Jim Walton of Church Tech Matters twittered yesterday “…..what is wrong with me? Why do I have little interest to continue playing church? it seems there is so much more and I want that”

This is very similar to the challenge I’ve thrown at myself in the quietness of my own head many a time and even blogged about at least once in my early days. Unfortunately I don’t know the answer and I don’t have an answer for Jim other than to hang on in there and keep seeking. (more…)

These past few weeks has been a bit of a blur for us as a family.

Life has had to continue but our first “experiment” has now moved on to the first steps of his own life. Bear with me as that isn’t as harsh as it sounds, but first I need to step back in history some 19 years.

19 years ago last Friday our eldest child was born desperately ill and very premature. Due to a combination of events (things we now see as directed by God) he was born 12 weeks (3mths) early at a hospital that wasn’t our local one. We were instructed to prepare for the worst and that if the worst didn’t happen then our baby would be severely disabled, never walk, never talk and bizarrely we were also told he’d never play a musical instrument! Well I won’t regale you with the ins and outs of it all but you may guess that he did survive.

Yes there is a permanant reminder of his early arrival – he is profoundly deaf, but like most things related to him it has all been taken in his stride. Were you to meet him you’d likely never guess he was deaf unless you work in the support of deaf people and even then you might struggle. Despite his deafness, like most children he can talk the proverbial hind legs off the donkey – even as a teenager. And yes he is an extremely accomplished musician to the point where he can play several instruments to orchestral standard and several more ‘just because‘. He also, until last weekend anyway, helped to lead worship in our sister Church and was frequently a member of the main band.

Beyond this he is also a straight A student and amazingly he even speaks languages, four at the last count, with an accent which is highly unusual for a deaf person. His straight A’s slipped a bit this year though because he contracted glandular fever – and whilst we knew of it, we didn’t know of its lingering effect quite as much as we do now. This illness is a real party pooper and saps energy almost like turning off a light switch. However they didn’t slip that much and he got high enough grades to start his chosen degree course – a double honours in Physics and Computer Science along with being awarded an excellence bursary for being one of the top students entering his university.

So, coming back to the present, last weekend (and those leading up to it) was very busy as we drove him to his new life. We busied ourselves with helping set up his little room, get connected to the university network, find his way around and so on. Then came the weird part of driving away knowing that he was now on his own. Yes we’ll always be there to advise, direct, care, love, etc but in reality the day to day decisions are now his. And it struck me as we drove away that he had been like an experiment.

Every decision we made, every action we took, every time we disciplined, every time we cared for him when ill, and so on and on was all an experiment. We’d never done this before and like he is now, we were on our own to make the choices. If we got it wrong, we mopped up the mess and tried again. If we got it right we took note of what worked and filed it away for re-use. Some might call it gambling but I prefer the experiment term. Another word which I didn’t think of at the time is pioneer – but whatever word we pick he has certainly been a role model in helping us guide his siblings.

Why tell you all this? Simply to give the Glory to God for his life. To thank God for the blessing he has been and the blessing he will continue to be as he starts his own experiments.

And I’ve saved his name until last. We firmly believe that all three of our children have been given God inspired names and that the naming of things is an extremely powerful process. His name then is Owen which means “a youthful warrior“.

Thank you faithful and marvellous God.

Earlier today I posted about my son ….

Well waiting time is over and we now know that he got 4 x B’s in his A Levels.

Whilst he is disappointed we know how ill he was (and still is) and how hard he worked this year – it doesn’t help that results are accumulative and he didn’t work overly hard the previous year, so had too much ground to make up. All the same, we are so, so proud of him and ecstatic that he doesn’t need to resit anything to get to University.

So once again, we enter another new phase of our lives and he enters perhaps the most challenging of his.

Bring it on!

If you remember and have a heart to do so, then please lift my eldest son up in prayer today.

Today is the day that determines the start and shaping of his future. For today is the day his A Level results come out and based on them will be what university and what course he does.

He is a very clever and able child – I know all parents say and believe this, but we have results and statistics to back us up. At age 16 he did his GCSE’s (16 is the earliest age a child can opt to leave school in the UK) and for the part of the country we live in, he placed in the top 10 of students with those results. In his school only one person bettered his results and it’s no surprise that was a girl.

What I continually remember to give our God thanks for and never forget is that Owen was born 3 months premature at 28½ weeks gestation and for those that don’t know, that’s just half a week after he could legally have still been aborted in the UK. We were told that if he survived at all, he’d never walk, never talk and (rather oddly I thought) that he’d never play a musical instrument. He weighed a fraction over 1kg and could fit in my cupped hands. In the first 7 weeks of life he “died” so many times we lost count. Had that many blood transfusions that I gladly give my pint back every 6 months or so.

Well Owen is now 18 – a walking testament to the power of miracles. He was diagnosed as profoundly deaf at the age of 18 months but due to the brace of God he is ‘mostly’ like any other teenager. He talks too much and other times not at all, he has long hair, he doesn’t always wash properly…. etc. On top of this he is a very gifted musically and plays piano and trumpet to concert standard – additionally he can play by ear (remember he’s deaf) and pick up just about any instrument and play it. He has recently taken up the violin for fun!

To cap it all – back in March he was hospitalised with glandular fever and is still suffering its effects now.

As you may guess – I am very proud of my eldest (and my other two) and he’s had a lot to fight for and against. It seems somehow appropriate that we named him Owen as it means “a youthful warrior” – so, if you remember then please do pray for him. God obviously has huge plans for him.

Oh, and as if he hasn’t done enough, he wants to do a double honours in Physics and Computer Science

There are a number of reasons I’m stoked but there are two main ones at the moment.

First and foremost is to do with a project (of sorts) that I’ve been lumbered with. I caught up with an old school chum last year and after a few beers and much memory seeking we decided it’d be a cool idea to try and organise a reunion of our old alma mater. (more…)

It took me precisely one day to forget to do my daily work out in the 100 Pushups Challenge thing that I’;m undertaking.

Such is life – holidays hit and I just want to play with the children, chill and rad my book(s). So that is what I did. Ah well, back to the grindstone this week and I’ll try to start where I left off … week 2.

Well just a little …

Last week I wrote about my lack of exercise basically causing me to put on weight. In it I stated that I can’t shed my excess weight by dieting because I don’t overeat and nor do I eat badly. For sure I have blowouts and there are times I eat too much – but as with all things, in moderation.

My problem is my lack of exercise to burn off the calories – so I started on the 100 PushUps Challenge. So far I’ve spoken about it with those in my close circle of friends and my work colleagues. Most think I’m insane, some have been inspired themselves and some are amazed. None more so than me. (more…)

I’ve been reading Jason Powell’s blog for a while now and have finally, after reading some back posts, become convinced that I need to do something about my weight and general lack of fitness.

At the grand young age of 44 I don’t feel unfit but there are times I can’t do what I want and there are certainly times when my two youngest want me to play more than I physically can. But because I do a lot of walking and because (or so I keep convincing myself) I’m not doing too badly I’ve put off any form of serious exercise. (more…)