16th October

I love being a grandad, although I feel far too young to be granted that role. It’s so much easier than parenting when small kids come in relatively short doses and you just get all the good bits. But I’ve done my time having helped raise four of my own children. So today we fed my youngest grandkids and their parents with a Sunday roast prepared by my son. He’s becoming quite popular at the moment with his newfound cooking skills and I’m happy to stay out of the kitchen for sure. But I’ve been informed it’s my turn tomorrow so we’ll be back to rice or maybe pasta… mind you homemade chips with battered fish has a nice sound to it, we’ll see. And we even made the cat happy with chicken leftovers and a taste of trifle! But I’m happiest ‘teasing’ my grandkids with tall stories of the gorilla family living in the trees at the end of the road and making up names for their little ones. And then we play the game of seeing who can spot the most imaginary elephants on our car journey through the inner city. Agreement was reached on the laziest creatures seen on our short trip… human beings all driving around in cars, we can’t even be bothered to walk on a nice sunny day. Grandads are supposed to be a bit naughty aren’t they?

I need my family. They are so special and such good friends that I don’t know where I’d be without them. I so much needed this distraction today after finding myself getting really upset again at church this morning. People are so kind and caring, offering to entertain and feed me but I still feel so very lost especially in an environment where I always had Jane by my side. I’ve always found worship to be an emotional experience, especially when led sensitively, as the Spirit of God seems to touch my heart with his wonderful presence and I’m so grateful for the wonderful life I’ve been given. But when tears are barely kept under control anyway I stand no chance when God shows up. For some weeks I’ve been listening to a new Mat Redman album and for the first time we used the title track in church. It’s called ‘10,000 reasons’ or 'Bless the Lord O my Soul' and for me it fits perfectly where I’m at, being a declaration of determined commitment. I will bless the Lord no matter what comes my way.

Verse 1

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning;

It's time to sing Your song again.

Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me,

Let me be singing when the evening comes.

My youngest had her hen-party yesterday and one older daughter reports a real good time was had by them all. They hired a canal barge and set sail for a picnic along the canal for the starter event, and despite a few nearly expensive crashes with a lot of laughs they managed to return it safely in time for an evening meal together. It all sounds so much more respectable than my own rather inebriated event in 1973… Derby had a mile of pubs leading into the town centre commonly used for stag and hen events so Jane and I set off independently, with our respective friends, only to find we’d chosen the same itinerary when we met at the destination. But that was fine and we sobered up nicely for our wedding the next day. Those were the days… stop reminiscing David, stop it!

Ephesians 5:25 ‘Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her’ (NIV)