Unintentional Poet

Inspired by a new thing I tried today, joining a local group affiliated to the Association of Christian Writers, I decided to collate some of the 'Thoughts for the Week' I've written for the local paper, over the last couple of years and collate them as one blog post, for people who are interested!  As always, thanks for taking the time to read! (I don't know why the formatting went wrong or how to change it - sorry!!!) The God Delusion? In his best-selling book, “The God Delusion,” (2006), Richard Dawkins sets out his reasons why belief in God is ridiculous and irrational.   Whilst the book’s popularity evinces that many concur, for me and two billion others across the globe, the God of the Bible, who became man in the person of Jesus Christ, is still very much alive, real and at work for good in the lives of those who let Him in. I admire those people who, instead of dismissing God outright, take time to explore and question for themselves – those who are ...

Remembering Grace Again Grace's 'birthday' comes around so quickly. Although it's now seven years ago, the unfolding narrative of that week still plays through my mind when the anniversary comes around. Each year is different and this year I feel further forward, more healed and whole than before. Rather than being on a roller coaster of emotion as it plays out, it feels more like watching an old cine film - a bit more distanced, with the volume turned down. Still there, still sad to watch but less painful, less debilitating. Professional support in moving forward (EMDR - a recognised and highly successful approach to dealing with trauma) has played a huge part in that and I would recommend it for anyone struggling with difficult, traumatic memories. The journey and ups and downs of this year are too much and too personal to write about in detail here, but I am always happy to talk further with anyone who wants to know more. Facing and dealing with traum...

Fathers' Day I was asked to write something for our Fathers' Day church service...I found it a challenge as I know Fathers' Day can be a challenge for many people, for so many reasons. I tried to capture some small sense of the many perspectives people might have today, and relate it all back to God, the ultimate Father. Here it is:                    Perhaps… Perhaps, on Fathers’ Day, you feel excited, overwhelmed with gratitude for the man placed in your life to defend and protect you, hold you and love you, Pushing you to be all he knows you could be. Perhaps you are looking forward, with eager anticipation, to celebrating him, and hugging him, giving him your gift and thanking him for all he is. There are many good fathers, who model God’s steadfast love in this unsettling world, and for them we’re grateful. Perhaps on Fathers’ Day, you feel the loss more acutely, Of the man who used to be there, who defended and p...

A random ramble about motherhood...!   This morning I sent the boys upstairs to clean their teeth.   This may not sound like a very exciting start to a blog post, but I mention it because it is a new experiment. Usually I follow them up and clean Samuel’s teeth but now I am confident that he cleans his teeth well (on the whole) I am experimenting with giving the two of them a bit of independence.   “Oh good,” I thought.   “This could be the ‘it gets easier as they get older’ bit, where I get to calmly finish my coffee while they complete the requested task.”   Here is what ensued: arguing, pushing, tale-telling, one being whacked on the head with a bath-toy boat oar (you couldn’t script it!) and a wailed accusation of one ‘popping’ on the other one’s head! I almost straw-polled my Facebook friends to ask the question: “At what age can you ask two small boys to go and do something and expect the outcome to even vaguely match the request?! I suspect the ...

Grace was born six years ago today.  I still find her 'birthday' hard to face. I think about her (and the whole experience I had with her) a lot in December. It's hard not to. Last week the words of the very well known Psalm 23 popped into my head, followed by some thoughts about them, which I scribbled down. I haven't edited them much, so it's not polished writing - just my thoughts. Thank you to anyone who takes time to read my writing and think about her and remember her. It still means a lot. A Thought "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me." Psalm 23 This is that. This is what this week is - the valley of the shadow of death. This week, where everything that happened that week, six years ago is relived in High Definition in my mind. The build-up - the happy bit where I was the pregnant mum of a toddler, enjoying a fairly typical ...

Thought for the Week December 2015   I am occasionally asked to write a piece for the 'Thought for the Week' column in our local free paper.  Here is this month's attempt, for anyone who likes to read my stuff!   _______________________________________________________   For self-confessed Christmas lovers, the countdown to Christmas probably began around August, while the rest of us were uploading our holiday pictures to Facebook. Some people are truly Christmas-a-holics, in love with Christmas and all things traditionally associated with it.   But for some it is a harder time of year; for the elderly it can be lonely and quiet.   For anyone struggling with grief of any kind, it can be a time where incompatible opposites are in play – the desire to embrace the jollity of the season, coupled with a (sometimes more forceful) desire to hide in a room and only come out when it’s all over.   I write this from experience, facing the ...

An End and A Beginning Samuel starts school in three months. The enormity of that statement keeps hitting me like an express train.   At the moment, it still feels a long way away; the rapid flicking of the calendar over into new month after new month, tells a different story.   I have such conflicting emotions about the whole thing.   When Benjamin started school it was different – a new adventure for us and him. He was well and truly ready.   Now, three years on, facing the impending start of “big school” for my smallest boy, carries with it quite different sentiments. It is a turning point, a rubber stamp on a page in my passport, declaring that I am now entering a different and completely foreign land, from which there is no return. For precisely seven years (Benjamin celebrated his seventh birthday less than a fortnight ago), I have had small children at home. There have been seasons when I have stayed at home with them full time, and seasons where ...