Who Killed Jesus?

There was a day, as I took my walks abroad, when I came hard by a spot for ever engraven upon my memory, for there I saw this Friend, my best, my only Friend, murdered. I stooped down in sad affright, and looked at Him. I saw that His hands had been pierced with rough iron nails, and His feet had been rent in the same way. There was misery in His dead countenance so terrible that I scarcely dared to look upon it. His body was emaciated with hunger, His back was red with bloody scourges, and His brow had a circle of wounds about it: clearly could one see that these had been pierced by thorns. I shuddered, for I had known this Friend full well. He never had a fault. He was the purest of the pure, the holiest of the holy. Who could have injured Him? For He never injured any man. All His life long He went about doing good. He had healed the sick. He had fed the hungry. He had raised the dead. For which of these works did they kill Him? He had never breathed out anything else but love and as I looked into the poor sorrowful face, so full of agony and yet so full of love, I wondered who could have been a wretch so vile as to pierce hands like His. I said within myself, "Where can these traitors live? Who are these that could have smitten such an One as this? Had they murdered an oppressor, we might have forgiven them. Had they slain one who had indulged in vice or villainy, it might have been his desert. Had it been a murderer & a rebel, or one who had committed sedition, we would have said, "Bury his corpse. Justice has at last given him his due." But when Thou wast slain, my best, my only beloved, where lodged the traitors? Let me seize them, and they shall be put to death. If there be torments that I can devise, surely they shall endure them all. Oh! what jealousy, what revenge I felt. If I might but find these murderers, what would I not do with them. And as I looked upon that corpse, I heard a footstep and wondered where it was. I listened and I clearly perceived that the murderer was close at hand. It was dark and I groped about to find him. I found that somehow or other wherever I put out my hand, I could not meet with him for he was nearer to me than my hand would go. At last I put my hand upon my breast. "I have thee now," said I, for lo, he was in my own heart. The murderer was hiding within my own bosom, dwelling in the recesses of my inmost soul. (CH Spurgeon - The Early Years)

Isaiah 53 v5 'He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement for our peace was upon Him & by His stripes we are healed'

Astronomy Project

Just thought I'd share a pretty cool model of the solar system which the kids made - I'm learning more than they are atm.

Salmon for Supper

After fishing for months, for little in return, D finally caught the big one last night - a 6lb 7oz Wild Atlantic Salmon.

Invasion of the Pumpkins

Several months ago I chopped back the pumpkin plants thinking it would contain them - bad move - they retaliated & took over the whole tunnel to the detriment of everything else planted. Davey has banned me from planting them next year but I'll probably sneak 1 or 2 plants in anyway! Going to try my hand at pumpkin pie & soup tonight.

Slave Labour

Almost 81 & still working like a Trojan - I don't think he'll ever retire! Dad's latest project is laying a path to the polytunnel with the help of his young apprentice.

Update on the Good Life

One of the hens was sitting on 18 eggs. Don't think she could cope with that many so we've moved her to the small ark on her own & have left just 8 eggs for her to sit on. The Jersey Giant is clocking under the hen ark for the 4th time - the last 3 times her eggs have disappeared in spite of her sitting faithfully on them. As there have been no sign of egg shells, I assume that Shadow has got into the pen & eaten them. We're hoping to get a boar soon for Holly to try & get a litter of piglets before Christmas. 6 Black turkeys are on order so we hope to get them in the next week or two. Sweetcorn has reached the roof of the poly tunnel & pumpkins are taking over the rest of the poly tunnel. We're going to plant potatoes tomorrow - we're a couple of months late but it'll be an experiment to see if they still grow. Might try a few in the poly to see what happens. Not sure that I'd like to live the Good Life for real but it's nice to try & imitate it in some small way!

Impending Sex Education for 4 Year Olds

As a mother of 5, the only questions that I can recall being asked about the facts of life are:
1) Where do babies come from &
2) How do they get out of your tummy.

"Questions that only the education system can handle & we'd better start teaching them at 4 years old or our children might grow up not being able to handle relationships!!"

I wonder who has decided, once again, to raise issues that are not really anything to do with concern about our children but rather from their own desires to see our children taught that their perverse way of life is acceptable & that those who oppose their views are narrow minded & religious fanatics. The above questions can be & have been answered for centuries by loving mothers in a way that the child's natural curiosity is satisfied without the child being bombarded with facts that are really not necessary. This new debate, which I have no doubt will eventually find it's way into the curriculum unless Christians start taking a stand. One reason given for the impending changes are that nowadays children are watching things on TV that may be confusing for them. No one has yet said that as parents we ought to be overseeing & protecting our children from watching anything on TV that needs an explanation. Today's children are being exposed to things that no other generation has been exposed to - men with men & women with women. Personally, my stomach turns if anything like that were to pop up while turning over programmes - I certainly don't want to have to explain it to my child or have it taught to them as normal when it's very much abnormal. Even if people don't believe in God, nature itself shows that women were made for men & not men for men. Britain used to be a great country but not anymore - I wonder what catastrophes are in store for it in the future.