Too much information!

Yesterday at 4.00 a.m. I got up and started putting information on cards. This was the names and any knowledge I had of those who rebuilt St. Mary's Ingleton between 1885 & 1887. This was in preparation for my next Brook House Booklet, Voices of Old Ingleton (VOI for short).

Two of them share the same initials - RB. I put the full name of the first one into Google and it came up with just one find. But what a find! It took me to a website about the family history of a couple, one of whose ancestors was my man. Before I knew it I was overwhelmed with information about him and his offspring. Not only did he have a card but his wife and three children each had one as well.

Then I put the other RB in and found out that he had been a writer. He had published a book, the nearest copy of which was at Settle Library and a series of articles in the Craven Herald in 1997. But I would only be able to see them at Skipton. Not much hope of that today I thought.

But this is what happened. I spent the second part of the morning ensconced in the vestry at Settle St John's Methodist Church examining the deeds of our chapel with the Superintendent Minister David Briggs. Then I drove home had some lunch and started writing up the notes.

Not long into this I had to break off to take Nathan to catch a bus in Ingleton. Well, we missed it and he was going to Settle to meet his mother for Christmas shopping. So after a heated discussion about whose fault it was I decided to drive him there. On the way I thought and prayed about how I could use this setback. I decided I would stay in Settle.

I then had the chance to go into the library. By the grace of God I had details of the second RB's book in my pocket so I found it and scanned it for details in about ten minutes. I then joined Nathan and Audrey for the shopping trip. It was to Skipton.

So while they shopped I visited Craven Museum and then went over to the Library and read a couple of the articles in the series the second RB had written for the Craven Herald. Can you believe it or what?

Not only that but when I got home I finished off writing up the morning's notes and got my first internet book order which came from someone who reads this blog and eats doughnuts.

But through it all I felt miserable. Can you credit it? All that was going on but my poor family still had to put up with my misery and moping. This depression feels like a thorn in the flesh. But God said to Paul "My strength is made perfect in weakness." May I prove that too.