internet obsession

Forty years ago, when I was a teenager I was obsessed with radio: I had my own pirate station called the Wheel; I went around the house singing radio jingles; I desperately wanted to be a DJ. That was how Jesus caught me.

I was in Australia, 35 years ago, when a former radio DJ who was then a pastor challenged his congregation to set up a Christian radio station in Hobart Tasmania. That was when I realised that my life was nothing without Jesus.

Now I'm very keen, I wouldn't say obsessed, by the Internet. Just lately I have got onto Skype and Twitter. I realise that Twitter is best used from a mobile phone but there is no way I can afford to do that at the moment. Nevertheless, I want to be at the cutting edge of this technology so that Jesus can be there too.

I've just put my Skype and Twitter details on my email signature so that others can follow me and hopefully follow Jesus. O, and I'm on Facebook too.

Facebook: Peter McCabe, Leeds
Twitter: PeterJMcC
Skype: peter-mccabe

See you around the ether.

Busy day

I hardly stopped yesterday.

I took Nathan to the bus for his day at College and soon after that was helping my friend Colin to get his printer working properly. He lives in Bentham and it was on my way to the Looking Well. I didn't succeed but left him with opportunity of emailing the makers for help. Sounds a bit like prayer.

Then I was off to the Writers Group and read out my Book Review. It was a direct result of attending those meetings that I wrote it.

Straight after lunch I was off with Audrey to Lancaster to buy a suit for an IMC wedding which is coming up in April. We got a really good deal in BHS which included not only the suit, but also shirt, tie and shoes. Very pleasing.

As soon I got back I had to rush off to Kirkby Lonsdale to pick Nathan up and called into Audrey's dad to pick up some freezer food which was left with him while she defrosted our freezer.

After tea I was out to lead the House Group. We were looking at the Ark of the Covenant. I finished early because I was tired.

Lastly we watched an Horizon programme on BBC2 about our body clocks. By 9.30 p.m. my body clock was telling me it was time for bed. A good busy day.

Apprenticeship

Jesus is a model for all of us to copy, not just those in obvious ministry roles. Learning to follow him is a lifetime’s apprenticeship.

Jane Cornish (adapted from Daily Bread JM09)

I just read this quote in Wordlive. It reminded me to tell you that yesterday my youngest son, Nathan aged 20, started an Apprenticeship. He is working for a care company in Kendal. He will be working at a care home there for four days a week and going to Kendal College on the other day. What a day it was for him. And for us. He will learn to be a carer. We will have two sons working. Wonderful.

The trouble is that the word Apprentice conjures up the image of some big shot pointing at some little person and saying "Your fired!" and only once shouting "You're hired!".
So the media has given apprenticeship a negative connotation. I see they've got the big shot, Alan Sugar, advertising the government's Apprenticeship Scheme on the other channels which don't show him pointing the finger. Which are the viewers going to remember - the finger of rejection or the hand of help?

O, and yesterday I got the magazine A Single Step which includes my review of the book "Coming Back to Me" by Marcus Trescothick. So it was a great day for me too!

Dead end week

This has been a week of thinking about the end of life. On Tuesday I attended the funeral of a Grand Old Man of Ingleton. Gordon Barker was nearly 98 when he died. He had lived in Ingleton for most of his life and could remember the New Village being built.

When I tell you that these houses were built during the First World War to house miners from the colliery which then existed, you will realise what a treasure trove of memory was stored in his mind. I managed to capture some of that towards the end of last year when I went to interview him.

On Wednesday it was time to say farewell to Teddy Dawson. He was only 79 years old but he was a believer and the funeral showed that. Burglars could have had a field day at all the Methodist houses in the area, because just about everybody was there. And those who weren't there were at work. Three hundred people packed into St James Church Clapham and the singing was magnificent.

Yesterday I went to visit my Auntie Mary in her residential home in Liverpool. She will be 90 in June and says she has lived too long and wants God to take her. When her wish is granted, it would be good to have everything organised beforehand. So I took with me a form to order and pay for a funeral ahead of time. While I was with her in walked the vicar of her church. This was very helpful and I am certain the Lord arranged it. Just as he will help us to arrange her send-off.

Filming the Waterfalls

Yesterday I was part of a film unit.

The Looking Well at Bentham is involved in a project centred around the Folly in Settle. Archives Alive launches in April and it features old documents from Ingleton about the Waterfalls Walk.

As part of the exhibition they are putting on, a short film of the Waterfalls Walk is going to be projected and half a dozen of us trapsed over the Thornton Force to film it.

I really enjoyed it. Clambering about with a camera and tripod, walking in and out of shot to the director's cue and generally hanging about was really good fun. It was creative too.

Next step for me of course is to go and peruse the documents in order to increase my knowledge of Ingleton in Victorian times.

Every day success

One of the reasons I have got into this difficult state is that I major on the negative. I could have a day at work when everything went well except one little thing and I would only remember the little thing. Eventually the little things became one big THING.

But for the last month I have been keeping a record of every day and each one has seen at least one success. At the end of every day I write down my successes, even though I might have had some failures. I then read these over and find that I am not such a failure as I thought.

To someone who has thought as long and hard about failure as I have, this is a tremendous step forward. I am seeing success every day. I probably was before but I never noticed it.

Wow, what a difference.

Another week is gone

I can't believe that I've let another week slip by without blogging.

I put a space on my calendar to write between 8 and 9 in the morning but I haven't managed to do it once. Why not?

Well, a couple of times I slept in, in spite of what I put in my last post. At other times I got so engrossed in reading, replying and writing emails that the time was gone. Also, I tend to do a lot of surveys online and they take up time.

But all these are excuses really. If I am going to write I am going to have to make time for it. Other things are going have to be pushed out of the way.

Write I must and write I will.