{"id":2771,"date":"2012-08-08T09:15:57","date_gmt":"2012-08-08T09:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=2771"},"modified":"2014-09-23T11:38:26","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T11:38:26","slug":"i-am-a-mule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/i-am-a-mule\/","title":{"rendered":"I am a Mule"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today was a hard day. I scraped the car trying to reverse into my new carport, had conversations I didn\u2019t want to have about the possibility of not having children of my own. It&#8217;s a thought that has never been far from my heart or head, and by proxy, tears have never been far from my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>I sometimes wonder why I find it so hard to forget about God and just walk away. I mean, it\u2019s not just me who has hard times \u2013 it seems pretty universal. So why hang on? Why not walk away from God and Christianity once and for all? I have come to the conclusion that it boils down to stubbornness.<\/p>\n<p>I am stubborn. Prior to today I had always seen that as a bad thing, a thing that caused me trouble. But maybe it\u2019s the thing that has actually kept me faithful. Maybe this \u2018thorn in my side\u2019 has actually been a blessing.<\/p>\n<p>Luke 22: 31-32 \u2018\u201cSimon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Have you been given a thorn that you hadn\u2019t realised was a blessing to you and potentially others?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/i-am-a-mule\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today was a hard day. I scraped the car trying to reverse into my new carport, had conversations I didn\u2019t want to have about the possibility of not having children of my own. It&#8217;s a thought that has never been far from my heart or head, and by proxy, tears have never been far from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[312],"tags":[20,23,101,110,192],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PoLK-IH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":748,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/god-made-coffee\/","url_meta":{"origin":2771,"position":0},"title":"God Made Coffee","date":"9 June 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Dallas Willard was speaking at our Sunday meeting recently and proclaimed \u201cGod made coffee\u201d (among other things).\u00a0 He was challenging us to remember to thank God for the many good things we are surrounded by and try and to start the day by blessing something of the amazing world we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/friends-blog-640x360.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8562,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/bomb-disposal\/","url_meta":{"origin":2771,"position":1},"title":"Bomb Disposal (Pt 1)","date":"17 July 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Dealing with the Seven Deadly Sins When I look out of the kitchen window at home, I marvel at how prolific and healthy the garden is.\u00a0\u00a0Not the good stuff (flowers or shrubs which we might actually have chosen and planted) but the weeds \u2013 they seem unstoppable!\u00a0\u00a0Every nook and cranny\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/bp-book.jpeg?fit=1000%2C697&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8320,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/50plus\/waiting-at-the-airport\/","url_meta":{"origin":2771,"position":2},"title":"Waiting at the airport.","date":"6 February 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I was asked recently, \u201cDo you believe in heaven?\u201d As you walk through the airport terminal signs, images, smells and crowds of people carrying their luggage bombard the senses. It can take time to find your way to a seat by the departure gate, after all this is your main\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;50 Plus&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/plane.jpeg?fit=1000%2C572&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7055,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/getting-excited-about-the-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":2771,"position":3},"title":"Getting excited about the gospel","date":"21 June 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever been to a game or been at an event where you have really gone for it? Not worried about who is around you and what they might think, you just shout out or lift your hands, punching the air and giving it some? British culture can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/go-big.png?fit=565%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8360,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/get-your-dancing-shoes-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":2771,"position":4},"title":"Get your dancing shoes on!","date":"26 February 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"As part of my morning walk with God I listen to the bible and some worship to help me start the day and focus things. At the end of my walk I head over to Spotify and listen to some Rend Collective Songs. One in particular recently has been on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/andre-hunter-62014-unsplash.jpg?fit=1000%2C665&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8266,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/50plus\/what-we-know-about-space\/","url_meta":{"origin":2771,"position":5},"title":"What we know about space?","date":"19 December 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"On a dark clear night, staring at the milky-way, it is staggering to think of the awesome place we call space. It is impossible to look at the milky-way and not be impressed whilst feeling small against the night sky. New astronomical pictures from \u2018deep space\u2019 (I wonder how far\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;50 Plus&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/space-e1570782264508.jpeg?fit=1000%2C639&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2771"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5637,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771\/revisions\/5637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}