MacCárthaigh Family

Just thinking....

2011-12-21T12:00:00.000Z

I am thinking of the past year.
I am thinking of how God is so good to me.
I am thinking about the great Church I am a part of.
I am thinking of my friends and the fact that I have them.
I love my family.
I am thinking I must blog more and change the photo that is above it!

God bless.

Doggie joke

2011-12-06T11:37:00.002Z

A wealthy man decided to go on a safari in Africa. He took his faithful pet dachshund along for company. One day, the dachshund starts chasing butterflies and before long the dachshund discovers that he is lost.

So, wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the obvious intention of having him for lunch. The dachshund thinks, "I'm in deep trouble now!" Then he noticed some bones on the ground close by, and immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat.

Just as the leopard is about to leap, the dachshund exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious leopard. I wonder if there are any more around here."

Hearing this, the leopard halts his attack in mid-stride, as a look of terror comes over him, and slinks away into the trees.

"Whew," says the leopard. "That was close. That dachshund nearly had me."

Meanwhile, a monkey, who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So, off he goes.

But the dachshund saw him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figured that something must be up.

The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard. The leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine."

Now the dachshund sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back, and thinks, "What am I going to do now?" But instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet. And, just when they get close enough to hear, the dachshund says:

"Where's that darn monkey? Sent him off half an hour ago to bring me another leopard."

Another fun doggie joke

2011-12-06T11:37:00.001Z

Two men were walking their dogs together. The first guy with a Chocolate lab and the second a Chihuahua

The first guy says, "Hey, you want to get something to eat?"

The second guy replies, "Yeah, but they all have signs that say 'No Dogs Allowed'."

The first guy with the lab puts sunglasses on and hands the other guy a pair. "Follow my lead," he says.

As he walks into the restaurant a waiter stops him and says, "Sir, no dogs allowed."

The man replies, "It's O.K., this is my seeing eye dog." The waiter apologizes and leads the man to a table as the second man enters.

The same waiter stops him but the guy says, "This is my seeing eye dog. I'm with the other guy."

The waiter replies, "Sir, you can't fool me, you have a Chihuahua."

The man freaks out and says, "A Chihuahua? They gave me a Chihuahua?!"

My first essay for college...

2011-11-25T14:39:00.000Z

“Trials are Essential if we Hope to be Christlike.”

Life starts by trials, the trial of giving birth and the trial of being born. We continue on
through childhood stumbling from one form of trial to another. This is proceeded by the
teen years with trials associated with siblings, peers, teachers and parents. Then onto the
years where we enter the workforce/mortgage/marriage/children. Middle age comes with
the trials of loss of one’s youth and the children moving on etc. Then on to old age and the
trials of loss of energy, memory, and health. Peppered throughout this time line may be
among other things death, divorce, unemployment, disability or illness. Finally, if we are
blessed to have lived a long life, the last trial for us is death itself.

It’s one of the tragedies of life, that some are taught that as soon as they are converted, all
will be well. No more sorrows, pain, and loss. I can understand the desire to believe this
lie, especially if their conversion had been a painful one, but it’s tragic to think that this
train of thought will lead them, sooner rather than later, into great hurt and confusion. The
real loss however is their lack of knowledge and understanding of who Jesus, their Saviour,
really is. This is one instance where suffering trials are definitely beneficial and essential for
Christians to mature in understanding and be more Christlike.

What is Christ like? The fruit of the Spirit given to believers will start to give us insight into
what a perfect human being might look like. Love, joy, peace, self control and happiness
( ). Add to this list perfect obedience to the Father, perfect fellowship with Him, perfect
holiness, etc., and we will not only see what Jesus’ likeness should look like, but we should
notice immediately how unlike Him we really are. So how do we become Christlike? Well,
its’ a learning process. Our Teacher is the Holy Spirit, His classroom is the world where you
live, His curriculum is the Bible and His chosen methods are mostly through trials.

Why are trials essential? Well, there are a number of reasons God allows trials in our lives
and there is a tension between suffering for righteousness sake and suffering because of our
sins. One reason may be to teach us to be humble. Another might be to wean us from our
dependency on the world; yet others could be God’s way of correcting us, expose our sins,
test the strength of our faith or help us look forwards to heaven. Trials can show us who
we really love or teach us to pray. Enduring a trial might help us to love the brethren more.
If we struggle with our sin and suffer trials that are common to all men, we can use this
understanding to show love and compassion to man. This outworking fruit of the greatest
commandment of God, ‘To love your neighbour as yourself, ( ) is beautifully stated by
Binnings. ‘This is the highest point of conformity with God, and the nearest resemblance
to our Father. To be like Him in wisdom, that wretched aim did cast men as low as hell;
but to aspire into a likeness in love lights up the soul as high as heaven even to a mutual
indwelling.’ (Christian Love, Hugh Binning, p10)

We can look to the Bible for the results of God testing His saints. Job is a good example.
Not only did God bring him through his trials a wiser man, but Gaebelein notes the
following... ‘The purpose is not just to test Job as an end in itself, but to give Job the
opportunity to honour His lord....The primary purpose of Job’s suffering, unknown to him,
was that he should stand before men and angels as a trophy of the saving might of God.’
(The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Frank E Gaebelein, p880-881) God can also teach us
aspects to His character through our trials. He showed Job that He is his Jehovah Rophe.
This is a name used in the OT sixty times and it always means to restore, to cure or to heal.
By the time Job was restored to full health he knew God is a way he never knew Him before.
It is essential that we grow as Christians and to grow means that we must go through trials,
learn from them and then produce the fruit of these trials which is the fruit of the Holy
Spirit. This in turn leads to be Christlike.

Trials are vital in the lives of our Pastors. Without them they wouldn’t preach of the Word of
God half as effectively as they do. I should think there would be nothing like a trial to drive
a Pastor to his knees and nothing like a trial to help them to empathise with their flock. In
a biography about Spurgeon, Douglas accredits suffering as one of his teachers; ‘He was
well versed in the three things which according to Luther, made a minister: temptation,
meditation and prayer. The school of suffering was one in which he was deeply taught.’ (The
Prince of Preachers, James Douglas, 1894 – Spurgeon. A New Biography, Arnold Dullimore,
P176) The Apostle Peter was a man who had to go through some very hard trials before he
was entrusted with the care of Christ’s flock. On this subject Sibbes says, ‘After conversion
we need bruising so that reeds may know themselves to be reeds, and not oaks.... Thus
Peter was bruised when he wept bitterly (Matther 26:75). This reed, till he met with this
bruise, had more wind in him than pith when he said, ‘Though all forsake thee, I will not.’
(Matthew 26:33) The heroic deeds of those great worthies do not comfort the church so
much as their falls and bruises do.’ (The Bruised Reed, Richard Sibbes, P5) We also need the
good fruit that trials produce in the lives of Christians to enable us to stand firm against the
Devil and cope with the plague of trials that threaten to engulf and split our churches.

Lastly, I would like to highlight another trial, death. Christ suffered and died in a way that I
cannot properly describe here, and he died well. If we hope to live a life of obedience and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and follow that life with a death that would be Christlike, then
it is essential to allow God to bring us through our trials successfully and joyously. How
can we hope to trust and have any comfort in Jesus during our time of death unless we
have trusted Him to successfully take us through other trials during our lifetime? Where
on our deathbed will our comfort come from other than from scripture? Ryle has this to
say, ‘Chapters, passages, tests, promises and doctrines of scripture-heard, received, believed
and rested on-these are the only comforts I dare promise to anyone, when he leaves this
world.’ (How readest thou?, JC Ryle, P50) John Bunyan’s ‘Stand Fast’ is a good example of
how we as Christians would like to die, giving testimony to a life where God guided us and
helped us, where He lead us through difficulties right to the end.

I can’t help but feel a lump at the back of my throat when I read some of what Stand-Fast
said while crossing the river (of death), ‘I see myself now at the end of my journey, my
toilsome days are ended. I am going now to see that head that was crowned with thorns,
and that face that was spit upon, for me. I have formally lived by hear-say and faith, but now
I go where I shall live by sight and shall be with Him, in whose company I delight myself.’
(Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan, Penguin classic, P277)

School, for Sean and me!

2011-09-19T12:39:00.005+01:00

Well, Sean started school a few weeks ago and thank God, he loves it! No problems getting him up in the mornings and no problems with his homework either. Niall drives him and two other boys to school and drops them off about 8.30. They go in and have breakfast (by choice), then work and at the end of the school day at 3.45 he stays on, has a snack break and does his homework from 4-5.30 (this is also by choice). He makes it home for 6 which I think is dreadful but at least he has his homework done and he has the rest of the evening to himself. I won't grumble (much) about it because I suppose this is one of the reasons why the Bush has the second highest number of students in Louth going on to third level education beaten only by the Grammar.
The bottom line is that Sean just loves school. He has made loads of friends and is getting along no problem with the work and the teachers. The only thing that he is finding a problem with is getting his books from his locker. The quiet corridors turn to bedlam at the ring of the school bell and it's every person is for themselves when it comes to pushing and shoving for room to replace used books and get more for the next classes. However, we had a chat about it last night and he has a couple of tricks up his sleeve that he is going to try out.

As for me, well, it's terrible. I have all morning AND afternoon to myself to tidy, shop, walk the dog, blog, read etc.... :0)

BTW, I start college tomorrow!

Three years women's ministry course in the Irish Baptist College in Moira every Thursday evening....CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

2011-08-26T14:48:00.004+01:00

This week we had Sean's friends Artem and his brother Denis over for most of the week. I took them swimming a few times and also over to JJB for play and football. We had a full, tiring but good week and I took a few photos of some of the things they got up to...

Help for your prayer life...

2011-08-23T13:31:00.002+01:00

I heard that this can be a good way to help you with your prayer life.

Think of your hand.
Your thumb is nearest to you so think and pray for the people nearest and dearest to you, family, neighbours and friends.

Your second finger is the one you point with when teaching so use this as a reminder to pray for all the teachers in your life, Pastor, Sunday school teacher, husband etc.

Your third finger is the tallest, the VIP finger! Use this finger as a reminder to pray for your government leaders and other leaders in your life.

Your forth finger, according to a piano teacher is your weakest so pray for the sick and the troubled people in your life.

Finally your small finger is the unimportant one and when we think of this finger we should think of ourselves....

Wedding number 1

2011-08-23T12:08:00.003+01:00

Niall and I went to Portrush to attend a Christian wedding. It was a lovely, lovely wedding, one of the best I have ever been to.

Looking forwards...

2011-08-19T22:36:00.003+01:00

Well, the Summer is almost gone and although we didn't have much heat or sun, as usual I am starting to warm up to the idea of Autumn, my favourite season. This Summer went well for my family. Yes, Niall is still unemployed, but God is stretching and growing us in the midst of all this and I know the joy of going through various trials, cause through it all I see Jesus more clearly and that has got to be good.

Sean is happy. He spent a great five months in school, and has spent the Summer looking forwards to going to 'big' school at the end of this month. We got to the beach a few times and he also went on holidays with his nanny to Cranfield several times which is nice. He enjoyed lots of play and hanging out with kids on the street, lots of lie-ins, sailing most Saturday's in Carlingford, studying a christian book along with me about astronomy and also spending time in the College football grounds with his dog and practicing his javelin. All in all he has had a very good Summer.

I am looking forwards to going to Moira Baptist College in September!!!!!! I, and three other women from our church are hoping to start the three year women's ministry course on the 21st. I am so pleased to be doing this. I wanted to do it four years ago but decided it would be too much to take on with what with teaching Sean at home. I spent a lot of time in the garden and working on community gardening. I also joined the resident's association this year and this has kept me busy.

Niall is forever busy for an unemployed man! Always helping somebody out and he is also working away at his training with FAS. We are also busy during the week working on the slide show of Dundalk for our visit to the local nursing home. It is going down a treat and we are all enjoying the experience.

As usual, the next few days are busy with a wedding tomorrow in Portrush N.I., Niall, Kevin, Stephen and Mick holding a talk in Carlingford on Tuesday while displaying Mick's model Ark in the Carlingford Heritage Centre, outdoor movie for the local kids on our back garden, Sean back to school the following Monday and my sister's wedding that Thursday.

I am grateful to God for bringing us safely through the Summer with only the incident with Sean in hospital to cloud our happiness and even then He answered prayers.

I hope you all had plenty to thank God for and so, on that note, I am happy to let go of Summer and look forwards to shorter evenings, more fires, duvet on bed and time on my own every morning, that is, time with just me and my Lord :0)

How a child learns.

2011-08-16T15:33:00.004+01:00

If a child lives with criticism,
He learns how to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility,
He learns how to fight.

If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns how to be shy.

If a child lives with shame,
He learns how to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance,
He learns how to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement,
He learns how to have confidence.

If a child lives with praise,
He learns how to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness,
He learns how to practice justice.

If a child lives with security,
He learns how to have faith.

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
He learns how to find love in this world.

This is for you Grace.

2011-08-11T14:47:00.002+01:00

Something Niall sent me... Very funny!

2011-08-08T11:25:00.000+01:00

IT CAN BE HARD KEEPING A STRAIGHT FACE AS A COURT REPORTER

These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken
down and published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while the exchanges were taking place.

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
_________________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget..
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
___________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
____________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He's 20, much like your IQ.
___________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you kidding me?
_________________________________________

ATTORNEY: She had three children , right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death..
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.
___________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral...
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?
______________________________________
And last:

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No..
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

Holiday Bible Club.

2011-08-02T16:25:00.006+01:00

Today we started our Holiday Bible Club in the Dundalk Baptist Centre. This year we are working with our own children and a couple of their friends and it is so much easier :0)
Daniel and Chasity are the main organisers and Rebeca, Rory and I are helping out. We had great fun and the kids were so very well behaved. I think we are all looking forwards to tomorrow.
Chasity hard at it!
Daniel is a fab teacher and presented the gospel very clearly during the story/teaching time with the younger kids.
We rolled out large sheets of paper for the craft. Now this was fun!!!! We had to lie down on top of the paper and get somebody to draw the outline of our bodies on it. Then we coloured them in.

Makely won a prise for best effort/behaviour today.
We finished the day by playing lots of games... phew!!!

Invisible Husband Shows Up In Photo! [ Video ] CoolestOne.Com

2011-07-30T10:35:00.001+01:00

Invisible Husband Shows Up In Photo! [ Video ] CoolestOne.Com

Oh, watch this, it's very funny!

Summer.

2011-07-28T14:44:00.002+01:00

Sean's friend Nosi came over to hang out and they ended up having a huge community water fight!
I have started more work in the estate weeding and planting. Watch this space for more!

Yesterday we got to the beach for a few hours. The weather fas fantastic and sadly I only put on factor 10 so I got pretty burnt on my face... And of course today it's raining!!!!!
Hope you are having a great Summer.

Beware Romantic Pornography

2011-07-26T12:21:00.003+01:00

Beware Romantic Pornography

Hen party.

2011-07-22T18:15:00.003+01:00

My sister Nicola is getting married soon and so she had her hen party today.
Being the last of 11 children we three were called the three wee ones.

My nephew's girlfriend Fionnuala.

They are away off to Carrick on Shannon in this party bus for the weekend. I left them to it!

Clothes

2011-07-17T20:54:00.002+01:00

I thought I might share a little about dress/clothes. This can be a touchy subject, along with women's hair and make-up! But I will start with God and what I think He has to say about it.

In the beginning nakedness was not a sin. However, when sin entered the world we had to cover up. Why? Because our way of thinking is now perverted and corrupt and we are unable to look at the human body in the way we used to, without sinning. How do we sin? Well, I suppose the most obvious way is when a man lusts after a woman. A husband may desire his wife but a man who lusts after a woman is sinning. Women too can lust after men but, to be honest, we're just not in the same league as the men! However, we don't get away that easily, we can be envious of how other women look and that's sin.

Clothes can be worn to cover the body, to be comfortable and to keep you warm, and then they can be worn to cover the body but accentuate certain parts and draw the eye of the opposite sex.

Before I became a Christian I wore clothes for different reasons. Jeans, tracksuits etc just to hang around in and to work in, to keep warm and to be comfortable in. I also wore clothes that would draw the attention of men towards me, and then I wore clothes to impress other women... peer pressure! Other times I wore clothes as a kind of armour, power dressing. If I were going somewhere important and meeting somebody who intimidated me, I would put on the smart trouser suit, make up and hair... my armour!

When I started going to Church services I began to look at the way other Christian women dressed. Some, most, wore clothes that were not expensive. Others wore outfits that were put together with a little thought but again, not expensive and others didn't seem to mind what they wore so long as it covered them!

There were some young women in out Church and they really surprised me by how they dressed. They looked great! Trendy, modern, up to the latest fashions and discrete! They wore some of the same kind of tops that were out there in the boutiques but instead of wearing it low cut, they would put a t-shirt under it, or they altered it by sewing it and still looked great!
As I got to know the women in the Church, one by one, some of them told me that they shopped in second hand clothes shops as well as the regular shops. One woman, who was quite short, got almost all her clothes second-hand, gave them to a dressmaker to alter them and looked fantastic! You would never know she did this! Another woman I know in the Church dresses herself and her kids from the second-hand shops with the best of clothes, good labels and all, you'd never know!

I had thought nothing of wearing tops that didn't leave much to the imagination, skirts that were too short and clothes that were too tight. But how do we know what is too short, low and tight? What do we gauge it all against?

I came to realize what I was doing was wrong when I read in the Bible that when a man looks at a woman and lusts after her in his heart, he commits adultery...

When I go to church wearing something that is used to draw the attention of men to my figure and attract them to me, I may be stumbling them and possibly tempting them to commit adultery in their hearts with me and sin against God. Tough stuff.

Some would say that surely it is up to the men to mind themselves and just look away.

Well, yes it is, but it is also up to me to consider my brother, to esteem him higher that myself, to protect him and not to stumble him. Personally, I didn't know a lot about the Bible at the time, but I knew enough. The fact that somebody looking at me with lust caused him to sin. I didn't want to be a part of it, so I changed. It didn't happen straight away. It took months initially and a few years to iron out the finer points and if I am honest, even now I still find myself tempted to slide back into the ways of the world, but then God gives me a gentle nudge and pulls me back.

It can be a fine line sometimes. You can go too far one way or the other. It is up to you to love your brother and not stumble him so you can't go around wearing certain styles of dress. However, we are not called to cover ourselves from top to bottom.

Let's use a bit of wisdom here ladies and consider what we wear. Do we want our brothers to be talking with us after the service while trying desperately not to look at our cleavage, or can we give them one less thing to struggle with in the world that day..? We don't have much choice in what we have to look at from day to day in the high street and work place, but we can make out Church services a restful place to be, where our brothers, husbands and sons can rest from temptation in this area, even if it is just for a couple of hours.

At home.

2011-07-17T20:47:00.001+01:00

When I lived in Dublin City in the early 80's I used to work. Because I came from a large poor family, and because my father encouraged us to do well for ourselves and not rely on men to get us through life, (he had 7 daughters) I became very independent and would strive to be strong and not to be dependant on anybody, especially a man. I would pay my way in restaurants, holidays, anything, and felt awful if I were under any complement to anybody.

When I had my son Seán, I was just the same. Because I didn't drive, sometimes I relied on people to drive me here and there and would give them money for petrol and this would help me feel less of a burden. I really disliked cooking and thought it was the most boring thing in the world to have to do. My plan was, as soon as Seán was old enough, he would go to play school and I would get some part time work.

After my conversion things changed for me in these regards. I wanted to be with Seán more. I didn't mind spending most of my time with him. Also I longed to cook for somebody! My sister and my pastor used to call over every Tuesday morning and I used to be happy to make up something small for them to eat for lunch. Nothing fancy, a salad or omelette or soup etc. This pleased me and these feelings took me by surprise!

Before I married Niall I started to get used to making dinners for more than just me and Sean.... I would invite visiting speakers to my home, along with other people from the church, and that got me back into the swing of things. So by the time I married Niall I was very happy to cook and wash and keep home and homeschool... Something I would have once really disliked, I now love! Having said all that, I am not a fab cook and sometimes still get a bit bored cooking two times a day..

I am so glad and grateful that the Lord has taken me out of the workforce. I do have a small job cleaning a local community centre once a week that helps pay the bills. It is literally 3 doors down from my home which is great. Once we made the choice to home school Sean then that took the option of working outside the home from me. I am grateful for that.

I am not superwoman. I can't work outside the home, then come home and shop, cook, wash, dry, iron, clean, be mother, wife, helpmate, sister, be a regular church goer, let alone spend time reading the Bible, reading other godly books, pray and visit folk.... I just can't do it all and I don't want to.

So how do we get on? Just live a simple life. It may not be as simple as I would like it to be, but by today's standards it's pretty simple... But the benefits are amazing! We son't have a lot of spare cash but God provides for every one of our needs. So, right now, this is what my life looks like.

I get a lot of hand-me-downs... I quite enjoy that!
I buy second-hand.
I buy new in the sales.
I buy very little make-up.
I don't buy perfume.
I very rarely buy magazines.
I have a great friend who cuts my hair for free :0)
I don't drink.
I don't smoke.

What we do...

Sometimes we go to the movies.
We go to the pool.
We go to the Library.
I go to visit my sisters and brothers in the Lord.
Sometimes we go on holidays.
We light a fire and settle down to watch a movie or read out loud to one another.
We have a family bible/prayer/song time most days which we all enjoy.
We go on outings.
I visit neighbours and friends.
We visit family.
We visit a local nursing home.
We go to church services.
I walk.
I blog.
I read.....
This September I hope to go to a Baptist college for a part time three year women's ministry course.
I do a lot of community gardening in the estate where I live.
I am on the residents committee.

I couldn't do the half of this if I were working, and I would be working if God hadn't given me the desire for a more simple home life.

I love my life, I really do. I love my home which I call 'my nest!' I love my family. I don't care if the world thinks it is unusual for me to be home so much, to be fulfilled with my life as it is.

Not too long ago I would have despised this kind of lifestyle, now I love it.

I am not is any way putting down women who work. I am just saying that I believe that at this time and moment, this is what God wants 'me' to do and I am grateful.

The source and beginnings of christian love.

2011-07-08T17:59:00.000+01:00

We know that the source of christian love is God and the beginning of christian love for us started when God created the first man and woman. The love Adam had for God was a true, perfect and clean love, as was his love towards Eve.
I can't help but wonder what it would be like to live in a world where people had this kind of love for one another. After all, this is what God intended when He created Adam and Eve, isn't it? It's very hard to understand what it should be like because when we destroyed our relationship with God we also destroyed our relationship with one another. Now we are left with a world full of people who are only capable of self love unless, that is, they are saved and converted by God and even then, due to our sin this new love that is planted in our hearts is just a vague impression compared to what it soon will be.

In his book 'Christian Love,' Hugh Binning begins by talking about God's creation of His world with unity and order and then goes on to say,

'Now, it is most reasonable to suppose that, by the law of creation, there was to be no less order and unity among men, the chiefest of the works of God. And so it was indeed: as God had moulded the rest of the world into a beautiful frame by the first stamp of His fingers, so He did engrave upon the hearts of men such a principle as might be a perpetual bond and tie to unite the sons of men together. This was nothing else but the law of love, the principle fundamental law of our creation - love to God, founded on our essential dependency on and subordination to God, and to man, grounded upon that communion and interest in one image of God.'

But things have changed so much that men's only love is turned inwards and it is only self serving. We turn everything towards ourselves and no one, least of all God, gets a look-in. God has to convert us and teach us how to love the right way, and at a high cost.

If God is love and we are made in His image then I think is it a very good starting point to base our christian lives on. It doesn't really matter how old we are as Christians, if we haven't got a proper understanding of what love is and who we should love, then nothing else that follows in our lives will grow to the potential that it otherwise should.

Let's consider 1 Corinthians 13:1-3,

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Just consider that list. Amazing! God is saying that the first thing to get right in our new lives as christians is love and if we don't get that right, well, everything we do that follows is, at the least, questionable. It seems to me that if we don't have a proper understanding of how to love God and our brethren properly then our motives for doing anything in the name of God is tainted. I suppose what I am trying to get at is that this is not only a fundamental doctrine but the fundamental doctrine and it is vital that we find out more about it and then do it.

Right now when I think of the scripture that tells me how decietful I am (The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked - Jer 17:9), and then I think of the things I do for the Lord, I can't help but want to go back over my reasons for doing them and check if they were out of love for Him and the brethren or were the reasons tainted with sin.
Did I do stuff out of love or because it may have looked good in God's and the church's eyes.

Starting with myself first, I think it may not be a bad thing to examine ourselves and look back over some of the things we have done during our christian life and see with what intentions we did/do them. Here are some things coming to my mind...

If we go to the church services just to get fed, well that's wrong. We should go not only to learn and grow, to be helped and encouraged but also to worship God and love Him and His by ministering to other saints, not least our elders and their wives.

Do we go to visit other christians for our own edification or for theirs?

When I pray, is it mostly for me and mine, or do I consider others, above and beyond my own needs?

When I make life-changing decisions, are they based on me and mine only or am I taking my church family into real consideration?

Have I a decent knowledge of the Bible but don't share it with others. Do I encourage and help others to understand it and to get them through hard times?

Friend, it's real hard fighting against the old man and against putting ourselves first.
It's real hard putting God and His children first, before ourselves and not just making an outward show of it.
It's real hard crucifying ourselves for others who are in our immediate family let alone our church family but we are called to do that.
It's real hard to only see this current world/situation we are in and not look forward to a time when we won't have the choice to please God any more. This is a crucial and fantastic time when we have the choice and can say yes (or no) to God.

But I am very encouraged to know that God has supplied me with everything I need pertaining to my life and godliness (His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness - 2 Peter 1:3).
I am very encouraged to know that when I do these things and practice them that they become a part of my life and I tend to hold onto this world and the things in it a little less every time.
I am very encouraged to know that God is pleased with all my efforts to obey Him and He will help me, every step of the way, and I am very encouraged to think that rather than suck my church dry, I can give a little back and maybe even surprise myself and be a good example to others.

A bit of sport.

2011-07-06T21:26:00.005+01:00

Today we went to visit the Kirwans and Sean took his javelin along. Ann''s son is great at that sport, winning all Ireland's gold in the under 18's and 19's and was happy to give Sean a bit of instruction. He is 20 in two weeks time and is getting baptised into our church on the same day! You have to play the video through two times to get a decent picture.

Fun day in a nursing home!

2011-07-04T14:56:00.002+01:00

This morning I had great fun with my family. These past few months it has been on my heart to visit the old folk in the local nursing home and read the bible to them. A sister in the Lord goes there on Wednesdays and Fridays for a few hours and asked me if I would do some kind of craft with them. I had a chat with Niall and came up with an idea that we thought was good. We were going to pick a christian song every week (say Amazing Grace), play a couple of different versions of it, give the people there a bit of background about the writer and a piece of scripture.
Well, the sister didn't think the idea was so good but we did talk things through and came up with another idea which we got to do today.

We got a projector and large screen and showed old and new photos of Dundalk town to the folk. It sure did start some very interesting and fun conversations. After doing that to our captured audience (over 40 people) we finished off with some interesting facts about today's date, the 4th of July. Niall did quite a bit of research into the subject and came up with some interesting facts. One old gent (below in the last photo) called Michael who couldn't be heard very well took quite a while on his walking stick to get to Niall and told him that Louis Armstrong was born on the 4th of July and then walked back to his seat :0)
The lady in the photo above is called the 'Queen of Mondays' as that is her day for attending and she is a bit of a bossy boots, although very nice!!!
By all accounts the staff really liked the slide show and were kind enough to give us refreshments. The nurse in the white coat is Kevin's mum.
All in all it was a fab morning and we are looking forwards to going back every Monday at 11 this month with the option of continuing for many months after that. We were even given some requests by the folks. They want us to look up information on the Internet about some areas in Dundalk where they lived.
We had to laugh, there was even talk about a famous one armed footballer!

Happy 4th of July to my U.S. friends.

2011-07-04T14:55:00.002+01:00

A most unusual package

2011-07-04T14:46:00.003+01:00

Today something most unusual came literally through the letter box in our hall today. Top marks to the post man for his patience having to push that through the letterbox!
Sean's belated birthday present... a javelin!

Saturday sailing.

2011-07-02T19:00:00.003+01:00

Today we were sailing again. When I way 'we' it is more like Sean... and I watched :0) Niall was out on the speed boats again setting up the buoys for the races and we all had a good time of it.

These guys had fun jumping off the pier.
I was given the grand tour of this beautiful yacht.
Today Sean sailed on this boat.
And Mick came along for a chat.

A good weekend.

2011-06-27T19:59:00.004+01:00

We had a very good weekend as usual thank God.

On Saturday we brought Sean's sailing boat to the sailing club in Carlingford. We signed Sean up for another year's membership and paid the €50 fee to keep the boat there all year which I think is more than reasonable. Sean went out for a sail, Niall went out in the rib and I sat in the club house watching them and chatting to Mike, Philip and Tom. It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon and I am looking forwards to going again next Saturday.

Yesterday we had a baptism. Tammy, a lady from America got saved recently. She is over here visiting her daughter who is a member of our church and decided to get baptised while here which was brilliant. All went well and we went over to Daniel and Chasity's home for the church lunch.
After that we went to St Helena's Park for the annual Big Fun Day where Niall had a rest and Sean played football for a couple of hours on the green. The team was made up of 14 black boys and 3 white boys... A sign of the times I think :0)

Today I spent all day outside working in my garden. Thankfully the weather has changed. It's not sunny but it is a lot warmer. Last night we were even able to watch a movie out side which was nice.
Hope you are enjoying your Summer wherever you are.

Boy going on holidays with his granny...

2011-06-27T19:58:00.001+01:00

Boy enjoying his holidays...

2011-06-27T19:50:00.000+01:00

Sean's birthday.

2011-06-19T09:49:00.003+01:00

Although Sean had his fun day out with his friends on the Saturday, his birthday was the next Tuesday so we started it off by giving him a few small gifts while he was having his breakfast. This was different than what we usually do. When I home schooled him he normally had the week off. However, it was still a nice morning and he was delighted with his gifts. He wasn't expecting much as we had given him his main present on the Saturday. They weren't much, just things I had been picking up in the sales since January.
At tea time Pierre, our student from France, Lisa, Sean's former Russian teacher from Latvia and Kevin joined us for tea. Niall had a job with some customer who paid him partly in cash and partly in the form of a beautiful fresh trout so we had that for our tea and finished it off by singing Happy Birthday to Sean in Russian, English, Irish and French!

Later while Niall and I chilled out Kevin took Sean out into the back garden to give him some tips as to hoe to use the fishing rod I gave him (£2 for rod and reel!!!).

Oh yes, I had my usual can of Root Beer that I have been saving in the bottom of my wardrobe for months now!!! Just two left, for our wedding anniversary and for Christmas. Must see if I can get somebody to get me a few more next time they go to the U.S.

Dublin City Women's Mini Marathon 2011

2011-06-19T09:39:00.003+01:00

As usual I walked it but this time there were five of us. One ran and the rest of us took it easy. It was a pleasant day with the usual bands playing along the route to cheer us along, that and the local fire man trying to drench us with their hoses :0) There was approx 40,000 women there which makes it the largest outdoor women's event in the world!

Guided tour of Dundalk Courthouse.

2011-06-17T23:37:00.008+01:00

Sean really wasn't as bored as he looks here... really! Actually he cheered up once he got to see the cells down below :0)

Just thinking.

2011-06-16T20:12:00.004+01:00

Sometimes I think that when it comes to prayer, the problem isn't lack of faith, but rather the enormity of God.
You know how you feel when you walk into a gust of wind and it is so strong that it literally takes your breath away? Sometimes that's how I feel about God.

It seems to me that He is so big, so mighty and so capable and willing that it takes my breath away and I have to go back to the basics of who He is. I have to ponder Him and the works He has done during the brief history of this world and then I remember how tender He is, how willing to save, how much He comforts and forgives, how long suffering and patient, how mighty He is and who I am in relation to Him.
Then I can pray with a faith the size of a mustard seed with confidence that He hears me, not because of who I am, but because of who He is.

Once again, it comes back to the Bible. If you read it, all of it, and often, you can't help but be impressed by Him and really understand why He says we are made of 'the dust of the earth', and calls us 'worms' because compared to Him, that's exactly what we are.

With so mighty a God as He, and He is our Father (!), what can we possibly ask of Him that He can't give to us???

So when I see a little of how magnificent God is, all my prayers seem to be such a small list and I have courage to keep adding to it, and adding to it, and adding to it :0)

Take courage and enlarge your prayer list. It's not that God can't do it, it's that we can't.

You can't wear God out.

Remember...

Eph 3;20
'Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us...'

The Bible

2011-06-16T19:56:00.004+01:00

Why are we surprised that we love to read the Bible?
The Bible is the Word.
The Word is Jesus.
Jesus is God.
We love God... because He first loved us.

Sometimes I think that there must be something very wrong with our relationship with God if we don't love and read our Bible, don't you think?

Real christian love?

2011-06-09T19:42:00.001+01:00

Real Christian love? What should that look like?

The Bible is very clear about how important love is in a Church. God puts it first, above teaching, evangelism, giving, faith, etc. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Everything else hangs on these two things, 'love God and love everybody else the same way that you love yourself.'

There is only one place we can find out about it, see what it is like and experience it and that's in the Bible.

The first experience I had with real love was through pain. There's a Christian song called 'O Love that wilt not let me go,' and the third verse goes like this...

O joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee,
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
and feel the promise is not vain,
that morn shall tearless be.

God drew me to Him using pain, the painful circumstances of my life. I wouldn't dream of going to Him when times were good so He allowed my life to crumble until I could fall no further and eventually I looked up to Him and said 'if You are there, show me,' and He did.

I am just off the phone where somebody close to me is going through a hard time, again, and she asked me to pray for her. When I was praying I asked God if He would save her, even if it has to be the way He saved me, even though it was so painful at the time. I tell you the truth when I say that I wouldn't change one tiny bit of the pain that God used to draw me to Him.

So that was my first taste of true love. God loves me so much that He allowed me to go through a lot of pain so I would wake up and turn to Him for help and salvation from hell but.... before all that, Jesus, the Son of God went through terrible pain before and on the cross in my place. Why? Because He first loved me. He loves me enough to take the punishment for my sins so I won't have to be punished for them, so I can belong to Him and so I can spend eternity with Him in a love relationship.

But that's just the beginning of it. At the start of your new relationship with God your heart is bursting full of love towards Him, your sisters and brothers in the Lord, your family, your neighbours and enemies. But how does this manifest itself especially in the Church? What does it look like?
It's more than a smile and a hello at the Church service on a Sunday morning.

This is something I have been praying about and looking into a lot these past four years and at the end of the day I have found that my opinion is worthless and the Bible's is everything. So, here is what I believe God says about love for the brethren and what it looks like.

Firstly, you don't know what true love is unless you have been converted and are being loved by God. To love God and be loved by God has no equivalent in this world. I have loved people in my life, grand parent, parent, husband, child, and lovely as all these relationships can be, there is no comparison between these loves and the love of God.

If you are a true Christian Jesus who is God says that if you love Him you will love the Brethren. That seems straight forwards enough but lets take a closer look.
I think the first question to ask here is in what way does God love us. If we know how He does that, then we can know how He expects us to love others. One way He loves us is in a sacrificial way. He poured Himself our for us. He gave up everything (Heaven) to come down to this Earth and live and suffer and die... for us! The will of Jesus' Father was for Jesus to take the punishment that is due to me and suffer in my place. He sacrificed Himself for us because He loves us.
So how will this look like when trying to love our sisters and brothers in the Church?

2 Peter 1:5-8
In verse 7 it says 'to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.'
Kindness is a good place to start. First of all in our thoughts towards one another. You won't be attending Church very long before somebody irritates or annoys you. Mostly, if you are really honest with yourself it will stem from your own sinfulness, impatience, tiredness etc., but even if someone is being a bit of a pain, you have to check your thoughts and keep them holy. The Bible says that we ought to put others above ourselves, to think more highly of others.
Here is the starting point. Check your thoughts and immediately think kind thoughts towards them. (whatever is good, whatever is lovely) Perhaps something is going on in their lives that you don't know about that is really worrying them, stretching them and hurting them and they are at the end of their endurance. I mean, if a hurting Christian can't show his true (and sometimes ugly) self among other Christians and be loved, forgiven and helped there, where can he?
God says that love covers a multitude of sins. Yes, I can understand this in relation to loving my husband and son. It's fairly easy to forgive Niall something. Why? Because I love him very much. You should hear my son and what he says when I ask his forgiveness. He is so willing to forgive me; He showers me with forgiveness! Why? Because he loves me so much! Husbands and wives can forgive each other the most heinous sins because of their great love for each other, BUT, if a sister or bother in the Lord steps out of line, just one time, it can be another story altogether!

Friend, it all starts in our minds. That's where the battle ought to be fought. Show a little pity and compassion towards your sisters and brothers. Show a little patience and long suffering. If there is something about them that bug's you DON'T stay away from them. That's wrong and it's sinful. Pray for them regularly. Pray for yourself and your attitude and ask God to change it!
That's what love is all about; that's what we are commanded to do.
True love is sacrificial and when we sacrifice our pride or our 'rights' it hurts. Sometimes true Christ like love hurts, but it's worth it.
1 Peter 4:1 says, 'Therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.'
1 Corinthians 13:7 says
'love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.'

Lets 'bear' and 'endure' a little more for our church. Lets 'love' it and show it and not just read about it in the Bible. Remember in Mark 9:41 Jesus says, 'For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.'

What about Church members who live alone, who are newly married, who are sick, who are old, who are recently bereaved, who are young? What about our over worked pastors, their enduring wives, what about our teenagers who are tempted and bombarded by sin? What about the folk who are just about to leave or did you not notice the warning signs and then wonder where they are? What about the newly converted or the babes that were converted 20 years ago? What about exhausted mothers of young children, people who just lost their jobs, students taking their exams?

Here are some scriptures that pertain to real Christian love. Read them and think of your relationships with others. Is it ANYTHING like this???? If not, confess your sin to God, repent and change.

1 Peter 4:7-10.
'But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.' Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.'

2 John 4:20,21
'If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.'

1 John 4:7&8
'Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God'.

Galatians 6:2
'Bear one another's burdens.'

Galatians 5:13&14
'...Through love serve one another... You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'

What is fervent love? It is consuming and it burns you up! Do you love your Church with a love like this? Do you give a hoot what is going on in their lives right now? Do you have regular contact with as many as you can to keep up with them and find out what's going on in their lives? How can you pray for them and their needs if you hardly ever talk with them?
EVERY Christian alive has problems and needs encouragement, help and prayer and if you do these things it is a way of showing love to them. It is loving them :0)

It's vital that a Christian love other Christians. Vital because it is a mark of true conversion. If you say you are a Christian and don't love the brethren the way the Bible commands, then you are in sin or you are not converted; either way you have to confess this sin to God and receive His forgiveness; either way, it is a serious thing and needs to be dealt with immediately.

If you are loving your church with a fervent love, thank the Lord and remember 1 Peter 5:10, But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, stenghten, and settle you.
Also remember Hebrews 6:10, For God is not unjust to forget your work and labour of love which you have shown towards His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Also remember this beautiful promise in Galatians 6:7, 'for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.'

If, like me you sometimes struggle with loving your Church, pray to God for forgiveness, strength and endurance and remember Hebrews 6:12, 'do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promise.'
Also, following on from 2 Peter 1:7, (brotherly kindness and love) verse 9 tells us, 'For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.'
Also remember this scripture from Galatians 6:9&10, it's bursting full of wisdome and encouragement, 'And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not loose heart. Therefore, as we have oppertunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.'

If you live your life without a thought for the Church other than to attend the service on a Sunday morning please check yourself to see if you are in the faith. The world wide Church has many false converts/Christians, make sure you are not one of them.
There is no way around it; love for the Lord and the brethren is a sure mark of conversion and a lacking in this love should worry any professing Christian.
Jesus Himself said in Matthew 7:17, 'Even so, every good tree bears food fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.'

So, what can we do in a practical way to love the brethren?

Well, first of all and most importantly, pray for them. When you take the time to regularly pray for your brothers and sisters God will show you something about them that they need help in. Pick up a fridge magnet or book marker while shopping or buy a book from the second hand shop that you think they may like, give it to them the next time you see them telling them that they were on your mind and that you have been praying for them.

If it's somebody you don't see a lot, say somebody sick, visit them. If you feel a bit shy, ask another christian to come along. It may be a bit strange for the first time but it will improve.

Buy a small bunch of flowers and give them to an elderly member. They will love it! Tell them you have been praying for them.

Can you help by giving a gift of money to somebody? If so, find somebody you know is in need, pop money into an envelope and put it in the offerings box without your name on it(!).

If you are able and trustworthy ask younger parents if they would like you to take their kids for an afternoon.

Put a restaurant voucher in an envelope and pop it in the offerings box for somebody.

Give your Pastor/Sunday school teacher/youth worker a card thanking them and telling them how much you appreciate them. Don't forget other people in the Church that serve, like your treasurer, the people who sort out the music and here is one for you. Give a nice card or small gift to the cleaner/caretaker.

If somebody has mentioned during the service/prayer meeting that they are ill, taking exams, going on holidays, have an impending death etc., follow it up. Text or phone them during the week and see how things are.

If somebody misses a service or two and you haven't seen them in a while, phone them and tell them you are thinking of them and praying for them.

Can you bake, then bake something for somebody. Can you mow grass/build a wall/paint a room? Well, get to it! Help the singles, sick and widows in your church and offer your services.

Has somebody slowly but surely stopped attending the Church services and don't seem to be worshiping anywhere else? It doesn't matter how long they are gone whether six months or three years, drop them a line and tell them they are missed and you are praying for them.

Talk to people when you do see them. Seek out the quiet ones. Everybody loves their kids, talk to them about their children! If someone has lost a partner please talk to them about their loss, even years later. Theres nothing worse than thinking everybody forgot about your dead husband/child/wife.

Surprise someone in the Church by remembering an anniversary or birthday. Buy a card and if the Church is small enough get everybody to sign it and if not, get your Sunday school to sign it.
Oh, and by the way... go to Sunday school! it's a great way to encourage love and support to your brethren and teacher (not to mention it's good for you too!).

Ask God if He wants you to serve in the Church. Sunday school teacher, door attendant, Church secretary etc.

Be on the look out for jobs that need doing in the Church building and do them if you can. Even ask for help.

Well, there's a few ideas to get started with. If you have any other ideas of your own be sure to mention them.

Let me leave you with this scripture...

1 Corinthians 14:12, 'Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the Church that you seek to excel.'

Sean's birthday day.

2011-06-07T19:48:00.005+01:00

Bloom in the Park.

2011-06-07T14:46:00.004+01:00

On Friday the weather here was beautiful so we headed to the Phoenix Park in Dublin for our yearly trip to Bloom. It was the usual fantastic day and didn't disappoint either me, Niall or Sean. By all accounts it seems to have grown bigger than the Chealsie Flower Show in England.
These baskets were lovely and I suspect they are here all the time.
Inside this arrangement there were bird feathers!
This garden depicts 'Alice in Wonderland'.
I liked this.
This was very interesting. It was designed using opti sailing boats and told the story of recovery from depression.
Sean got to try his hand again at a spot of pottery.

There was so many food stalls; it was amazing.
The honey bees were back again.
This is where we had our picnic. There was some great jazz music being played and also some huge bean bags which we used :0) Later there was a fashion show but Sean made sure we got outta there real fast!
Another unusual garden.

Archer & T'pol

2011-06-06T21:55:00.000+01:00

My Lord, Jesus Christ.

2011-06-02T15:44:00.002+01:00

You made the dust of the earth.
You made me out of the dust of the earth.
You came down and became like me.
You suffered more in your short lifetime than I ever will if I live to be an old lady.
You know exactly how I feel.

Who else would I turn to, for help in this life only you?

Stephen's Town Park.

2011-06-02T14:21:00.006+01:00

I just love this park.
You can never be too old for hide-and-seek!

This is the main pond. Ducks and their chicks were all over the place, real cute.
We found a second pond! This is where the two swans and their signets are hiding out.

Sunday lunch.

2011-06-02T14:18:00.001+01:00

Recently we had Katie, Paul and Jack over to joooin us for Sunday lunch. It was a lovely day and Jack and Sean took advantage of the good weather to play with their nerf guns.

Christian Love

2011-05-28T20:57:00.002+01:00

I am just finishing a Puritan Paperback book Jeff gave me a few years ago called Christian Love by Hugh Binning. It's one of the most wonderful books I have ever read written by a very humble man. Hugh lived between 1627-53 in Glasgow and died at the tender age of twenty six. You only need to read the first few pages of this book to wonder at how God gifted him with such amazing insight into the Christian character.

Here is a little extract from his book. He is talking about how irreverant we can be in our prayers to God and how absent minded we become during our services...

'If we apprehend indeed our own quality and condition, how low, how base it is, how we cannot endure the very clear aspect of our own consciences, we cannot look on ourselves steadfastly without shame and confusion of face, at the deformed spectacle we behold: much less would we endure to have our souls opened and presented to the view of other men, even the bases of men. We would be overwhelmed with shame if they could see into our hearts! Now then, apprehend seriously what he is, How glorious in holiness! How infinite in wisdom! How the secrets of your souls are plain and open in his sight! And, I am persuaded, you will be composed to a reverent, humble, and trembling behaviour in his sight.'

Powerful stuff.

Thanks Jeff.

Enjoy your God given gift.

2011-05-28T13:24:00.002+01:00

Sean's granny Tess gave me a framed gift once of this poem. I think it's pretty wonderful.

"Cleaning and dusting can wait till tomorrow
For babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow
So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep"

Neighbour Day & Birthday!

2011-05-27T18:13:00.005+01:00

This year my Birthday happened to be on the same day as Neighbour Day. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed pretending to the very young children that I was having a HUGE Birthday party here in the estate with Bouncy castles, face painting, clowns, music, food, magic show etc., and how they were all invited to it lol!!!!!
It's ok, I confessed all and told the truth... eventually :0)

It was a very good Neighbour Day with all of the above organised for us and more. Cluid has another four estates in Dundalk and so a bus load of them came to us to celebrate the day. We also had a friendly visit from our Garda and the Red Cross was there all day. Well done Mandy for doing a lot of the work.

As I speak Niall is in the sitting room doing 'things' and I am not allowed to go in until seven so that's one of the reasons I am blogging.

Anyway, I will update tomorrow, until then, may God continue to bless you.

The times they are a changing...

2011-05-21T22:50:00.002+01:00

Sad times...
I found this post that I had written when Sean was 9.

The Lord's footstool.

2011-05-21T17:46:00.004+01:00

Now this is just a passing thought, but I have read in the Bible how God has the world as His footstool. Now, I don't know what the great theologians have to say about that, but I do know that I have a bean-bag foot stool and when I use it, it is close to me, it feels good, it rests my tired feet and I am very fond of it!

As you can see from the photo sometimes I use Archer as a foot stool too. I put my bare feet on him and enjoy the feel of his fur on them. I love Archer and love being close to and toughing him.

Like I said, I don't know what the great theologians have to say on the subject, and I have always thought God meant that His having the world as a foot stool was meant to humble us by showing us how teeny we are,

but I wonder....

New news updates for Christians.

2011-05-20T20:30:00.000+01:00

The Christian Institute are now not only giving us news via our email but they have now started to put their news on Utube. Check it out here..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NhdPonj6Nk&feature=youtu.be

Being crafty.

2011-05-20T19:57:00.004+01:00

Today I made these wall banners for my friends two kids, Emily and Joshua. They have two scriptures;' Trust in the Lord with all your heart', and 'He that believes on me has everlasting life'.
Emily is a real girl's girl who likes nothing better than getting her doll colouring book and drawing outfits over the dolls form on the pages and Joshua, well Joshua's dad trains teams in rugby and football so I think he will like this.
I had fun doing it :0)

I am just sitting here working on the computer in Sean's room and I realise that other than his Bible, there is no scripture to be seen... tut tut. Will have to rectify that.

Living water.

2011-05-19T19:40:00.003+01:00

A christian that is too busy to read the Bible and pray is just too busy...

We need to be refreshed by the Lord :0)

Oh Yes!

2011-05-19T19:37:00.003+01:00

My neighbour's new shoes.

DO you love them or hate them?
What say ye?

I love them!!!

Annual Youth Night in Moira.

2011-05-18T20:43:00.003+01:00

Anne and I took our sons Seán and Conor to the youth night in Moira, N.I. on Saturday night. There were over 300 at it and it was a very good night. I think ilt is vital that Sean doesn't think that the church that I am a member of is the only Baptist Church around. It's important that he knows that although the majority of true Christian churches have memberships of around 80 persons, there are others smaller and others larger. I suspect that many of the parents who enouraged their kids to come here are of the same mind as I am.

Gifts.

2011-05-18T20:00:00.006+01:00

These past few days I have been under the weather and staying at home in my dressing gown. Today I have been feeling a little better so I tried my hand at a craft/gift that I had been thinking of doing quite a while now.

A few years ago I was given this gift by a woman from the Travis Avenue Church in Texas while she was over here helping us out with a Summer Bible Club in my estate. I just love it. I keep it in the downstairs loo and I regularly dip into it to read the many scripture cards.

I also received this gift from Janet. It too is a box with scripture in it. She made it herself by typing out the scriptures and then laminating them.

So, I joined the two ideas together and spent the afternoon copying the scriptures from the first 'Daily Bread' box onto pages, laminating them and cutting them up.

Then I just made holes in them and joined batches of them together with ribbon and some beads I happened to have on hand.
On some of them I remembered to put a personalised note before the first scripture.

And then I wrapped up all 15 of them; all ready to give out as gifts to my sisters and brothers in the church.

I kept the Our Daily Bread box of Scriptures to hand in the downstairs loo for a while now and I have to say that over the years God has really encouraged me as I took moments out of my day and picked up one of these cards and read it. It may seem like an odd place to keep them but hey, if it works, it works!

Rookie Life Guard.

2011-05-14T13:04:00.003+01:00

Well, Sean finally finished his Rookie Life Guard course along with his class mates. There was a bit of a big deal made out of it for the kids sake, with Paddy Clarke's photographers taking the photos (which were eventually published in the Argus. I think this is vital for the grannies to have show off lol :0) and the certificates and badges were handed out. Sean asked me to sew them onto his swim bag.

We finally got the sailling boat!

2011-05-14T12:36:00.006+01:00

There was lots of activity these past few weeks while we tried to collect the last of the money Sean needed to buy his sailing boat. He finally had his Easter Monday swim where he raised money for treading water for two hours. Friends and family arrived to support him while Aura played his favourite music and encouraged him over the loud speaker. We had laminated posters to hold up and encourage him every half hour or so and some of the spectators read him a few jokes to pass the time.

Full marks to Niall for joining him in the pool.

A very kind young man from a garden centre gave Sean hundreds of ceramic flower pots to sell to raise money for his boat so we made quite a few euros selling most of them at the very keen price of €1 each. They sold like hot potatoes!
We had a couple of sails along the beach front in Blackrock.
And this was 'the last' yard sale, phew!
Home at last with the boat.
Some of his school friends and some others came along to the launch last Saturday to encourage him. Some family members came too as it was a bit sentimental seeing as my dad launched some of his boats here as did one of my brothers, so Sean is the third generation to keep up with the family tradition.
There is a small wheel on the front which is helpful.
Yea!!!!!!!!! After almost 16 months raising €1,500 he finally did it!
Many thanks to family, church family, friends, neighbours and everybody else who have supported Sean. May God bless you for your kindness.

2011-05-14T12:04:00.006+01:00

Hello there, I thought I would give you an update on what Sean is getting up to these days. He started school in the end of January and thank God he is doing very well, with his academic studies and also with regards to mixing with other children.
Both Sean and I have been mad busy wrapping up his small business that he has been working on since Jan 2010 for earning money to buy himself a sailing boat and I am glad to say that he earned over €1,500 and he is now the proud owner of his first sailing boat!
Another big thing is that he bought his own dog. It's a Collie cross, a mix between a Collie and a Terrier. He is lovely, small, hardly barks at all and is a real soccer dog!
Anyway, here are a few photos of his news... :0)This was a bit of fun. I got €100 from the Resident's Association, bought 48 ceramic pots, soil and flowers and spent a couple of hours going potty with the local kids! A nice gift from the children to the residents I think.

Niall and I took Sean to the Baptist Church in Moyra for the Big Night Out... Great fun as usual! We are looking forwards to going back to Moyra for a teenage night out with Anne and Connor tonight while Niall, Ruairi and John are going to the Morning Star for a quiz night Niall has organised.
Sean at the Animal Sanctuary picking his new pup, Archer.
This little girl from South Africa has become Sean's shadow while Sean, in turn, has become this young man's shadow :0) Pierre is a French student visiting our Church while studying here in DKiT.
Chasity and Daniel organized some of us to re-plant the hanging baskets that Marie's dad had planted last year. It was sad looking at them sitting there all dead and scruffy what with Marie's dad dying last year and I think it was a lovely thing for them to do. I am sure Marie appreciated it when she came back home from her hols in the US.
Marie is still faithfully teaching Sean and the other kids at the Sunday School.

A Song.

2011-05-10T10:33:00.003+01:00

I just found this song Collin's Complete Mission Praise and I thought I would share it with you...

Teach me Thy way O Lord by Benjamin Mnsell Ramsey (1848-1923)

1. Teach me Thy way, O Lord, teach me Thy way!
Thy guiding grace afford, teach me Thy way!
Help me to walk aright, more by faith, less by sight;
Lead me with heav'nly light, teach me Thy way! 

2. When I am sad at heart, teach me Thy way!
When earthly joys depart, teach me Thy way!
In hours of loneliness,
in times of dire distress,
In failure or success,teach me Thy way! 

3. When doubts and fears arise, teach me Thy way!
When storms o'erspread the skies, teach me Thy way!
Shine through the cloud and rain, through sorrow,
toil and pain; Make Thou my pathway plain, teach me Thy way! 

4. Long as my life shall last, teach me Thy way!
Where'er my lot be cast, teach me Thy way!
Until the race is run, until the journey's done,
Until the crown is won, teach me Thy way!

Thanks for this Annie.

2011-04-25T22:11:00.000+01:00

I got this from my friend Annie's blog....

A 98-year-old woman in the UK wrote this to her bank. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in The Times.

Dear Sir,

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honour it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my Pension, an arrangement, which, I admit, has been in place for only thirty eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account £30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, but when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by cheque, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offence under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative.

Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Solicitor, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, I will issue your employee with PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modelled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

1. To make an appointment to see me.
2. To query a missing payment.
3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.

6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7. To leave a message on my computer (a password to access my computer is required.
A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.)

8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through to 8.
9. To make a general complaint or inquiry, the contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year.

Your Humble Client

Skipping school!!!!!

2011-04-13T17:54:00.003+01:00

I gave Sean the day off on Thursday and we headed to the beach :0)
It was a brilliant day and the tide was in so we took his kayak, nerf guns, archery set, picnic and spent the whole day there. Later some friends joined us. It was a great break for Sean and me and we both enjoyed chilling out.

Catching up.

2011-04-13T17:17:00.011+01:00

Here are a few photos of what we have been doing around here lately.

One of our monthly women's meetings in Mary O's home.
I went to visit Ethil who attends our church services. Her son thought it was pretty funny that I have a white face and brown legs!

Sean checking out Niall's Christmas gift.
Also, with his first certificate from school... I have to admit it was a bigger deal for me than for him; Poor kid, I made him pose for the photo. Have to stop that kinda thing and remember, he's growing up!
He loves his nerf guns, he and half the kids in the street!

St Patrick's Day Parade is always a winner, even if it was a bit chilly this year.

I walked the Carlingford mini marathon again with Becky and Jacinta.

We have enjoyed the company of some of our friends over the past few Sundays. Pierre, Stephen & Marie,
Daniel & Chasity,
Kevin and Tess.

Sean at JJB playing for his school and reaching the semi finals. Here are some of the Dundalk football players posing with him (!).
Me trying my hand at a spot of baking in my sister's cafe last month (something you definitely don't see me doing too often!)..

Niall took Sean and a friend off to the football ground with the archery set and then another turned up, and then another, and then another...!Well, what have you been up to lately?

A tribute to moms.

2011-04-04T11:01:00.003+01:00

I have a beautiful book that is full of short stories written by women about their mums. I have it quite a few years and every now and again I take it out and read through some of the stories. I have to be careful because it can leave me feeling very inadequate and it shows me how much I get wrong, but... it also can inspire me to get a move on and do better. Today I was reading a story from Ruth Fenter/Jenter (not sure as the first letter in her second name is not clear) called 'Eyes to see'. Here is some of it...

"Isn't it amazing?" she would say to my brothers and me. "Can't you just see Jesus...?" And then my mother would paint the scene for us-Jesus reaching out His hand and touching the blind man's eyes, taking the little children on His lap, washing His disciple's dirty feet. Through my mother's vivid description of Scriptures, I would see Jesus in ways I'd never seen Him before. And I learned to keep looking for Him in new ways. Those childhood images my mother created for me are forever fixed in my mind-in my thoughts about the person Jesus is and the God He came to earth to represent. My mother thought theology in pictures. And she was always saying, "Can't you just see God...?" And the amazing thing was that I coudl-so clear was the picture she had painted for me.

Not that I always wanted to see. Or always willingly stopped to look. I went through turbulent teenage years when I only had eyes for myself. And still today I can so quickly loose focus-see visions of sugar plum dancing in my head, or find myself gazing wistfully at more of this or more of that-more clothes for my wardrobe, more furniture for my house, more landscaping for my yard.

But when all the sights and sounds of longing are cleared away, I return to the simple gift my mother gave me-the ability to see God's gifts all around me and then quietly sit back, enjoy, and give thanks for what He's given.

Well, what do you think? The part about gazing wistfully at more of this and more of that really struck me. It's something we all fall into now and again and I for one find that the only thing to do at a time like that is to look around at what is in your life, your home, children, friends, husband, neighbourhoods, job etc., and be thankful for what you have and take your mind of what you haven't got because lets face it, isn't there always going to be 'something' we want and don't have?

Update on Sean

2011-03-29T13:06:00.005+01:00

I thought I would give an update on how Sean is getting along with his education these days. Well, I am happy to report that he is doing very well. When he started in St Nicholas' at the end of January he was where he should be with his maths and ahead in all his other subjects except his spellings. I tried for five years to get him to work faster (and eat faster) and never succeeded but two months into school and he's up to speed; It seems there's nothing quite like a healthy dollop of peer pressure to do the trick.
So, he is working faster and his work is neater. He is getting on well with the kids and his teacher. When he was off sick a few weeks ago she phoned him to ask him how he was and tell him that all the kids were asking after him.
Since starting at the end of January he took home a silver cup (for a week) along with a certificate announcing him to be the 'Student of the week' and since then come home with the 'Student of the month!' Finally I have things to put on my fridge, just like all the other mums lol. I was talking to his teacher and the head mistress today and both of them said he is getting on fine, a very pleasant boy and no trouble. (phew!)

I can also report that I am now officially a football mum. Although in the sporting world Sean's forte is swimming he was picked (all be it as a sub) to play in the FAI in JJB for his school this morning. The girl's team did very well and made it to the semi finals and St Nicholas' boy's team made it into the finals and will be playing again on Thursday.

He was bullied a bit in the first week but handled it well I thought and has had no trouble since. He is flying with his essays which doesn't surprise me as he has only to do half the amount in school compared to the amount I used to give him here at home. He is quite concerned about fitting in and checks to see what others are wearing, thinking etc., before doing something himself. This is a new thing but to be expected and I am trying to gently guide him through it and show him that what he thinks is relevant too.

He, along with about sixty other 6th class school boys and girls took their entrance exam in the Bush Post Primary school on Saturday morning. He skipped the Irish and he thinks he did fairly well with the English and maths tests. Unlike other schools, I suspect the test wasn't that hard, it being a technical school and I am glad. I hate the idea of 11 and 12 year olds having to study, work and worry so much at their age over any test.

He is getting along really well with his swimming and is currently working on his third (gold) certificate in the Rookie Life Guard training run by the The Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS UK). Hopefully he will be finished that just before the Summer and, Lord willing, he will be training with Irish Water Safety in Aura in the Autumn.
During the Summer he will continue to swim in the pool just for the fun of it and hopefully continue with the ISA sailing in Carlingford Lough, something he does every Summer. As far as I know it will take him this Summer along with last Summer to complete his 4th level; It's a tougher one by all accounts.

For those of you who have been following and praying for Sean and me over the years of home schooling, I thank you. It looks like everything has worked out well and that God took us both through it very successfully with your help and the help of Janet & Kate (teachers), Mick (maritime charts), Lisa (Russian), Kevin (maths)and of course Niall.
I was very aware that it wasn't a popular decision with some family, friends and church members and also, if I messed up on this, I wasn't getting a second chance. So, you can understand my relief and happiness that Sean has 'made the grade' not only academically but also socially and in his chosen sports. (woo hoo, thank you Lord!)

I feel I have to tell you that Niall and I most definitely felt led by the Lord in our decision to home school Sean for 7 years and so, we thank Him so very much for bringing us all through these years.

I started blogging and visiting other people's blogs about five years ago and I cannot tell you how much it has helped me, visiting other people who home schooled their children (or not), learning from them, being very encouraged by them, given advice by them and most importantly, being accepted by them. Many thanks to you all :0)

What's next? Secondary school in the Bush this September...... I had better up the prayers for that one!

Sacraficing and not even knowing.

2011-03-29T13:00:00.004+01:00

A looking into the eyes with true interest and compassion instead of looking at a screen while half-heartedly listening. These are the sacrifices of our love, the moment by moment giving up of ourselves, the constant, year end year out practice of worship as we serve those in our home in order to please His heart....

I just love this. It is from a blog that I have just started reading today. I won't post a link until I check it out but I had to post the above.

I never thought that looking away from a movie I really want to watch to pay attention to Sean while he tells me about something that is important to him is an act of worship because I do it with God in the back of my mind.

It's a nice thought for the day.

Old Irish morning prayer.

2011-03-26T16:46:00.004Z

The following poem is a 19th century morning prayer which they have in Connemara; It has been heard in many places in Galway and Dr Hyde (Ireland's first President) heard it in Roscommon and translated it.

The will of God be done by us,
The law of God be kept by us,
Our evil will controlled by us,
Our tongue in check be held by us,
Repentance timely made by us,
Christ's passion understood by us,
Each sinful crime be shunned by us,
Much on the End be mused by us,
And Death be blessed found by us,
With Angels music heard by us,
And God's high praised sung to us,
For ever and for aye.

Thankfulness.

2011-03-21T12:09:00.003Z

I suppose we can be thankful for many things abut who are we thankful to?

My God, help me to be thankful not just for the nice things in my life but also for all the many things that are not in it. Yes, I am grateful for Your salvation, for Christ, for my health, husband, son, church...

Today I am thankful for;

Not waking up on a Sunday morning with a hangover.
Not being confused as to what the truth is for any given situation.
Not blaspheming You.
Not swearing.
Not stealing.
Not going out on the town.
Not being a terrible example to my son.
Not being a single woman.
Not blinded by coveting.
Not tied in knots over what other people think of me.
Not being an enemy to people.
Not hating people.
Not dressing like a trollop.
Not overtly concerned about how I look.
Not being stupid any more (You gave me Your wisdom).
Not being lonely.
Not being afraid of dying.
Not worrying about having money and paying bills.
The buck not having to stop with me any more.

Not being alone...

Thank You God :0)

(I feel like shouting Yehaaa!!!!!!!!!!!)

Puritan prayer.

2011-03-17T11:13:00.002Z

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the well the brighter the stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

Happy St Patrick's Day folks.

Field trip for Sean today :0)

2011-03-08T13:15:00.004Z

Man with 39 wives....

2011-02-28T19:33:00.003Z

Man with the most wives in the world... Here.

When I showed this link to Sean he asked 'why?' 'Would he not be tired making all those children!'

The Day the Movies died!

2011-02-22T16:18:00.002Z

I've been telling Niall for ages now about how dull it has been going to the cinema lately, all kiddies movies and how Hollywood is 'dumbing down'. The following article is from GQ's website. (I can't vouch for GQ or their website but the article is worth reading!)

You want to understand how bad things are in Hollywood right now—how stifling and airless and cautious the atmosphere is, how little nourishment or encouragement a good new idea receives, and how devoid of ambition the horizon currently appears—it helps to start with a success story.

Consider: Years ago, an ace filmmaker, the man who happened to direct the third-highest-grossing movie in U.S. history, The Dark Knight, came up with an idea for a big summer movie. It's a story he loved—in fact, he wrote it himself—and it belonged to a genre, the sci-fi action thriller, that zipped right down the center lane of American popular taste. He cast as his leading man a handsome actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, who happened to star in the second-highest-grossing movie in history. Finally, to cover his bet even more, he hired half a dozen Oscar nominees and winners for supporting roles.

Sounds like a sure thing, right? Exactly the kind of movie that a studio would die to have and an audience would kill to see? Well, it was. That film, Christopher Nolan's Inception, received admiring reviews, became last summer's most discussed movie, and has grossed, as of this writing, more than three-quarters of a billion dollars worldwide.

And now the twist: The studios are trying very hard not to notice its success, or to care. Before anybody saw the movie, the buzz within the industry was: It's just a favor Warner Bros. is doing for Nolan because the studio needs him to make Batman 3. After it started to screen, the party line changed: It's too smart for the room, too smart for the summer, too smart for the audience. Just before it opened, it shifted again: Nolan is only a brand-name director to Web geeks, and his drawing power is being wildly overestimated. After it grossed $62 million on its first weekend, the word was: Yeah, that's pretty good, but it just means all the Nolan groupies came out early—now watch it drop like a stone.

And here was the buzz three months later, after Inception became the only release of 2010 to log eleven consecutive weeks in the top ten: Huh. Well, you never know.

"Huh. Well, you never know" is an admission that, put simply, things have never been worse.

It has always been disheartening when good movies flop; it gives endless comfort to those who would rather not have to try to make them and can happily take cover behind a shield labeled "The people have spoken." But it's really bad news when the industry essentially rejects a success, when a movie that should have spawned two dozen taste-based gambles on passion projects is instead greeted as an unanswerable anomaly. That kind of thinking is why Hollywood studio filmmaking, as 2010 came to its end, was at an all-time low—by which I don't mean that there are fewer really good movies than ever before (last year had its share, and so will 2011) but that it has never been harder for an intelligent, moderately budgeted, original movie aimed at adults to get onto movie screens nationwide. "It's true at every studio," says producer Dan Jinks, whose credits include the Oscar winners American Beauty and Milk. "Everyone has cut back on not just 'Oscar-worthy' movies, but on dramas, period. Caution has made them pull away. It's infected the entire business."

For the studios, a good new idea has become just too scary a road to travel. Inception, they will tell you, is an exceptional movie. And movies that need to be exceptional to succeed are bad business. "The scab you're picking at is called execution," says legendary producer Scott Rudin (The Social Network, True Grit). "Studios are hardwired not to bet on execution, and the terrible thing is, they're right. Because in terms of execution, most movies disappoint."

With that in mind, let's look ahead to what's on the menu for this year: four adaptations of comic books. One prequel to an adaptation of a comic book. One sequel to a sequel to a movie based on a toy. One sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a movie based on an amusement-park ride. One prequel to a remake. Two sequels to cartoons. One sequel to a comedy. An adaptation of a children's book. An adaptation of a Saturday-morning cartoon. One sequel with a 4 in the title. Two sequels with a 5 in the title. One sequel that, if it were inclined to use numbers, would have to have a 7 1/2 in the title.¹

And no Inception. Now, to be fair, in modern Hollywood, it usually takes two years, not one, for an idea to make its way through the alimentary canal of the system and onto multiplex screens, so we should really be looking at summer 2012 to see the fruit of Nolan's success. So here's what's on tap two summers from now: an adaptation of a comic book. A reboot of an adaptation of a comic book. A sequel to a sequel to an adaptation of a comic book. A sequel to a reboot of an adaptation of a TV show. A sequel to a sequel to a reboot of an adaptation of a comic book. A sequel to a cartoon. A sequel to a sequel to a cartoon. A sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a cartoon. A sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a movie based on a young-adult novel.² And soon after: Stretch Armstrong. You remember Stretch Armstrong, right? That rubberized doll you could stretch and then stretch again, at least until the sludge inside the doll would dry up and he would become Osteoporosis Armstrong? A toy that offered less narrative interest than bingo?

Let me stipulate that we will probably come out of three or four of the movies categorized above saying "That rocked!" (One of them is even being directed by Nolan.) And yes, it is technically possible that some years hence, a magazine article will begin with the sentence, "Stretch Armstrong's surprising journey to a Best Picture nomination began when..." But for now, let's just admit it: Hollywood has become an institution that is more interested in launching the next rubberized action figure than in making the next interesting movie.

At this moment of awards-giving and back-patting, however, we can all agree to love movies again, for a little while, because we're living within a mirage that exists for only about six or eight weeks around the end of each year. Right now, we can argue that any system that allows David Fincher to plumb the invention of Facebook and the Coen brothers to visit the old West, that lets us spend the holidays gorging on new work by Darren Aronofsky and David O. Russell, has got to mean that American filmmaking is in reasonably good health. But the truth is that we'll be back to summer—which seems to come sooner every year—in a heartbeat. And it's hard to hold out much hope when you hear the words that one studio executive, who could have been speaking for all her kin, is ready to chisel onto Hollywood's tombstone: "We don't tell stories anymore."

1. Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens, Green Lantern, and Thor; X-Men: First Class; Transformers 3; Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; Rise of the Apes; Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2; The Hangover Part II; Winnie the Pooh; The Smurfs in 3D; Spy Kids 4; Fast Five and Final Destination 5; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

2. The Avengers; Spider-Man (3D); Men in Black 3 (3D); Star Trek untitled; Batman 3; Monsters, Inc. 2; Madagascar 3; Ice Age: Continental Drift in 3D; The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2.

Suffering

2011-02-22T11:31:00.002Z

I heard this on a GTY broadcast yesterday and I thought is was very good. It's in relation to God allowing and taking us through suffering so we can in turn helping others who suffer. See what you think...

'To suffer much is like having access to many different languages. It gives you access to many more people.'

My Christian web site

2011-02-15T10:37:00.005Z

I am working on a web site where I have my testimony, but also where I write my thoughts on different areas of life where God has changed me over these past ten years, from the old person that I once was with all her worldly ways to the new person that I am now, with all my imperfections, warts and all.
I want you to remember, if you visit this site, that I am only me, I am not perfect and if you see something in it that is not right, please do me the greatest kindness and honour... and tell me the truth in love :0)
And, if you come to my site and are encouraged, let it be a blessing to me too and leave a comment?

God bless.

A christian testimony

Funny story.

2011-02-14T14:27:00.001Z

I don't think for one second that this is true but it is funny :0)
Happy Valentine's Day everybody!

THE PASTOR'S CAT

Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc.

The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten.

That's what he did, all the while checking his progress in the car. He then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke.

The tree went 'boing!' and the kitten instantly sailed through the air - out of sight.

The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten. So he prayed, 'Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping,' and went on about his business.

A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. This woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, 'Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?'
She replied, 'You won't believe this,' and then told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, 'Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it.' She told the pastor, 'I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.'

Never underestimate the Power of God and His unique sense of humour.
Anyone can count the seeds in an apple; but only God can count the apples in a seed.

Monday

2011-02-07T16:13:00.005Z

I don't have a lot to say today other that the fact that I have had a very peaceful morning. First praying/reading/singing in the sitting room, then a relaxing bath listening to John McAuthor and then the afternoon preparing and cooking lasagna, stew and some veg in the kitchen listening to Lyric FM's lovely classical music. A lot of piano and Cello. It took back to a few nice memories of my life in Dublin when I lived in a house with a double bass and chello player. Many, many moons ago.
Sean went off to school this morning after a whole week off with a bad cold. He stayed back for the homework club which is new to him AND he walked from the school to my sister's cafe in the square which is new for me! I phoned my sister Caroline and she said 'I was just about to text you to let you know the eagle has landed!' Niall is picking him up now.

We have a women's meeting tonight and I prepared a big bowl of yellow and green melon for us girls who are trying to cut down :0)
Niall has to take Sean with him to the two radio shows and after that they will be staying back a while to pre-record a show for next Monday what with it being Valentines and Niall's birthday and all. We are looking forwards to having him home for our special tea that evening... also, Kevin has a girlfriend now so he won't want to be hanging around the studio all night!!!!!!!!!!!!

mmmmm..... looks like I had plenty to say after all :0)

women missionaries

2011-01-31T16:32:00.002Z

Her is a little of a post I just read about women on the mission field written by the Gospel Coalition, worth the read I think.

Complementarity should mean brothers take a lead role in making sure the women of our churches are fully prepared to be on mission. It should mean the male leaders of the church cast a special eye toward the unique needs of our sisters and take steps with the older women of the church to serve those needs with the hopes of advancing the gospel through missions. Complementarity should mean calling our sisters to come with us in the joyful, soul-saving, life-sacrificing, reward-winning purpose of reaching every nation. The challenge for more men to be at the fore is correct. But it should not diminish the role of women in the Great Commission in the process.

“Have a wretched day!” or “I hope you all cry your eyes out this week!”

2011-01-31T16:24:00.002Z

More to the Point has a lot to say... Check the post out, it's a good one. Here is a taster....

What would happen to a church leader who ended his service by saying to his people, “Have a wretched day!” or “I hope you all cry your eyes out this week!”

Maybe what we need in our churches is more tears, more failure, more confession of sin, more prayers of desperation that are too deep for words.

Maybe then the lonely and the guilty and the desperate among us will see that the gospel has come not for the happy, but for the brokenhearted; not for the well, but for the sick; not for the found, but for the lost.

Day off.

2011-01-31T16:07:00.002Z

Yep, Sean is back to school four days and today he is home sick.. Ah well, we are in the sitting room, he in his pj's on the sofa in front of the fire watching Pixar shorts. They are a collection of short cartoons and they are brilliant! (Sean is watching them in Russian:o)

I think he may be back to school on Wednesday.

I went outside today, firstly to sit on my swing seat in the back garden for the first time in months. It was just for a few minutes but it was lovely and put me in the mind of Spring so I got a bag and went out front to pick up some litter... a lot of litter so the place would look a bit nicer. Anyway, as I was in one of the corners admiring the work the local kids and I have done in years past, planting bushes and ivys, I noticed some daffodils appearing in the soil. I planted them last Autumn and had forgot about them. It's a nice sign that Spring in on the way and with that sunny warm weather.
When I wen't indoors the fire was well on the way in the cosy sitting room so I looked up 'National Spring Clean' on the lap top and signed up again so the local kids and I could join in and organize a big clean up of our estate this April.

Yes, I feel Spring is not too far away :0)

School

2011-01-27T21:22:00.004Z

Sean this week and Sean 5 years ago...!

Well, my news this week is that Sean started school on Tuesday.

He will be starting secondary school in the Bush in September and I thought it would be a good thing for him to get used to the school environment in a small school like St Nichola's N.S. He needs to get used to the class room, teachers, lunch times, play times and of course, the dreaded home work. How does he like it? Tonight he said he can't wait till tomorrow... wonder how long that will last lol!

As for me, I am REALLY enjoying the quiet mornings.

Something unexpected about him being at school is that they have studied the Bible twice this week so far and the teacher is giving them a test tomorrow!

Why did the chickn cross the road?

2011-01-13T10:15:00.000Z

And that my friend is why the chicken crossed the road!

Memories of December 2010

2011-01-11T14:19:00.002Z

Mum and her 'tiny' piece of Christmas cake!!!
This is a Guard that came aboard our double decker bus to accept a gift and card from us.

Sean and the kids had great fun with all the snow.

Niall clearing a path outside the Church Centre.
Visitors from NI staying for lunch.
Sean finished his 'Rookie Life Guard' training for the season. Here he is using his pyjamas to help him float!
Visiting family.
Ringing in the New Year at the radio station with friends.
Lunch in TGI Fridays on our way home from our stay in Dublin.

The Phoenix Park on Christmas Day!!!
This is where our President lives. We dropped in a Christian English/Irish calendar for her.

Sean enjoying Niall's gift.

Chilling out with games and going to the movies.

More fun on our bus sight/light seeing tour. This time a fireman came on board to wish us a Happy Christmas and accept a gift and card from us.

We are still working on making up gifts for Sean to sell, raising money for his boat. He sold plenty of them what with it being Christmas and all.

Our soldiers were out in force clearing the foot paths during the worst of the cold weather.
Having fun with a neighbour.

Spring?

2011-01-06T18:31:00.004Z

Not quite, but today my neighbours children were playing with their new toys in their front garden in a Wendy house! Although it was a bit cold, the sun was shining and there was no breeze so it felt like their was a tough of Spring in the air, which was nice after all the freezing and snowy weather we have has recently.
The grass in my front garden was looking a bit worse for wear after Sean playing in the snow there for a couple of weeks so I took it's life into my hands and mowed it! I know, I have probably killed it but I couldn't face looking at it until the Spring.
It's not only the garden that got an early Spring cleaning, my hallway got a 'once over' too. How I used to envy Jean her wooden, varnished doors and skirting boards. Mine are all painted white and it doesn't take long before they look scruffy after giving them a good scrub. However, today they look just great, (with Sean's help) not that anybody notices :0)

Other news? Well, I got two letters. One from America and one from Australia and both included photos! One from Mary Moore who is Down Under with her daughter who had her first baby and one from Heather. Great hearing from you Heather and I hope to reply soon with some stamps for your boy.
Also, I was given six cans of Root Beer! All the way from the USA. One for tonight, (little Christmas) one for Valentines/Niall's birthday, one for my birthday, Sean's birthday, our anniversary and that leaves me one for Christmas mmmmmmmmmmmmmm......................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you all had a good day.

Hello :0)

2011-01-03T20:14:00.003Z

Well, I almost forgot how to blog it's been so long.

It's been a while since I have been here but for no other reason other than I was just too busy. I have to prioritise when that happens and this had to go for a while. Nothing major has been going on here in the MacCarthaigh household. Nothing super brilliant or nothing awful either.

I have just been visiting a few blogs, catching up with Internet friends and what they have been doing and I suppose it got me thinking about coming back. I enjoy doing this, being encouraged and stimulated to get on with the hum drum of what normal life can be now and again. I definitely benefit from your blogs and have found these past few years that it is a part of my life that I enjoy and need. So, although I haven't been blogging myself, I have been visiting you guys sometimes and, well, it's good to be back:0)

I suppose the beginning of the year is as good a time as any to jump back in, so let me let you know what I am thinking about for 2011.

Every winter, just before the new year our family usually have a good long talk about the previous year and it's blessings. We remember all the times God helped us and consider how we got on with our promises that we made to God, the ones we make each year. Last year we promised, that with His help, we would support a particular ministry throughout the year. Well with God's help we did it and you know what? It feels good to look back and feel that we did something right. All too often we get things wrong.

I am looking forwards to doing what our family will work towards this year. I think for us, it is much better than resolving to cut out something or eat less etc. Because it is for the Lord and His people, it stirs us on to do better and it keeps us going when we lag a bit and feel like giving up.

As for myself, I look back over 2010 and feel I did ok with Niall, with Sean and with my Church. Spiritually it was an amazingly tough year, very trying but I grew a lot and it was worth every bit of it. I think I have matured spiritually but, I have to say that as every Christian knows, there is no end to learning and maturing in this lifetime so I suspect and hope that there will be plenty of opportunities to live the scripture that says 'Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.' James 1:2. I love this scripture and I know in my heart that the times that I grow the most and become more like Jesus is when my sin is challenged and I am made to give it up. I say made because they are my pets and my flesh love them. Sometimes they have to be wrenched from me!

Our Church is praying over and seeking guidance and God's will about an idea that was put to them a few months ago. We will be having our AGM sometime this month and hopefuly we will know whether we should open up a Christian book stall here in an indoor market in town or not. I am very excited about the idea and hope that it will go ahead. If so, I hope to be involved in working in it on a volentary basis a couple of days a week.

With regards to Sean's project, saving up for a sailing boat, we have saved up €735 since last January. We have a long way to go but I think we have done ok considering. He took €500 and bought a kayak, and his plan is to use it during the next few years and when the time comes to buy the boat he can sell the kayak and add it to the final figure. My sister has sold lots of gifts in her cafe that we made over the winter, especially over the Christmas period and this has helped us very much. Our next idea is a sponsored swim. Sean hopes friends and relatives will sponsor him to tread water in the local pool for over an hour on Valentine's Day. He has, in the past already done it for an hour and hopes he can break his record, so there will be lots of practicing going on over the next few weeks. He is doing well with his swimming and has just completed his bronze Rookie Lifeguard course. Next will be his silver that starts next Thursday.

Niall is still unemployed and doing really well with his computer courses with FAS. He has completer and passed his ECDL which has 7 modules, then he took and passed two MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist). He is currently working on two more specialist modules, Outlook, PowerPoint and a separate course, Business Communications. He would like to do at least two Microsoft Expert modules in the hopes of becoming a Microsoft Master.
I recon all this proves that yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks!!!!!! He is working extremely hard and doing very well. I am proud of him and during all this he is being an extremely good example to Sean... and me.

Well, that's enough for now. May the Lord bless you indeed this coming year and take you through whatever He brings your way.

If your saved, keep talking to Him and read your Bible, that's how He talks to you.

If you're not, talk to God, ask Him to reveal Himself to you and read the Bible, that's how He will answer you!

Summer

2010-06-29T20:10:00.002+01:00

Phew! Things are moving fast for me these days. There was my birthday, Sean's birthday, Holiday Bible Club, Sailing Camp, and a million things in between. Anyway, I am back now and heading off to visit some of you :0)

Birthdays

2010-06-02T00:39:00.003+01:00

I feel like it has been quite a while since I blogged. Things have been just too busy here and although I am trying to slow down our pace of life, there are just some tings that must be done so it looks like we will just have to hold on tight and wait it out!

It was my 45th birthday last Thursday. Our family had a great day and I will blog about that soon. Right now we are concentrating on Sean's beach/birthday/family BBQ to be held, Lord willing, tomorrow if the weather is good. It's a big undertaking but we hope, like the last few years, that it will turn out good. A day for our family, my extended family, our church family, friends and neighbours to meet up and have a good time. The tide will be in around four o clock which should make it all the more fun for the kids.

Well, must sleep now, it's already quite late.

Oh, one more thing, Sean got an -A in his Russian test today!

Talk soon :0)

Break

2010-05-25T10:00:00.003+01:00

We thought we would take a break and spend some time together around the home, catching up on some DIY. It's been about three years since Niall took a break and it was hard going trying to persuade him to take four days off! Anyway, we all took from Wednesday until Saturday off, Niall from work (well mostly. He had a couple of jobs he couldn't cancel) and Sean and I off school work.

We got plenty of things done around the home. I did some gardening work, weeding and planting. I also did a lot of work in a neighbours (new sister) front garden. She is busy at the moment and a bit under pressure so I thought it would be a very pleasant way for me to spend a few hours and help a friend. Also, while Niall took Sean to a Gospel meeting up north, I bought two 99's from the ice cream van and brought them over to my other new sister in the Lord. We both sat in her kitchen licking away goodo and her grand children (who she rears) looked on in disbelief! How dare we old folk eat ice cream! Ha Ha!

Niall and I had to treat the decking out the back of the house and that took a good while. Thankfully the weather over the weekend was fantastic, hot, hot, hot! In between all this DIY we headed off to Roach Castle for a few hours and also got to the new playground in Blackrock where Sean met up with a friend.

Sunday was hectic! We had our regular church service followed by the fellowship lunch (held outside). Then we went to a neighbours 40th Birthday party. She is Nigerian and we were the only white people there, quite a feat! Then we went up North to a Sunday evening gospel service and then on to a youth meeting where the teaching, fellowship and food was really good!

So, we are getting back to normal now. Niall is back to work and I am teaching Sean. The weather is sunny but a bit cold however, it's just great looking out at the sunshine. Tonight we have an opening of an art exhibition that we are invited to. My sister is a member of the group of artists showing their works. We go every year and sometimes we even buy some paintings. This year I hope to pick up one to give as a gift to a couple from the church who are marrying in September.

We will be minding Artem & Denis for three days this week which pleased Sean no end and we are are also planning Sean's birthday/family beach BBQ for next week if the weather permits. My birthday is on Thursday and I know what gift my family are giving me!!!

Next week I have the Women's Mini Marathon to walk in Dublin over the June Bank Holiday and we also hope to go to Bloom in the Phoenix Part with our friends Frank and Mary Moore....

Phew, I feel worn out already!

Where ever you are and whatever you are doing during this season of your life, I hope the Lord is with you and blessing you all.

God bless.

Testing, testing...

2010-05-21T15:31:00.009+01:00

Niall wants me to blog today so he can see if the Internet link we have been using these past three days is any faster than the usual one we use, so I am going to find a couple of photos, post them and see how long it takes me.

Here goes..Kevin

Sean
The Murphy's
Yuck!
Me & Sean
and again...
Sean & Janet
Jean
Dad
The bearded one!

Yep, it seems to be working fine, and it's half the price...!
It's a keeper :o)

Answers

2010-05-20T10:21:00.003+01:00

Well, I am working through my mini crisis lol! Thanks for your comments and encouragements. I appreciate it.

But seriously, I needed so much to have a good chin wag with somebody and that's just what happened. There is a lot of stuff going on within me with regards to my church and my place in it and it has been a tough three or four years. It's not getting any easier as such, but my understanding is increasing and with that, I hope my maturity?
Sadly, every few months I feel overcome by it all and need to touch home with Niall. He goes over things with me and helps me to remember what's going on, and settles me down so I can move ahead and keep up the good fight, so to speak.

These are testing times, well, all times are a time of testing when you are a christian!!! The brilliant thing is that with the testings and trials comes a closeness with God and a growing in myself.

It's a win/win situation, as I always say :0)

2010-05-18T00:17:00.002+01:00

Things have been a bit hectic here these days. A man we know had been dying in hospital and so we have been praying and visiting and consoling. He eventually died and was buried last Monday. He had no children but left a wife behind who is old and has been ill for a very long time. She is in respite in a local nursing home for a week and although Niall has visited her twice, I haven't made it yet.
A family friend flew out to one of the Canary Islands last week to be married and so eight of my siblings flew out to attend. I looked after a six month old great nephew for eight days. He is one of the nicest and well behaved babies I have ever known and yet it was still tough, getting up for the night time feeds and attending him around the clock.

Sometimes there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day, you know?

Sometimes I think that I get too busy with the day to day stuff and then find it hard to catch up and care for the needy members of the body/church. There are a few who need a lot of attention and I am not sure if I neglect them and feel guilty, or if I don't neglect them but am left feeling like I can never do enough and feel guilty anyway...

I find it a hard thing to measure. I wish I knew what to do. I wish I could talk to somebody about it.

Field trip

2010-05-06T10:56:00.006+01:00

On Tuesday I took Sean out on a field trip... to Paddy Clarke's Photographers. We were there before just over four years ago. Emma Clark took us into the studio and took photos of Sean. Then she took us into the back office and spent ages showing Sean and then allowing him to use the computer there. He had great fun as you will see in some of the following photos!

As you can see from this photo, both Emma and her dad Paddy have won lots of awards for their hard work in photography. Emma, you are lovley, thank you so very much! Well done and may the Lord bless you both in your private and work lives.

Morning blogging.

2010-05-06T09:28:00.004+01:00

It's a rare thing for me to be on the mac in the morning. I usually have breakfast, family bible time, prayer and then straight to schooling Sean when I wake but this morning both Niall and Sean needed a lie-in so I got up, had breakfast, read one of my daily readings and sang prayers to God, yes, I sang them instead of talking to Him. I found the song 'Be Thou my vision' and sang the words/prayer to Him.

Anyway, Sprugeon's morning thought was 'We dwell in Him', 1 John 4:13. It's about Heaven and looking forwards to being there.

When I was younger and an atheist, I used to look at old buildings, broken down ancient cottages on rocky hillsides that used to house huge families many generations ago, old castles and old fields who's landscapes hadn't changes in years and years and think about the long, long time ago that people lived in them or tilled them. It all seemed so long ago to me. I would think back to the Viking age, Tudor age or the times of the Pharaohs and think it was so long ago. I would ponder evolution and the millions, nay billions of years they say the age of the earth is and I would think it was so long ago.

This has changed.

Slowly, and unexpectedly, as I read my bible, pray and live with God, I have found that the creation of the world wasn't that long ago. I have found that David didn't live that long ago. I have found that I can identify with Abraham, Rahab, David, Paul and Mary Magdalene. We have a lot in common. They were failed human beings full of sin and love for God and so am I. Stephen my pastor once said to me soon after my conversion that there is no new sin in this world. People sinned the same six thousand years ago as they do now... Boy, was that a revelation to me. (well it would be, considering I believed that people gradually evolved from animals) It completely opened my eyes to a lot of things.

I read in the bible that once I was forgiven of my sins and converted I was joined to God through His Holy Spirit. 'We dwell in Him'. In John 17 Jesus Himself said '... for those who will believe in Me through their (apostles) word: that they all (me) may be one, as you, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.'

Wow, Wow, Wow...

When I pray, sing, talk to God, I am with Him, I am in Him.

I think what I am trying to say is that when I talk to God, when I am with Him, I am with the same person who was around at the creation of the world. The same person who talked with Abraham, David and Mary talks with me. The same person who has converted Martin Luther, Spurgeon and MacArthur converted me. When I am aware of this and am a part of this, well, time it doesn't really seem so very long to me any more.

I have noticed that as a result of this train of thought I anticipate Heaven, my home, more.
I am in Him and He is in Heaven...
I feel like (and I hope this is not making light of God and His holiness) when I am talking to God that I am in a different country but keeping in touch with home through Skipe. Everything that is familiar, lovely, desirable and good is in Heaven, I belong there and will be home soon. Until that time I will keep in contact with my Father regularly and with great anticipation.

So, whether I look back of whether I look forwards, this life really is, as God says, a vapour, fleeting and passing.

Happenings.

2010-04-30T09:05:00.010+01:00

We have been getting on with things as usual these past weeks. Sean is still doing well with his swimming and loving it. Sigita had been giving him one-to-one lessons which really helped him, so much so, that when he went back to his Aura classes, he was able to skip three levels, move on to the Saturday morning coaching class and was placed in the advanced class. I take him to the pool every Thursday for the open swim there and sometimes he spends two or three hours there practicing his lengths, meeting and playing with other kids and just horsing around, as you can see in this photo!

We are still schooling at home and getting on with that. I realize that things were becoming a bit stale in this department so we go to the Library more often and I have booked a couple of field trips for Sean. Next Tuesday we plan to visit Paddy Clarke's Photographers where they will allow Sean to use their cameras to take photos and then they will show him how to use the computers etc. We went to visit them four years ago and were invited back so we are looking forwards to that. The week after that we hope to visit a book binders workshop.Sean 2006

Last week we went to the park to do some work there. It was pleasant enough weather and Sean enjoyed running around in between working on his books. I took this photo of him up in his (and half the kids in the town) favourite tree and thought I would compare it with a similar photo I took a few years ago. I am keenly aware that this kind of fun behaviour will end very soon and want to capture it before it disappears altogether. However, I think he will swap this for some other form of play like basketball and football when he goes to school next year :o)Sean 2006Sean 2010

I am still helping this little lady with her homework a few evenings a week. The proceeds are going towards Sean's sailing boat. She is a wee dote and working well for me.My sister Caroline and her son David has opened a cafe in town and has agreed to allow Sean to work there on Friday afternoons and pay him a small amount to put towards his sailing boat! It's all very easy stuff, rolling up cutlery in napkins, tidying tables etc. He is really enjoying being there, meeting people, getting free food, soft drinks and tips!I go along too and instead of her paying me money, we came to the agreement that Niall, Sean and I can eat there free once a week which suits us all very well. She is also displaying and selling Sean's gift mugs. They are selling very well in Blackrock and the Hospital shop which is encouraging Sean. The knitting club is back up and running, this time in Paula's home.. or garden. When it is held in the garden about three girls come that usually miss out because they are not allowed into anybody's house so that's a real plus.We're lovin it!

Finally!

2010-04-28T10:41:00.020+01:00

I finally have the time to do a bit of blogging and post some photos.

April is a month in Ireland when we have the National Spring Clean and this year I signed our estate up to take part in it. Instead of organizing a one day event we decided to have a clean up for a few hours in each week of April. We had bags and gloves sent out to us by the organizers which was helpful and encouraging. Encouraging because I was able to show the children here the letters and items etc., and stirred them up for the clean up; to help them feel they are a part of something bigger.
They are great kids for the most part, very willing to work and all I have to do is go outside with a yard brush or watering can and they all come a-running! Of course the older kids wouldn't join in in a fit... but they had their day with planting, cleaning and Bible Clubs in the past, and I am happy enough to let them move on. There are plenty of youngsters to keep the show on the road and me active!

One other thing that is encouraging us to tidy up is that Cluid, who own these homes are having a competition to see who had the nicest estate/apartment block and the first prize is €400. Well, you would think it was €4,000 the way the kids got all excited about it! I told them that 'if' we win, we will hire out a big bouncy castle for them for the day and buy loads of ice cream lol!

On the first week of April we swept and tided up a couple of different areas around our small estate.

The second week we spent sweeping and digging around a very dirty area just off the entrance to where we live. Initially this was planned to be the entrance to a new estate but due to the recession and lack of funds the project has been put on hold. Sadly, kids use this place to hang out, smoke and break glass etc., so it really needed a clean up. There was quite a bit of digging involved here because grass has grown along the kerb but we had two spades and lots of willing hands and eventually got it done. This, for me was the best day because although the work was hard and the day was hot and the children had to take turns with the spades, yard brushes etc., they worked very well together with no falling out. I was very proud of them.This little 2 yo helped for about two hours!
We worked very hard at it and ended up buying two boxes of ice pops and sitting on the curb enjoying them.

On the third week we swept up. We also washed the doors etc on the community Centre and washed chalk graffiti off lamp posts. The kids really enjoyed this! (You can just imagine the fun they had with the water!) We finished off with chocolate bars as a treat.

This last week we had a full clean up where we picked up litter from all over the estate. We also planted ivy along the long wall that is on the way into this estate. This time we had drinks and pringles as a treat.

I really enjoyed getting the kids involved in the National Spring Clean. I think it is a great idea and look forwards to taking part in it again in 2011. So, to celebrate this months activities we have booked the Garda van (free use of 14 seater police van and police driver) for next Thursday and hope to take about 10 of the kids who have been working with me for a tour of some of the pretty estates in Co Louth. We may stop someplace nice like the Bally Mac Hotel for a drink and snack in their lovely gardens and hopefully during all of this we will take part in a treasure hunt that Niall promised to organize! Happy Days!

My favourite things!

2010-04-24T14:19:00.000+01:00

A friend sent me this via email...It's all ahead of us :o)
Botox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favourite things.
Cadillacs and cataracts, hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favourite things.
When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favourite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favourite things..

Back pain, confused brains and no need for sinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favourite things.

When the joints ache, When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Mark Dever

2010-04-24T09:56:00.004+01:00

I'm reading a book by Mark Dever called "Twelve Challenges Churches Face" and am being blessed by it. He has a lovely gentle way about him that I admire and appreciate. Here is a quote from his book that caught my eye...

Stroke your love for God and desire for his presence and give time to cultivating that self-denying love that actively chip away and exports your heart from the concerns of this world to eternal concerns.

..... I think it's the kind of quote you have to read twice.....

Here is more of his writing biased on love in the Church. Keep reading, it is well worth it...

What is the grace of the Lord Jesus? It is the grace of God available to us in our sins through Christ. Christ came and lived a perfect life. Christ in no way lived a life of hatred to God, nor of disobedience to his will. He obeyed perfectly. He died on the cross as part of his loving, voluntary identification with us, and by his death he accepted God's wrath as a substitute for everyone who would ever repent of their sins and trust n him. God's grace is extended to sinners through Christ.

Do you know this grace? If not, why not begin now with a new life? Ask God to forgive you of your sins for Christ's sake and to fill you with his Spirit. Live for God in obedience to him; live with him now self-consciously as your Lord, and the change will be remarkable. Paul called it a new creation; Jesus called it a new birth. Friends, this is far more important than a pay rise, losing a few pounds, or finding that new job.

My Christian brothers and sisters, are you showing such Christlike love and grace to others? Wife, are you loving your husband? Husbands, are you caring for your wife as you should? Friend, have you reached out to those who are away from home? Son, have you expressed your thanks to your parents? How about you who have been sinned against? What have you done to express honest forgiveness and to further honest reconciliation? Brother or sister, how have you cared for other members who are trapped in their sins? Have you given time to seeing them, spending time with them, praying for them, asking them tough questions, encouraging them, exhorting them, loving them?

I wonder how we as a church think we are ever going to be very good at evangelism or world missions if we are not very good at applying the gospel of Christ to our own hearts and to the relationships we have right in our own churches. It is my prayer that we see more and more evidences of God's love in our congregations.

Catch up

2010-04-18T19:07:00.003+01:00

Well, not really :0)
I have been mad busy this past week or so and haven't had the time to blog... and still haven't! This is just a small post to say hi and that I am still in the land of the living.

I have been delivering thousands of tracts and leaflets, working very hard in my estate, buying and planting with the children and continuing with Sean's education. I hope to post some photos soon.

How are you getting on?

John Newton

2010-04-02T10:26:00.002+01:00

I am not what I ought to be.
I am not what I wish to be.
I am not what I hope to be.
Yet I can truly say, I am not what I once was.
By the grace of God I what I am.

Finding an old thing as new.

2010-03-27T18:53:00.006Z

I am sitting in front of my fire resting up, enjoying my Saturday evening listning to a recording of A W Tozer. It came free with a book called 'Fellowship of the Burning Heart''. He is long dead, died before I was born and yet because he is preaching the Truth what he says is as relivant to me today as it would have been over two thousand years ago. So far the preaching is very good and I am really looking forwards to reading the book. But, before that I really have to finish Spurgeon's 'Prayer and Spiritual Warfare' and Mark Dever's 'Twelve Challenges Churches Face'.

Have you read any of these?
What do you think of the authors?

Spurgeon on the ressurection...

2010-03-25T10:41:00.001Z

(Our bodies) At present they are shriveled bulbs that will be put into the earth. But they will rise as glorious flowers, golden cups to hold the sunlight of Jehova's face.

5,000 hand-strung acrylic gummi bears.

2010-03-24T17:11:00.001Z

Gummi Bears Chandelier

Check out this sleeping bag!

2010-03-24T17:04:00.001Z

Interesting sign in shop doorway.

2010-03-20T11:47:00.001Z

Poem... and a celebration of a Christian family

2010-03-19T11:16:00.015Z

This is a poem about an American brother in the Lord called Jeff. He and his wife Jean and two children lived here in Dundalk with us for a few years. When they moved back to the US a friend/colleague wrote Jeff this poem. Enjoy:0)

Never Been to Ireland
By Sheila Stephenson Lindsey

O, me fine and handsome laddies,
bend an ear to me today
and listen quite intently
to what I’ve got to say.
Imagine on a hillside,
sitting quiet as the dew,
abiding in the green of it,
and takin’ in the view.
O, abiding in the green of it
and takin’ in the view.

-1-

Now, every time you play a tune
and every time you sing,
every line of poetry
that has an Irish ring….
reminds yourself of Ireland,
that home so far away.
Though you’ve never been to Ireland,
you know you’ll go someday…
Though you’ve never been to Ireland
you know you’ll go someday!

-2-
You see the Irish homeland
with it’s cottages in white.
You see the winding fences
and the ocean. What a sight!
You’ve memorized her sunset
and sweet Bonnie down the lane.
Though you’ve never been to Ireland,
your heart is there the same.
Though you’ve never been to Ireland
your heart is there the same.

-3-I wonder if I’ll live to make
the journey over there?
I hope to take me mother
and me brother, too, I swear.
I hope to take me sister
though she’s ugly, bald and fat,
‘cause she needs an Irish husband.
We’ll just make her wear a hat!
‘cause she needs an Irish husband.
We’ll just make her wear a hat!

-4-We’ll cover up the ugly
and we’ll girdle her real tight.
‘cause this gal she needs a husband,
though, sweet thing, she is a sight!
Now this man, he must be breathin’.
there’s no need for him to see.
This husband can be ugly
but true Irish he must be!
This husband can be ugly
but true Irish he must be!

-5-Now, every time you play a tune
and every time you sing,
every line of poetry
that has an Irish ring…
reminds yourself of Ireland,
that home so far away.
Though you’ve never been to Ireland,
you know you’ll go someday….
though you’ve never been to Ireland
you know you’ll go someday!
-6-
Oh, the hills are green in Ireland
The fences made of stone
The rocky paths and cottages
Our Jeffrey calls it home
You ought to come to Ireland
His home so far away
A ceasefire they are havin’
It’s a bonnie place today
A ceasefire they are havin’
It’s a bonnie place today

-7-Now Dundalk is a village
that misses him, you bet,
and County Louth is grieving
‘cause our darlin’ Jeff has left.
But don’t you go to cryin’
and makin’ him so sad,
‘cause it’s God that brought him here to us,
a good and handsome lad
‘cause it’s God that brought him here to us,
a good and handsome lad.

-8-So, it’s too-rah, loo-rah, loo-rah
and all that Irish stuff
We’ll sing to Jeff an Irish song
But will it be enough?
We’ll paint his office green, my boys,
and give that boy a tour
and Jeff will have to think of us
as Leprechauns for sure.
And Jeff will have to think of us
as Leprechauns for sure.

-9-
So, too-rah, loo-rah, loo-rah
and all that Irish stuff
‘cause we think that Jeffrey, darlin’
is a diamond in the rough.
Just think of Old Virginny
as an Irish kind of place
We’re glad you came to Richmond
It was not a big mistake.
Oh, we’re glad you came to Richmond.
It was not a big mistake!

-10-Now, every time you play a tune
And every time you sing,
Every line of poetry
That has an Irish ring….
Reminds yourself of Ireland
That home so far away.
Though you’ve never been to Ireland,
You know you’ll go someday…
Though you’ve never been to Ireland
You know you’ll go someday!Grace, Jean, Jeff & Peter 2002

I have plenty to say about this family. I won't write it down in a poem but I think that I will take this opportunity to celebrate this family and the huge input God has had in my life through them...

Jeff's wife Jean befriended me when they moved here shortly after my conversion almost nine years ago. I was a single parent who knew nothing of Christianity, the Bible, the Church, you name it, I didn't know it. I had no idea how to be a christian woman, mother, wife and friend. All of my life, everything, it all had to be newly measured by the standards of the Bible and true Christianity. Everything was up for change and I desperately needed guidance and example. How I thought, dressed, reared Seán, what I drank, who I was friends with, my conversation, everything had to change. This time of my life resembled 'out with the old & in with the new' and I needed to have the right balance. I knew what had to go, but what would I replace it with?
I was also lonely as a lot of my previous relationships had broken down before and after my conversion and apart from an unsaved neighbour, I had nobody that I was close to.

Jean took over from my pastor Stephen's disciplining of me every week which helped our relationship. It was good. We used to meet up around my kitchen table and talk about the things I had found in the Bible and needed explained to me. I had never knowingly met a true Christian before and found this whole new life fascinating and exciting.

The Irish Christians joined to my church have a different background to Christians from America. Our Church has mostly first generation Christians but Jeff and Jean's parents were/are Christians so both of them would have been reared in real Christian homes where every aspect of their lives would have been different to ours. From dating, drinking and friends to being joined to a Church family and serving/being served. One example of service would be what is called hospitality. I have seen Jeff and Jean practice this as individuals and as a family in a way that was natural and subtle, in a way that we all should. If somebody was coming home from a holiday Jean would have a meal ready for them on their windowsill. When we moved house and had no electricity until that night, Jean had us and our helpers over for dinner during the day. Sometimes she would come visit me with a little gift pack, a bag with little bits and pieces in it for me. Very thoughtful and very much appreciated, and copied later on. I never knew what banana cake was until she brought it over during visits :0)

They put an emphasis on visiting Church members, again, quietly and subtly. Now and again Jean would pick me up and go visit members who wouldn't have a lot of people visiting them. They would open their home for a Sunday lunch and parties and invite all the Church members!

Jeff supported our pastor by meeting and talking with him every week and sometimes held Sunday School/meetings on a Sunday. Jean taught a lot of Sunday School and was involved big time in the children's out reach work in the town. She also held a women's morning Bible study for a few years which I know we all found really helpful and which was a great way for some of us women to get to know each other better.

Both Jeff and Jean were friendly and sociable and when the Lord placed new people in their paths they befriended them and went out of their way to make them feel welcome in their home inviting them to barbecues, parties etc. All in all, they have been a great living example of how to be a Christian; a work in progress as we all are, but nonetheless, a good example to be held up and followed.

Their two children, (a boy and a girl who are around Seán's age) and Jean used to come over and take Sean to her home for playdates saying that her son wanted company but really, I think she was being kind and helping me out by giving me much needed time on my own.

I was invited to their home regularly and being there was just great. Apart from the obvious differences with them being American (food, home etc.) I loved to watch them both and see how they interacted with one another (which I think freaked Jean a little, being placed under a microscope!) and how they handled their children. These are small things but some examples would be how many toys they allowed their children, what they did with the old ones (passed them on on a regular basis) what kind of clothes they bought their kids and were they trendy and expensive? No, they were either passed down from their cousins or bought in Penneys etc., and in turn some were passed on to my son. Also, I married Niall a year after my conversion and hadn't a clue how to be a godly wife and needed to see how other Christian couples lived together.

Something else I really miss is the fact that I met lots of different Christians in their home. They had family members and friends from the States visiting them regularly. Christians from their home Church in Texas came over for three years in a row to help with the Summer outreach. All interesting people with different backgrounds from my own, who I loved to talk with and glean from.

I mixed with this family for over six years before they moved back to the States and by far they had the most influence over my Christian life. God's timing, as usual, is perfect and He used their stay here to teach me, encourage me, befriend me and love me when I was at a very tender stage in my life and I appreciate it. It is a great foundation to work from.

I have my regrets.
I am sorry that in my own grief over Seán's father's death I didn't reach out to comfort Jean in her grief over losing her mum.
In my own loneliness and gratefulness to be befriended by Jean I didn't consider how she may have been lonely having left friends and family behind her in the States.
I regret not learning how to be a good friend faster and then being a better one in return to Jean.

They are gone over two years now and although I have contact with them, I miss them in so many ways. (I walked around the house for two days crying after she told me they were planning to leave and am just now getting used to it)
Since they left I have learned that although I have lost a friend, I haven't lost Jesus and I have learned the truth that He is truly my friend and as long as I have Him I am never without one.

I know that this family will be a very real blessing to people wherever they go.
I know that the Church they are joined to now is definitely blessed because of them.
I know that so long as they stay close and faithful to God they will continue to be a blessing to all.
I know that it is all because of the Lord and they wouldn't have me say otherwise.
I know that people are still being blessed here in Dundalk by God because of their faithfulness.
I know that for the best part, this Christian life can be a success because I saw it.
I know it takes a lot of self control.
I know that with God's help, if others can do it, I can.
I know that I am a better Christian because of them.

Thank you guys.

Thank you God.

St Patrick's Day in Dundalk.

2010-03-19T10:50:00.002Z

We had a great day this Wednesday! The weather was ok, the sun even came out for a while. We joined Dundalk FM 100 at the starting line on the other side of town and helped blow up balloons etc for the radio station's float while enjoying the atmosphere and watching all the different floats being prepared by the other people entering the Parade.

There were thousands of people along the road side. The were thick along both sides of the road from one side of the town to the other. I have never seen so many people watch the Parade. Sean had his roller blades on and had great fun skating along the road holding his flag. On front of us was an ass and cart and Sean held onto that for a time and was pulled along by it :o)
We saw and waved to plenty of friends and neighbours we know and after it was over we headed off to the Marshes for a burger. Sean had fun on the free bouncy castles there and then we went back to the Square to the farmers market and to listen to a live band playing outside the Court House.

Later we went to visit Kevin in his new apartment and then onto visit Mick and Philip in Annagassan.

It was the best Paddy's Day I can remember!

MacCárthaigh Family

Just thinking....

Doggie joke

Another fun doggie joke

My first essay for college...

School, for Sean and me!

Help for your prayer life...

Wedding number 1

Looking forwards...

How a child learns.

This is for you Grace.

Something Niall sent me... Very funny!

Holiday Bible Club.

Invisible Husband Shows Up In Photo! [ Video ] CoolestOne.Com

Summer.

Beware Romantic Pornography

Hen party.

Clothes

At home.

The source and beginnings of christian love.

A bit of sport.

Fun day in a nursing home!

Happy 4th of July to my U.S. friends.

A most unusual package

Saturday sailing.

A good weekend.

Boy going on holidays with his granny...

Boy enjoying his holidays...

Sean's birthday.

Dublin City Women's Mini Marathon 2011

Guided tour of Dundalk Courthouse.

Just thinking.

The Bible

Real christian love?

Sean's birthday day.

Bloom in the Park.

Archer & T'pol

My Lord, Jesus Christ.

Stephen's Town Park.

Sunday lunch.

Christian Love

Enjoy your God given gift.

Neighbour Day & Birthday!

The times they are a changing...

Friday 28 December 2007

The Lord's footstool.

New news updates for Christians.

Being crafty.

Living water.

Oh Yes!

Annual Youth Night in Moira.

Gifts.

Rookie Life Guard.

We finally got the sailling boat!

A Song.

Thanks for this Annie.

Skipping school!!!!!

Catching up.

A tribute to moms.

Update on Sean

Sacraficing and not even knowing.

Old Irish morning prayer.

Thankfulness.

Puritan prayer.

Field trip for Sean today :0)

Man with 39 wives....

The Day the Movies died!

Suffering

My Christian web site

A christian testimony

Funny story.

Monday

women missionaries

“Have a wretched day!” or “I hope you all cry your eyes out this week!”

Day off.

School

Why did the chickn cross the road?

Memories of December 2010

Spring?

Hello :0)