Gratefulness...

I've talked a bit about gratefulness in recent posts and came across this rather ancient quote today, from Ignatius of Loyola...

It seems to me in the light of the Divine Goodness....that ingratitude is the most abominable of sins and that it should be detested in the sight of our Creator and Lord and by all of His creatures who are capable of enjoying His divine and everlasting glory.  For it is a forgetting of the graces, benefits and blessings received.....On the contrary, the grateful acknowledgment of blessings and gifts received is loved and esteemed not only on earth but in heaven.

a changing world...

We've come to the end of one stage of uncertainty during all the negotiations about our new coalition government and we move into a waiting stage, while we see what will happen next.
It's a strange time isn't it - I've enjoyed the ongoing drama, watching the 24 hour news channels and keeping an eye on the blogs and commentaries.
But it's all real now and the next 5 years will be quite an experience...who knows where we will be in 2015?

This incredible series of pictures appeared in the Saturday Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/may/15/gordon-brown-picture-says-it-all and shows what a roller-coaster of emotions, activity, panic and relief all of the Brown family went through.

It's the kind of edition of newspaper that I want to keep for posterity, but do we need to do that anymore with online news??

thanks for the love

We've been really bowled over by the love and support our recent post on our miscarriage has generated. Thanks to everyone who read a rather huge post through to the end and who also commented, either on the blog, via Facebook or on email or text. It felt like a huge thing to have written the account, and to have done that quite early in the journey too. But it has been a blessing to many, it seems, and has certainly blessed us in the telling and making sense of what we've been through.

A few people have asked - 'How are you?' - and really meant it...so thought it would be fair to give you an update! We're good, all things considered. Being back in routine after the Easter break has helped and there are lots of new things in the pipeline and plans made to ensure that this year doesn't feel so empty. For example, I have moved my office out of the house and into a local church extension building which is brilliant for both work and family life.
I'm also taking a trip out to Knoxville in September, around the time the twins would have likely arrived, to see our friends Emily and Jack. I'm very excited about seeing them and having some time out to travel on my own again - and best of all, it was all free with our AirMiles courtesy of Tesco!
Many things have changed in the last few months - and will never be the same again. Other things have been mostly unaffected by our miscarriage, particularly Andy's progress towards selection for ordination. The calling remains, regardless of the tragedy we have been through and in some ways Andy is more reflective and concious of his weakness and need for God within all this than he was before. Andy preached at All Saints this morning, in a robe too, and is now scheduled to see someone who heads up Vocations for the Deanery which is the next stage in the process, so that's exciting.
I celebrated my 32nd birthday on Thursday by voting in the General Election and having a lovely meal out with Andy. And this weekend I have begun work on a secret project for some special people involving large amounts of photographs and creativity...I'll say no more!

Apart from that, life continues as normal - work, family, church, food and friends, all in good amounts and with a good dash of thankfulness and gratefulness, if that's a word?
I'll finish by sharing some recent pics...Thanks for stopping by!

Great Notley Family Day Out

Birthday Tea for my sister's 30th - before my hair cut!

                                            Bank Holiday weekend with my parents in Surrey

undecided....

So, tomorrow is the General Election in the UK - and I'm having dilemmas about which way my vote is going to go...

This article, which Andy told me about this evening, sums up a lot of what I feel and fear about the outcome of the election tomorrow. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/04/why-i-hate-tories-david-cameron 

Gary Younge is spot on in much of what he writes...and this is a great quote:

"Voting is always a balance between the moral and the strategic. What do I want, what can I get and what do I feel comfortable endorsing to get it. In the past the strategic case was weak, because there was no chance of the Tories winning and the moral case was weaker, given Labour's record. That's not true this time.
Indeed the only thing that is really holding my interest at this stage: the one thing that would really make my Friday morning would be to see Cameron crushed and Osborne despondent. To see them miss this own goal and descend into bitter recrimination. To think that however bad things have become, they haven't got so bad that we would make that mistake again. This may be the worst reason for voting. But right now, after watching them all in the debates, it also feels like the only reason in much of the country (apart from where there are good Labour and Liberal MPs)."

Ultimately, I'm a socialist, I think...my father ingrained in me the importance and power of the unions to allow the people and the industries a voice. I'm interested in politics, yes because of what I need and believe I'm entitled to, but also because it allows others to have a voice and a chance in life which others would deny them. I'm more comfortable with the current pattern of the Labour government's decisions about the economy and with the policies they have adopted and implemented to make parenting more supported and healthcare more accessible. 

But I'm unhappy with the system of voting currently at play in this country and am impressed by the Liberals policy on proportional representation and their suggested one off amnesty for illegal immigrants to get them out of the hands of illegal criminal gangs.

Hmmmm....what to do...I won't be voting Tory but other than that, I'm still making my mind up!