Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - PippaJane

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 42
1
Faith / Re: Devotions
« on: March 28, 2024, 11:33:21 AM »
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2023/05/18/numbering-our-days-with-hope?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=257063150&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--qYYKD6OVUxoHaumGEGlhHtVdTG7UeiL1M0OvmRXQg4h1LTxoNdyXxW4nApaR16sdh221iyiET9PZlV-_5bb871UYHtw&utm_content=257063150&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread

Numbering Our Days With Hope
May 18, 2023
by Ruth Chou Simons

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 (ESV)

Do you ever get bogged down in the everyday mundane?

I sure do.  Do you sometimes feel as if the right-now, never-ending emails, to-dos, laundry, homework, conflict resolution, dirty dishes, and carpool lines are always pressing in, always swirling, but never quite getting you anywhere?

Me too.  One of the encouragements I find myself repeating again and again to myself and the women around me is not to let the mundane, everyday tasks of life or the busyness of any particular season rob us of rhythms and priorities that help us know and love Jesus more. We always need the reminder to keep our eyes on our eternal hope in Him.  Maybe it’s my age (let’s just say I’m in my mid-late 40s, shall we?), or maybe it’s the season I’m in (preparing to graduate my oldest child from college and see him off to grad school in another state), but Psalm 90 and its implications have resonated in my heart and mind over the last several months.  The psalmist, often presumed to be Moses, asks God to “teach us to number our days” (Psalm 90:12).

Perhaps what’s most encouraging to me in this passage is the use of the word “teach” because that means it’s normal not to automatically have wisdom for how to live our days purposefully, wisely and rightly motivated. This is something to be learned over time.  Numbering our days means pausing for regular consideration of our days in light of God’s ways recognizing the finite gift of our lives here on earth and gaining “a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12) as we steward what God has given us. This framework gives us permission to live with both courage and caution, simultaneously constrained and carefree. In the big, life-altering decisions and in the everyday mundane.  The eternal hope of Christ gives purpose to our days. There is a destination we’re headed to a hope not yet fully realized and this world is not it.  So numbering our days isn’t about mustering up fervor to “live life to the fullest” or to “carpe diem” our way through life. No, life’s meaning has already been secured by the image of God we carry in us (Genesis 1:27) and the finished work of redemption purchased for us by Jesus (Ephesians 1:7).  What does it mean to number our days, then?

It means rejoicing in our eternal hope and allowing it to shape the choices we make how we spend our time, where we look for encouragement, how we spend money, what entertainment we seek out, and the people we choose to invest in and listen to.  If we consider every day as part of God’s plan to teach us to take our eyes off of our immediate circumstances, we can set our minds on the God who has purposefully placed us in the midst of our current season so that we might live for Him. When we remember that God has numbered our days, we treasure everything that reminds us we already have everything we need in Him.

2
Faith / Re: Devotions
« on: March 28, 2024, 11:27:52 AM »
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2023/05/17/learning-to-calm-and-quiet-your-soul?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=257063106&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--ycxh928hR6b1Cqu8gpea8ucmyNZeXCNDuilCuLY9XDXFl4iCrGeO-nZaeFmz0ZpAPy3Xe7fyg9qK82U7_TSJp6vZrkQ&utm_content=257063106&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread

Learning To Calm and Quiet Your Soul
May 17, 2023
by Sarah J. Hauser

“But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” Psalm 131:2 (ESV)

Many days, my soul feels frantic and overwhelmed, hurried or even heavy. I sometimes lie in bed at night, staring at the ceiling, taking inventory of all I didn’t get done. Or I incessantly Google my questions, seeking solutions to my problems and answers to angst.  Whether I’m juggling everyday responsibilities or processing profound heartache, I so often find myself restless, fearful and uncertain.  Maybe you can relate. Maybe you find yourself bouncing from one task to the next, and the pace of your life leaves not just your body but your soul feeling rushed. Or maybe you’re in a season of grief, and the broken pieces of your heart feel like they’re being tossed around by relentless waves.  No matter your circumstances, you can still find true, deep rest. King David carried the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders. He was chased by his enemies, suffered loss and wrestled with sin. But in Psalm 131:2, he said, “I have calmed and quieted my soul ...”

Having a calm and quiet soul can feel impossible. There’s so much to do in a day, so much to think through, and so many people hurting. How can we have calm and quiet souls in the midst of it all?

In Psalm 131:1, David wrote, “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me” (ESV).

In other words, David humbled himself. He wasn’t arrogant but instead recognized who he was in relation to who God is. Without humility, David wouldn’t have been able to admit his need for rest and his need for God’s care and provision.  Rest requires humility.  Then in the next verse, Psalm 131:2, David said he was like a weaned child with his mother. A weaned child isn’t clamoring for his mother’s milk. A weaned child is content in his mother’s arms, trusting she will provide.  I’ve learned from my four kids that the weaning process isn’t always easy. At first, a weaning child will cry and scream for what he wants, but the mother doesn’t love the child any less because she’s not giving him what he craves. She’s helping that child move from infancy to maturity. She’s still providing what he needs, but what he needs may be different than what he wants.  We are so often screaming babies, clawing at God for what we want and He can handle all our cries and questions. But eventually, a child will recognize that his mother isn’t holding out on him when she doesn’t nurse. He begins to understand that he will be fed.  Like that child calm and quiet in his mother’s arms, we can find rest in the arms of our God. When we humbly trust Him, we can find true, lasting peace, come what may. At times, like the child being weaned, we can feel like God is withholding His provision. But He’s not. He provides what we need when we need it, growing us up so we “may be mature and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4, CSB).

Like David, we can calm and quiet our souls not because life circumstances are peaceful or our unruly to-do lists are finally tamed. Rather, we can calm and quiet our souls because God is a trustworthy, faithful provider who invites us to rest in His arms.

3
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13247695/gogglebox-stars-died-remembered-wake-george-gilbey-death.html

The Gogglebox stars lost over the years: Famous faces on Channel 4 hit no longer with us remembered in the wake of George Gilbey tragedy

By Matt Strudwick

Published: 09:24, 28 March 2024 | Updated: 10:00, 28 March 2024

Gogglebox fans are in mourning following the shock death of George Gilbey, aged 40, in a 'work accident'.  The former Celebrity Big Brother star died yesterday when he fell to the ground while working at height. He died at the scene.  The TV personality's death has rocked fans of the show as tributes poured in on social media.  The father-of-one had a seven-year-old daughter Amelie Iris Gilbey with Gemma Conway in 2016.  George, from Clacton-on-Sea, rose to fame on the second series of Gogglebox with his mother Linda McGarry and step-father Pete in 2013.  MailOnline has taken a look back to remember all of the famous faces of the Channel 4 hit show who are no longer with us. 

Pat Webb

The beloved Gogglebox star died aged 75 in January following a 'long illness'.  Pat, who featured on the show from series 10 to 12 alongside her son Stephen Lustig-Webb.  Stephen, who appeared on the show for 10 years before leaving in 2023, took to Instagram and shared a sweet photo of himself with his mother.   He wrote: 'Mummy Pat, you were one in a million, took everyone at face value, would share your last fiver with a stranger, the salt of the earth and the absolute centre of our world! Rest in peace mum.' 

Pat joined Gogglebox after Stephen's ex-partner Chris Steed left the programme in 2018.  From 2019 until 2023, Stephen appeared alongside his husband Daniel.  Stephen was one of the series' longest-running stars having joined when it first started in 2013.
 
Dave the Rottweiler

Gogglebox's Malone family shared their devastation in October 2023 that their beloved dog Dave had died.  The adorable pooch was known to millions of viewers as he regularly appeared on the Channel 4 show alongside the family Tom Sr, Julie, Shaun and Tom Jr.  The family took to Instagram to share their heartbreak as they confirmed the upsetting news.  They posted a sweet video of the Rottweiler standing on their driveway waiting for Tom Sr to return home alongside a heartfelt caption.  The family gushed over how much their beloved dog Dave meant to them and confessed that they would miss him 'so much'.  They wrote: 'RIP Dave xxx There are no words to describe you, or how much you meant to us.  We are all going to miss you so much.'

Pete McGarry

The step-father of George Gilbey died from bowel cancer in June 2021, aged 71, with his family by his side.  His beloved wife Linda revealed he had been diagnosed with the disease earlier that year but despite a recent operation to remove the tumour, was told he only had six months to live.  He died just days after the prognosis, with the widow telling The Sun: 'Pete was a lovely man and I was so lucky to have him for 25 years.'

A statement issued on behalf of the family announcing his death said: 'Pete will be dearly missed by the entire Gogglebox family, cast and crew. Our thoughts are with Linda, their children and grandchildren.  Since 2000, Pete and Linda have fostered over 100 children and he is a beloved father, husband and grandfather.'

Mary Cook

The TV personality, famed for her witty one-liners, died aged 92 in August 2021. She appeared alongside the show with her best friend Marina Wingrove.  Channel 4 announced the news in a statement that read: 'We are extremely saddened to share that Gogglebox star Mary Cook passed away in hospital this weekend at the age of 92 with her family by her side.  She will be dearly missed by the entire Gogglebox family, cast and crew.'

They added that Mary was a 'beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother and dear friend to many.'

Mary, who worked in the hospitality trade, had been married and widowed twice, and met best friend Marina at St Monica Trust retirement village more than ten years before her death.  The pair joined Gogglebox in 2016 at the start of series eight and became instant fan favourites due to their 'brilliantly witty and often cheeky comments.'

Andy Michael

The Gogglebox star also died in August 2021 aged 61 following a short illness.  The family first appeared on Gogglebox in the debut episode in 2013, but were dropped in 2014 because Mr Michael was running for Ukip in the 2015 General Election. After he failed to secure the Hastings and Rye seat, the family returned for future episodes.  Mr Michael, who won a legion of fans by sharing his unfiltered views on the week's TV alongside his wife Carolyne and children Katy, Alex, Pascal and Louis from their home in Brighton, was the son of immigrant parents from Cyprus.  A family statement, given to the PA news agency at the time, said: 'We are deeply saddened to share the passing of Gogglebox star Andy Michael at the age of 61 following a short illness.  'Andy passed away last weekend with his family by his side. 'Retired hotelier Andy, who brought much wit and insight to Gogglebox, was one of the show's original cast members, appearing in the very first episode in 2013.  Beloved father to Katy, Alex, Pascal and Louis, and cherished husband of Carolyne, Andy was a much-loved and respected member of the Gogglebox family, and he will be very sadly missed.  Our love and thoughts are with Carolyne and the entire family. The family have asked for privacy at this very sad time.'

June and Leon Bernicoff

June died in May 2020 aged 82 - three years after her husband Leon passed away.  The retired teacher died following a short illness and was one of Gogglebox's original cast members alongside her husband.  She left the show in 2018 following Leon's death, aged 83, in December 2017 following a short illness.  A statement from Channel 4 and production company Studio Lambert, on behalf of June's family, said: 'We are deeply saddened to announce that Gogglebox's much-loved June Bernicoff passed away at the age of 82 on May 5 at home with her family by her side after a short illness.  As the first couple to be cast for Gogglebox back in 2013, June and her husband Leon were a huge part of the programme's success.  Their warmth, wit and contrasting personalities endeared them to the nation during the course of the first 10 series.  Following Leon's passing in December 2017, June wrote her first book, Leon And June: Our Story, which was a deeply moving and entertaining chronicle of their 60-year love affair.'

June met Leon at teacher training college in 1955, but kept their relationship a secret for five years, as she knew Leon's Jewish family would not approve due to her Catholic faith.  They married in 1960 and moved into the same Liverpool home that they appeared in during their Gogglebox stint, and had four children and three grandchildren.

Caroline Aherne

The comic great died in 2016 aged 52 following a two year battle with lung cancer.  She starred in The Royle Family as well as the show's specials in 2006 and 2010 before becoming the voice of Gogglebox in 2013.  A statement issued by publicist Neil Reading said: 'Caroline Aherne has sadly passed away, after a brave battle with cancer.  The BAFTA award-winning writer and comedy actor died earlier today at her home in Timperley, Greater Manchester. She was 52.'

Aherne passed away alone at her home in Cheshire because her family were not aware her condition had deteriorated, a family member told The Mirror.  'It was too quick, we didn't expect her to go,' they said. 'She wasn't in a hospice. She was just at home. She left on her own.'

4
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13191273/Iron-lung-man-Paul-Alexander-dead-78-Man-paralysed-suffering-Polio-six-year-old-lived-iron-lung-70-years-dies.html

Iron lung man Paul Alexander dead at 78: Lawyer who was paralysed after suffering Polio as a six year old and lived in an iron lung for 70 years dies

    Paul Alexander contracted polio in 1952 and spent a lifetime in an iron lung
    His team confirmed via his fundraiser that he had died aged 78 on Monday

By James Reynolds

Published: 08:51, 13 March 2024 | Updated: 11:41, 13 March 2024

Paul Alexander, the man who lived in an iron lung for more than 70 years, has died at the age of 78.  A fundraiser for his healthcare confirmed Alexander, of Dallas, Texas, passed away on Monday without providing further details.  Alexander spent an extraordinary lifetime in the iron lung machine after contracting polio in 1952, aged six, which left him paralysed from the neck down.  Unable to breathe by himself, he relied on the machine to breathe for more than seven decades even as new technologies became available.  But in spite of his physical constraints, Alexander achieved much as a published author, lawyer and avid traveller, remembered worldwide for his enduring positive attitude and smile.  Writing on Alexander's GoFundMe page, Christopher Ulmer, organiser and disability-rights activist, said on Tuesday: 'Paul Alexander, “The Man in the Iron Lung”, passed away yesterday.  'After surviving polio as a child, he lived over 70 years inside of an iron lung. In this time Paul went to college, became a lawyer, and a published author.  His story traveled wide and far, positively influencing people around the world.  Paul was an incredible role model that will continue to be remembered.'

Over an extraordinary life, Alexander's determination saw him achieve a number of remarkable achievements.  At 21, he became the first person to graduate from a high school in Dallas without ever attending class in person.  He was accepted into Southern Methodist University in Dallas, after much difficulty with university administration and then got into law school at the University of Texas, Austin.  He pursued his dreams of becoming a trial lawyer, and represented clients in court in a three-piece suit and a modified wheelchair that held his paralysed body upright.  He also staged a sit-in for disability rights and published his own memoir, titled 'Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung'.  The 155-page memoir was carefully crafted and took five years to complete; Paul wrote each word with a pen attached to a stick in his mouth.  Paul outlived both of his parents, his brother and even his original iron lung, which began leaking air in 2015, but was repaired by a mechanic Brady Richards, which was prompted by a YouTube video of Paul pleading for help.  The ventilator, a large yellow metal box, requires patients to lie down inside, with the device fastened tightly around their neck.  It works by creating a vacuum to mechanically draw in oxygen to the lungs for patients whose central nervous system and respiratory function were affected by polio.  While in hospital, doctors tried to get Paul to breathe on his own, turning off the machine and forcing him out, but it wouldn't take long for him to turn blue and pass out.  Despite the availability of more modern ventilators, Paul decided to continue using the iron lung machine because he was used to it.  Other devices also require intensive surgery.  Over his lifetime, Alexander never let the device get in the way of what he wanted to achieve, travelling on planes, living independently, praying in church, visiting the ocean, and falling in love.  While at university, Alexander met Claire, who he later became engaged to. He spoke candidly to The Guardian about how her mother forbade him from speaking to her daughter.  'Took years to heal from that,' he told the outlet.

In later life Alexander built a close relationship with Kathy Gaines, who became his caregiver or 'arms and legs', in his words.  Gaines stepped in to help after Alexander graduated law school, supporting him for more than three decades.  Alexander said the pair 'grew together', Gaines herself legally blind from type-1 diabetes.  Polio is an infectious viral disease that affects the central nervous system respiratory function and can cause muscle weakness and paralysis. It is transmitted through contaminated water and food or contact with an infected person.  It has largely been eradicated around the world after widespread use of the vaccine which came into use in the 1950s.  The disease remains endemic in just four countries today: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Polio was recently eradicated in India following an extensive campaign over a period of some 20 years, successfully ending the epidemic with sustained oral and injected vaccines.

What is polio?

Poliomyelitis is an infectious disease that can cause paralysis or even death.  While efforts to produce vaccines effectively ended the epidemic in the western world by the latter half of the 20th century, polio remained one of the most deadly threats to children well into the 1950s.  Polio spreads from person to person through the ingestion of faecal matter from an infected person, or less commonly through coughs and sneezes.  Despite advances in sanitation and hygiene practices through the 19th century, the number of cases of polio in Europe and America soared through the early 1900s.  In the first stage of contracting the disease, the infection stays in the digestive system and throat. Most babies are able to fight off the disease at this point without it becoming debilitating, developing immunity.  Children who develop the disease later on are often less well prepared to fight it without having developed resistance, which can see polio enter a second, more aggressive stage, affecting the central nervous system.  Awareness of how diseases spread in unsanitary conditions saw great steps forward in overcoming epidemics in cholera and typhoid, but the reduced exposure to the polio virus in youth meant many children caught the disease later in development by the 20th century, with horrifying consequences.

Sources: Science Museum, NHS

6
General Discussion / UNKNOWN SOLDIER
« on: February 28, 2024, 11:47:06 AM »
UNKNOWN SOLDIER
By Deirdre Reilly

Although it is summertime now, one way to keep Christmas in your heart all year long is to remember the lessons of Christmas throughout the year. This brings me to recall something very special that happened to two men and three children, and bears repeating.    

Very early in the morning last December, my husband and my eight year old son happened across a United States Army soldier on an exit ramp near the town where we live. It was a very cold Sunday morning, when frost lay on the ground and tree limbs were stark and twisted against a thick gray sky. Not too many other cars were out, and those who were out were hurrying to get somewhere, exhaust coming from each car in warm-looking puffs as they glided down the highway, frost still on the windshields. My husband and son were coming home from my son's 6 AM hockey game, and looking forward to getting breakfast out together and then returning home, where the rest of us lay dreaming.  As my husband approached the end of the ramp the soldier got out of his car, a grey Maxima that had broken down. The soldier was in full dress uniform, and was cold, and very young; early twenties, my husband guessed. My husband pulled over to see what he could do to help. The soldier needed a cell phone, he said he was going to call his girlfriend to see if she could come and get him and his two daughters his daughters were bundled into the cold car and bring them back home to Derry, NH, where they lived.  My husband looked into the car and saw the soldier's four year old, dressed in her best party dress, and a baby, zipped up to her chin into her thick snuggly. The three of them had been on their way to a Christmas party at the Boston barracks when the car had chosen that time to die. At this point, the soldier was just trying to get home; the party had been given up on. The little girl grinned at my husband from the back seat, and I know he must have grinned back at her, too.  My husband moved the little girls into our car, where the four year old proceeded to become very interested in my eight year old "she was patting me," he reported in a resigned way to me later, upon the re-telling of their memorable morning and the men talked about the young soldier's options.

My husband told me that this young man was, to him, a soldier first someone who already, with his young life, done much for us just by his service but he was also a young man who still didn't have all the answers. We have a son of our own who is just a few years younger than this soldier who was sitting beside him. The soldier didn't have Triple A, and he had no one to call for help. As the baby stared, round-eyed, at them all, my husband offered his Triple A for a tow, and then offered to take the soldier and the children into Boston for the party. The soldier had decided to just try to get back home, and so they called for the tow and my husband offered to drive the three of them back to New Hampshire.  They chatted as they waited; my husband commented that the Christmas party sure was early, if they had been on the road at six in the morning, and the soldier commented that "the army does everything early."

They all sat together, my family and his, and then headed up north after the tow truck came, the soldier's broken-down car following behind them.  There is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, guarded twenty-four hours a day with honor in Washington, D.C., but there is also the living Unknown Soldier, among us every day. Crippled by war, perhaps, or mentally ravaged by what he has seen in a country far away, or maybe just young, and needing a hand with the stuff of everyday life they are here, with us right now. We are sometimes stymied by the American soldier how do you begin to thank people who pick up a gun and say good-bye to everyone who matters and fly far away because they believe in protecting the country we all live in?    

Sometimes, you give them a cell phone and your Triple A, and make sure their children are warm. My husband watched the uniformed soldier and his dressed-up little girls climb the steps of their big old three-family house, where toys dotted the yard and the frost was beginning to thaw and show the green underneath. My husband was reluctant to talk about this to me, downplaying the aid he had offered. But eight year olds sing like canaries. I think my husband feels that at the end of the day, it was just one dad helping another dad get his children home. And one man helping another, too, trying, through his actions to say thank you very much, Unknown Soldier, for all you have given up and gone through and laid down for all of us, even though to you, we are Unknown Americans.

7
Faith / Re: Devotions
« on: February 20, 2024, 06:24:20 PM »
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2023/05/02/how-to-embrace-and-overcome-adversity?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=255008731&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8jsCZMompLEKlyqB8hw2XvlbwG5sgSuEqHPvFOYz3wL4DZsP4oxRt5wT96A5O0LjdLIpli1hoUAmOExhvVMXDtDWS1wQ&utm_content=255008731&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread

How To Embrace and Overcome Adversity
May 2, 2023
by Rebekah Lyons

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed …” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (ESV)

My daughter, Joy, is an overcomer of adversity.  She was born with Down syndrome in a country that doesn’t deal well with differences. She was dropped off at the doorstep of a police station. She was moved from orphanage to orphanage.  Though we know we made the right decision, her adoption into our family meant she had to learn a new country and language. She has shown incredible resilience in the few short years she’s been with our family.  Joy has been with us for four years now, and her night terrors have slowly faded. It has taken some time, with relapses along the way, but she has adapted to our family and life in the United States. She plays with friends, attends school and loves church. She embraces new challenges, and though she couldn’t say it quite this way, she allows each of those experiences to change her. Joy is our family’s living, breathing example of resilience.  I’ve found myself challenged by Joy, asking God to put a little of her resilience into my own life. She reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s teaching about the power of the gospel living in us:  “But we have this treasure [the gospel of Jesus] in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:7-9, ESV).

Since bringing Joy home, I’ve contemplated these words, trying to understand what they mean for me in my own quest to cultivate resilience in the midst of chaos.  I’ve discovered that the Bible doesn’t promise we’ll have easy, carefree lives if we follow Jesus. In fact, it teaches quite the opposite. As believers in Christ, we’re bound to suffer even more adversity as we live countercultural lives in a world antagonistic to our faith. We will be afflicted, perplexed, persecuted and struck down. Still, Paul promised that if we face inevitable adversity head-on with the power of the gospel and we practice inner renewal day by day, we can cultivate a life of resilience.  Adversity can come as the result of choices we make but can also come in the form of hardship that happens to us. What kind of adversity have you been through?

Maybe it's losing a job, a loved one, a marriage. Or starting a job, raising a child, committing to marriage. Realizing you don’t have enough money to pay the bills. Discovering that you can’t bear children or that the child you bore has a life-threatening addiction. Caring for a parent with a disease that requires significant medical attention. Maybe you’re the parent who needs caring for.

And when we face adversity, our bodies freak out. Our anxiety spikes in difficult times, our tempers shorten, and our instinct is to reach for coping mechanisms.  The good news is that we are not locked into our current fears, anxieties or ways of thinking. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind …” (ESV).

We renew our minds by doing what Colossians 3:2 says: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (ESV).

We can invite God into our struggle and share our overwhelm, asking Him to reveal what He wants to gift us in this season. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (ESV).

Adversity will try to take you out. But if you allow God to lead you in and through adversity, you can emerge a more resilient person.

8
Disgusting people  :angry037:

9
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13103789/what-happened-Fred-Rosemary-Wests-children-stephen-wright.html

What happened to Fred and Rosemary West's children: Almost 30 years after 'house of horrors' was found, STEPHEN WRIGHT reveals how some live in fear, others have built happy lives while a few were cut down by fresh tragedy

By Stephen Wright

Published: 13:49, 20 February 2024 | Updated: 14:31, 20 February 2024

For some three decades, Barry West had tried to escape the ghosts of his childhood.  As a schoolboy, he had been given a new identity and moved to a different part of the country a place of safety to help him bury the nightmare of his upbringing.  But the odds were stacked against him. And when his body was discovered slumped over a table by a mental health support worker, it seemed almost inevitable. He'd suffered for years from post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression and long-term drug addiction.  Death at the age of 40 would have been a release from the horrors he witnessed as a child at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, the notorious address where his parents Fred and Rose West slaughtered nine girls and young women including Barry's older sister Heather.  His passing from an overdose in supported living accommodation was not a violent end like those of the poor souls who suffered at the hands of his parents.  But it marked yet another tragedy in one of Britain's most shocking homicide cases.  It is 30 years ago this month that the West murders first came to light. On Thursday, February 24, 1994, police turned up at Cromwell Street with a warrant to search the garden for Heather's body. Two days later, they unearthed a human bone.  I reported on the case extensively for the Mail from those early days as more and more bodies were being discovered, through to the trial of mother-of-eight Rose at Winchester Crown Court in the Autumn of 1995. Her co-killer Fred had taken his life in a Birmingham jail on New Year's Day that year, mistakenly believing his death would spare her prison.  I sat through every day of Rose's seven-week trial. She was convicted of ten murders and told she would die in jail. It was a case which, for me, redefined the meaning of the word 'evil'.  What the victims went through how they were abused, tortured and raped before being killed and dismembered was utterly terrifying.  Over the years, many books have been written about the West case and countless TV documentaries made. All have focused largely on the killers and those they slaughtered.  But there is another category of victim whose stories have not been reported so widely. These are the West children, brought up in the most depraved and dysfunctional family imaginable.  Before the discovery of Heather's butchered remains under the patio at Cromwell Street in February 1994 the moment when the true horrors of the house started to unfold the Wests' offspring suffered abhorrent sexual abuse, repeated physical beatings and shocking mental torment.  It was not unusual for Fred to force them to watch video recordings of their prostitute mother (who worked under the name 'Mandy') having sex with customers upstairs. Three of her daughters were fathered by her customers.  Here was a home where, when Fred and Rose were not killing, life revolved around debauchery and sexual abuse. In evidence at Winchester that sent a chill down my spine, a witness recalled hearing a child scream 'stop it Daddy' from another room in the middle of the night.  How could anyone raised in such a warped environment not be affected by it?

How do you cope with being a child of arguably Britain's most evil couple ever?

Make no mistake, each of the West children were victims. As was Anne Marie West, Fred's daughter from his marriage to his first wife Rena. Nobody who heard her harrowing testimony when she gave evidence against her stepmother Rose will ever forget it.  Fred, who murdered Rena in 1971, repeatedly raped Anne Marie from the age of eight and made her pregnant when she was 15. And though she fled Cromwell Street, avoiding the fate of her dead half-sister Heather, her suffering did not stop.  Now 59, Anne Marie once gave a tearful, heartbreaking account of life with Fred and Rose in a TV documentary interview but she has not spoken publicly about her ordeal for many years.  Her stepbrother Barry also managed to escape the family home, albeit as a result of social services' intervention, but he was never able to shake off his appalling past. Now his harrowing story and those of some of his other siblings, who have tried desperately to rebuild their lives, can be told.  Barry John West, born at Gloucester Maternity Hospital on June 16, 1980, was named after Barry Island in South Wales where the family went on day trips. The Wests' second son was just 15 when his mother went on trial for serial murder.  He was one of five West children the others being Tara, Louise, Rosemary Junior and Lucyanna taken into care in August 1992 after police and social services became concerned about their welfare.  The authorities acted after one child, who was being repeatedly abused by Fred, showed a school friend the wounds to her body after one particularly brutal assault.  Fred was charged and Rose was subsequently accused in court of aiding and abetting rape and buggery of a daughter. But the trial collapsed the following year after their children, in a sign of the complicated relationship between the abused and their abusers, declined to give evidence against them.  Nevertheless, those five children would never return to Fred's and Rose's care, and police stepped up inquiries into the fate of Heather, who had disappeared aged 16 in 1987. In time, this led to that search of the Cromwell Street garden and the discovery of her body.  As Fred confessed to more and more murders, police switched attention to the cellar, where further butchered human remains were found.  Fred and Rose had targeted not only their own children, but live-in nannies, teenagers in care enticed to Cromwell Street with the promise of a bed and companionship, and young women lured into the couple's car wrongly feeling secure because of Rose's presence in the front passenger seat.  Some were kept alive for just hours, others for days during which, bound and gagged, they endured repeated sexual assaults before being murdered. Police found hooks drilled into rafters in the cellar, their use not hard to imagine. At least one victim had had plastic tubes stuffed into her nostrils through masking tape wrapped around her face.  By the time all this emerged, Barry had been given a new identity (which for legal reasons we are not disclosing) and moved to a new home well away from Gloucester.  As he moved into adulthood, he lived an itinerant life and was registered on the electoral roll at a series of addresses. He also spent time at Priory House, a mental health unit in the Home Counties.  His death he was found slumped over the table by his support worker on the morning of August 28, 2020 sparked internal investigations at the local county council.  Medical records revealed Barry had a complex medical and mental health history including an opioid addiction and a history of heroin misuse dating back 19 years. He had tried to take his own life in 2015 and there had been 'many overdoses'.  The coroner ruled that he had died as a result of misadventure following 'voluntary injections of pain relieving medication' including morphine, codeine and pregabalin, an anti-anxiety treatment.  A family friend said: 'Barry's was a difficult and tragic life. He was a very complicated, unhappy person and was badly damaged. He was 40 when he died but it was like talking to a much younger, immature person.' The friend added: 'He never found peace, he never escaped the ghosts of his past.'

His elder sister Mae, who had not been taken into care, also found life after Cromwell Street very challenging. Her 2018 memoir, 'Love as Always, Mum xxx', laid bare her on-going anguish.  She described how Fred often put 'hard core porn' videos on TV for his children to watch some featuring 'mum and her clients'.  'Dad didn't make any secret of the fact he sometimes filmed her having sex,' she said. '...I used to find it completely repulsive.'

She added: 'We always knew about their interest in kinky sex: they never tried to hide it from us. They'd leave porn magazines lying around the house, along with bondage gear: masks, rubber suits, whips and the like. It wasn't unusual for us kids to come across dildos, vibrators and other sex toys just lying around the house. It amused Dad, more than anything, to see how we reacted.'

Rose used to ask Mae to answer the doorbell when clients arrived and would disappear upstairs with them, sometimes several clients over a period of hours.  Yet she still has happy childhood memories, and reminisces about family holidays in the countryside. 'My siblings and I all came to believe that, however strange and distressing things might be within the four walls of our house, we needed to stick together,' she said.

Today mother-of-two Mae, 51, lives at a secret location and remains in constant fear of being revealed as a West child. 'The shadows of the past remain,' she has said.

'Knowing your parents are regarded by most people as evil beyond belief is incredibly hard to live with I've found it very hard to deal with the assumption some people have had that my sisters, brothers and I grew up to think our parents' cruel and bizarre behaviour was normal. That couldn't be further from the truth.'

In her book, she added: 'I still see [sisters] Tara and Louise regularly. The three of us are in intermittent contact with our other brother and two sisters, even though they're scattered far and wide across the country, have new identities and are leading their own lives.  I know the abused can become abusers, and in my parents' case that was true. I strongly believe that this doesn't have to be the case. The cycle can be broken. My own children have grown up free of the terrible consequences of physical or sexual abuse.'

In a 2020 podcast her brother Stephen, who was born in 1973 and has not had an easy life himself, revealed he had not had any contact with his jailed mother for more than 20 years. He explained it was 'important' for him to cut his ties with her.  He said: 'In 1999, she called with hate and was blaming me for everything. She said I should have died when I was born and all that sort of stuff. It was a disgrace.'

Tara, born in 1977, was the first of three of Rose's illegitimate daughters conceived with black clients while she was working as a prostitute at Cromwell Street and at other locations.  One of Rose's favourite haunts, which she frequented with one particular regular called Rosco, was the Tara Hotel which gave rise to the name she chose for her daughter.  Tara moved out of the Gloucester area, changed her name and has struggled to form relationships.  Speaking in 1999, Tara said: 'I hate showing my tender side to men. I think it is a weakness. I pretend I am hard. I just can't say "I love you". I fear rejection because of my upbringing. I never said "I love you" to Mum and the love I gave Dad was just used by him.'

She had a string of broken romances behind her. 'A lot of men just can't handle the fact that my Mum and Dad are Fred and Rose West. I told one bloke and he literally ran out of the house. He was so scared.'

She used to visit her mother twice a year in prison and wrote to her frequently. She also met up with her brother Stephen and older sister Mae to talk about the past. 'We don't talk about the sad things. We try and remember the good times,' she said in 1999.  Sometimes she used to see Barry and her two other sisters, Rosemary Junior and Lucyanna, who have also started new lives away from Gloucester. Lucyanna went to university and is now working as a therapist in a different part of the country.  Now 46, Tara was last known to be living in a neat semi-detached house in a quiet town in the North of England.  Three decades have passed since the horrors of 25 Cromwell Street were first revealed to the world. The story of the West children is one of very mixed fortunes. But what of their monstrous mother?

In the months leading up to her trial, while researching the background of the case, I was introduced to a Roman Catholic nun who had comforted Rose at a remand prison near Bristol. Sister Paul gave me a letter Rose had sent to her.

It gives an extraordinary insight into the mind of Britain's most prolific female serial killer. Full of spelling mistakes, Mrs R.P West, as she called herself, wrote the letter at H Wing at Durham Prison where she was held in the run-up to her trial.  'We have a lovely chapel and I have meet (sic) the chaplins (sic) who are all very friendly,' she wrote. 'It was great to go to church on Sunday, and to praye (sic) together with other inmates and to share the closeness of God with them. I have made lots of friends here and I'm never short of a kiss or a hug when it is needed.'

Of course, her supposed conversion to Christianity was a lie. She has never come clean about what really happened at Cromwell Street, or said whether, as many suspect, there are more bodies to be found.  John Bennett, the highly respected ex-Detective Superintendent who led the police case, told my Mail+ True Crime podcast he believes Rose will take her secrets to the grave.  'I doubt very much that she will ever say anything more than she's already said, which is absolutely nothing at all,' he said. 'I think she is now  institutionalised. She's quite comfortable with being who she is, and where she is, and her personal circumstances. There is no gain for her whatsoever to make further admissions or to assist anybody.'

And as her former solicitor Leo Goatley wrote in his 2019 book Understanding Fred and Rose West, she likes prison: 'I know Rose accepted prison as the location of her being, as her domain and her domicile. The all-female environment also suited Rose's lesbian preferences, as her various relationships (including with Moors murderess Myra Hindley) verify. She can sew and knit, prepare meals, adorn her cell, watch television make her cell space pretty much as she want its.'

As another landmark anniversary approaches in this most macabre of cases, will she reflect on her evil deeds including the murder of her own flesh and blood?

Probably not. For her, life behind bars at high security HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire where a recent arrival is serial baby killer Lucy Letby is good. How sickening it is to consider that she is probably the happiest of the surviving West family.  About 200 miles from her jail, there is a 19th century church in Monmouthshire with an unusual grave. It is here 'in God's acre' at St Michael's Church in Tintern Parva that can be found the final resting place of Heather West.  Her grave is adorned with trinkets, mementoes, flowers and icons including a stone hand-painted with her name. It has recently been scrubbed to remove old lichen and moss.  She is watched over by a carved angel and the dedication reads: 'In our hearts, There lives a memory, Of a love, That once was ours.' A further inscription bears the dates of her short life which ended in 1986.  But one thing really stands out: only Heather's first name is on the headstone.  Minister Jan Pain said: 'It is unusual for a headstone to have just the person's first name and not their surname but in this case you can see why Heather's nearest and dearest might want to distance her from any association with West.'

Heather's sister Mae, who was in charge of her funeral, explained: 'I didn't want the name West used. To do that, would have defiled her memory.'

For Barry, that association with the word 'West' and the memories it stirred up was simply too much to bear.

Special Reporting: Simon Trump

The fates of the children

Barry: Died aged 40 in August 2020 after years of depression and long-term drug addiction

Tara: Aged 46, one of three of Rose's illegitimate daughters conceived with clients

Rosemary Junior: Started a new life away from Gloucester

Lucyanna: Went to university and now works as a therapist

Louise: Given a new identity but in intermittent contact with her siblings

Heather: Murdered by Fred and Rose and buried under the patio. Remains discovered in 1994

Mae: Aged 51, now a mother-of-two and lives in a secret location

Anne Marie: Fred's daughter from his first marriage with Rena. Now 59

10
Fun, Games And Silliness / Re: Movies and Actors
« on: February 13, 2024, 05:25:14 PM »
Adam Driver

11
allowed

12
Fun, Games And Silliness / Re: Keep A Word, Drop A Word, Add A Word
« on: February 13, 2024, 05:14:23 PM »
dinner plate

13
Fun, Games And Silliness / Re: Word Association
« on: February 13, 2024, 05:13:35 PM »
time

14
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13045957/wimbledon-school-crash-footage-selena-lau-death.html

Heartbreaking footage shows Wimbledon crash victim Selena Lau, eight, playing the piano at an end-of-term tea party before Land Rover smashed into grounds of school killing her and another classmate

    Selena's parents say they are desperate for answers and justice seven months on

By Danya Bazaraa

Published: 10:33, 5 February 2024 | Updated: 11:57, 5 February 2024

Heartbreaking footage shows eight-year-old Selena Lau beautifully playing the piano moments before she was killed when a 4x4 ploughed into an end of term party at her Wimbledon school.  Selena, who was a pupil at The Study Prep, was performing at a concert before the £80,000 Land Rover crashed through the primary school's gates during an end of term picnic which followed last July.  Shortly after she was given a warm round of applause and the concert finished, pupils and their families went outside for the picnic, where the car smashed through a fence. Selena and her friend Nuria Sajjad, also eight, were both killed in the incident while dozens of other children and parents were injured.  Seven months on from the tragedy, a video of Selena playing Scott Joplin's ragtime classic The Entertainer has been released by the Times. It is the last video made of Selena before her death.  Selena's parents Franky and Jessie Lau, both 45, treasure the clip of their daughter's faultless performance, but have spoken out about being desperate for answers and justice.  They also revealed in a new, emotional interview with Talk TV that they suffer flashbacks and nightmares, saying they are 'suffering every day' and sharing their agonising frustration over the long-running police investigation.  The couple broke down in tears as they spoke about their 'funny, cheeky daughter' and admitted they are haunted by guilt over not being with her when she died.  A police update also confirms a 46-year-old woman from Wimbledon who was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving is currently released under investigation.  Jessie wept as she recalled seeing her daughter's body. 'I first saw her lying on a bed near the reception area. So alone with a tube in her mouth, blood stains and bruises on her face. It comes flashing back every day, every night, and I wish that was me lying there not her, I wish I could swap with her, I'd give anything I have to have her back.'

Recounting the phone call from Selena's school receptionist, Selena's mother said: 'She was like, 'Just come, something really serious has happened at school. I thought it may be a broken arm, I didn't expect anything else. Her voice was shaking, and she was like, 'You have to come now.'

'I was thinking why don't you take her to the hospital, it takes me an hour to get there. It doesn't make sense to wait for me to go to the hospital. And then I start crying.'

Franky, who had been working from home, had already made his way to the school. He said: 'There was so much traffic at that point because the school was cordoned off. All the police were there I caused a bit of a scene outside and they took me inside to the hall. And I saw my mum and a friend, the parents there, and they just came to me and said Selena's gone.'

Video of Selena playing piano at a concert on the tragic day has also emerged. But shortly after she was given a warm round of applause and the concert finished, pupils and their families went outside for the picnic, where the car smashed through a fence.  Selena's parents Franky and Jessie treasure the clip of their daughter's faultless performance, but have spoken out about being desperate for answers and justice.  Jessie told the Times: 'It was the end of my world.'

Franky added: 'Each day it drags on, we are replaying what happened. We just want answers and justice. We are owed answers to what happened to our daughter.'

Selena's father Franky told Talk TV he will always regret not attending her final piano performance that fateful afternoon: 'We replay that day in our head every day. Was there anything we could have done to make that not happen?  Should I have gone to see the performance? She would have been speaking to me for an extra few seconds, which would have made all the difference.  If it rained, they wouldn't be having the picnic outside. All these different scenarios, every day.'

The pain and uncertainty is also taking a heavy toll on Selena's twelve-year-old sister. 'They were best buddies since the day Selena was born, doing piano, netball, dancing and singing classes together,' said Jessie.

'Now she's withdrawn from all those activities. That's not fun anymore. She's been sobbing at night because they used to listen to songs together before going to sleep and chat. She's been crying on her own.'

Police said a 46-year-old woman from Wimbledon who was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving is currently released under investigation. Enquiries are ongoing.  Detective Chief Superintendent Clair Kelland, in charge of policing for south west London, told MailOnline: 'Our thoughts remain with the families of Nuria and Selena who we know are greatly loved and missed.  This was a tragic incident and we understand that the families want and need answers as to what happened.   We are continuing to give them specialist support through our dedicated family liaison officers who are providing updates on the investigation where they can.  Specialist detectives are working tirelessly to establish the circumstances of that day, including analysing CCTV and examining the expert report from forensic collision investigators.  The incident involved the large scale deployment of joint resources from the Met, LAS and LFB and we are working closely with them, as well as the Crown Prosecution Service, as part of our investigation.  We recognise that the time taken can cause further distress but it is only right and fair to all involved that we carry out a thorough and extensive investigation.'

Heartbroken family members previously described Selena as a 'cheeky' young girl who was 'adored by everyone'.  Selena's classmates said she was 'beautiful inside and out'.  Tributes left alongside flowers outside the school described Selena as a 'star'. One said: 'You will always be our shining star. We will miss you so much.'

Another note left for Selena from one of her friends read: 'I will never forget you.'

* The full interview with Selena's parents can be seen on TalkTV on the Vanessa Feltz show. 

15
Faith / Re: Devotions
« on: January 31, 2024, 01:12:13 PM »
httpsrs://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2023/04/20/what-if-the-person-im-struggling-to-forgive-is-me?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=252894622&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9WWqBYt6_GmIN8A3Je4wUxzlCiBOX-H7-SiWXZ7exB-kr_Xsu6936lGUghxz7luz4YaM4ky3q6iZ7sbNL-JhTSdfTDSg&utm_content=252894622&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread

What if the Person I'm Struggling To Forgive Is Me?
APRIL 20, 2023
by Lysa TerKeurst

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Psalm 32:5 (NIV)

Do you ever feel like the hardest person to forgive is actually yourself?

I understand this. Deeply. I so wish we were sitting together having a conversation right now instead of you just reading these words on a screen. But while you're reading, I’d love to share my story with you.  When I was in my early 20s, I made a decision that, with everything in me, I wished I could go back and change. I had an abortion. Knowing nothing could be done to reverse that decision filled me with the deepest kind of despair. Afterward, every time I heard others talking harshly about abortion, I was filled with shame. It felt like a life sentence I would never be healed from.  I would say, “I can’t forgive myself.” What I meant was, “I don’t think forgiveness is possible for a person like me. And I don’t think I’ll ever be free from the shame of what I’ve done.”

Maybe this is where you are right now struggling to overcome feelings of shame and regret from choices you wish you could go back and change.   That’s why it feels so important to share with you what I’ve learned. When I researched the concept of forgiving ourselves, I was a little shocked to discover it’s not in the Bible. I started to realize that just like we can’t accomplish salvation apart from God, we can’t bestow forgiveness upon ourselves. Forgiveness starts with God.  Since we are not the judge, we can’t pardon ourselves. So when we feel like we are struggling with forgiveness for ourselves, what’s really happening is a struggle to fully receive the forgiveness of God.  Jesus gave His very life to provide forgiveness for our sins, which isn’t just a part of the Christian faith.  Forgiveness is the very cornerstone of the Christian faith. Forgiveness for our sins isn’t just a hope we have; it is the greatest reality for all who choose to receive salvation through accepting Jesus as the Lord of their lives.  Often what keeps us from walking as forgiven people is the struggle with feelings of shame and regret. These are very heavy burdens to bear. In my own life, I’ve carried many burdens. But the weight of shame is by far the heaviest I’ve ever known.  It’s a burden God doesn’t want any of us to carry.  And I’m so thankful for these three things that eventually helped me fully receive His forgiveness and get out from underneath shame’s condemning weight:

1. I needed to have a marked moment of confessing, repenting and asking God for forgiveness.
Psalm 32:5 reads, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” I couldn’t do this by myself because I wanted someone, a witness, who could forever remind me I had asked for God’s forgiveness and was therefore forgiven. I also verbalized out loud that I received God’s forgiveness, so I could have a definite memory of acknowledging His gift of mercy.

2. I had to remember that shame and accusation come from the enemy.
Satan will do everything possible to try and keep us from sharing a testimony of the forgiveness and redemption of Jesus. And the enemy loves to hold people hostage to shame by keeping what they did hidden in the darkness. I was terrified to tell people what I’d done. But I did tell God I would share my story if ever I met a young girl in danger of making the same uninformed decision as I did. When I eventually let God use my painful choice for good, I started to see glimpses of redemption. Seeing God take what the enemy meant for such evil and use it for good didn’t take away my grief, but it did start to heal my shame.

3. I let my experience make my heart tender and compassionate.
Knowing what it feels like to make a mistake gives us more compassion when others make mistakes. This isn’t excusing unwise behavior in the name of compassion. But at the same time, having an attitude of compassion helps us not to shame others. I don’t ever want another human to carry the awful weight of shame, and I probably would not be as sensitive to others as I am now if I hadn’t ever carried that weight myself.

Shame isn’t from God, and He doesn't condemn those who repent of sin. Confess what you’ve done. Ask for God’s forgiveness. Receive His forgiveness. And then walk in His freedom. You can live the greatest testimony of truth the testimony of redemption.

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 42