - you can download all these bits onto a file then play! I've definitely been bitten by the bug and spending far too much time on it, lol.
Here's a link to my first few goes.

Contributions Welcome

I've got to write an introductory article for the Parish Magazine in Littleover. First draft is here. Comments, additions, flames all welcome.

TimC