Monday 11 March 2024

A Co-parenting Change

The boy's Mum and I have a positive co-parenting relationship. We fought for a few years, but we maintained a united co-parenting front and eventually acknowledged each other's efforts and pushed forward with mutual respect, something she wrote here in 2015.

A lot has changed. I met Hannah, and all four kids instantly had a bigger family. The boys Mum, Stepdad, Hannah, and I have a WhatsApp group where the stepparents, more organised than the biological parents, maintain necessary communication. Their household has entertained the step-siblings when we've had emergencies. Hannah and the boys Mum, have met for a coffee and chat; there's nothing ominous about your future wife and ex-wife socialising, right? Hannah and her parents socialised with the boys Mum when the step-siblings attended an event. The boys Mum also attends co-parenting meetings and socialised with old mutual friends in our house. I wouldn't say we have a friendship, but it's good. She said in her post, "There were two little ones. And they, whether we liked it or not, had tied our fates together forever. . . There was only "like it or lump it." So, maybe we've moved past the lump-it stage and are at the like-it stage.

Monday 1 January 2024

11 Years: Happy Soberversary


11 years ago, I woke feeling dreadful from the night before.

I was released from hospital following being sectioned four weeks earlier but drinking still controlled my life. Despite being a depressant, drinking drowned my sorrows, battled my mental health and psychosis and helped manage my disability pain. However, the truth is, I drank  because I wanted to. Although I had other acts of self-harm entering the hospital, alcohol was my greatest. The doctors noted, due to alcoholic jaundice, that my eyes were tinted yellow. If I continued drinking, alcohol would kill me. They indicated treatment could reverse these physical effects, but couldn’t guarantee how much.

Sunday 29 October 2023

Theological College

 

(A photo of me at college reading a theology book about the gospel of Matthew. I'm wearing a grey hoody, red wooly hat and no thick black glasses)

Last year, a friend sponsored a theological taster course for me. Initially, I hesitated. I felt called to do more in my faith 11 years ago, but as my marriage ended in divorce, Mum died, I became unemployed, bankrupt, had a breakdown, and fought alcoholism, all in the space of 18 months. Subsequently, I wondered if I imagined my calling.

Over the years, I became an armchair theologian as relatives and friends bought me theology books for Christmas and birthdays. I preached on Facebook and Instagram for my church, led bible study groups, and wrote studies on biblical books, themes, and events. Love of theology persisted but was now the time?