A Lovely Long Weekend!

Hiya! I've had a busy few days here in Birmingham!

On Friday, I took Oldest, Middle and one of Middle's friends to the 'CSI Experience' at the Bull Ring in the city centre. On our way, we saw this surprise ballet dance at the Bull Ring!


The 'CSI' thing was cool. First, you investigate a crime scene and make notes on your clipboard about what you notice. Next, you go to the 'lab', where you learn about different methods that CSI's look at blood spatter, bullets, drugs, etc. The next step is a visit to the coroner, where you are told the COD (cause of death). Finally, you enter your findings into the computer to determine who the killer is! It was cool, but I think the girls would have enjoyed it better if they were a bit older. It's probably more fun for fans of the show, too. I'd recommend checking it out… if it wasn't so expensive. We also got our picture taken:

Saturday was GORGEOUS! The sun was high in the sky and it was actually quite warm! Aussie and I donned our wellies to take a stroll in the Moseley Bog. Did you know that JRR Tolkein, author of 'The Lord of the Rings' grew up in Birmingham? I didn't. Actually, he grew up right around my neighborhood. He spent many days in his childhood playing in the Moseley Bog and around the nearby Sarehole Mill, which we also visited. The Bog and the Mill are supposed to have inspired Tolkein's 'shire' where Bilbo and Frodo and all the other Hobbits lived. Aussie and I had a great time exploring the streams, fallen trees and sinkholes in the Bog. I felt like a little kid in my Grandpa's sugar bush, climbing trees and ducking under fallen branches.

Saturday night, I was invited to a birthday dinner for one of my friends at church. We met at 'Pizza Express', which is this really great pizza chain that they have all over Birmingham. The pizza is very Italian and they even have gelato. It was really nice to spend a nice evening with the ladies and get to know everyone a bit better.

This evening, it was my turn to help welcome people to the evening service at church. Because this service is right in the middle of the Easter holidays, instead of a regular service, we had a Q&A period with the church leader. I can't remember what the question was that sparked this particular response, but one thing he said really resonated with me. He said that to go through life saying "God loves me, so I'm just going to live my life the way I want, because He'll always love me" kind of belittles the sacrifice God made in order for us to know his love. When I watched 'The Passion of the Christ', I was able to put some meaning behind those words I hear quite often: 'Jesus died for our sins'. I saw how brutal and barbaric and humiliating crucifixion is and the extent to which Jesus suffered while he died. To just live life thinking 'oh, whatever, God loves me anyway', without acknowledging and accepting what He did so we can know His love just trivializes his sacrifice.

Well, there's one more week left for Easter break and the girls are attending a sports day camp all week. I'll let you know how it goes!