Notes

How did I spend my last week off? Not as might have been expected.

The dominant feature was the arrival of a 15-month old girl to stay for a couple of weeks. When you’ve not changed a nappy for years, the re-introduction of nappies, changing bags, high-chairs, car-seats and all the rest is very weird indeed.

Add to that a mystery illness that floored me for all of Friday, and it’s a reminder that we never really know what’s coming!

So, here I am in Week 14 in Unemployment House just 10 days away from starting my new job.

A number of people have asked me if I’m climbing the walls with boredom or if I’ve been worried about not finding another job. I determined right at the start that I’d enjoy this time off. I’ve told people that I’ve worked hard for 20 years and expect to do so for the next 20+ so to be given a few months to take it easy has been brilliant.

I know redundancy is very, very bad news for many people, but I’m grateful for the opportunity it’s given me.

This is a beautiful video telling a very scary story…

Every January I give thought to whether or not to start a read-the-Bible-in-a-year reading plan. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.

It’s interesting taking a look on whether people think Christians even should:

I actually think the answer is a bit more complex, and depends on where you are in your Christian experience.

So, this year, I’ve started the Robert Murray M’Cheyne plan again (tough, but wonderful) and expect to work my way through Ezekiel, 1 & 2 Timothy, and Titus. We’ll see what happens after that!

Julia has just completed a spell in retail and it was remarkable how similar the issues she faced were to those I’ve seen in call centres.

Things that “could have gone better”:

I’m sure none of these behaviours represent the corporate culture that is supposed to be in place, but they are there nonetheless, as they will be in countless factories, shops, and call centres all over the UK.

In my last company, there was much talk of up-skilling the 1st line management but it never really worked. The problem is that they need an awful lot of skill to do that job right: They need to manage a wide range of people, adapting their approach and style according to the needs and aspirations of the individuals in the team. Some employees just want beer money, some want to build a new career; they can’t be managed the same way but they usually are. Invariably, the one hoping to build the career is the only who will be handled badly and, when promoted, will maintain the status quo.

What’s the answer? It’s actually quite simple, but terribly bold. In such organisations there are typically some senior people with enlightened management skills earning £70k+ who understand what leadership and service operations are all about. They might be a number of management levels separated from the shop floor with little direct impact. They define training programmes, new initiatives and strategies, but get frustrated at the lack of real progress at customer level.

These people should run stores / call centres. They should be coaching the 1st line managers. They should be teaching people how to lead. Given tight margins it might be necessary to move people around, but I’m certain of a return.

People just don’t get leadership.

This was a Christmas present from our youngest. I haven’t opened it yet - I like the packaging too much!

I took the dogs for a walk today at Moreton shore. Yesterday we’d noticed that the ducks were coming towards us hoping for bread, so today I took some along.

The pond was almost totally frozen over with just a small gap where the ducks were swimming. I threw all the bread onto the ice (much of which was taken by gulls) and was just about to leave when I thought I’d take a photo with my Blackberry:

Toffee chose that very moment to run onto the ice to steal bread / chase gulls. “Toffee, no!” I called. She stopped, and promptly fell through the ice in the middle of the pond.

She couldn’t get out. She couldn’t climb onto the ice or break through it.

I threw some logs onto the ice but it was too thick to break through. Only one thing for it: I took off my coat, fleece, boots, socks and trousers and waded into the icy water barefoot. I smashed my way through to Toffee (who was now tiring) and brought her to shore. I put my dry clothes back on and we headed back to the car, with Toffee leading the way!

We both needed warming up when we got home.

So, it’s Week 8 in Unemployment House and it’s Christmas!

I’ve three job opportunities on the the go: one hot, one warming up, and one simmering in the background. If any of them produce a result, I’ll at least be relieved to have reached Christmas without the prospect of having to work all the way through it!

Playing Christmas Carols on guitar is a bit of a nightmare. Like most old hymns, they just don’t lend themselves to guitar accompaniment.

Our church is planning on singing carols in Hoylake on Saturday but we’ll need to use the guitar. I searched the net and couldn’t really find what I was looking for - Christmas carols, traditional tunes, playable on guitar.

So I compiled my own: Here’s the Christmas Carols - Guitar Chords book and here’s the accompanying Christmas Carols - Words Only. Feel free to use as you wish!

For some reason, I’ve found myself asked this question twice in 3 days by quite different people. The question is very important: Some women feel drawn to study to teach others - is this wrong? What about women missionaries - surely they need to preach at some time? Can’t women take on the same roles as men in this modern world?

Many of the heroes of the Bible were women: Rahab, Deborah, Ruth, Esther, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Lydia come quickly to mind.

The story of Deborah is particularly interesting as God used this prophetess and another woman (Jael) quite powerfully, largely because the men around at the time were so spineless and faithless.

The point is, God just has different roles for men and women. We shouldn’t think that one gender is more important than the other, either to us or to God. “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them.”

For a really helpful look into what God wants women to be, I strongly recommend the book, “God’s Design for Women“. The emphasis is on enjoying a fulfilling life as a godly woman.

Specifically on the question of whether women should preach, 1 Timothy 2 & 3 is the clearest passage to look up. Paul is writing about how to organise church (a really important point), when he says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man”. God knows men are weak (which is why Pauls asks women to dress modestly!) but he’s given the role of teaching in church to men.

It’s not sexist to say that women shouldn’t preach, it’s just a simple obedience to what God has to say about the roles he wants men and women to fulfil.

If there’s a bloke around who can teach, he should do so. But what if there are no suitable men (e.g. tiny church, human frailty, women’s group, or even within a family where the husband has only just been converted)? I’d give two observations: (a) Paul’s “I do not permit” is in the context of public worship, and so is a guiding principle in other situations, although (b) Deborah always sits as a reminder that God can use women when there are no suitable men to be found.