Births and Bristol Vineyard

Well, the BV community has been busy...3 baby boys born this week...with another 9 children to be born over the next 6 months! How fantastic...I'd say that is a sign of healthiness!

Anyway, congratulations to:

Sophie & Stuart, who had baby Noah (great name!) on the same day as us...

Fee and John, who had baby Ivan (great name!!) on Wednesday...

Fantastic!!! The screetch and suckle at BV will be the place to be! Thanks to everyone who's been sending flowers, cards, emails, meals, etc...you've made this first week a breeze!

Sammy's First Week

Here are a few photos from Sam's first week home...

Consider yourself invited!

...Bristol Vineyard Christmas Service...

A guest blogger for Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving for all of you brits who don't know it...and well, with the week we've had, we've loads to be thankful for...as I was wading though emails from family and friends, I realized how great Thanksgiving is, a time to come together with family and friends and 'celebrate with a thankful heart'...anyway, I am missing our family at the moment, so it was great to hear from all of them...and well, this comes from my poppa, Mike Turrigiano, who has been chosen to guest blog today...and no, he doesn't have a clue!



November 24, 2004

Dear family & friends:

We live in a "culture of complaint". One of America's favorite past times is grumbling, criticizing, and whinning. We complain about our government, our morning commutes and just about everything and anything in between. My three chief complaints are simple: "My world is not perfect", "My life isn't perfect", and "I'm not perfect". That just about covers everything. But here's the rub: The Bible tells me to be "thankful in everything"! Ridiculous! Impossible! Or is it?

It is not out of the question if I believe that no matter what happens in my life- good or bad- I am perfectly loved and perfectly cared for by a God who loves me perfectly forever, no strings attached. Being a grateful person is not unreasonable if I view my life like a cake.

" And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Ro. 8:28). Here the Apostle Paul tells us that God uses everything- the good, the bad and the ugly of life- to bring about "the good" in our lives. This "good" is not the promise that "every dark cloud has a silver lining". This "good" is a bigger more lasting thing he has in mind for our lives- "...to be conformed to the likeness of his Son..." (v.29).

I love devil's food cake. But some of the ingredients that go into the making the cake taste down right aweful. A teaspoon of baking powder is nasty and a scoup of raw chocolate is bitter! But they are essential to making the cake. When correctly combined and baked with other ingredients you end up with a heavenly desert. In the same way you and I are "God's desert"- people whose lives are being transformed to look and "taste" like Jesus Christ. Some of the ingredients that go into this process are bitter and nasty, others are sweet. But God combines the good, the bad and the ugly of our lives so that we will end up tasting like Jesus Christ to the world around us, favored with life and love in a dying world around me. Even though life contains no shortage of good reasons to complain and grumble, you and I can be thankful because we know that all the ingredients of our lives are turning us into people that will be like Jesus Christ now and forever. Have a wonderful Thank! sgiving.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE: I have a very special reason to be thankful this holiday season. On Monday, November 22, Char and I were presented by my son Matt and his beautiful wife Rebecca with our fourth grandchild- Samuel Eugene Michael Turrigiano. A big boy- almost ten pounds, a real bruiser! I am a happy and proud grandad! I now have four incredibly wonderful, grade-A, all boy, grandsons. Welcome to our family Sammy! The Bopman's quiver is full!

Pictures from day 1...

...the little guys...
...more of the little guys...
...jake and sam...

Now introducing...

Well, tonight has seen the culmination of the most exillerating, and frightning day I think I've ever experienced! Samuel Turrigiano arrived with a bang!

I am not sure I have the brains left to actually document what the last 6 hours were acutally like, but I will try as best I can. Becca's due date was to be tomorrow, but for a while now Becca had been feeling that was not right, and that the baby was actually a week older than the midwive's where saying, thus making last Tuesday 40 weeks...

She woke up this morning having had a very bizarre dream in which the baby was in distress, and she had to be put out and delivered the baby without knowing what happened, and where the baby was. This caused her to ask the midwives today if they could make an appointment for her today to go into the hospital and have a scan to make sure everything is alright...in this country they do not do the same tests that are common in the US...so anyway, we went to the hospital this afternoon, just so they could check that everything was going well...which after the tests they said all was well...they did a couple of things to speed things up as well...but we ended up going home as they said it might be a while...

So we went home, becca had begun to have some contractions of a more serious nature, but nothing to write home about...I cooked her some late lunch, we sat and watched some television...and by about 4:00, things started to heat up a bit...but again, just contrations about 2 to 3 minutes apart...intense but nothing too terrible...but after about 45 minutes of consistent contractions we decided it might be time to go for it...we called Grace and Charles, called Josh to come home from a friends and then were kinda fiddling around waiting for them to show up...

At about 5:10 we decided that maybe we should go for it, and Josh could sit with the boys and hold the fort down until Grace and Charles made it over...they were in traffic...and by this time, although they were still about 2:30 minutes a part, they were getting really intense...but again, all in order...

...we somehow made it across town in about 15/20 minutes, which is a feat in Bristol durring rush hour...and thank goodness that was the case...

...we pulled up at the hpspital at about 5:30 or so, and I parked out front, and walked her into the delivery suite...we went in, and they showed us to the suite...I then went out and parked the car properly as it needed to be put in the car park...

...I walked back in at about 5:39 still thinking that we had some time, but when I walked into the suite, Becca's water immediately broke...and thus brought about the exciting/fantastic/craziest/scariest 12 minutes I think I've ever had in my life...

...within moments I helped becca take off her overalls, and there was an imediate tenseness as we realized that the baby had gone to the bathroom, thus telling us 2 things...one that he was overdue and two, he was in distress...now Becca had been praying for weeks now about the baby's cord being around his neck, as has been the case for our previous 3 boys...but for some reason, she was really worried about this and had been praying about it...well with the next push, came the baby's head, and yes the cord was seriously wrapped around hish neck...he was a deep blue...with another push came the rest of him...

...now what I can remember now is being completely frozen with fear as this little baby of ours was completely blue, not crying, and not moving...all I can say was what was probably 45 seconds to a minute and a half, felt like an eternity and I started praying at a fever pitched pace...I can't even remember what I was praying, but it was the most gutt wrenching heart felt praying I've ever prayed...

...the doctor rushed in and they put a mask on his face...and within what seemed about a minute or so, I saw his chest begin to move...and after a couple convolsions, he began to make a sound...then he breathed his first breath...and you could see the doctor breath normally himself...

...at this point, I lost it completely...I kinda removed myself for a moment, stumbled into the other room, and just balled for a few minutes...and all I could say was...Jesus, thank you...thank you thank you thank you...

...this all transpired before 5:51...had we been a few minutes later, had we gotten stuck in traffic...had Becca not listened to her dreams, her instinct, to God's leadings, this might not have turned out as well...

...it took me a good couple hours to finally see that we'd brought another boy into the world...I was playing the situation over and over and thinking how close we came to not having this....well...I can't even think of what could of happened...

But you know what...it didn't...our Heavenly Father, who has ABSOLUTELY perfect timing, made every last detail work out, and took care of my family and my wife, and my little Sammy so well, that I am just left speechless...

I know I've written alot, but really...I am speechless...dumbfounded by God's perfection!...

++Thank you for the miracles you make a common place in my family's life! Thank you for taking care of my family today the way you did...we will never forget it...and never take it lightly or for granted...thank you for your goodness, your devotion and your faithfulness, let our family story, whichever role we play in it, tell of your fame, tell of your goodness, tell of your love...thank you father for loving us so much to have given us yet another wonderful child to raise...help me to model for him, who you are all the days of his life...so that he may know you, all the days of his life++

It's baby time!

Well, Becca is contracting at about 2:30 minutes a part consistent...we're just waiting for Grace and Charles to get here...will blog again with the announcement!

Prayers for my love!

Discrimination

Before reading any further, this is most certainly going to be a rant…so consider yourself fore warned…

We’ve been living in another country now for 4 months, it’s a place we love, a place we feel called to, a place where we have made fantastic new friends, a place where we are happy to raise our children, and a place where we have been openly and warmly received…no doubt about that, no complaints at all! Let me make a clear comment that this has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with our church community, what so ever! So please do not read into this that we are facing what I am about to describe within our church community…there are some wider issues here…

…Throughout our time thus far, since we are American, it has been common place for people to bring up their views on America’s political situation, especially with the election and the like…and sometimes even send little emails containing from moderate to explicit derogatory statements/suggestions/websites/etc about how awful our culture is, how embarrassing our political leaders are, how treacherous our dealings around the world are, etc…and I’ve laughed at them as well, been kind and not really responded in any sort of way other than to think…how sad and trite this sort of thing really is becoming…

…but it hasn’t bothered me more than a thought really…but yesterday I really came to the conclusion that this is really nonsense, and people sending around feeble/harmless anecdotes to try and wind someone up is one thing, but when my children are being verbally abused for the only reason of being American, I find it really sad! And frankly, I find it very distasteful and arrogant!

…I found out yesterday that my son Joshua, 13, has had to put up with some kids taking it upon themselves to be very ugly, and have made it a common practice that when ever he shows up in the hallway or in the dinner hall, they sing a song that is being played on the radio now by Green Day, called ‘American Idiot’…and so he’s had to endue being viciously made fun of by classmates due to the sole purpose of being American…I am sorry, but to me that is utterly vile! So in the course of the day yesterday, after this being common for weeks now, Josh had finally had enough and as the kid that has been doing this bumped him in the hallway, Josh slugged him…

…now I do not in any way condone his behaviour, feel that it is appropriate to hit anyone, but I can certainly understand why he did it…

…the best part of the whole thing was that after this was broken up, rather than find out what had happened, a teacher said this to Josh, ‘this may be the way people deal with things in America, but we do not deal with things like this here!’…

…now this morning I went to school and dealt with all of this, and was very happy and grateful for the response I got, but frankly, how dare you make such a ridiculous statement? But it is this very attitude, which bothers me…its on TV, the radio, the Internet, and well, the streets…

…In no way should my son have to put up with what is plain and simple discrimination…not from the students, and frankly, not from the teachers who evidently, in making such a gross misstatement, feel in some way the same way…

I was thinking about this as I was driving Josh to school this morning, having worked in school settings, with children, in other areas, in American and I was trying to think if the situation was reversed, if we had a Brit come to one of our schools, would there be this type of thing going on? An anti-British feeling that would cause such an ugly response…

Yes we have discrimination wide spread and rampant in America, it’s a big country, I would certainly be treated differently in certain places in the states, but from a NY prospective, there would be no issue…a kid would not be picked on due to the sole basis that they were from England…

There is not this distain for the British culture…like there is for American culture…and you may just want to say, well that is because we do things this way, and think this way, and you do not…and you are this, or that, and we are not…we’ll, you just might be right from that point of view…but please, come down from your high horse for a second and look at your history/culture/state of affairs at the present…are there that many differences? Hmm….

And its made me start to think, why are people so anti-American…I don’t care what you say, it isn’t ALL because of George Bush/War/Capitalism/Americanism/etc…

It’s not so don’t try it! But there is some type of sentiment that I can’t quite put my finger on whether it be caused by fear, competition, fear of inferiority, general dislike, fear of the unknown, arrogance, ignorance, or just hatred?

Now I am sure in writing this I am going to get an education on ‘why’ and regret even putting myself in this position, but let me leave you with one last comment…

…on second though…way bother…

OK, end of rant...God Bless the Queen!

Best quotes of the week...

So here are the best quotes of the week thus far...first from Bob Roxborough upon meeting him and having a chat about the US election...

but I don't get it...he dresses like a democrat!

Then in having a polite chat with Rebecca on the way to work the other day, after me brining up a simple thought that possibly in the next 30 or 40 years I may be able to retire...she stated the following...

retirement is for pussies!

Does it get any better than that?