Living in TH naturally means that I have Muslim neighbours. It is part of the reason that our family moved to Tower Hamlets: to live our lives alongside people of different faiths, cultures and backgrounds to us. I love that my children will grow up with children from such different places and cultures than their... Continue Reading →
The BBC making me cry… again
I never normally cry watching documentaries about cabbies. But this evening I ended up watching 'Toughest Place to be a Taxi Driver' from the BBC. A number of people had commented on Facebook about it and my curiosity got the better of me... http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01r9yw6/Toughest_Place_to_be_a..._Series_4_Taxi_Driver/ It's the story of Mason, a London cabbie, who goes to... Continue Reading →
I am a mother…
Today is Mother's Day in the UK, or 'Mothering Sunday' in Christian circles (a name which, for some reason I can't explain, I hate...) I have been a mother on Mother's Day for 5 years now - my first one was in 2009, and DD was only a few weeks old. It is a strange... Continue Reading →
Women of valour!
Ladies coffee mornings, women's Bible studies and books with pink flowery lettering 'devotions for women' on them have always made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Often these could be incredibly gender-stereptyped cringey-type things and so discomfort was probably justified, but I didn't get the significance of women-only stuff. In the past I also would have... Continue Reading →
Speed prophecy?
I have been away at a training course this weekend that focuses on training people in marginalised places for church planting and ministry. I have really enjoyed this weekend and the people that I have met and connected with. In particular I have felt challenged about how I actually connect with people in my neighbourhood... Continue Reading →
Tuesday Tune – We’ve only just begun
- The Carpenters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__VQX2Xn7tI DH and I had a fantastically quiet New Year's Eve last night. I usually hate New Year's Eve, and more specifically the run up to it, as people get increasingly anxious about the coolness of their plans for what has to be The Biggest Night Of The Year and don't want... Continue Reading →
Eating, singing, living
It was our fairly raucous Christmas party at church tonight. We had carols, we had food, we had chat - and it was all good. 🙂 It was great to see old faces and new, people that I have known from when I first moved here and people I've just met. The most beautiful thing... Continue Reading →
Tuesday tune – Laudete!
I want to try to write a bit more often because I would really like to improve and I know that the only way is to practice. (And read lots!) So as a way of getting me to write a bit more I thought that each Tuesday I would blog about a song that is... Continue Reading →
Tyrannosaur and tears
DH and I watched ‘Tyrannosaur’ this evening, which was incredibly powerful and also really quite shocking and disturbing. It is mostly about Hannah (played by Olivia Colman) and Joseph (Peter Mullan) and the relationship which develops between them, with issues of anger, domestic violence and redemption as key themes. Olivia Colman was fantastic, as was... Continue Reading →
(Heart)-ing the inner city
I was asked to write 500 words on this Urban Expression value: We challenge the trend of some Christians moving out of the cities and encourage Christians to relocate to the inner cities. This is what I wrote. (Plus a little bit from a previous post which I won't repeat here.) “I love the inner... Continue Reading →
stumbling hopefully in the right direction 