You can do it! - CFN Newsletter Week 103

CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK NEWSLETTER 103

> God can help you scale life's walls, says Joni Eareckson Tada
> News:
> Summer student outreach underway
> Could you be a neighbour from heaven?
> Cross Rhythms launches new web news service

> Sites:

> Marriage MOT: Put God on the mantlepiece
> Fun with grammar
> You've got to laugh: Baptismal thoughts
> Members' Zone latest

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Dear All

Found some sunshine? We had a little recently in the shape of an encouraging e-mail from a CFN member:

Dear CFN
Happy Birthday - 100, and I think I've been getting your enews since No.19! It's the only E-news I receive, and there are usually some little nuggets to follow up on the CFN site.
The jokes are appreciated - I forward them to my elderly father - any chance of cartoons?
The 'sites worth seeing' is sometimes useful when I'm preparing for the 14-18s Christian youth group I run.
GBU
John, Felixstowe, Suffolk

Do let us know how you value and use CFN!

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Take care

Russ Bravo
Christian Family Network
info@cfnetwork.co.uk
http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk

PS Christian Family Network is here to direct you to the best in parenting, marriage and family resources; to link you up with other Christian families up and down the UK; and to help you make the most of life as a follower of Christ - at home, at work, at school and college, at play and online.

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ENCOURAGEMENT

You can do it!

• God can help you scale life's walls, says Joni Eareckson Tada

If it’s July, it’s time for our Joni and Friends’ Family Retreats here in the States.

Ken and I just returned from the first of our 12 retreats for the season – what a heartwarming, Spirit-blessed time we had with disabled children, adults, family members, and volunteers at the conference centre in North Carolina. And I’ll never forget my time with Corie.

Corie has one of the most winsome smiles I’ve ever seen – when she giggles, her whole face scrunches. She’s 19 years old, a little under five feet tall, loves her six brothers and sisters, and has Down’s syndrome. Her speech is a little slurred and her nouns and verbs often don’t match. But that’s okay. “Are you going rock wall and come down and watching me climb it all the way to the top and back down okay?” she asked me excitedly, to which I replied: “You bet!”

I sat on the sidelines and watched the conference staff workers strap Corie into her climbing harness. “Hee-hee,” she smiled at me. After they hooked the ropes to her belt, they securely buckled a helmet on her head. For all her physical limitations – mental, too – Corie was ready to climb. She gave me a happy ‘thumbs up,’ turned to the wall, grabbed a rock, and began scaling her way up the towering edifice.

I was shocked at the speed with which Corie climbed. This girl had no fear! “Go, Corie, go!” I called, along with everyone else. When she reached the top, she twisted around, gave me a big grin, and waved. Within minutes, she had scooted back down the rock wall and when her feet hit the ground, we all let out a cheer. Corie – as though mimicking Rocky’s boxing victory – kept pumping her arms in the air.

One person, however, wasn’t joining in the celebration. Heather was too nervous. This was her very first climb and she stood quietly and timidly as the workers strapped on her harness so she could go up the wall next. Heather has Down’s syndrome, too.

“Are you ready?” the staff worker asked Heather, giving her straps a final tug. She just stared at him with a blank expression.

• What happens to Heather? What are the lessons for us on our Christian journey? Check out the rest of Joni's article in our Advice section at http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/advice.asp

> THIS WEEK'S NEWS

> Summer international student outreach programme in full swing

Thousands of language students are now arriving in the UK to study English during the summer holidays. And many will be met by Christians with the Gospel.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> Everybody needs good neighbours ...

Stories of "neighbours from hell" never fail to make the headlines. Arguments over rights of way or overhanging hedges are the stuff of disputes all over the country, but could you turn the tables and become a neighbour from heaven?

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp for the full story

> Cross Rhythms launches website news service

Cross Rhythms, the Stoke-on-Trent based Christian media organisation, has announced further improvements to its website service.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> Take part in a university study on belief

Cardiff University would like to invite you to take part in a study investigating belief. See their webpage for further details and a free return paid pack. http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/psych/christianbeliefstudy

> MARRIAGE MOT

> Check out our archived marriage tips in the Members' Zone, plus stacks more marriage resources at http://www.2-in-2-1.co.uk

Does God have a role in your marriage?

Put God on the mantelpiece!

Some friends tell this story of the husband's journey to faith, a very tentative one. It goes something like this: "I know God gave himself as a gift to us when we got married. I didn't know quite what to make of this at the time. He was one of the wedding gifts I put away in the cupboard under the stairs, not really valuing the gift or knowing quite what to make of it.

"As the years have passed, things have changed a little. Sometimes I take that special gift out from under the stairs, dust it down and dare to put it on the mantelpiece and allow it to be a real part of our lives."

Just as a room seems different and special when we fill it with our treasures, so our lives can be brightened and changed when we give God a place of honour in our lives together.

There are a lot of books around about Christian marriage, but we all have to work out our own relationship with Him. To some, even Christians, it may come as a surprise that God wants to be involved in our day-to-day married lives. To others, He is there right at the centre.

Where is God in your marriage? Is He the wedding gift tucked away and forgotten under the stairs or is His gift to you given place of honour at the centre of your lives?
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> FUN WITH GRAMMAR

How about the boy whose dad read to him every night in the boy's room upstairs - one night the dad carried in a book the child didn't particularly care for so the boy asked: "Why did you bring that book I didn't want to be read to out of up for?"

***

A linguistics professor was lecturing his class, "In English," he explained, "a double negative forms a positive. In some languages, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative."

"However," he continued, "there is no language in which a double positive can form a negative."

A voice from the back of the room piped up: "Yeah, right."

> EVENTS

> YOU'VE GOT TO LAUGH ...

A mother decided it was time that her three sons get baptised. So, after weeks of suitable instruction she felt that it was time. One bright Sunday morning they were on their way to church where the three boys, 8, 9, and 11, were to have their sins washed away.

She noticed that her 9-year-old seemed to be particularly lost in thought, so she asked him what was on his mind.

"Mum, I want to go first." he replied.

"Why’s that?" she asked her son with a smile.

"Because," he began with a pause in his voice, "I really don't want to be baptised in water that has all of my brothers' sins floating around in it."

> CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK THIS WEEK
(MEMBERS' ZONE) - http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/default.asp

> Advice

> Our new internet savvy column from Eric Spellman continues with the first of a simple two-part guide to HTML and website building
> Tackling bullying - the Government needs to get tough, believes ACT chief Rupert Kaye
> Kate's marriage tips -

> Resources

> Join men around the UK in prayer for the nation
> Homeschooling: report from the TEACH annual conference
> Children and theology - Keswick aims to stretch young minds
> A lesson learned: the difference between schooling and education
> Trade names - baby names for the professionals
> One-liners - gems you'll want to pass on
> Bet you didn't know - fascinate your kids or your youthgroup/housegroup with these surprising facts

> News

> Festival Manchester - organisers hope for late rush
> Belfast PANTS all washed out?
> Free places for families at Cornwall Bible week
> News extra: the real truth about Europeans and honesty

> Top sites this week



> Events: More of what's on near you

> Webwatch Index: more than 600 sites at your fingertips

> Site Search Engine: the easy way to trawl our 1,000-page plus archives

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