Archive for the ‘news’ Category

No Hope

Posted: January 16, 2013 in bible, Christmas, clothing, family, finance, Food, holiday, life, music, news, politics, poverty, religion, television, UK
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There are many people in this world who feels as if their life has no hope. I personally find that very sad and am challenged to do something about that. Surely as Christians we must work together in Christ to let these people know that there is hope and that Christ can provide them with all they need.

I found myself getting very upset while watching various adverts that restarted on TV over the Christmas period, and are still continuing now – I’m sure if you’re in the UK you’ll have seen them too – various charities asking us to donate money to help them provide assistance and aid to adults, children and animals in third world countries and in our own country…boy do they pull at our heart-strings, don’t they!

I’ve now got to the stage where I have to go out the room now when these adverts are on as I just get too upset otherwise. What really gets me in these adverts is that they talk about the children and adults in these countries having “no hope”. Saying they have no hope suggests that no matter what any of us try to do for these folks, it will be futile. I however believe, as I’m sure many of you will too, that as long as there is God, there is hope.

Psalm 62:4-5 (NLT)

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.

Never give up hope, because God is still here!

You Can’t Do That!

Posted: January 11, 2013 in clothing, Crime, family, Food, friendship, Health, homeless, language, life, love, news, politics, poverty, pray, religion
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You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.~  Abraham Lincoln or Rev. William J. H. Boetcker.

As the above words say, these are not the ways in which to improve situations and try to make this world a better place, but that doesn’t mean we should simply give up trying. In fact, instead of giving up we should try harder to do what God wants us to do, because He has a plan for our lives and He alone can help us achieve those goals. By achieving our goals God will ensure we help others in their Christian journey.

Philippians 2:1-4 (The Message)

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favour: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Heart Attack!

Posted: November 3, 2012 in family, friendship, Health, heart, hospital, life, news
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I’ve been reminded all too often in the last year or so, how easy it can be to miss and/or ignore the signs of a heart attack…particularly if you are a female. From what I’ve been told, and what I’ve read. some of the symptoms experienced by women when they are having a heart attack can can different from the more familiar symptoms which men suffer.

I therefore thought it would useful to remind you females, what signs and symptoms you should look out for, as recognising the signs of a heart attack in either yourself or someone you know, could save a life!

So here’s some heart attack symptoms women should look out for:

  • Heavy pressure on the chest, not necessarily pain, but like there’s a heavy weight on the centre of left side of your chest. It may come and go and can be mistaken for indigestion.
  • Shortness of breath that comes on suddenly when you haven’t exerted any energy. Struggling to take breaths combined with discomfort in your chest is a definite sign to get checked out.
  • Nausea and vomiting – This is far more common for women than men and is often hard to link to the idea of a heart attack.
  • Sudden fatigue, which is easy to ignore as it can last for a few days or come and go – This can also combine with weak or tired muscles.
  • Dizziness and feeling light-headed.
  • Sharp pains in your torso or arms – Women are also more likely to report stabbing pains in the back, shoulder, neck or jaw.
  • Cold sweats or unexplained or extreme sweating.

So those are the symptoms to look out for, but what should you do if you or someone you’re with experiences any of the above?:

  • If you have one or more of the above symptoms for longer than five minutes, call an ambulance – quick treatment is lifesaving.
  • Even if the symptoms go away quickly, it’s still worth getting checked out by a doctor as it could be a sign that a heart attack is on the horizon and you may be able to prevent it.

In summary, if you’re in any doubt whether you/they may be having a heart attack or not, don’t delay, call an ambulance or get yourself to A&E immediately and get checked out. After all it’s better to get checked out immediately and find there’s nothing wrong than to hold off and suffer what could be a life-threatening heart attack.

Please remember these signs to look for, and most importantly take action fast as doing so may safe a life…your life!

Abuse

Posted: October 27, 2012 in celebrity, Charity, family, friendship, life, love, news, Security, television, UK
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I’ve been deeply shocked and saddened by the pedophilia allegations against former TV presenter, Jimmy Savile, that have hit the media in the UK in the last few weeks. I must admit when I was younger while I loved the TV programme Jim’ll Fix It, I always found Jimmy Savile a bit creepy though I was never sure why – maybe that’s just my memory playing tricks on me now, but I honestly didn’t feel comfortable watching him…

I’m not going to get into a discussion about whether these allegations against Jimmy Savile are true or not, I’ll leave that to the police, but what I do want to take about today is abuse…

Abuse of anyone in any way is wrong.

Abuse by anyone in any way is wrong.

It doesn’t matter whether the abuse is physically, sexual or emotional, they are all equally immoral and wrong in my eyes. Whether the abuser knows the person they are abusing or not, doesn’t make it any more or less abhorrent.

To those of you to have suffered abuse in the past or are currently suffering abuse, I’d urge you please, to tell the police, or tell someone you trust implicitly, as together we can put an end to abuse.

Please don’t let the abusers can get away with hurting innocent adults and children, report them, report them now!

Let’s put an end to abuse today!

Some Random Thoughts #7

Posted: October 20, 2012 in animals, birthday, blogging, family, friendship, Health, life, news, pets, weather, words, work
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Why am I so scared of all spiders…big or small!

Why do we have mental blocks about how to spell words we use every day?

Why are some illness so cruel?

Isn’t it funny how it’s always the days you forget your umbrella, that it rains the hardest?

Why do some people not seem to have an “indoor” voice…or at least one that they use!

Why do we Scots always think that this tournament might just be the one our football team will do well at…will we never learn!

Why does my cat always know when I’m getting food for him, regardless of where he is or what he’s doing!

Why do some people feel it is their duty to share with you little thing they achieve during their working day?

Why do all the light bulbs in one room always blow on the same day?

Why is it so hard to find a 90th birthday card?

 

Inspire The World for God

Posted: August 14, 2012 in friendship, love, news, olympics, religion, sport, UK
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There’s been a lot of talk recently about inspiration, particularly on a sporting front, because of the London 2012 Olympics. When thinking about how inspiring the olympics has been in encouraging us all to do a little bit more exercise or encourage some to go that extra step and try to become the greatest sportsperson at their particular sport, it got me thinking about God.

Why did thinking about inspiring a sporting generation get me thinking about God? Well, hasn’t it been incredible how much the Olympics has pulled this nation, Great Britain, together, even for those of us living miles aways from London. Now why can’t we inspire the nation for God with such great effect?

There are thousands of Christians in this country, just as there are thousands of sports people, so come on let’s use the motivation and inspiration started by these Olympics, and use this to not only inspire the world on a sporting front, but also remind them of God.

Let’s inspire this and future generations to live their lives for God!

Inspiration – London Olympics 2012

Posted: August 13, 2012 in commonwealth games, friendship, Glasgow, news, olympics, Scotland, sport, television, UK, work
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Dedication. Sacrifice. Guts. Glory.

Those four words have been displayed on the Twitter home page for the duration of the London 2012 olympics, and don’t they just sum up what London 2012 has been all about for all the Olympians.

Before the olympics started 2 weeks ago, I thought I’d watch some of the olympics as I’m a big sports fan, however I didn’t expect to get so caught up in it all. Mind you I don’t think even the organisers expected, or could have hoped for, such patriotic crowds at all the events, cheering on all the British competitors regardless of whether they finished first or last in their event.

I missed the first half hour of the opening ceremony, and to be honest, what I did see of it, I wasn’t terribly impressed. Please don’t all shout at me at once, but that kind of show, while I acknowledge it must have taken hours and hours of preparation and practice, just wasn’t my kinda thing…sorry!

The first week of the competition, I was on annual leave from work, and although I spent a lot of time with my Mum visiting my Dad in hospital, I did manage to catch quite a few of the events during that time. I’m sure like many others, I found myself compelled to watch and cheer on the British team, especially as more and more of them performed either as expected or above expectations. It all came to a head on what became known as Super Saturday (#SuperSaturday), as medal after medal was won by the British team in the rowing, cycling and then athletics. What a day that turned out to be, with Britain winning 6 gold medals in that day alone…the best tally in a single day for GB for over 100 years!

I must admit I’m not particularly patriotic when it comes to GB, as I get a bit fed up by all the comments by some people about it being the “English team”, so I’ve been particularly surprised at how caught up I found myself during Super Saturday.

Week two saw me back at work again during the day, and visiting my Dad in hospital at night, so I wasn’t able to see nearly as much of the events during the second week as I was of the first. My highlights for weeks two were definitely Sir Chris Hoy winning a record breaking 6th olympic gold medal and Mo Farah wining his 2nd gold medal of these olympics after winning both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres.

Yes TeamGB did an outstanding job overall in London 2012, yes there were a few people who underperformed, but I think that was far outweighed by those who did far better that anyone had hoped for. Well done TeamGB!

I’m sure we’ve all heard some amazing stories about some of the Olympians, their past and how they came to be taking part in the olympics, as well as how they celebrated their successes. There were inspiring stories of athletes doing amazing acts of kindness or show of their emotions. The one that really got me was the Hungarian swimmer Daniel Gyurta, who having won the 200m breaststroke events at London 2012, has offered to have a copy of his medal made to send to the late Dale Oen’s family as a mark of his respect. Norway’s Alexander Dale Oen who died suddenly in April this year of a heart problem was world champion in this event and so would have come into London 2012 as one of the favourites for this event if it hadn’t been for his untimely death. What a touching thing for the Hungarian swimmer to do.

I’ve already spoken about how proud I was seeing so many British competitors perform way above expectations, and the joy shown by the nation as we celebrated with them in their successes. But what does all this success do for us as a nation going forward? Well I hope it inspires us all to get out there and take up a sport and hopefully we can find some new stars who will be up there competing for gold medals in Rio in 2016 and in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014!

Finally I just want to congratulate the BBC on their absolutely superb coverage on a variety of mediums, as they covered all olympic sports in all venues. Not only was the coverage superb, but the commentators were fantastic too. Well done to the BBC!

Well done London 2012 and a particular well done to TeamGB on an excellent performance!

From Tragedy to Faith

Posted: July 28, 2012 in film, Health, life, love, news, religion, Security
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I’m sure many of us have been horrified by the recent events in Colorado, when a gunman opened fire in a crowded cinema and killed 12 and injured many others.

When needless tragedies such as the one in Colorado happen, many Christians can find themselves questioning their faith. After all why would a god who says he loves and cares for each one of us, allow such dreadful events to occur. But we must remember that it’s not a case of God letting such events happen, it’s  a case of people going against God’s will.

Events such as this tragedy in Colorado can only shake our faith if we allow it to by letting fear get hold of us. So let’s keep fear from ruling us by digging deep into our faith and finding God is still the answer to everything we need.

Would I Lie To You?

Posted: July 15, 2012 in comedy, life, news, television, UK, words
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Have you ever watched the TV programme called Would I Lie To you? It’s a comedy panel show hosted by Rob Brydon where two teams of contestants led by regulars, David Mitchell and Lee Mack, have to bluff about their deepest secrets. Points are awarded to the teams you correctly guess whether the “secrets” told by contestants are true or a lie. In other words, contestants have to be good at telling lies and good at covering up the truth!

While I do find some of the “secrets” told on the show and the ridiculous stories the contestants tell, quick funny at times, there’s something about that programme which just doesn’t sit right with me.

Is it just me?

I think it’s just because it’s giving the impression that telling lies fun…Not that fun isn’t good, but are we really give out the right message to people?

In a world where lies seem to common place to so many, let’s promote honesty and integrity and not lies!

Some Random Thoughts #5

Posted: July 14, 2012 in animals, computing, family, friendship, Health, life, music, nature, news, pets, transportation, Travel, weather
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When you’re waiting for a bus, and get fed up waiting so start to walk away, why do two buses turn up then!

Why can you never get that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube?

When you don’t feel well and try to see a doctor you can’t get an appointment for days, but when you’ve just to go for a follow-up appointment you can get one the day you phone!

Why is it always raining or blowing a gale when I go to the hairdressers?

Why can you never find the matches when you have a power cut?

Why is threading a needle always do difficult when you’re trying to quickly sew a button back on

Why is it nearly always a song you can’t stand that gets stuck in your head all day!

Why are some people morning people and others night owls?

Why are so many of us scared of spiders and other creepy crawlies that can’t hurt us?

Why do cat always seem to know when you’ve left a nice cosy jumper lying on the bed, and then curl up and sleep on it!

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