Will money last until pay day?

Are You an Enabling Parent?

Here are a few questions that might help you determine if you are an enabling parent.

1. Have you loaned him money repeatedly, seldom (if ever) being repaid? 
2. Have you paid bills he was supposed to have paid himself?
3. Have you accepted part of the blame for his addictions or behavior?
4. Have you avoided talking about negative issues because you feared his response?
5. Have you begun to worry that the financial burden is more than you can bear?
6. Have you given him "one more chance" and then another and another?
7. Have you wondered how he gets money to buy cigarettes, video games, new clothes, smart phones and such but can't afford to pay his own bills?

If you answered yes to these questions, chances are at some point you have enabled your adult child to avoid his own responsibilities—to escape the consequences of his actions. Rather than help your child grow into a productive and responsible adult, you have made it easier for him to get worse.

What to do?
We can pray for the power to change ourselves.
We can help (not enable) adult children of any age develop wings to fly on their own.
We can find comfort in knowing we are not alone on this journey.
We can take back our life!

Source

Fundraising fun!

    The 'Tour de France' comes to Hixon! I am not very confident in my drawing skills, so I thought I'd find a few pictures inspiring me and others. However there is no French reference there. Well we'll have to add a flag!

Who are the street pastors?

Street pastors describe how they help youngsters who have had one drink too much ... 
Going out clubbing tonight? 
A few advice given by the street pastors
Top up your mobile phone
Charge your mobile phone
Make sure you stay with friends
Don't get so drunk you don't know what you are doing.
A short film about the work of the Stafford Street Pastors and the potential dangers faced by young people out on the town late at night. A big thanks to you, Street Pastors. 

The Lord gives wisdom!

Moral Benefits of Wisdom
1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 

6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 

9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair--every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,
13 who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. 

16 It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.
18 For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Ghost boy by Martin Pistorius, a true story

In January 1988 Martin Pistorius, aged twelve, fell inexplicably sick, he lost his voice and stopped eating. Then he slept constantly and avoided human contact. Doctors didn't have a clue why!  Within eighteen months he was mute and wheelchair-bound. Martin's parents were told an unknown degenerative disease left him with the mind of a baby and less than two years to live.

Martin was moved to care centers for severely disabled children. The stress and heartache shook his parents’ marriage and their family to the core. Their boy was gone. Or so they thought.

Ghost Boy is the heart-wrenching story of one boy’s return to life through the power of love and faith. In these pages, readers see a parent’s resilience, the consequences of misdiagnosis, abuse at the hands of cruel caretakers, and the unthinkable duration of Martin’s mental alertness betrayed by his lifeless body.

We also see a life reclaimed—a business created, a new love kindled—all from a wheelchair. Martin's emergence from his own darkness invites us to celebrate our own lives and fight for a better life for others. I'd love to read this book so I add it in my retirement reading list or my holiday list!

You can read a preview  here.  

Worried about ?

Let's pray about it!

Our children..

Do you have any children? Do you like to know that they are safe home! 
The other day, I was talking to a colleague who is the same age as me more or less but whose children are in their thirties and she told me: 'you never stop worrying about them'!
My mum used to worry a lot about me and I understand why, I was a rebel and I went wild. At the time, I could not see it so in my view she shouldn't have worried at all. In those days, I did not read the bible so I was a lost sheep!
Not any more! It's no surprise that my favorite verses are the following:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. 
Phil 4:4-7, 19.

Have a blessed evening. Yours in Christ. N.

Where shall we have lunch?

 At Jamie Oliver, Bristol. On the menu, WILD RABBIT TAGLIOLINI Slow-cooked ragù with garlic

& herbs, mascarpone & lemon, SEAFOOD BUCATINI, Tubularspaghetti steamed in a bag

with crab, mussels, clams, squid, scallops, capers, chilli, garlic, white wine & juicy sweet tomatoes

This was last week when we moved Camille's stuff in her shared house in Bristol. The food, service and welcome were superb!

Human contact

Sometimes I do wonder to what extent this could be true. Already you hear that parents hardly see their children, as these are kidnapped by their social network. 
This could explain why some parents resist going on Facebook or Twitter for fear of becoming addicted. Still, do the test, if you can keep away from FB or twitter ...etc, for a minimum of 1 week, I reckon that you are safe! What do you think?

One of my favourite songs!

At last, it's the week-end! I have had a bit of a busy week as on top of the normal load of marking and planning, i had the honor to do the assembly. Though I am used to talk in public and in front of a assembly of students and their parents, I never did an assembly. First I asked my form if they liked singing and they all panicked. You should have seen their face! No way, we can't sing. Questions were coming fast ! Miss, do you mean, we have to stand up and sing. Well you'll sing along with everybody else.

Finally the IT technician said I could not have a cable as his last two were not returned to him ..so this was not good news! Then I thought i'd better talk to one music teacher at least. He said: our students are very competent at singing. However it depends on their mood.. I wouldn't say it's a safe option for a first assembly.

So in the end, I jotted a few notes, got some inspiration. You would have guessed that I prayed a lot for inspiration. Two of my tutees accepted to meet me at break to read their parts. One did not turn up! Never mind Emily was still happy to do it all. Finally she found Rachelle, another tutee who first had said, no way, I am not talking in front of everybody. Both read their parts beautifully.

I have posted the song I wanted us to sing. It was in You tube and I hope this is legal. If anybody knows it is not, please let me know!

Praise the Lord!