The thing that we have been most struck by in our second year of marriage is the joy and importance of being united in common work, even at those times when we work separately. When we were dating and when we were engaged, we had these starry eyed visions of what it meant to live a common life together - sharing breakfasts and dinners together, laughing together the laugh of those-in-love while we did the [...]
Verse 31 of Isaiah 40 is a well-known muchly quoted one: Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint. Which is great and has become a huge source of strength and encouragement... BUT if you skip the lead up into that verse you miss out on so much more: Isaiah 40.27-31 [...]
Benjamin and I got married on 31 March 2012. If I have to pick one thing that I have learnt since then... The gift of not needing everything to be perfect right this moment. I am (to an extent, can’t really claim the creative genius aspect that apparently come with it!!) a resident of “perfect country” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlXcLU8xEJQ to see what I’m talking about!). I want to do things right and I want to be the “best Christian” I [...]
What we learned in our first year of marriage. We haven't been married for a full year yet, our wedding was on the 06 April 2013. But we have learned so much already. I must confess that our first year hasn't been that straight forward either. Carl proposed to me just before I got very sick. I had shown signs that I wasn't well, but we didn't realise that individually the symptoms weren't too bad. However [...]
there is no blueprint for marriage. because every marriage is made up of two different people and so it will never look the same. but that doesn't mean we can't learn from each other. we all have different stories but there are similarities and areas of overlap and moments of intersection that teach and instruct and inform and encourage and challenge. which is what this series is all about. i asked a bunch of friends [...]
so there has been a lot of discussion since Don Miller posted his two blogs suggesting that the traditional sunday church vibe is not for him and i responded with my piece titled 'Why you should stop going to church' which was not actually at all about encouraging people to stop going to church, but more trying to enlarge our definition of what church is about... you are the church so you don't go [...]
this weekend i started watching Doctor Who. i told people i was watching Dr Who but someone's daughter told me that in this case you aren't allowed to abbreviate Doctor and who am i to argue with anyone ever? i started watching the Christopher Eccleston Doctor Who because that was the start of the new generation of Doctor Whos [Whose?] although for the first two tweets i spelled his last name Ecclestone with an e [...]
and i, i took the one less valuable to us... and that has made all of the difference. also it was a city square, more than a wood. # The Date: February 14th, Valentine's Day 2014 # The Venue: Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco # The Event: Great San Francisco Pillow Fight 2014 GETTING THERE i saw a link on Twitter the night before to Free events happening in the city for Valentine's Day and [...]
ah Stephan, punmaster general is at it again and this time it is at the expense of Rat who is being himselfed out... [For a different Pearls Before Swine word play strip featuring the kissing, click here] [For a different Pearls before Swine pun strip about language, click here]
Defending the gift of singleness Ah, another discussion on Singleness. I steel myself against the well-meaning platitudes of the Marrieds, and bite my tongue on my real take on this issue. I have discovered that, bar a precious few, it’s easier to agree blandly and change the subject than try to get my point across. But now for once I can say, uninterrupted, what too many church people seem to find threatening or evidence of [...]