Needless to say this was not in Northern Ireland, nor in Belgium but in the lovely village of Hockessin in the state of
Delaware, USA.
The kids were young then and Fred and I were full of energy then too so as Fred dug down into the hard packed snow on the driveway and cut it away in blocks the kids and I used them to make an igloo on the front lawn.
Of course we could not form it completely to curve it in so it was an open-top igloo.
Then our neighbours (another couple from Northern Ireland) came out and we all went round to the back of our houses to enjoy sledding down the slope of our gardens which was a good distance because none of the houses had boundary fences or hedges or walls. In fact our home garden just merged into the woods behind our neighbourhood or estate (as we call it in the UK).
We just got on the sleds and slid until we came to a natural stop, or an unnatural one where we ended up across the side cul-de-sac and up to the front door of another house (but that was mainly Fred).
That is one of the greatest memories we have of winter in Delaware.
Well last Saturday here in Banbridge, NI we had some snow and even though it made us think back to all those years ago, we could not even make a snowball let along an igloo in our front garden here.
Making lasting family memories is good for children.
Memories are great, especially when they make us smile or laugh, and they are something special that we have to share together.
However we need to have spent time together to form these memories and these days I often look at the kids in church and everywhere else and wonder what memories they are building up with their families for the future while they are so engrossed in all these electronic games and gadgets.
I am thankful to God for all the places we have been and all the experiences we have had as a family over the years but I'm also grateful for the fact that we became Christians before we got married and had our children so that God was a part of our marriage and family life together because that makes such a difference.
Are there any children in your neighbourhood or church who do not have the privilege of growing up in a Christian family?
Can we not find some ways of making a difference for Jesus in the lives of these children?
One night in Kettles hotel near Dublin, breakfast, free wifi.
Get to the room and tv is not easy to work, wardrobe hanging space is only high enough to hang trousers so nowhere to even hang a coat.
One of the bedside lights missing has obviously been broken off the wall. Wifi very poor, keeps losing connection, and basically not even strong enough to show emails with pictures and takes ages to download emails on my ipad plus most apps keep saying there is no network connection. We had got a Groupon deal so not our first choice but it had sounded better or at least read better than it was.
My husband trying to work (when he should be relaxing but as usual something had cropped up) & calls are ok but some stuff cannot be done as he can't get things downloaded.
What's the solution? Go home the next day early and forget about actually going into Dublin City.
Is this the best solution? Yes
He needs to access the data and it can't be done tonight here so he needs to go home to a good (better connection) to do so.
We can come see round Dublin another time because we are not so far away from it and anyway after over 20 years since last being there another few weeks or months won't matter.
I don't need to get too annoyed because it will only affect me and him and that's not fair on him when he has work deadlines and stress enough from that.
I also don't need to make him stay and go around the city for hours when he will still have his mind on work so it will not be so pleasurable for either of us and will actually only be more stressful for him with a deadline approaching.
How do I spend my evening while he is struggling with the laptop?
Well it is the evening when Sandy (not named after me) is about to hit the East coast of America so I'm watching all the news on CNN (one of the few channels available in the room). We lived in the state of Delaware for 3 years quite some time ago but because of that I know places that are being mentioned, I have been to some of the places where the reporters are actually standing & later tonight Delaware is going to be hit by the effects of this storm.
It all boils down to how we allow ourselves to view things.
So when I consider how many people are already without electricity because of Sandy and how many are going to be left homeless; I can put my couple of days into perspective and not allow myself to get distraught over our situation and certainly not put more pressure on a good, loving, hardworking husband with whom I have spent 35 years of married life and intend to share many more.
God has given us instructions which are always for our benefit and one of them is about loving others.
It all boils down to how we allow ourselves to view things.
If it is only from our point of view and not taking others into consideration then we are on the wrong track as we will never be happy and others will know how much we don't care about them.
