There have been a few ladies in my life. The first one was my beloved mother, and I suppose I need to mention my two sisters who knocked the awkward corners off my teenage life.

The grand lady in my life is my good lady, Elizabeth, the Home Secretary, His Master’s Voice and She Who Must Be Obeyed, mother of four and grandmother of three – a truly grand mother.

We celebrated one of her major milestones today in the New Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, where my daughter Esther celebrated her marriage to Alasdair, the last major family gathering that my late mother attended before she was taken away to heaven on 10/11/10, the first breach in my immediate family.

This life has its moments of bitterness and sweetness, and today’s happy celebration follows the recent breach in my sibling ranks, the Lord gladdening our sadness with renewed gladness.

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Psalm 30:5.

The Christian church has to thank many a woman for their support in Christian service. It was the Lord Jesus Christ Who brought in women ‘out of the cold’ of previous ideologies and worldviews that had dominated the world.  His Christian church began the process of recognising their valued place in the world. The current secular worldview is getting it wrong, as usual, and only stoking resentment between the sexes.

Thus I take the opportunity today to acknowledge my indebtedness to my good wife, to whom the Christian church at large is also indebted because Elizabeth’s domestic skills and management have enabled me to have the time and opportunity for my Christian ministry and writing.  The church of Jesus Christ owes much to her.  I suppose eternity alone will be able to measure and assess it properly, which will be true of the whole of this earthly life.

A good time was had by all

Update:

5 Jan 2021: we’ve got good taste. The cakes were provided by Harry Gow’s Bakery, Inverness, the Scottish Baker of the Year 2019/2020 in multiple categories, three Best in Scotland, two Best in Region and two silvers and two bronzes, including National Silver Celebration Cake. Today would have been my parent’s 70th wedding anniversary if they had been spared – two 70s on one page.