Dangerous and Destructive

Right, I am about to make a generalisation that may be incredibly sweeping and is based largely on my own experience...

I think that one of the most destructive things amongst Christians is anonymous criticism. There's been a number of times that I have been told that someone or some people are unhappy about soemthing that I've been involved with, but i Hear through a third person. I find it really hard to process this type of criticism - I have no way to clarify what has been said or offer any form of explanation/apology where necessary. Instead, I am left with a horrid feeling that someone is upset without having any way to move forward. I am pretty sure that I am the same as others in that I don't like being criticised, even if it is ultimately beneficial. But I do see that it is sometimes very necessary even if it is hard to hear. I would like to think that I am approachable, and wish people would speak to me directly.

I know that I can't make people do that, so instead, I am going to try the following things:
I'll try to be as open, honest and loving with others as possible.
If someone starts telling me what others think, I'll politely ask if they would ask the people involved to come directly to me.
I'll keep praying to God so that I don't take things so personally and don't hold on to things so tightly.

Any more tips??

Some News

... I am pregnant again! The baby is due at the end of Feb and is one of the reasons posting has been even more lax than usual. I have been v tired in the evenings and goign to bed ridiculously early when I have had the chance. But I am not so exhausted all the time now. The scan is on Thurs, so I will post the pic of the gorgeous baby then.

I'm Back!

SInce the best part of 2 months have passed, I thought I should add another post. Recapping on the whole of my life would be a little dull, so I thought I would concentrate on holidays. In mid- July, we went to the Isles of Scilly. We stayed on St Mary's and it really was an amazing place. The Scilly Isles are about 30 miles off the Cornwall coast and are beautiful. We flew over by helicopter, which Daniel loved and cried when he realised we weren't going back on! It is really like another world, where people leave parked cars with the windows down and are generally very trusting. It is also very quiet - at 9am on a hot day, we went down to the main beach and were the only family there; by 11am there were 3 families. Just beautiful - but pretty exclusive - we could only go as Neil's parents were so generous. The whole thing left us pretty chilled out and Daniel loved the beach... photos to follow.

And now I am just back from another island - I was a leader on an Urban Saints holiday on Westbrook, Isle of WIght. it is actually a long time since I have been involved on a camp with children and young people that I don't know, and I had a wonderful time. It was so good to be part of a team and lots of fun to get to know the children and young people. Daniel loved it as our room was next door to the meeting room, which held drums. From 6.15am, he was demanding to go to the 'ums'... although we mamanged to keep him off them until at least 7.30am! They must have loved us...

And on Friday I am taking a group to Greenbelt, which should be excellent, both because of the event and the people that I am going with. The forecast looks good too...