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Where has the last month gone?  Yes I know I’ve been rubbish at keeping this up to date but then the last month has been particularly busy and clients have been particularly demanding.

On top of that Violet is now crawling and into everything and she’s also saying “da da”, well ok something that sounds like “da da”.  I remember the first time Rose said Dad.  It nearly cost us a days pay as I just stood in awe.  My wife had to remind me that I had to go to work.

Anyway, I’ve just spent my bank holiday putting up Rose’s climbimg frame.  I promised that I would do it this weekend and I braved the elements suffered my aching back and managed to get it finished, and all bar one 10 minute spot on Sunday afternoon it’s tipped it down ever since and she’s not been able to play on it.  At least for those 10 minutes it was the most fun she’d ever had.  So much so that the first thing she said to me on Monday morning was “I love my new slide”.  The agony of my aching back just melted away!

It’s easy to become immune to the Easter message.  Over the years our Christianness dull’s the reality of the pain and suffering Jesus experienced over Easter.  Like Christmas, Easter has become more about the holiday, gifts and chocolate, than about Jesus dieing for us and rising to life.

Today is about Jesus resurection.  Defeating satan once and for all so that we might stand with him now and in heaven.

It took the collapse of my first marriage for me to be in a position where God could speak to me and I would listen.  Easter 2000.  I was failing to get to grips with my reality and quickly slipping into what’s best described as a downward suicidle spiral when I heard him say that I had value to him.  It was like he reached out and grabbed me before I dived head first over the edge into the abysis.

Easter holds a very special place in my heart.  If it hadn’t listened to him back in Easter 2000 I wouldn’t be here now.  That much I am certain of. 

Having said that I’ve been guilty of missing the point as the years have rolled on.  It’s only recently that I’ve become more aware to how bad it actually was.  Words just can not describe what Jesus went through.  The bible writers have spared us the glorious technicolour pictures. Their story is still pretty gruesome though and all we can do is read between the lines.  I dont know if this is a good thing or not. 

What I do know is that if Jesus hadn’t been obedient then our Christian faith would have a different basis and direction now and I probably would be here.  It would have been like me not hearing him back in 2000.

All that he did, he did out of love.  Completely freely given.  Nothing required, nothing owed, nothing asked for.  I’ve discovered that without him life isn’t worth living and that I owe him everything.

Thank you

Today is my daughters 3rd birthday and I’m sitting at my desk while they’re asleep just waiting for her to wake up and todays action packed adventure to begin.  It’s going to be a day of total madness.  My wife’s been organising the party of the year for her.  It’s been her driving force for months and today is the day so our schedule is packed and everything is going to be run on military (or should that be Brownie Girl Guide) precision.

It reminds me of the spreadsheet and traffic light system for our wedding.  For the entire year before the big day everything was controlled by one of Mary’s spreadsheets and you were either red, yellow or green.  I had forgotton what it was like.  The pressure of it all! 

Mary’s one of these people that could organise anything and it would happen and appear to the outsider to have been a seamless event and they would have the best time ever because Mary would have considered every eventuality.  Take the party bags as an example.  If they were left to me I would have got presents for boys and girls that were suitable for everyone across the age spectrum that are coming today.  Mary got things for each individual, age appropriate, child specific and probably with their parents approval.  Then there’s the party games.  I’ve already had a sneak pre-event part game training session.  I know the sounds to make when walking through the long grass and the short grass, I’ve learn’t my dancing “moves”, seen the pass the parcel and been no doubt been told a whole host of things that I’ll remember at the right time.  Mary’s mum’s going to be helping her.  Chief Arcala, Brownie Girl Guide Head Beaver, Pearl, Queen of the Children’s Entertainers is going to be there with a whole host of fun things. 

I cant wait!  Honestly I cant, I think I’m gong to have as much fun as the children. I know that Rose will have a fantastic time today.  I know that Mary will have considered every eventuallity and it will run like clockwork, and I know that I must be the most blessed man on the planet to have a wife like Mary.  I hope and pray that she has as much fun as we do.

Yes, I’ve been away.  The first, and possibly only, break I’m going to get this year.  Unless I can organise a family trip away at the end of the year and someone to do my work whilst I am away.  It’s one of the many joys of being self employed.

Mary and I took a couple of days out and had an adults only break to Five Lakes Health Spa in Tiptree.  I can already see the raised eyebrows from those people who know me at the words Health Spa but it was good to get away from it all and spend time with Mary without the children, and yes I did manage to get a “rub down” and it did sort out all the tight muscles.

On the flip side I did find it tough to relax and not think about the million and one work things that needed doind and even found myself looking at buying a laptop just so that I could log in and work whilst Mary slept.  Fortunately sense prevailed and the cash is still in the bank.  One day I will join the laptop generation!

In todays world were we have mobile’s, blackberry’s, email and constant communication it’s easy to loose the plot and start worrying about people who don’t respond instantly.  All kinds of images and thoughts can flash through your mind about what might be going on where they are and if they are ok or not.  Before you know it the worst has happened and you’re preparing yourself for some disaster. 

We all worry.  Even though our Bible tells us that we shouldn’t and that we should cast our cares onto the Lord.  Yet we still do it.  We allow our minds to run riot with our emotions.

I often say there’s not an instance that you can meet that’s He’s not already covered in the Bible.  There’s guidance for every situation that you could possible meet.  You might have to spend some time looking for the answer but I guarantte you that it’s there.

Today, and everyday, my thanks are that He looks after my family, loved ones and friends, even when I am there