Did I Really Write All That This Year?

Another blogging year has passed, and in true Chanel 4 bad TV style, here’s a look back at my favourite posts this year.

 

Waaaay back in January, Pastor Mark Driscoll was causing a stir with his marriage book he had written with his wife Grace, and also with his derogatory remarks towards our UK pastors, how very dare he! 

Here’s a look back at the post I wrote in response to that.  

Also in January Wikipedia went on strike for 24 hours and the cyber world didn't collapse! By the way does anyone know whatever did happen to the Wiki-leaks bloke? Is he still hiding in an embassy somewhere? Or am I completely mixing my news feeds?  Anyway, I came to the rescue and provided web surfers with any inane information they may have been looking for here.

February was a sad month for us, and no sooner had I posted about the church being more than just a building, rather, a gathering of Christians, our town faced a tough few weeks as the devastating news unravelled about our Vicar having been murdered at his home the Vicarage. All the denominations pulled together to support the members of the  C of E church, with services being held in our Baptist church and all different members of the community attending. 

The church on that occasion was definitely not the building. The church in February was the Christians from all the different meeting places who offered support to the confused and grieving, the church was the parents and teachers at school who comforted the children and assured them they were safe, the church was the high police presence who spoke to anyone and everyone as they met them in the street at the school gates, or outside the church. The church was and always will be God’s people who reach out in love and support to their brothers and sisters.

March was miracle month in which a nation (including Sun readers!) joined together in praying for a young footballer Fabrice Muamba who collapsed of a heart attack during a game.  He has since made a miraculous recovery and may even be able to take up professional football again in the future!

Also in March that age old question on everybody’s lips ‘what happens when we die?’…..What? Oh, you've never thought about it? Well perhaps after reading this post you might give it a thought, this also reminded me of a book review I posted, on Rob Bell’s book 'Love Wins' way back in the olden days of blogging, in which everyone ends up in Heaven! Yay, here’s hoping?!

April brought us the gay bus campaign, that’s right, you shouldn't judge a bus on its orientation….well, obviously, I suppose you may have to make a certain judgement based on its orientation or you may end up in Scratchy Bottom (real place Dorset) when you actually wanted to go to Sandy Balls! (real place Hampshire…….thank goodness the Wiki strike didn't last long).

I also started training for running my first and ahem, last 10k, and Monty Python taught us a lesson about accepting when we are beat and need help!

In May, I did against all expectations, complete the 10k, no I did not say I ‘ran’ it – that was never on the cards, but I was jolly chuffed with myself and my mates for what we achieved and we finished with a total of just over £1000 raised!

June, and the nation went crazy over the Royals, though I’m sure if you asked half the primary aged kids around the UK, if they could name  the Queen and her children and grandchildren, they would probably reply: “Freddie was gay wasn't he? I don’t think he had kids”. Who am I kidding, they won’t have ever heard of Queen.

This is a long post 'cause I'm covering the year for goodness sake! Go get yourself a cuppa and return, because coming up after the next paragraph break we have the next 6 months, find out what actually happened in August and why did they destroy Jimmy Saville's grave…….

Right, you sorted with your brew?  Good, because I bring you news that in July scientists found God, woop woop……oh no, wait, they found the 'god particle' my mistake. I don’t actually think they've ever looked for God, they should though,  it really would save a lot of money on big whiry things looking for particles, I mean, I have particles colliding in my house every day – it’s called dust.

August? What happened in August? I didn't write a single post. I can only imagine it being the school holidays I couldn't find a quiet 15 minutes to get anywhere near the lappy. Oh no actually I remember August, I slept through it.

September I ended up realising I’d been married for a very looooong time! Almost as long as the Hobbit movie – but with less animal deaths.

Every child of the 70’s & 80’s had there sad memories of unanswered letters turned to feelings of thank *£*$ for that, I’m so relieved Jim didn't fix it for me. C’mon though, we knew he was weird didn't we? It has since unravelled into a ‘who’s who’ of the 70’s & 80’s popular TV paedophile ring. Very sad and disturbing.  

What was also sad and disturbing in October was a community hall in our town deciding to have a séance for the kiddies on Halloween! Genius!

The last week in November was so busy for me with something on every night, that I had to pop this post into December, I know you won’t be picky about that, but if you really want a November entry, I’ll give you the review of the Derren Brown show and one of my favourite radio shows, Unbelievable.

My goodness, hasn't December come around quickly? I decided long ago not to think a year was a long time, because we all know only too well it is a very short time. 

We have a very short time to live out our lives; I think almost every year someone predicts the end of the world – Harold Camping last year, the Mayans this year, but the Bible tells us in Matthew 24:36 we will not know or be able to predict the return of Jesus. Peter tells us in his 2nd letter that time is irrelevant to God, but he definitely will return, for all who have trusted in him and believed in him, one day.

I enjoy wittering away in this little corner of the blogosphere, and I pray, that maybe sometimes I can encourage you, and make you smile; but above all, I hope I am showing you a God who loves you, and wants you to know him as a God who is your Saviour, as a God who is not happy with how the world is, but has a plan for it to be perfect and for you to be in it with him for eternity. I hope you've had a good year and here’s to a truly blessed and fun 2013.

Bristol 10k

Well, I did my 10k race and I've lived to tell the tale, my two team-mates and I have raised nearly £1000 which we certainly didn't expect! 


Lots of people take part in races like this and feel a real and valid sense of achievment at the end of them, whether it's because they've achieved a personal best time or because they've raised thousands for charity or just because they've done something different that they never thought they could/would do.


A year ago I would not have been able to take part in this race.  I would not have even been able to stand on the sidelines and cheer on other runners, so great was my anxiety and nervousness the thought of doing anything outside a very routined schedule terrified me. God has healed me so much in this area I am a different person, I am the person God created me to be, I am fearfully and  wonderfully made.


I am tearing up as I write this, thinking of all the plans I am making for my life, that I wouldn't have considered possible and all the things I have done over the past few months that I couldn't do.  Things that most people take for granted; like eating out, going to the cinema, parents evenings etc. everyday things that made me feel so ill I couldn't eat. Praise God, I now do those things without thinking about them, so running that race yesterday, was a personal achievment on many many levels.

Psalm 40:1-4

I put all my hope in the Lord.

    He leaned down to me;

    he listened to my cry for help.

² 

He lifted me out of the pit of death,

    out of the mud and filth,

    and set my feet on solid rock.

        He steadied my legs.

³ 

He put a new song in my mouth,

    a song of praise for our God.

Many people will learn of this and be amazed;

    they will trust the Lord.

⁴ 

Those who put their trust in the Lord,

    who pay no attention to the proud

    or to those who follow lies,

    are truly happy!

Lots of people helped me to get better, but I couldn't have done any of it without my two mates that trained and ran and raised money with me! www.justgiving.com/Phipps-Millard

Facing My Fears On Race Day!

My first run for charity is fast approaching - just over one week away to be exact! Considering I had never done any serious exercise until just a few months ago (unless you can call falling off a fitball or being the most un-co-ordinated person in a Zumba class serious exercise) I am really proud of how I am doing! Along, of course with my faithful friend who is just as un-exercised as I am!


There is one teensy weensy little problem that I am worried about on the day. If you know me and have ever been with me at a Carnival or in the Mall at Christmas time etc. you will know about my slightly irrational fear - of dressed up characters. eg Disney, bears, cows you name it, if it's in the human form but not a human it scares the living daylights out of me, to the point where my small children and their friends have had to accompany me with my eyes closed, crying, away from the offending creature!


My eldest daughter who utilizes her days off extremely well by sitting in front of Phil & Holly on This Morning, watched them do a week on phobia's and decided she had mastered the techniques to cure me, all I have to do is think of something that makes me laugh and then look at a character and while my brain is laughing I will create a new memory and not be frightened! Nothing makes me laugh more than this clip from Harry Hill and in fact when I went out to the theatre the other week with my hubby, we were surprised to see a Mickey Mouse standing outside! I immediately conjured up the memory of Harry getting in and out of the shower and started singing 'The Autumn Leaves'! I know I looked ridiculous but I wasn't half as scared as usual, so on race day if I am acting peculiar have a look around and if I am near anything dressed up funny that'll be why!


I have battered my knees, my hands, my pride and my digestive system and am prepared to face my phobia!  But the end is in sight, well for a few months at least, I stupidly said out loud that if we hit £500 sponsorship money I would run a half marathon with my sister's in September! Why do I open my mouth?


www.justgiving.com/Phipps-Millard 

The Things We Do For Charidee.......

So, as some of you know myself and a few chums are taking part in the Bristol 10k on 20th May in aid of the causes that Love Running are supporting.  
Well with not long to go and quite frankly very little ability of 'running' anywhere I thought I better take the opportunity to go out and do a bit of training.  I usually do this with my friend and it consists of fast walking and chatter with a bit of a token downhill sprint if the gradient obliges.
But today I decided to go out on my own and see if I could really push myself.  Well I did - onto all fours, but we'll get to that in a minute.

I am a little nervous of 'running' because my body doesn't seem to understand the concept of remaining upright at all times, on my first attempt I took a tumble and got 'baddies' on my knees. 
So today while out I was repeating the mantra in my head 'pick your feet up, pick your feet up'. I started off walking briskly, made sure no-one was looking and broke out into a run, I must've covered at least 15 yards before I had to stop and catch my breath. I was a little disappointed I hadn't gone  further, but not to worry; I picked my landmark, the start of a long straight road and started to run again. I ran for a minute and didn't need to stop so I carried on to the first junction, crossed the road, didn't need to stop, so I carried on.  I'd been running for about 2 1/2 minutes without stopping and didn't feel like I needed to 'I'm Forrest Gump' I thought, 'there's a chance I might actually be able to do this run' I started to feel really confident, thoughts of half marathons filled my mind and which charidee's I would like to raise money for.........the next junction came and went, I didn't need to stop, so I didn't.
Then into my vision came the incline 'don't panic' I told myself, 'you've done really well, just slow down and walk for a bit' so I fixed my sights on the landmark at the bottom of the hill 'if i can just make it to the dog poo bin........' then it happened.

The toes of my left foot stubbed into the pavement and down I went, resulting in baddies on my hands and very bruised pride.
It didn't take me long to come to the conclusion that running and me aren't natural bed-fellows and there would be nothing for it but for me to humbly withdraw from the race. I started to compose my apologetic resignation in my mind and did some quick calculations as to how I could match the money already raised so as to soften the blow. 
Clearly the fact I have two left feet is a divine message from God Himself that He doesn't want me to run for the 'poor, oppressed and needy' who am I to ignore that sort of intervention...........or maybe it was a message from God telling me that things aren't straightforward, you are going to hit obstacles (in my case, usually the pavement) but the end goal is in sight and if you persevere you will reach that goal and your commitment to it will be rewarded.  
Fortunately I started to believe the latter, only this morning I had been looking at Exodus to Deuteronomy, where the Israelites faced many trials and wandered for years until finally reaching the promised land of Canaan, which goes to show that studying the Old Testament can be relevant to today! God had made a covenant with them that He would bless them with land and descendants and that covenant although it took time was realised. 
And our sponsors have made a covenant with us, that they will donate to the worthy causes we are supporting if we complete the race.  So I may stumble and trip my way through the whole thing but I will will reach the promised land on 20th May!

Blogging Is More Fun Than Running!

I'd rather blog than run any day of the week! My friend convinced us to take part in the Bristol 10k to raise money via 'Love Running' for the poor the oppressed and the needy.  I just hope at the end of it I don't find myself falling into one of those categories!

Why I agreed to this malarkey I'll never know, I'm not that convinced I've been given the gift of writing but I know I haven't been given the gift of physical excursion!

But what I am enjoying doing is updating the just giving page. That has been great fun to write about how the training is going and even better because I have been collaborating writing with my best friend, we really do think we're French & Saunders!  It's a shame she's such a techno-phobe, because she's hilarious and would make a great blogger, but she doesn't even facebook or tweet!  She's only just got the hang of texting bless her!

Anyway we're raising money on the basis if you read the just giving blog and laugh, you should sponsor us, please don't sponsor us purely on the basis of running the 10k, the pressure will be too great!

To take a look at our page go to www.justgiving.com/Phipps-Millard