Some thoughts of a father

It's just a week now since we said goodbye to Mark, our second son and third child. This week we will be saying goodbye to his elder brother, Peter. Some times it seems like life will never be the same again, that our family will never be together again. Sometimes I think that it would have been better for my sons and my daughter to have gone to work at 16 and found work at home. Sometimes I feel like God has taken them away from me but then I know that this is not so, I know that they were only ever given to us on loan. They never "belonged" to me and in doing what God wants them to do they will experience life in all its fullness. Sometimes I have this fear of ending up alone, like some of the elderly people I have visited over the years whose sons and daughters are in various parts of the world so that they have no family near them to look after them in their declining years.

A very long time ago I was out with my mum. It was in the days when the buses had no doors and the driver was at the opposite end of the bus. She placed me on the platform, while she got ready to get on herself only to be horrified at he sight of the b us moving before she had a foot on the platform. All I had for companionship was my panic. Thankfully this lasted only a moment as the conductor realised there was a problem and rang the Bell to tell the driver to stop. I do not want to be in that position ever again!

In my more lucid moments I know that God will never leave us and He has blessed us with four great children , who are no longer children. Then I remember that God gave us His only Son, to die that we might live. In the last few weeks I have been given just a glimpse of what loosing a son must be like, what giving a child for the benefit of others feels like. I have had the sorrow of burying the children of parents who never imagined, for a second, that they would outlive their children. We read the story in the Old Testament, of the sacrifice of Isaac wondering how he could do such a thing. The God we worship is a giving God who tell us that he will "love you with an everlasting love". I have been telling the congregation that this is God's default position and we should take great encouragement from that. Did Abraham think that God was going to raise his son from the dead? Did he think that God would give him another son? I do not know but what I do know is that He loves me and He loves you, the reader of this piece, with an everlasting love. Does that not warm your soul? You are loved! Now, I dare you, ignore Him, tell Him He can stick His love. On the other hand you could thank Him and ask Him to be your God for ever.

Surprise, Surprise!

Another day, another sunny day, and is anyone complaining? Imagine waking every day knowing, in as much as you can ever know, that the sun will shine. Would you like that or would you get bored with the predictability? Maybe you would prefer the surprise of not knowing what weather the day will give. Perhaps you like waking each day not knowing how long the sun will shine, if it shines at all, or how long the rain will fall.

How much do you like to be surprised? What is the best surprise you have ever had? There is a whole web site dedicated to giving examples of how you can surprise your partner. Here are a couple of examples:Authentic messages is a message in a bottle service that offers a large variety of bottles and messages for people to send to their loved ones. Buyers choose a bottle, write their message and it is then packaged. You can even choose to burn the edges of the message to give it an authentic feel. Each bottle comes on a bed of wood shavings and placed in a unique coffin style display case.

[it takes all kinds!]

Another is to book a nice hotel or bed & breakfast for a short weekend break and don't tell him/her until you get there. Surprises like these just say that you love your partner and want to pamper them for a while.

How much of a surprise is it to you that the God, who made the world and continues to hold it together in the palm of His hand, has also made it possible for you to live forever with Him? What really surprises me is that so many people seem committed to refusing to take that offer and what also surprises me is that this same God, the Lord and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is happy to let us make that decision and say no thanks! All our experience tells us that the 19^th century politician, Lord Acton , was right when he said “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Experience tells us that people in power will do what they can do. So we have the fascist dictators of the early part of the 20^th century and the collective dictatorships of those on the other political extreme.

On our recent trip to China a politician told us that while China knew all about ruling they had much to learn about governing. They know how to control but not how to lead. It would seem quite natural to many that God would open the door to heaven and make everyone come in but that is not what he has done. He has opened the door and left the decision to us. If you really love a person you will not force them to do what they do not want to do. It is very difficult to allow your children the freedom to make their own mistakes and decisions but if you love them you will give them that right. The door is open but you have to walk through it. If we enjoy freedom we should not be surprised that God allows us to have it. As someone much wiser than me has said, “be careful what you ask for as you might just get it.” Have you been surprised recently?

Surprise, Surprise!

Another day, another sunny day, and is anyone complaining? Imagine waking every day knowing, in as much as you can ever know, that the sun will shine. Would you like that or would you get bored with the predictability? Maybe you would prefer the surprise of not knowing what weather the day will give. Perhaps you like waking each day not knowing how long the sun will shine, if it shines at all, or how long the rain will fall.

How much do you like to be surprised? What is the best surprise you have ever had? There is a whole web site dedicated to giving examples of how you can surprise your partner. Here are a couple of examples: Authentic messages is a message in a bottle service that offers a large variety of bottles and messages for people to send to their loved ones. Buyers choose a bottle, write their message and it is then packaged. You can even choose to burn the edges of the message to give it an authentic feel. Each bottle comes on a bed of wood shavings and placed in a unique coffin style display case. [it takes all kinds!]

Another is to book a nice hotel or bed & breakfast for a short weekend break and don't tell him/her until you get there. Surprises like these just say that you love your partner and want to pamper them for a while.

How much of a surprise is it to you that the God, who made the world and continues to hold it together in the palm of His hand, has also made it possible for you to live forever with Him? What really surprises me is that so many people seem committed to refusing to take that offer and what also surprises me is that this same God, the Lord and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is happy to let us make that decision and say no thanks! All our experience tells us that the 19^th century politician, Lord Acton , was right when he said “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Experience tells us that people in power will do what they can do. So we have the fascist dictators of the early part of the 20^th century and the collective dictatorships of those on the other political extreme.

On our recent trip to China a politician told us that while China knew all about ruling they had much to learn about governing. They know how to control but not how to lead. It would seem quite natural to many that God would open the door to heaven and make everyone come in but that is not what he has done. He has opened the door and left the decision to us. If you really love a person you will not force them to do what they do not want to do. It is very difficult to allow your children the freedom to make their own mistakes and decisions but if you love them you will give them that right. The door is open but you have to walk through it. If we enjoy freedom we should not be surprised that God allows us to have it. As someone much wiser than me has said, “be careful what you ask for as you might just get it.” Have you been surprised recently?

SURPRISE, SURPRISE

Another day, another sunny day, and is anyone complaining? Imagine waking every day knowing, in as much as you can ever know, that the sun will shine. Would you like that or would you get bored with the predictability? Maybe you would prefer the surprise of not knowing what weather the day will give. Perhaps you like waking each day not knowing how long the sun will shine, if it shines at all, or how long the rain will fall.

How much do you like to be surprised? What is the best surprise you have ever had? There is a whole web site dedicated to giving examples of how you can surprise your partner. Here are a couple of examples: Authentic messages is a message in a bottle service that offers a large variety of bottles and messages for people to send to their loved ones. Buyers choose a bottle, write their message and it is then packaged. You can even choose to burn the edges of the message to give it an authentic feel. Each bottle comes on a bed of wood shavings and placed in a unique coffin style display case. [it takes all kinds!]

Another is to book a nice hotel or bed & breakfast for a short weekend break and don't tell him/her until you get there. Surprises like these just say that you love your partner and want to pamper them for a while.

How much of a surprise is it to you that the God, who made the world and continues to hold it together in the palm of His hand, has also made it possible for you to live forever with Him? What really surprises me is that so many people seem committed to refusing to take that offer and what also surprises me is that this same God, the Lord and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is happy to let us make that decision and say no thanks! All our experience tells us that the 19^th century politician, Lord Acton , was right when he said “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Experience tells us that people in power will do what they can do. So we have the fascist dictators of the early part of the 20^th century and the collective dictatorships of those on the other political extreme.

On our recent trip to China a politician told us that while China knew all about ruling they had much to learn about governing. They know how to control but not how to lead. It would seem quite natural to many that God would open the door to heaven and make everyone come in but that is not what he has done. He has opened the door and left the decision to us. If you really love a person you will not force them to do what they do not want to do. It is very difficult to allow your children the freedom to make their own mistakes and decisions but if you love them you will give them that right. The door is open but you have to walk through it. If we enjoy freedom we should not be surprised that God allows us to have it. As someone much wiser than me has said, “be careful what you ask for as you might just get it.” Have you been surprised recently?