https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-7792825/DAN-HODGES-reveals-saw-Boris-Johnsons-smash-election-victory-coming.html

DAN HODGES: The Corbynites lost because they hate working Britain and the feeling is reciprocated

By Dan Hodges For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 22:27, 14 December 2019 | Updated: 03:21, 15 December 2019

Around Thursday lunchtime, I took a break from my chilly polling-station vigil in West Auckland and nipped for a sandwich in the nearby Eden Arms.  Waiting for it to arrive, I opened Twitter and began to acquaint myself with Jeremy Corbyn’s triumphant march on Downing Street.  London’s polling stations were grinding to a halt in the face of a ‘youthquake’. Iain Duncan Smith was being routed in Chingford.  Dominic Raab’s leafy citadel of Esher was set to fall. Labour activists were being ordered to Uxbridge, where they would deliver the coup de grace to the reviled Boris Johnson.  But then I started to catch snippets of a conversation taking place at the bar. People were talking across each other, and Spanish football highlights were playing on TV. But the gist of it went like this. ‘Yeah I voted, you too, Conservative, of course, Corbyn, he supports the IRA, despise him.’

If you believe as many do that Brexit is the biggest challenge facing the nation since the war. And if you believe as many clearly did on Thursday that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party represented the biggest peacetime threat to the stability and security of that nation, then we have just lived through the most seismic domestic political event of our lifetime.  In County Durham, everywhere I went on Election day I was met by the same staccato drumbeat. West Auckland Memorial Hall. ‘Brexit, Corbyn, IRA.’ Jubilee Fields Community Centre. ‘Corbyn, IRA, Brexit.’ Shildon Civic Hall. ‘IRA, Corbyn, Brexit.’

At 9.30pm, I drove over to Trimdon in Tony Blair’s old Sedgefield constituency to watch the exit poll. The Royal pub is about three minutes’ walk from Myrobella, the double fronted cottage where Blair once played host to George W. Bush.  When I arrived, I got chatting to Robert Martin, a carer who had just returned from his mother’s funeral. I explained I’d been visiting Bishop Auckland, which was vulnerable to the Conservatives, but said I thought this seat was probably safe. ‘Here? It’ll go Tory,’ he told me.

As Big Ben struck ten, and the exit poll flashed on the screen, I asked security guard Philip Solomons what he thought.  ‘Unbelievable,’ he said.

Unbelievably good or bad?

‘Oh, good.’

Pharmacy manager Andrea Hughes seemed less sure. I presumed she’d voted for sitting Labour MP Phil Wilson. She shook her head. ‘I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve always voted Labour. But I just couldn’t this time. I voted Green.’

In last week’s Mail on Sunday, after a month and a half travelling from Bolsover to Canterbury, St Ives to Chingford, Wrexham to County Durham, I predicted that Labour’s vaunted Red Wall was on the brink of collapse. I was wrong.  It didn’t collapse. It was smashed into a billion pieces. Atomised by the arrogance, ideological blindness, self-righteousness and viciousness of Jeremy Corbyn and his cultish followers.  When first elected in 2015, they inherited a battered but proud and functioning party. By the time The Absolute Boy made his graceless resignation speech in the early hours of Friday morning, all that was left was the political equivalent of the Manson clan.  I’ve often been critical of Boris Johnson. And part of me still finds something distasteful about the way Theresa May a woman who dedicated herself with flawed but unflinching purpose to the service of her country was hounded from office, leaving Britain’s Greatest Showman to sweep in and reap the plaudits and rewards.  But neither life nor politics are fair. This is Boris’s victory, and his moment. When I left Westminster on the final day before Parliament rose, I couldn’t find a single Minister or MP who could identify a credible path to a Tory majority. Boris – guided by his mercurial adviser Dominic Cummings found one. The scale of their triumph is dwarfed only by the scale of Corbyn’s defeat.  This morning there is an understandable sense of relief even jubilation. The Corbynite danger has passed. The Brexit log-jam is about to be broken. The post-referendum political turmoil has been ended, at least for the next four or five years.  But we need a serious national inquest now. Into how we got here. How we came so close to disaster. And how the British people were again required to save our entitled political class from itself.  The first thing everyone needs to grasp is that while Thursday was a Conservative victory, it was not a victory for backwards-looking conservatism. There is a settled narrative, shared across the political spectrum, that the working men and women of Britain are terrified of change.  This argument says that traditional communities, still reeling from the loss of inter-generational industries, are rebelling against the transformation they see all around them. Immigration. The break-up of the extended family. The insidious, all-intrusive penetration of social media.  But the constituencies I visited were not packed with 21st Century luddites, longing for a return to a sepia-tinted 1950s Britain. No one in Bolsover wanted the pits reopened.  Few people I spoke to in St Ives expressed a longing for their children to earn a living from the sea. Their anger wasn’t generated by the fact the world was changing too fast.  It was that it wasn’t changing fast enough. And the change that did occur was being imposed, rather than reflecting individual or community will.  For Labour there was also a very specific lesson. The clue to obtaining the trust of the British working class lies in the name. They are the working class, not the freebie class.  Everything they own they have worked for. They harbour an innate suspicion of anything gifted, not earned. And an even greater suspicion of the person hawking it.  Jeremy Corbyn never understood that. But then there’s no reason why he should. He has spent his political career focusing on the hard-pressed communities of Gaza and the Chagos Islands. Wrexham or Chingford are like another country to him. Former Labour MPs like Phil Wilson do understand.  Speaking before a single vote had been counted, he told me why he’d lost Sedgefield.  ‘People here are genuinely patriotic. Lots of them in this part of the world have links to the military. And when they see what Jeremy Corbyn says about the IRA or national security, they resent it.’

Ironically, to Labour’s leader, this concept of a deeper collective consciousness is anathema. The man who loved to paint the Conservatives as the party of avarice and self-interest never attempted to address his toxic associations, but simply relied on stuffing the voters’ mouths with gold.  Fifty billion for WASPI women here. Twenty billion for free broadband there. What was a little historic fraternisation with the gunmen of the IRA and Hamas, when one trillion pounds of public spending could buy him the keys to Downing Street?

And to be fair, why would such moral not to mention fiscal turpitude seem out of place when you look at the rest of his party?

A party that stood back and allowed its Jewish Members of Parliament to be driven from its ranks.  That cowered and vacillated as Momentum’s boot-boys issued de-selection punishment beatings to anyone who crossed them. And responded with nothing more than craven appeasement and the plaintive cry: ‘What can we do? We have to stop Brexit.’

But it’s not just Labour that has lessons to learn. All of the parties now have to take a crash course in what happened on Thursday. Because this is their last chance. And it is the country’s last chance.  British democracy is on its final warning. Never, ever again can our parliamentarians set themselves with such blind disregard against the expressed wishes of the people.  For the past three years, politicians have been lecturing the voters about how they got it wrong. That they didn’t really understand Brexit. Or didn’t want a particular form of Brexit. Or didn’t want Brexit at all.  But they did understand. In Bolsover and Canterbury and Wrexham and Bishop Auckland and St Ives and Chingford and Sedgefield. They understood all too well.  That Jeremy Corbyn literally had no position at all on the biggest issue facing the country for a generation. That Jo Swinson’s policy of unilateral revocation was an affront to basic fairness, let alone democratic principle.  And that Boris, for all his clumsy prorogations and broken deadlines, was sincere in his pledge to get Brexit done.  But there is a further lesson that will need to be learnt from Thursday’s demolition of the Red Wall. And it is that the era of missionary politics has finally ended.  The British working class are no longer going to be instructed by munificent benefactors how best to improve their lives. Brexit has given them agency, and they will not be revoking it.  As Election day approached there was fevered speculation that traditional Labour voters would hold their noses and return to the party of their parents and grandparents. They didn’t. They were intent on making a statement. And that statement was ‘No one takes us for grated any more’.

Boris certainly can’t afford to. The Northern Blue Wall is wide but fragile. A phrase I heard echoed by more than one successful Conservative candidate was: ‘I’ve been told these votes are on loan.’

Yes, fledgling Tory MPs such as Mark Fletcher, Sarah Atherton and Dehenna Davison will be granted a bit of time. But no Prime Ministerial badinage about the virtues of a US trade deal will save them if Wrexham High Street remains a nocturnal desert, or the promised Bolsover police station sits unmanned, or A&E isn’t brought back to Bishop Auckland.  But if the Tories now need to secure the trust of working Britain, at least they don’t have to do so from the position of having betrayed it. Unlike Jeremy Corbyn, and his acolytes. Labour’s vanquished leader has promised a period of ‘reflection’. But after a month and a half out on the hustings, I can save him the time and trouble.  The Corbynites lost because for all their liberal pretensions, they hate working Britain. And working Britain reciprocates. A sense of patriotism. A strong work ethic. A pride in community and of place.  To the ideological fanatics of the New-Left these are heresies. They believe the scrapping of Trident, a four-day week and freedom of movement are what the working men and women of Britain crave. And if they don’t, they’ll just have to be forced to accept them anyway.  For four long years, Jeremy Corbyn and his minions have not spoken to or for Britain’s working communities, but at them.  And their message to the people of Bolsover and Wrexham and Bishop Auckland and Sedgefield has been the same.  ‘If you’re not one of us, then you can bugger off and join the Tories.’

So on Thursday, they did.

Preparing Our Child’s Funeral

Produced by The Compassionate Friends www.tcf.org.uk

A short leaflet offering suggestions to think about around the funeral. More suitable for a child rather than for a baby.

Memorials by Artists for Young People,  Children and Babies
Harriett Frazer

A guide to helping families find a memorial to celebrate the life of a child from birth to 30-years-olds.

https://thedigitalweekly.com/2019/11/09/disabled-girl-18-hanged-herself-to-death-after-bullies-threatened-her-to-roll-her-off-a-mountain/

By  PRABIT2020

November 9, 2019 5:40 am EST
Modified date: November 9, 2019 5:40 am EST
Disabled Girl, 18, Hanged Herself To Death After Bullies Threatened Her To Roll Her Off A Mountain

A paraplegic teen killed herself after bullies disgraced her as a ‘vegetable’ and said that ‘We should throw her off a mountain and kill her.’

The horrific posts made 18-year-old wheelchair user Maya Corral to hang herself to death at her residence in Tuscon, Arizona, on August 24.  Writing online, the bullies stated that after rolling her off a mountain, they would ‘kick her while she is dead. And then we would party.’

High school senior Maya Corral was paralyzed after being included in a car crash as a baby and had handled a wheelchair from when she was old enough to do so.  She was given a $2.7million compensation by the car seat manufacturer, which she got when she turned 18.  The 18-year-old then used some of the money to buy a $500,000 house, which her mother Diana said quickly led to jealous remarks from bullies.  Maya’s mother found Maya’s dead body, she said that “My daughter was bullied so much that she committed suicide”

“(The payout) made out a lot of bad people. Her money made out kids that were posing to be her friend but just using her and my daughter did not know.”

“Maya never had (so many) friends like that.”

Diana states that how Maya had sent stricken texts to her numerous friends in the hours before her death but told that none of her friends replied.  She assumes that with greater support from her so-called friends, that Maya’s death could have been avoided.  Diana described that  “It makes me angry and it hurts me that she probably sat in the closest waiting to see who would come to rescue her.”

”And nobody did.”

The stricken mother now intends to press charges against the bullies she blames for her daughter suicide.  Arizona anti-bullying rules do not include cyber-bullying, but Diana may be able to use present harassment statutes to bring her daughter’s torturers to justice.  “Please modify your ways as your actions are ugly,” Diana states that.

“And I do not want any other child to be destroyed by your words the way my daughter was.”

“Keep your bad comments to yourself. If you do not like someone then simply leave them alone.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/mother-baby-home-horror-there-3677328?utm_source=facebook.com

Mother and baby home horror: "There was a secret room of doomed babies who never grew up"
Woman reveals there was a special dorm in Westmeath home for infants who never left the room to play and were never seen again

By Alana Fearon
06:00, 12 JUN 2014

A woman who spent eight years in a religious-run orphanage says she is haunted by memories of a room of “secret” babies she never saw grow up.  The woman, who was put into Mount Carmel Industrial School in Co Westmeath when she was eight, revealed there was a special dormitory in the building that none of the girls was allowed enter.  But speaking exclusively to the Irish Mirror, the Co Offaly native, 62, said the room was full of babies in cots who no one ever saw leave.  And admitting that she has been haunted by these memories for years, she admitted the Tuam buried babies scandal has left her wondering what ever became of the tots.  The mum-of-four, who now lives in Co Louth, revealed: “They were in a tiny room that we had to pass when we were going to the toilet but no one was allowed into it and there was a curtain covering the window but we all knew there were babies in there, sharing cots.  When I was young I suppose none of it added up but it all came back to haunt me later in life because we never saw the babies leave the room, we never saw them being walked outside in prams or playing outside as toddlers and the scary thing is we never saw any of them grow up.  I never spoke about any of my memories until a few years ago when I plucked up the courage to tell my daughter and now that these stories have come out about Tuam and the other mother-and-baby homes, I just felt I had to talk about it.  If the government is going to start an inquiry into these institutions they need to look at Mount Carmel and all the industrial schools like it because there are a lot of unanswered questions about what really went on behind those walls.”

The woman, who asked to keep her identity private, claims she was abused from when she was eight until she turned 13 by a young priest who used to come to visit the girls in the industrial school.  Known as number 52, she also said she suffered “horrendous” physical and mental abuse at the hands of the nuns who ran Mount Carmel.  She told the Irish Mirror: “I remember when my periods started they never told me what it meant, they used to call me a dirty animal and I just feared there was something seriously wrong with me.  I was terrified. The priest started abusing me when I was eight, he only picked certain girls to prey on and I remember I used to see his car driving into the yard and I’d just start shaking.  To this day I still remember his number plate, it’s ingrained on my brain forever just like the memories of the babies in the secret room."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7622105/Beauty-therapist-36-died-breast-enlargement-tummy-tuck.html

Mother-of-three, 36, died after breast enlargement and tummy tuck at Transform plastic surgery clinic where staff told her to have both ops at same time to save money, inquest hears

    Louise Harvey died from blood clots following double plastic surgery operations
    The mother-of-three had both breast enlargement and tummy tuck procedures
    She wasn't given the required blood thinners to take home and died 18 days later
    Her mother told an inquest Ms Harvey was told to have both surgeries at once

By Rod Ardehali For Mailonline

Published: 15:27, 28 October 2019 | Updated: 20:03, 28 October 2019

A mother-of-three died following breast enlargement and tummy tuck procedures on the advice of staff who told it would be cheaper to have both done at the same time, an inquest heard.  Louise Harvey, 36, died from blood clots following the surgeries, carried out by Transform plastic surgery clinic at Riverside hospital in London.  The beautician was not given a second dose of blood thinners despite medical notes indicating she had been, and a significant family history of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a coroner said.  Her mother Linda Harvey, 53, whose own mother died of blood clotting, said that her daughter was sent home without the necessary medication.  It was reported that a second dose of anti-coagulant drugs to help thin the blood was 'crossed out' on her notes indicating she had been given the dosage.  But she was only given one dose which was meant to be administered four hours after the operation but was actually given eight hours later, the inquest heard.  In a statement read by Norfolk's area coroner Yvonne Blake, Linda Harvey said that her daughter wanted a tummy tuck as 'she felt she had some loose skin around her belly following the birth of her youngest son'.

She said Miss Harvey spoke with someone at the clinic and 'they suggested having (the two operations) at the same time as it would be cheaper'.

Her three-hour surgery was completed on June 17 2018 and she took a taxi home to Norwich on June 19 2018.  Her mother said Miss Harvey was not given blood thinners to take home, adding that: 'If Louise had been advised about this I would have expected her to tell me'.

At an outpatient appointment in Norwich on June 26 Miss Harvey was advised that the 'stitches were OK' and 'she was healing well', her mother said.  But an ambulance was called and she was taken to hospital on July 3 after she collapsed and started fitting, her mother said.  'Louise's organs were giving up,' her mother said. 'She had blood clots in her heart and lungs.'

She said that on July 4 Miss Harvey was able to talk, asked where she was and if her sons could visit her. Tragically, she died the next day.  Her mother said that on July 12 2018 'Transform called to offer their condolences but couldn't offer any explanation as to what happened'.

Consultant plastic surgeon Manish Sinha, who performed the operations was asked questions by Ms Blake.  She asked: 'When you saw Louise and you discussed the risks of any surgery, were you aware of her family history, her sister having had a clot and her grandmother?'

'No ma'am, I was not,' replied the doctor, whose surgery has since closed.

He said it was not his usual practice to read a pre-assessment form completed by a patient with a nurse, in which Miss Harvey's family history of DVT (deep vein thrombosis) was recorded, 'unless specific things have been flagged up to me'.

Dr Sinha said: 'That has been a huge learning curve for me to understand that there are things that can happen without my knowledge.  I have changed my practice now when I ring up to enquire about my patients, I make sure they have received the drug.  Increasingly, I prescribe medication myself as and when I can.'

The fact that Louise was having multiple procedures also increased the risks of complications, the inquest heard.  Caroline Cross, who represents the family, asked the consultant: 'Louise's sister had a blood clotting condition and she discussed taking medication.  Louise's maternal grandmother had died from a blood clotting condition would you not assume that Louise had a blood clotting issue until proved otherwise?'

He replied: 'I would have advised Louise to have had a blood test done before she considers surgery.'

The inquest heard how after she was discharged, Ms Harvey would need help to wash herself and her hair.  Dr Sinah said: 'I am at a loss to understand why the mobility was so reduced.  From the phone calls I have seen it does not suggest Louise deteriorated from the point she was discharged.  I wouldn't expect her to be bed bound for seven days, I would have expected her to be going up and down the stairs.'

Dr Sinha recorded that Ms Harvey's mobility was significant after calling up to enquire on her progress- despite another doctor's note saying she had reduced mobility.  The inquest, which is listed to last five days, continues.

https://www.sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/lance-witt-do-you-believe-in-miracles-part-1-3083?utm_source=p2p&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button-link&utm_campaign=p2p20190923&maropost_id=742347701&mpweb=256-8268574-742347701

Do You Believe In Miracles?
By Lance Witt on Nov 20, 2017

“Do you believe in miracles?  Yes.” 

Those were the words uttered by Al Michaels as the clock hit zero and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team had just pulled off a David and Goliath moment.  This ragtag group of college students had just defeated the legendary Russian Olympic Team that had not lost an Olympic hockey game since 1968.  Two days later the USA team would defeat Finland to win the gold medal.  When the Americans went up 4-3 against the Russians with ten minutes remaining in the contest, all of America held its breath for those remaining minutes.  It seemed like the longest ten minutes in sports history.  During those final minutes, goalie Jim Craig made several fabulous saves that kept all of us on the edge of our seat.  Sports Illustrated selected that epic hockey game as the greatest sports moment of the 20th century.  And I would wholeheartedly concur. But it was much more than just a great moment in sports.  The games took place against the backdrop of the Iranian hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. “The so-called Miracle on Ice was more than just an Olympic upset; to many Americans, it was an ideological victory in the Cold War as meaningful as the Berlin Airlift or the Apollo moon landing.”

This last generation has seen a long list of uniquely talented individual athletes.  Think Michael Jordan, Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, and Steph Curry.  Part of the greatness of the story of the 1980 Olympic hockey team was that there wasn’t a superstar.  It was a group of no-name college students led by Herb Brooks who wasn’t even the first choice to coach the 1980 team.  Their journey is a great case study in what it looks like to become a healthy and high-performing team. These principles are valuable for the teams we lead.  After all, we are working for something more noble and eternal than a gold medal.  Sometime after the Olympics, Coach Herb Brooks shared some of his reflections about this team. "They were really mentally tough and goal-oriented.  They came from all different walks of life, many having competed against one another, but they came together and grew to be a real close team. I pushed this team really hard, I mean I really pushed them. But they had the ability to answer the bell. Our style of play was probably different than anything in North America. We adopted more of a hybrid style of play - a bit of the Canadian school and a little bit of the European school. The players took to it like ducks to water, and they really had a lot of fun playing it. We were a fast, creative team that played extremely disciplined without the puck. Throughout the Olympics, they had a great resiliency about them. I mean they came from behind six or seven times to win. They just kept moving and working and digging."

Several of Coach Brooks’ phrases become a great tutorial in how to become a great team.

1. Mentally Tough

To me, that phrase is about self-leadership.  No team is stronger than the individuals who make up that team.  It is about showing up every day with a mindset to deliver your best.  It is about not taking the easy way, but rather taking the best way; the way that leads to accomplishing the goal.  Mental toughness is about “owning your stuff” and not being a victim. It is about realizing that I am not entitled to anything and that serving on this team is a “get to” not a “have to”.  It means not be a whiner or complainer, but rather being a problem solver.

2. Goal-Oriented

All great teams are crystal clear about their objective.  They know what the “win” is and they align their efforts and energies to accomplish the goal before them.  The pursuit of a gold medal is a very clear and tangible goal.  For those of us in ministry, defining the “gold medal” is a little trickier.  But because it can be less tangible, that is why it is even more important for us to do the hard work of discerning, praying, and clarifying “the win” for our ministry.  This also means that we must have the discipline to say “no” to the opportunities and ideas that don’t lead us toward the accomplishment of our unique calling.  In next week’s article, we will explore some more valuable principles for building great ministry teams.  So, as we get ready to transition into 2018, let me ask you a question.  Are you clear about your vision and focus for this coming year? 

Or, are you simply going to do the same thing as you did this last year but just slap it on a new calendar? 

And, is your team clear about your priorities for the coming year? 

As you move into this holiday season, let me encourage you to block out some time with your team to pray, discern and discuss your key priorities for the coming year. The story of 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team’s pursuit of the gold medal was one of the greatest Cinderella stories in all of sports history.  But it was far more than just a great sporting event.  It is also a great case study in what makes a great team.  And the principles apply to church teams as well.  Sometime after the Olympics, coach Herb Brooks talked about the team and gave several insights about what this team so special.  In this week’s article I want to mention three of the qualities that Brooks mentioned that can be helpful for building church teams.

1. Build A Sense of Family

Brooks said that even these hockey players came from all different walks of life, they “came together”.  They became a true team.  They weren’t just “on” a team, they “became” a team. That means authentically caring about the other players on the team and taking the time to enter into relationship with them. They had a sense of community that transcended the goal they were trying to accomplish.  When we think about building great teams in our church, relationship and a sense of community are crucial.  It can’t just be about results, it also has to be about relationship.  Brooks mentioned that these college hockey players came from different walks of life but they came together as a team.  What a beautiful picture of how it should be with the body of Christ.  People from all different backgrounds coming together, united in a common cause, for the glory of God.

2. Hard Work and Sacrifice

Not surprisingly, there was an incredible commitment and work ethic.  You don’t half-heartedly stroll into greatness.  Coach Brooks set up an extremely rigorous training schedule.  They played 61 exhibition games prior to entering the Olympics.  One night after a poor exhibition performance against Norway, the team started toward the locker room after the game.  The coach yelled “Get back on the ice.”

For more than an hour they did grueling line drills, which the team called “Herbies”, named after their coach.  After trying to get the team to leave, the custodian turned off the lights.  And Coach Brooks had them keep skating in the dark.  Representing your country and playing for a gold medal is an incredible honor and worthy of your very best.  How much more should that be true for us as we represent the King of Kings and do ministry that has impact for eternity.  We make lofty statements like that all the time in ministry.  But I do think we should really take the time to ask ourselves if we really believe that.  Do my actions and passion and work ethic reflect someone who deep down believes that what we do in ministry matters and matters for eternity?

3. Great Resiliency

One definition of resiliency is the ability to recover quickly from difficulties.  Great teams don’t give up.  When they get knocked down, they pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and get right back to work.  They learn from their mistakes and they get better.  They have a strong spirit of endurance and perseverance.  Doing ministry is messy.  And doing ministry with a team is even more messy.  We are in a battle.  Spiritual warfare is real.  There will be time when there is lack of clarity and lack of communication.  There will be seasons of chaos and dysfunction in your ministry organization.  You will be let down by people and trust will be breached.  It just comes with the territory.  To be a great team you must develop a thick skin and a never give up attitude.  It’s pretty easy to read an article and gain new insights about teams.  And it’s fairly easy to sit with your team and discuss this stuff.  The real challenge is take the risk to start implementing and living this out.  Building a great team is not easy… it never has been.  But it is not an overstatement to say that your ministry’s kingdom impact hangs in the balance.  I leave you to ponder a famous quote from Herb Brooks “Risk something or forever sit with your dreams.”

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7456685/Family-reveal-father-arrested-murder-planning-sons-birthday-party.html

Father arrested over death of baby son was planning boy's first birthday party just days before he 'hurled him in Moses basket into river after row with infant's mother'

    Zakari Bennett, 11-months, was allegedly thrown into River Irwell in Manchester
    A man named locally as Zak Bennett-Eko was arrested on suspicion of murder 
    Mother Emma Blood, 22, wrote: 'I love my little boy and did everything for him'
    The baby's great grandfather said today the father was planning son's birthday
    Police believe shocked witnesses may have caught the incident on video
    **Do you know the father? Did you see what happened? Email james.wood@mailonline.co.uk or tips@dailymail.com**

By Ed Riley For Mailonline

Published: 15:32, 12 September 2019 | Updated: 17:45, 12 September 2019

A father was planning his son's first birthday party just days before he allegedly threw him to his death into a river in his Moses basket, family members said today.  Zak Bennett Eko, 22, was arrested after baby Zakari died in the River Irwell, in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester at 4.30pm yesterday.  The suspect, who its believed had taken his son out to buy milk after a row with the boys mother, was found minutes later inside the nearby Lock Keeper pub.  Police have appealed for witnesses who may have caught the incident on video to come forward.  The boy's grief-stricken mother Emma Blood, 22, posted an emotional statement on Facebook this morning, telling how she has 'lost my son' and said she 'wished I was dead.'  Describing her son as 'my world, my heart, my soul', Ms Blood, who is believed to be pregnant, told how she spent the final moments with him after his death.  Zakari's maternal great-grandfather has now revealed how Bennett Eko and Ms Blood were a 'happy couple.'  David Kavanagh, 67, told The Sun: 'I only saw him and his parents on Monday. He was a great lad.  Emma and Zak seemed like a happy couple, she was a loving mother. She was taking Zakari to playgroup and they were making plans for his first birthday.  One of my daughters came round to tell me what had happened. It's the worst thing you could imagine. I was totally shocked.  It's a terrible tragedy and the family are desperate to know why it happened.' 

Paramedics battled to save the boy after he was pulled from the water by firefighters, some 100 yards from the bridge. He was taken to hospital but pronounced dead a short time later.  Detectives are continuing to appeal for information and believe that parts of the incident were captured on camera by members of the public.  Ms Blood wrote today: 'I lost my baby today. I love my little boy and did everything for him.  I didn't know my child was dead until I got to A&E.  We sat with him for hours, we held him, we kissed him and then I left.  Let me grieve for my child, my whole world and so much more. I am alive, although I wish I was dead.'

Yesterday a barmaid working at the Lock Keeper told how a man came in and asked to buy a drink, but had no money.  She said: 'Then loads of people came in screaming that there's a baby in the river.  He sat there and stared, he didn't move so the police were phoned and he just told a customer that he'd thrown his baby in the river.  Everyone was up barring him, he sat there and stared and didn't move.  The police were phoned to say 'we think we have who you're looking for'.' 

Another witness told the Manchester Evening News: 'It was a very small child in the river, I thought it was a doll when I saw it.  I thought someone was on the run.'

Another resident posted on social media: 'I was there 30 mins ago and everybody there was crying and saying a man has thrown his newborn in.'

Neighbours also revealed today Ms Blood, the mother of the child, is believed to be around three or four months pregnant.  Greater Manchester Police have now launched a murder investigation and a residential road near the scene has been cordoned off.  The force said a post mortem will take place tomorrow.  Tearful mourners, many who were mothers with young children, have left more than 100 bunches of flowers, soft toys and candles on the bridge.  Among the tributes was a large cuddly bear with a card that read: 'To a beautiful little boy. Sleep tight little man. Our thoughts are with your family. From all of us at Lidl Radcliffe.'

One card with flowers read: 'Goodnight and God Bless beautiful innocent boy. Fly high Angel.'

The boy's maternal grandfather Andy Blood was too upset to comment as he visited the bridge. He left a card that read: 'To my beautiful grandson. We love you so much RIP.'

His paternal grandfather Addy Eko wrote online: 'Good blees little man still got your dummy here il bring it soon say hi to your sister and nana so sorry which it me not you.  So unfair livening now and always grandad sorry.'

Ms Blood's Facebook page is packed with pictures of her son. She announced her pregnancy in February 2018, where she wrote on Facebook: 'I honestly can not hold back anymore, we are over the moon that we are expecting a baby.'

After her first scan she wrote: 'Today we seen our little baba who has a very strong heartbeat, healthy and is perfect in every single way.  Mummy & Daddy love you always our little cherub.  The past ten weeks have flown by it won't be long until we meet you in person.'

In a selfie in hospital with her new son in October last year she wrote:  'He's just so perfect and so good. He was worth every bit of pain. We love you Zakari.'   

Today a taxi driver who has lived on the street next to where the death took place said: 'I have never seen anything like it. Everyone is going mad around here.'

Another nearby neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: 'We looked out of the bedroom window and saw the cordons, that was about 5pm yesterday.  It is just mad, there are no words to be spoken. We don't know the full situation.'

Detective Inspector Wes Knights, who is leading the investigation on behalf of the Major Incident Team, said they want to hear from anyone with 'images or videos which show the incident or the aftermath.'  He said today: 'This is an incredibly tragic incident which has taken the life of a baby boy, who we believe is only around 11-months-old.  His family have understandably been left devastated by what has happened and we have specially trained officers providing them with support at this difficult time.  We currently have a suspect in custody, who will be questioned by detectives later today, however our investigation does not stop there and we need anybody with information to come forward and help us get answers for this little boy's loved ones.  We know that there were a significant number of witnesses to what happened and I want to urge those people to come forward and provide us with as much detail as they can.  It's also possible that other people may have information about the circumstances leading up to the incident, as we know the baby had been in the area for a number of hours beforehand.   We appreciate that the incident has caused a lot of concern locally, which is understandable, but I would ask that people please refrain from speculating on social media about the circumstances and who may or may not have been involved, as this is still a live criminal investigation.  I would also like to say thank you to all those people who tried their best to help retrieve the baby from the river and to all those who have since provided support to the investigation by providing information.'

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said: 'We were called at 4.28pm to a rescue of a person in water in Pilkington Way, Radcliffe.  Fire engines from Whitefield, Farnworth and Eccles attended the incident along with a water incident unit from Eccles.  Crews rescued one casualty who was then handed over to NWAS (North West Ambulance Service).'

Members of the community in Radcliffe have responded to the tragedy on social media, expressing their shock at the incident.  One user commented: 'Totally horrific beyond comprehension.  Worked in Radcliffe, know the area but this is just so utterly horrible.'

Another said: 'Heartbreaking how this can ever be explained as a domestic incident is beyond me. Rest in peace little man.'

A social media user said on Facebook that a candlelight vigil was being prepared to take place tomorrow at the bridge where the incident occurred.  A JustGiving page has also been set up to help pay for the cost of the funeral.  'Weʼre raising £1,000 to the funeral of the local little boy who sadly passed away after he was thrown in the river Irwell.'

By 11am this morning it had already raised £2,300.  Helen Coverdale, who set up the page, said: 'I set the Just Giving page up last night.  Just being a mother, and being a human being, what happened absolutely shook me to my core.  I felt I needed and wanted to do something. If I am being honest I wanted to pick him up and give him a big hug.  When I heard he had passed away everybody was saying they wanted to do something to remember him, something like a headstone or flowers on the bridge.'

The 45-year-old, from Radcliffe, added: 'The response has been amazing, within an hour it was £700.  I put £1,000 that was the target, it has now hit £2,000. 'It shows we are a lovely community.'