Boxing Day....

Christmas Day .....

HELP ME LORD...was Anna's cry !

Anna had a very frightening experience the other night on Crewe station . She was waiting for the train to Liverpool when suddenly this man came up behind her and grabbed her . She screamed or rather she prayed at the top of her voice "Help me Lord" and then from nowhere two coppers ,one in plain clothes and one in uniform appeared and grappled the attacker to the ground ! They then carted him off leaving Anna in the hands of a female police officer who proceeded to tell her that this man was wanted . He had a committed many crimes and was a known rapist ! How frightening is that !!!

Anyway she is fine now if a little traumatised by the whole experience and I have vowed now to take all my girls along to some self defence classes ....

Just shows you though that sometimes answers to prayer are instant ...He keeps us you know ..

Friends and family..

Spent some time with Ali over in Derby last this week and with my mum and then Dave & Deb on Christmas Eve

Lots of Carol singing this year ..

As a church we were given the opportunity to hold carol services at seven different venues over the festive season . The biggest of which was last Sunday in the Stanier hall in Wem . Approx 350 people turned out, which was marvelous . Church today was also packed to the gunnels , praying that what was heard will not be forgotten ...Here is a photo of a few of us singing outside Wem's Co-Op last Saturday

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE :-)

just thought I would stop by and wish everyone a happy Christmas . I have been busy over the last few days ..full report with pics to follow . Today however I am piling on the fat with the Christmas food ...and lots of it :-0.Apparently on an average Christmas day in the Western world we consume over 6000 calories ,more than three times our limit !!

A Sharing family :-)

We share everything in this family including our bugs ... Laura is the latest to fall foul of the dreaded sickness and Katie is also showing signs of weakness ...bring out the Lemsip :-)

Christmas cheer...

Sickness Strikes

First I had the man flu and now Gill . She however has suffered more than I did ... cough ,cough ,cough ... and poor old me has been confined to the sofa bed for the last four nights .. and she won't even let me rub the Vicks on her chest :-)

Christmas Meal Number 2 ..and its only the 3rd December

Last night we held our Annual Wem Baptist Christmas meal at the Hawkstone Hotel . 99 guest enjoyed a sumptuous meal followed by an after dinner evangelistic address by Will Loescher of Walsall Independant Evangelical Church .

Great night , especially given the fact that I enjoyed my first mince pie of the season ;-)

Great day yesterday ..

The morning started with " Thought for the Day " at Adams school . Year 11 , always a challenge :-).

In the afternoon I led and spoke at my first Carol service of the season at a nursing home in Ellesmere . A team of 10 folk from the church went along to sing and speak of the Saviour .

I met an old chap who's as blind as a bat and yet he was able to sing all of the carols word for word . Turns out he was a vicars son as well as being a Master at Ellesmere College , having taught and led many choirs in his long life .

It's great to meet these characters. People once so active in society now living often lonely isolated existences in care . If you get a chance to go into your local nursing home this Christmas then go ...it will brighten up their lives .

In the evening Tee, Beth , Laura and myself went along to Anfield to watch the greatest team in the land only manage a 0-0 draw with West Ham . It was Laura's and Beths first experience of a packed Anfield ..and they loved . As did i . You never tire of singing the greatest Anthem in the world . " You'll Never Walk Alone" ..sadly I forgot my camera, so no pics ..

Wem Baptist ..Schools team Christmas bash

Great night on Saturday . Our schools team got together for a festive meal . It was a great night , lots of laughs ..I can't believe how badly behaved some people are ;-)

The schools work in Wem and the surrounding villages is a real blessing to us as a team and as a church . Currently we go into 18 schools within a 15 mile radius of Wem and are hoping to expand even more in the future ... A great team ..All for His glory .

Saturday at the Flicks

On Saturday I went out to the pictures with Will my old mate from Wheelock Heath Baptist Church and with Jacob ( Danny & Julie's lad ) . Madagascar 2 was the film . It was superb. Good clean fun . We treated ourselves to a few Big Mac's afterwards ..which was not so good :-)

Busy week for Katie ...

Katie was fully occupied last week with her starring role in " The Laundry Girls" ...a production put on by the Wem Amateur Dramatic Society ...she was brilliant ..but I don't have any pics because we were not allowed :-(...We also went along to her GCSE certificate night at Thomas Adams ..another proud moment in the Whiteway household .

Jules, Anne , Dylan & Jessica came to visit

Anne was home from Cyprus so she popped in with her two wonderful children ...it was also great to see Jules again ... Thats twice in a month now Jules ..whats goin on :-)

More Photo's here

Visit to the Imperial war museum North ..

Gill treated me to a visit the the imperial war museum last Wednesday ... I'm a bit of a war history geek !! ... funnily enough though we ended up in the Trafford cente afterwards ;-)

A worthy pilot ......

This video was sent to me by a friend ....what a pilot

45 years young ..celebrated with the Family

It was good to have the family around on Saturday night for my birthday.... Chinese takeaway , birthday cake and the X-factor ...really good end to what had been a difficult week ... it was also wonderful to have Anna home for a night ...

Bonfire Night, Toothache , Funerals , A new Baby ,Riding with Giants , Remembrance and the Ainscoughs

Lots going on last week ...

Bonfire Night ....

I lit the chimenea ( I love my Chimenea...cup of tea and a chimenea on a dark cold night ..you cant beat it ) . We played with a few sparklers and toasted a few marshmallows ...great . Missed Anna though .

All Photos Here

Funerals ...

Between Phil & I ( mostly Phil) we officiated at three funerals connected with the church at Wem . We have never known so many to pass away all at similar times . People who we had been speaking to and praying with just days before had all passed into eternity within days of each other .... Funerals always should force you into asking the question ...Am I ready to look Jesus in the face and give an account of my life ?

A new Baby ...

Suzy , the manageress at the gym that Phil and I Chaplain gave birth to little Joel Henry on Thursday Night . It was nice to visit the maternity ward for a change and pray for a new life . Hope it's all going well Suzy & James if you are reading this .

Riding with Giants ..

We had 200 school children in on Friday morning for Bible stories , prayers , the History of the Bible and a question and answer session . This is something we do every year ans every year it seems to get bigger . So much so that we are doing it over three Fridays this year with over 600 children from schools in North Shropshire .. See previous years here ...i will take some photos at the next one

Remembrance Sunday ...

Church was packed on Sunday . We held a special guest service to remember the fallen but most importantly to remember Jesus ... Who paid the ultimate sacrifice at Calvary .

The Ainscoughs ...

It was so good to spend the day with our friends Dave , Debbie , Becky , Abi and John ... We had a great day with them on Sunday .. Thanks guys

Toothache ....

I have never known pain like it !!! for the last five days my wisdom tooth has been giving me too much grief .... I have had to resort to a scarf around my head holding a packet of frozen peas in the vain hope of taking the pain away .... 5 nights without sleep is not good ...The dentist won't take it out until the swelling goes down ...because I look a bit like a hamster at the moment :-)

Reflection

A year ago today Dad died ... and a year ago tomorrow we had Paul's funeral . It was a very sad time ... and still a year on there are many hours spent grieving ... Dad & Paul were both very special men who I will never forget ...

Life is short ... I did an assembly this morning and read out this poem found on the clock tower in Chester Cathedral ..

When as a child I laughed and wept Time crept

When as a youth I waxed more bold Time strolled

When I became a full-grown man Time ran

When older still I daily grew Time flew

Soon I shall find in passing on Time gone


Our time here on earth will one day come to an end .... and underneath the poem in the Cathedral are these words of prayer

O CHRIST WILT THOU HAVE SAVED ME THEN ?

Pies Mushy Peas & the Gospel

Katie , Gill & I travelled up to Yorkshire this weekend to visit the Simms clan . I had been invited as the guest speaker at their church quiz night. It was great ...pies , mushy peas and the Gospel a wonderful combination .

We had a lovely weekend ...thanks to all :-)