Girl Guides

I wanted to post this a few days ago but I've been letting is simmer for a while as I'm so upset and hurt about it, I didn't want to post in that state of mind.

In York with a Girl Guiding sign - I was proud to be involved!

As you may or may not know, I have been involved in the Girl Guiding movement all my life. I know a lot of people probably say this but I mean literally. I joke that it's in my blood; it's who I am. My Grandma was a Girl Guide, going on to be a Guides leader and then District Commissioner, continuing on to be a Brownie Guides leader - she retired after gaining her 40 years' service honours. My mum followed in Grandma's footsteps and did both Guides and Brownies, earning her 20 years' service and then I joined in, qualifying as a Brownie leader.  In fact, I never really left! I 'finished' Brownies at 11 years old, stayed on to 'help out' and then when I was old enough, started my leadership qualification.

Three generations of Guiders (back in 2006)

Unfortunately due to work commitments, we had to close our unit in 2012. It was devastating. We had been through ups and downs and thought we'd have to close a couple of years previously when we were down to around 3 girls on our books - most girls wanted to join cubs and scouts since they became unisex. We did a last ditch recruitment drive, putting up posters and flyers and we turned it around.

Grandma making the headlines for delivering
me and keeping her Guide Promise!

We had a big party at the last meeting and there were tears all round. I genuinely loved those girls and all that we stood for. We met up in the November to attend the annual Remembrance Parade, as we always had done, but just as ordinary members of the public, rather than a uniformed organisation. It was strange but I wanted to go - I'd never missed one in all my life! Unfortunatly I don't think I'll be able to attend this year - it's just too difficult and raw at the moment.
I still get teary when I think about it!

So why am I telling you all of this? I guess that I just wanted to give you a bit of background. I'm sure that if you read the newspapers regularly, you'll have seen the news last week that the Girl Guiding movement have taken steps to remove God from their Promise.

The Brownie Promise was:

I Promise to do my best: 

To love my God, to serve the Queen and my country, 

To help other people and To keep the Brownie Guide Law

It has now been changed to:

I Promise to do my best: 

To be true to myself and develop my beliefs. 

To serve the Queen and my community,

To help other people and to keep the Brownie Guide Law

Now it's not the first time the Promise has changed. Apparently, in 1994, a little girl refused to say that she would "do her duty to God" as was the Promise, so they changed it to "love my God", which would emcompass all peronal beliefs and 'gods' in general.

We had a Brownie once who was happy to participate in everything. She never mentioned anything about her Promise but her mum came in early one night and heard us saying our prayer. She wasn't happy and said that she didnt want her daughter to participate in it. We explained that as a Christian organisation, and as our meeting place was a church, we weren't going to stop doing it. If her daughter didn't want to join in, she didn't have to, and we would take her name off the list to read the prayer. This pacified the situation but the little girl was really upset that her name wasn't on the list, often asking (as they all did), "when is it my turn to read the prayer?" and joining in with the Lord's Prayer every week, unless she spotted her mum.

I had always said that once I had got myself settled: married; children; and living in an area I'm going to stay in, that's when I'll renew my warrant and re-open a Brownie unit. As I stated earlier, it's who I am; I'm lost without it. Now that they've secularised themselves, though, and basically turned their back on all they stand for, I won't bother. I still have a heart for voluntary and children's work but I'll have to find another outlet for it.

Julie Bentley - campaigner for
abortion rights and the
woman who removed
God from Girl Guiding.

To say I'm devastated isn't an over-reaction. If anything, it's an understatement!


I guess it was only a matter of time, after all, they did hire a woman as Chief Executive last year who was former head of the Family Planning Association, an abortion and contraception group (and had never been a Guide herself!). She said last yar that the Girl Guides are "the ultimate feminist organisation" - I retweeted them telling them exactly what I thought of that and that I was ashamed to be a part of it. I mean rally, why we need a Chief Exec is beyond me - it's a charity, not a business.

I'll end with a quote from Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail (please don't discredit me for using the DM - I know they're not the most prestigious but my Grandma sent me a clipping!) 
"You may think the Girl Guides are unimportant, but they're not. A promise that once soared to embrace God and country is cut back to concentrate on self. don't tell me that this won't be a big thing for millions of young women."

My heart breaks. Pray for our young people, our country and those in charge.
- Lisa

Marriage and the Church

I'm aware that this is potentially a very taboo topic but I make no apologies. I've wanted to post this for some time now but have been looking for the 'right time'. I suddenly thought to myself, "Who needs a right time? If it's on my mind, let's just have out with it!"

So today I want to discuss marriage. In particular, marriage in the Church.

Now I'm not going to go into all the usual debates, there'll be time for that another day and what I have to say is somewhat more pressing.

Let's play the "Who Here" game! If you haven't heard of it, I say, "who here thinks....." and you raise your hands (but for the sake of the blog and your friends' views on your sanity, maybe just raise a smile or a nod).

From Style Me Pretty

Who here thinks marriage in church is a big deal? 

(I guess a lot of you put up your metaphorical hands - I did)

Who here thinks that a couple should be married before having sex?  

(I guess a lot of you still have those imaginary hands up)

Who here has noticed that people tend to get married at a very young age in church?  

(You've clicked on. Probably losing some now) 

Who here thinks that we've lost respect and reverence for marriage, using it as a way to have sex as soon as we can, or even worse, an excuse for a big party? 

(I'm probably rubbing a lot of you up the wrong way now, aren't I?)

Well this is my issue. Forgive me if it's not yours or if you think I'm way out of line here. Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing, isn't it!

In the Church as a whole, I believe that many Christians rush into marriage. Sometimes a couple have been together a month, the pressure or the lust gets too much so they have a wedding just a couple of months down the line. How many of those weddings produce a true, meaningful marriage? I have to be honest with you, I personally know more divorced or separated Christians than married (or happily married) ones.

That not only shocks me, it breaks my heart.

I believe in marriage. I believe in forever. It's a binding covenant and although I'm not going to go into the issue of divorce today, I personally don't believe in it. There's just no need if you know your future spouse before signing that contract. That's essentially what it is, isn't it? You can't just cancel a binding, legal contract but it's so easy to divorce these days, in this generation of disposable everythings.

Some of you may know that I am a big believer in love. I probably have some Disney-fied, rose-coloured view of it but I can't help that I've been so overwhelmingly loved in my life. I can honestly say that there has been no time in my life where I didn't feel loved, by God, my parents, grandparents, brother, partner, spiritual aunts and friends, even my dogs! I am blessed because I am loved beyond measure. When was the last time you actually sat and thought about how loved you are?

Let's move on a little, before I cry!

When did marriage become so structured, organised and legal? Back in the day, if you wanted to marry a woman, you went to speak with her dad, gave him a sheep or a ram and then you were married. Bob's your uncle (or uncle-in-law, if your new wife has an uncle Bob!)

Nowadays it's thousands of pounds, a massive party, drunken relatives and a little piece of paper. It saddens me that we seem to have lost the true meaning of marriage. I'm not married yet, legally, but in truth I committed myself to Riki, before God, years ago. I thank the Lord for him daily and even though I know that He is working in Riki's life, I also know that there is much discussion behind my back about my being "unequally yoked". Believe me, that's a MAJOR issue with me. I'm actually going to make an entire post on it, maybe the next one.

From OneWed

So when did it become less about God and more about sex, money and parties? I guess around the same time that our world started to fall apart (that is when we, as a planet, turned our back on the Lord and became selfish). Don't even get me started on those who have no desire to enter a church in their entire lives, and no intention to ever return to one again, but want to get married at a church.

You only have to look on Pinterest or the hundreds of wedding-related forums, websites and blogs out there to realise that it's been taken too far. I'm not going to lie, I've got more than a handful of boards on my own Pinterest related to planning my wedding, and I'm a member of some of those forums, discussing wedding-related topics and sharing tips and advice with other brides-to-be. I'm not denying that these are great tools to have but it's the frame of mind behind them that's the big deal. Are you getting married because you want to show the world, and God, that you're committing yourself to this person for the rest of your life, or is it because you want to throw the best wedding amongst your friends/family, or you want to have sex without the church elders shaking their heads?

It baffles me. It really does.

Anyway, thanks for playing the "Who Here" game with me if you did join in, as adults we don't get to play many games; it made me smile!


-Lisa

Let's Catch Up

It seems I've been MIA for almost a month now. I have been here, lurking in the shadows, but have been silent for some strange reason.

So I had my driving test on Monday. I failed. Obviously I was upset, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, but I was strangely comforted in knowing that I had prayed for God's will. Of course, I prayed to pass the test but I also prayed that if it were in God's will for me to pass that day, He would take control of that car and get me through it (see this post for reference).

My test was at 08:10 and I knew I had failed by 08:20! They make you continue on and tell you the result at the end. I was home by 09:30 and just went back to bed until after noon. I was so emotionally drained and I remember praying and feeling awful because on the one hand I was upset but on the other I had prayed for the Lord to take control in the situation. I just said, "Lord, I know that I said I'd respect and accept Your will, but I'm allowed to be upset!"

In honesty, it was a blessing in disguise. As I booked my next test, I checked my bank balance and I simply wouldn't have been able to afford to change my car insurance over from a learner to a lone driver this month. I guess when I prayed over my tithe that the Lord would sustain me financially, He kept up His side of the bargain!

With that in mind, if you remember back to my post about tithing, here, I mentioned that I was going to start tithing at my church. This month I did, for the first time! It was strange - I was immersed in a world of envelopes, standing orders and Gift Aid. I suddenly felt more grown up and even though most people just put in their envelope or handful of change and have done with it, I felt like it was a momentous occasion. I even had a little lump in my throat!

I'm looking forward to the Days of Wonder event at Hull tomorrow night (see link here). Unfortunately, due to my not passing my driving test I won't be able to go to all three nights but I have managed to get a lift into Hull for the first night tomorrow. I'm believing that God will certainly show up and meet with us. It's going to be a great night and I can't wait! If anyone knows anyone who needs a ticket, I've got a spare for tomorrow and two tickets for Friday and Saturday! Just let me know, here.

So that's what I've been up to. I do apologise for not posting for a while. I don't even have an excuse, I guess I've been lazy or something. Rest assured, I'm back and raring to go!

~ Lisa