Whilst the WordPress.com service has been great, I’ve now moved to the self-hosted platform hosted by DreamHost.  This site will no longer be updated.

Please update your bookmarks/feedreaders to:

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Wow – today is our second Wedding Anniversary.  Can’t believe it’s two years already since I married my gorgeous wife – it still seems like yesterday.  Tracy makes me laugh more then I could ever imagine, and laughs at me more than I’d like (but no more than I deserve).  She has been a rock solid support through my degree so far, and I know she will be until the end in July, and beyond.

We’ve been blessed with a fantastic marriage so far, and have recently been blessed with what we consider to be the cherry on top.

Today, before we celebrate with an anniversary meal, we will be visiting the Antenatal Clinic for our 12 week scan!  Can’t wait…

Here’s to many more exciting and enjoyable years to come!

We’re expecting!

We’ve been waiting longer than we’d have liked (been fun practising though), but are over the moon that it’s finally happened. The last 8-10 weeks have been the most frustrating we’ve known because we’ve not been able to share the news as widely as we’d like, and we’re very sorry if we’ve had a conversation with you during that time and have had to lie about our situation; we hope you understand.  A few weeks ago we shared the news with our immediate family members, and with a few people on a need-to-know basis – and being able to talk about it with them has relieved some of the frustration.

Not  a lot else to report at the moment, except that Mummy and ‘Pip’ are progressing well.  Mummy has been feeling ill pretty regularly, but has been able to manage it by frequent snacking – as if an excuse was ever needed ;o)  Pip has been our code-name for the little one because that’s the size it was when we discovered the wonderful news.  We have our first scan on 28th April, our Wedding Anniversary and hope to post Pip’s first portrait shortly after.

Because I’m such a techie geek, and because it proved a wonderful distraction from my dissertation for a while, I set up a Twitter profile for the little one.  You can keep up to date on Pip’s developments by following @babyrew on Twitter (don’t expect babyrew to reciprocate though), or just take a look at babyrew’s profile to see developments to date.

Here are a few recent updates:

• I can feel my fingernails growing, and I’ve started growing tiny peach-fuzz hair (just like Daddy!)
• My heartbeat sounds like tiny horses galloping…I guess that’s healthy though.
• Apparently I have a big head (wonder who I got that from) – it’s half the length of my entire body!
• The inner workings of the ears are almost complete, and my genitals have begun to form (the two things aren’t related!)
• My eyelids are fused (don’t worry though, they’re supposed to be) and won’t open for another 19 weeks – not much to see in here anyway ;o)
• Tasty! I’ve just started growing a tongue…
  • {be sure to check out the updates at the start of April ;o) :: 1 :: 2 ::}

{ if you have no idea what Twitter is and how it works, watch this video }

We’d love your suggestions for appropriate names – please bear in mind the surname (’Rew’) when making your selection.  Names such as ‘Kanga‘, ‘Bucka‘, ‘Corksc‘ and ‘Chimchimney-chimchimcha‘ are clearly out of the question.  We’ll leave the rest to your judgment.  Add your suggestions (funny or serious) as a comment below.

That’s it for now – make sure you check @babyrew on Twitter regularly to keep fully up to speed ;o)

I’ve just found this video which features a fantastic Easter poem performed by John Goode. It formed the end of the Good Friday service at Buckhead Church in Atlanta.  I know it’s a little late for Easter (although we are still in the season of Easter) but the message of the poem is applicable year-round. The poem starts at 1:24 if you’re too impatient to sit through – and the words are below the video:

picture this:
the sins that we’ve committed
are the direct cause
of the pain that was inflicted upon Jesus
cos He saw
the consequences of our flaws
and actions,
and He decided to take the awful lashes in our stead.

so that night you left the club
so messed up that you ignored your God and the danger
that you invited a stranger
into your body and your bed
your actions were the lashes that stripped the flesh
from Christ’s legs.

and those late night fights
that led you to lift your fist against your wife
as she whispered, whimpered and begged for you to stop
but you would not until you had knocked some sense into her head
got Christ ripped across His back
until the skin blistered, ripped and bled

and when you said congrats to your co-worker on her promotion
but in fact you tore her down behind her back
because you envied what she had
you added the punches, lunges and jabs
that split Christ’s upper lip
the upper cuts from the fists of the soldiers as they kicked
the Saviour in His ribs

He endures the crown of thorns for every time you watch porn
He takes up the cross for your every transgression in the dark
He went to Calvary for the sins of you and me,
the senseless whims that we believe are victimless crimes
but please believe the victim is Christ
and I hope you see
that every time you deceive
your company with your embezzlement schemes
a nail goes through His right hand, right then, and He screams

and every time you plot to meet your mistress
and cheat on the missus
you can hear Him yell as the nail punctures the precious flesh of His feet
as He screams for no more
He implores us to cease
but we ignore His pleas
find ourselves on these streets, searching for more than we need
gluttony, envy and greeed
feed the need and plant the seed
and indeed you can’t see
that man who can’t stand up
with his hand out, looking for a hand up

and the irony is Christ is screaming ‘he is me’
and the nail goes through his left hand
because we ignored and left him to die hungry
on these streets

and on that fateful morning
when the cross finally stands and comes to rest
when His needs quake in its wake
and there’s a pounding in His chest
after everything we just put Chris through
for the sins of me and you
He looks to the heavens and says
‘Father, please forgive them for they know not what they do’

but we do in fact
daily we nail Christ to the cross

now can you picture that?

• gave in, had a nap and feels alive again. Now must make progress before the ‘meeting’ tonight…
• having network problems – time for bed then…
• is up and at ‘em! 1500 word target today…

Automatically posted by LoudTwitter {just testing for a future ‘project’}

• has had some time off this evening with Tracy and glass of red wine – now back to the dissertation for another couple of hours.
• has had a distracted morning (more on that later) but is now easing into writing his Dissertation )
• is feeling very sleepy, but doesn’t have time for a nap in the next two weeks!

Automatically posted by LoudTwitter {just testing for a future ‘project’}

• How to make a Life Feed
  "If you’re like me you’ve got a Flickr stream, a Facebook account, you’re posting blog posts on one or more blogs, saving your favourites on Delicious, updating your status on Twitter and just generally publishing all manner of randomness about your life on the web.

  Now put yourself in the position of someone who’s a really big fan of your work (right…) and just _has_ to find out everything you’re up to but hasn’t got the patience to grab all of those feeds and keep up to date with them (sure…).

  Here’s the solution. You make yourself a Life Feed."

  (tags: rss hack lifefeed pipes)

• Top 50 WordPress Tutorials – NETTUTS
  "As a web developer, you can broaden your potential client base and add value for existing clients by listing 'WordPress' as an area of expertise. Of course, unless you want to bluff your way through jobs, you'd better have the skill to back-up that claim. This collection will help."
  (tags: development resources tutorial wordpress)

• A Twitter Mini-Guide: 60+ Useful Twitter Resources | WebGeek
  "New to Twitter? Looking for some ways to get more out of your Twitter experience? A list of helpful tools and resources for Twitter: useful and/or interesting.
  (tags: tools resources tips twitter)

• The Very First Steps After a Fresh WordPress Install
  “first steps” after a fresh install to get WordPress set up to my liking. This involves changing settings, resetting the theme, and some universally useful plugins.
  (tags: webdesign tips wordpress install howto)

“perhaps true beauty is something that draws our attention at second glance, once the judgement of a first glance has realised it’s mistake”

• How to Choose Chart Types
  Flow chart to help you determine the best chart type to employ.
  (tags: datavisualization flowchart graphs chart reference education research)

• BeFunky
  Funky Ways to Express Yourself
  (tags: cartoon tool image picture sketch)

• IconsPedia
  Free PNG Icons & Icon Packs Download
  (tags: resources webdesign web2.0 images)

• thumbizy
  instant website thumbnail generator
  (tags: screenshot tools resources webdesign web)

Last week as part of my end of term activities I took part in a retreat day at the Carmelite Priory at Boars Hill in Oxfordshire.  The day was led by Ian Adams, one of the CYM Chaplains, who used the story of Elizabeth, Zechariah and Mary to introduce us to some meditative practices.  I arrived early to avoid the traffic and was able to enjoy the sun as it rose over the crisp, frosty fields.  I rarely travel without my camera so was able to capture a few shots before everyone else arrived.

The day was divided into three sessions, each providing space for reflection and time to listen for God.  During one session I felt inspired to draw (something I never do, and have no talent for) and was moved to reflect on what I’d drawn.  A new experience for me, but one which I greatly appreciated and will continue to ponder the notes I made.

We divided into two groups for the final session and were encouraged to use Mary and Zechariah’s example and write either a magnificat or a benedictus based on our context/experiences/feelings.  Here’s what we produced in our group:

Thank you God that everything is upside down;
that you don’t see things the way the world sees them.
You accept this generation, though others reject it;
others want to put them down, but you desire to raise them up.

Where the world leaves young people empty, only you can satisfy.
Through your love there is so much more.

As you draw them near to you we see them longing to be valued and eager to serve;
to accept others in the way that you’ve accepted them.

We see your hope rising through this generation.
Thank you for the momentum which flows from and is sustained by your Spirit.

Amen

It proved to be a really valuable time of reflection and refreshing – much needed preparation for the two mad weeks which have followed.

• Buzzard Blog: Thinking Biblically About Facebook
  "looking at the intersection of Scripture and Facebook"
  (tags: theology technology socialnetworking facebook)

We are not yet what we should be, but we are growing toward it.
The process is not yet finished but it is going on.
This is not the end, but this is the road.
Everything does not yet gleam in glory,
but everything is in process of being purified.
Amen. – Martin Luther -

“We separated the babies and unfortunately, after separation of the babies, Hope’s lungs were too small to support her breathing and circulation.

“So eventually she died because of a lung condition and in reality what happened before is that the lungs of Faith were somehow supporting Hope,” he said.

Source: BBC – Conjoined Twin Dies After Surgery