I was gone to Thailand for 5 weeks in April/May. When I returned I found my Mum had had a fall while I was gone. During my first week back she had another 2 falls. During each fall she banged her head but had no obvious injuries. With the 3rd fall the ambulance took her to Emergency when it became clear something was wrong. A CT scan revealed a brain hemorrhage and she has since lost the use of her left arm and leg. She been in hospital since. Things don’t look too good for her. Besides the hemorrhage, she’s since had a small stroke, battled a nasty urinary tract infection, a chest infection, and a large clot develop in her left leg, quite apart from her diabetes and congestive heart failure issues.

She was way out of it for a while but has come good physically, at least she doesn’t look as if she’s going to die any minute. We (my siblings and I) have been constantly at the hospital and this has been pretty tiring emotionally.

Dementia has begun to become apparent. This is the last thing she would have wanted. Dad died in 1987 of a heart attack. It was sudden and unexpected. That’s how Mum has wanted to die. However, she seems to be just slowly fading away. It is so very hard to see. It is hard to feel so helpless.

Yesterday she was moved to a nursing home where she will probably live out the rest of her days. Today we found the home in lockdown as a number of residents have come down with a nasty bug… not a good time for my Mum to have been moved.

On July 3 she celebrated her 91st birthday.

“Make every effort to [show] … kindness.”
2 Peter 1:5-7 NIV

Have you noticed that sometimes the busier we get, the less we seem to show kindness to others? Kindness doesn’t happen in a vacuum, or as the result of a good Sunday morning sermon. We have to practice it.

www.thewordfortoday.com.au

Dead Tookae

Originally uploaded by bhojman

I’m back in Thailand for a few weeks. It’s great to be here… but it is HOT! I’m mad to come at this time of year but as the conference I was attending was held over Songkhran there wasn’t much I could do about the timing of the trip.
The conference was held at a resort out from Chiang Mai. After a day or two we found this Tookae on the wall of the closet… very dead. No idea what killed him but he wasn’t there when we arrived.
Told the housekeeper about it and asked her to remove it, which she didn’t… too terrified, I suspect. I finally, very gingerly brushed it off the wall into the waste basket. It was beginning to pong and it was time to act.
The poor housekeeper got quite a fright the next morning when she cleaned the room… but a very dead Tookae was finally disposed of.

Sunrise, Easter Morn

Originally uploaded by bhojman

I am rarely up at dawn but this Easter as I was going to church at 7:30am I managed it, and was delighted to see a spectacular sunrise. I see plenty of sunsets and take heaps of photos of them… but sunrises… uh uh… no way.
Anyway, the beauty of the morning touched my heart in a lovely way and I was delighted to rejoice afresh in the resurrection of Jesus…
The sunrise spoke to me of a new day, new life, freshness, hope…
Great!

Queen Victoria and QE2 in Sydney

Originally uploaded by bhojman

The QV (right) and the QE2 (left) tap dance around Fort Dennison on Sydney Harbour. It was a very lovely sight. After spending several hours wandering around Circular Quay taking photos of QV, I then walked back up onto the bridge walkway. It was a great spot to observe the events on the harbour.

Gang-gang Cockatoos eating hawthorn berries

Originally uploaded by bhojman

I was camped at my property in Majors Creek last week and had a fun time watching the gang-gang cockatoos eating the hawthorn berries. The trees were full of them, all cracking open the berries and eating the centre. They did this all day! I was ignored as I walked around taking photos of them. I’ve been told that as the berries ferment the gang-gangs get tipsy. I suspect they were beginning to experience that as I watched them. The morning I left they were screeching and it reminded me of someone with a hangover….
The one in the photo here is female. The male has a red head with a red tuft. They’re really quite lovely to watch.

Here’s word of a very welcome move from the medical profession! How anyone could kill a baby born alive after an abortion is beyond me. I am glad to see that the medical profession is now taking a stand. I’ve never been able to understand how anyone could terminate a pregnancy simply because the baby was inconvenient. That feels to me like someone else is playing “God” in the life of another, and committing murder.

In my role as a healing prayer minister, I’ve worked with women who’ve lived with the unexpectedly huge guilt of having had an abortion… it seemed so clinical to them at the time but ended up reverberating through their souls and emotions causing guilt, depression, physical sickness, etc. I’ve also worked with several who survived abortion attempts on them. The pain of the rejection was immense for them… they felt as if they were supposed to be dead and sometimes had a death wish that dogged them in their attempts to be alive. This may not make sense to some out there but it happens. Such people have needed God’s deep healing work in their hearts and memories.

We don’t know when a foetus becomes a human life with a soul. My belief is that it’s at conception! This probably does not sit well with some but, again, in my experience with healing prayer I prayed with folk who, in some deep hidden part of their spirits, have known things from the time of their conception. They knew they were conceived in love, or in violence; they knew whether they were wanted, or not; they knew how peaceful or fearful their mothers were; and they even had a sense of harmony or disharmony in the home. It is amazing what we know if we give ourselves the time and place to be still enough to listen to those deep inner places of our beings.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I share this with you in hopes that it will help some make good desicions for themselves and for the lives of their unborn children.

Italian Doctors: Abortion Survivors Must be Given Care, Even Against Mother’s Wishes

Doctors from four different Roman universities have issued a joint declaration affirming the duty of doctors to rescue and care for infants born alive after an abortion attempt, even against the wishes of the mother.

The declaration, made by doctors at the obstetric clinics of La Sapienza, Tor Vergata, Campus Biomedico and Sacro Cuore, represent both the secular and religious sides of the Italian university system. The first two universities are public, and the second two are Catholic.

“An extremely premature newborn must be treated like any other person in danger, and assisted adequately,” said Domenico Arduni, director of the Tor Vergata gynecological clinic.

Arduini added that this principle would hold even if the child had survived an abortion, and “even if the mother is not in agreement.”

The four physicians issued the statement together during a meeting at Fatebenefratelli hospital in Rome last Saturday.

According to the Spanish publication El Pais, the doctors’ declaration and the Vatican’s recent campaign for a “moratorium” on abortion in Italy (which has now become a global campaign), “has fallen like a bomb among scientists and politicians”.

Emma Bonino, the Italian Minister of European Policy, complained to El Pais that “the political class should not allow others to set their agenda.

The Italian health minister, Livia Turco, told the publication that protecting the life of such children was “senseless cruelty. A prominent physician reportedly suggested that abortions be done by poisoning the baby with potassium chloride, thus ensuring his death before exiting the womb.

However, the ANSA news agency reports that the liberal bioethicist Cinzia Caporale has endorsed the physicians’ declaration, stating that while she is in favor of allowing euthanasia for adults who want it, children who leave the womb alive should be cared for, even against the will of the parents. “I don’t even consider their consent necessary if the fetus has survived an abortion,” she said.

Source: LifeSiteNews.com

This past Friday on Channel 9’s “A Current Affair” there was the most unbelievably awful interview with a pastor in the USA (Westboro, Kansas). It was distressing to hear him as he railed against Heath Ledger, his family, gays, the war in Iraq and Australia. The introductory hymn was “God hates the world” with a catchy tune but a horrible message.

This pastor, Fred Phelps, and his brand of “christianity” bear no resemblance to the Christianity I know. It bears no resemblance to my own experiences with God and Jesus Christ. When I read the Bible, I see God’s love towards all and his desire that we all know and experience love and forgiveness. The only crushing condemnation that came from Jesus’ lips was against the self-righteous religious leaders of the day who felt they were better than everyone else. Jesus said they were blind, and hypocrites… people who wouldn’t lift a finger to help the poor and downtrodden. I do wonder at what Jesus’s response would be to the vitriol of Mr Phelps.

What was even sadder to me was the way the young children in his congregation were spewing the same kinds of words… hatred.

When asked about Australia, he said that they pray for Australia… and they have a map of Australia with the word “sodom” written in large letters over the whole continent. He said we were “the land of the sodomite damned”. Shudder! Has God (or god?) given him the mantle of a judge over us all? Absolutely not. Jesus Christ is the judge, he’s the only one worthy enough to be the judge. And, he’s already made clear through his death and resurrection that he’s paid the penalty for all sins and wickedness. Our part is simply to accept that.

Anyway, if you would like to watch the video, follow the link below:

Heath Ledger: Minister speaks

In response to so many lonely deaths here in NSW, the following is a good word for today.

“Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13

Don’t put off until tomorrow the loving words you can say today.

A great story from today’s Bangkok Post!

GRANDPA’S OFF TO RUN A MARATHON
There’s no stopping this 94-year-old

Most 94-year-olds walk very slowly, some with the aid of a walking stick.  Some strong and healthy 94-year-old people manage to jog slowly for a few minutes a day.
But that is not the case with Peng Perngsa. The sprightly 94-year-old Mr Peng is looking forward to today’s Chom Bung Marathon, an event organised by the Chom Bung Rajabhat University. He will take part in the mini-marathon, which means running 10 kilometres. At his age, there is no doubt that he is the oldest runner in Thailand and probably one of the oldest runners in the world.
Today’s mini-marathon is not his first. In fact, he never misses the annual event in Chom Bung district, which started 22 years ago. He has become a symbol of the Chom Bung Marathon, one of the major running events in Thailand.
There are four Grand Slam marathons in Thailand - the Bangkok Marathon, Khon Kaen Marathon, Pattaya Marathon and Chom Bung Marathon.
“Grandfather” Peng, as he is known, started running about 24 years ago when he retired from rice farming at 70 years old. During the past 24 years he has won many prizes, despite being a late starter in the sport.
With a lean and wind-whipped build like a cheetah, Grandfather Peng even runs with the rolling, steady gait of a man half his age.
He said that when he was forced to retire from farming by his children, he was still physically active so he wanted to find something to do.
He recalled seeing a group of young people running past his house in Ratchaburi. The group inspired him and he was confident he was still strong enough to run. He said he felt it was a challenge and wondered whether he could start running at 70.
After making the decision to take up running, Grandfather Peng stepped into his first pair of running shoes, which belonged to his grandson, left his home and started his first long run.
“When my daughter saw me running, she shouted at me, asking where I got the shoes. When I told her, she said I should not run in other people’s shoes. Then she went and bought a new pair for me,” he said.
Since that first outing he gradually became more serious about running. He started studying how to run better and faster.
Over the years he kept learning how to fine-tune his training programme. One day he learned that Chom Bung Rajabhat University was organising a marathon, and it interested him.
By that time, he had been running for more than one year and was very interested in taking part in the marathon.
“Why not?” he asked himself.
On race day, when the first of the now famous Chom Bung Marathons was held, he was ready. “I got up early, put on my shoes and went to join the field of runners,” he recalled.
It was his first competition, and he did not hesitate to join in the full marathon run, covering a distance of 42.195 kilometres.
At the time he was 72.
Now he has completed in a total of four full marathons and cannot remember how many half-marathons (21.1 kilometres) and mini-marathons (10 kilometres) he has run, or how many trophies and medals he has won.
His best time for the full marathon was four hours, 20 minutes. Only a few amateur runners, even the younger ones, can finish marathons in less than four and a half hours.
Over the years his relentless enthusiasm for running marathons has coaxed his family members into supporting him as he enters marathons across the country.
Grandfather Peng was born in Photharam district in Ratchaburi and later moved to neighbouring Chom Bung. He and his wife, “Grandmother” Chak, 82, have one son and four daughters. All work as teachers after graduating from universities.
Being a farmer has helped keep him healthy, he said, but running made him fit and his serious training for marathons has made his children think more about his nutrition and calorie intake.
“I eat Thai traditional food which contain not too many fats, and I don’t smoke and drink alcohol, or even coffee,” Grandfather Peng said, adding that his children are also pretty careful about what he eats.
But his brown eyes twinkle when he admits he sometimes eats fatty foods. On race day mornings, when his children are not around to take care of him, he secretly eats fatty foods, such as khao kha moo - steamed rice with pork fat legs - before the race.
It’s hard to eat anything when you have to run as far as 10 kilometres, Grandfather Peng says, but the energy acquired from food is what helps him get to the finish line.
The beautiful views along the marathon routes is another key to his success, he said. “I enjoy looking at the view and before you know it, it’s over.”
“Dad used to go out farming and deal with traders of agricultural products and he had to walk through the fields, up and down farmland all day all of the time, and that gave him huge amounts of exercise, helping him stay healthy this long,” said Kanyarat Perngsa, 47, his daughter.
“Now he’s addicted to running, and can’t stop.”
However, now he only takes on mini-marathons. When he was in his 80s, he competed in almost every running event around the country, and completed four full marathons, she said.
As he gets older, he is getting slower. At his age, it is too risky for him to participate in a full, or even a half-marathon.
Although he feels he is too old to run full or half-marathons, he has no plans to retire just yet.
Story and photo by SOMBAT RAKSAKUL