I tried to revive this blog in 2011 but didn't get very far! Now as 2012 arrives, I'll try again. I still don't know what to write but will give it a go. Again, sometimes I may just write some general ramblings. Sometimes something more specific. Sometimes serious. Sometimes fun. Its all part of the fun of the journey. Join me on it will you?
So here we are at the beginning of February and I thought I'd give a wee update on how I'm going with my Hopes and Dreams for 2012. This is as much for my benefit as anyone else's but will hopefully spur others on who are trying to stick to certain plans for this year.
Its the start of a new year - what will be my 39th on this planet. And its a traditional time to look back on the previous year and makes some plans for the next year. Well, I'm not going to do much retrospection to be honest!! In short, 2011 was pretty good: Family...great. Work...great. Churc…
Today I had the privilege of leading worship and preaching to my church, Glenrothes Salvation Army. This was mainly because our Officer and a few others (including Carol-Anne) were away at a Regional Youth Councils event! But it was great to have the opportunity to be in that position again.
The mee…
Today, the senior leaders of The Salvation Army (the High Council) prayerfully voted the next person to be the General of The Salvation Army when the current General, Shaw Clifton, retires at the end of March. Over the last week they have prayed, worshipped, and carefully considered the right perso…
I've just cast my votes for the National TV Awards to be given out later this month. This isn't an advert, but you can cast your own votes at http://www.nationaltvawards.com/vote
Anyway, for tonights random thought inspired by my voting!
Its been mentioned before about Top Gear being listed in the F…
At the start of this year, I was reminded that 1/1/11 would have been my Nan's 100th birthday had she still been with us. So, as we are currently down at my mum's, we headed to the Crematorium where Nans ashes are scattered. It has been a while since we made this trip and its only at this time of …
Ok, so how many times have you heard the title of this post said? Infact, how many times have I said it?! Well, this isn't a competition as the unfortunate answer is I've said that for a number of years and, like many others, don't always follow it through. Well, with the help of this blog (which I…
On Sunday 12 September, me and 2 mates from church are doing a 20 mile Sponsored Bike Ride to raise much needed funds for the ministry of Glenrothes Salvation Army. Its supposed to be a bit of fun and I guess it will be although none of us have done much cycling of late! So to help us along the way…
Well it's finally happened - a time to move on in work. Didn't really think it would happen but it has. And to be honest its a bit scary! Anyway, here's the details.
For those who don't know, I'm currently Manager of The Salvation Army's 40:20 ReUse Organisation in Perth, Scotland. I've been …
Sorry for the quietness on this blog over recent months. Other priorities have taken over. May readdress things in the new year.
Anyway, we're going to be moving house soon. We're staying in Glenrothes but getting more space for our girls so they can have a room each. Its a lovely house and is clos…
Please excuse the self-indulgence of this post!
5 years ago today, Carol-Anne White made me the happiest guy around by becoming Carol-Anne Rous in a lovely service at Perth Salvation Army, led by our great friends Captains Iain and Alison Hudson. Many people thought we would never last as a couple…
Today, my firstborn, Kathryn, is four - yes FOUR! I really can't believe it. Four years ago today we were experiencing so many mixed emotions. The waiting around as Carol-Anne was induced; the excitement when things started to happen; more waiting; then the amazing sensation of the birth of our fir…
Last Saturday we had Kathryn's birthday party. Due to what she wanted, and when it could happen, we had to have this a week early - its her 4th birthday this coming Saturday and a later blog post will talk more about that. Anyway, the party:
Each Saturday, Kathryn goes to Ballet/Tap class and r…
Well, here I am, safely returned from a week with 41 7-12 year olds at Broomlee Outdoor centre in West Linton, Nr Edinburgh. And let me say right away - if anyone says "I told you so" they'll get told! You will know from the last blog post that I wasn't really comfortable with the week at Junior Ca…
This coming week, I have a week off work. Now whilst that would normally be a fantastic thing, this week has a slight edge - I will be part of the staff at The Salvation Army (East Scotland Division) Junior Camp. A residential 'fun' holiday club type week for 7-12 year olds - 45 of them!! We'll be a…
Not only did I have a Saturday off this week, but we had nothing planned for it. So it meant that after K's ballet/tap class in the morning, we were free to do something as a family. We decided to head off to Cairnie Fruit Farm and Mega Maze. This blog spoke about this wonderful place last year. I…
What a morning I have had so far today. Wouldn't normally blog this stuff but felt I needed to write it all down.
Had received news over the weekend that a neighbouring business to where I work had been broken into for the 3rd time in 8 months. Its a Garden Machinery place and each time a supply of…
Shared this in devotions at Band Practice tonight and thought I'd share it here too. Its a message for me as much as anyone else - I hope I was listening to me!! Anyway, here's the basis of what I said:
Many of us have been struggling with ill health lately, including me. Its a weird time of yea…
A quick, but a bit deep, thought to stir your mind this Friday.
Was doing some work for Catch the Fire last night, and typed the word "Salvationists" as you might imagine I would. Now, I obviously haven't typed this before, or just never got round to over riding spell checker and adding it to the d…
Today, we had the privilege of leading morning worship at Edinburgh Gorgie Salvation Army. Our good friends Iain and Alison Hudson are the Officers there at present - they did our wedding back in 2004 - and somehow they persuaded us to lead a meeting there. Gorgie is a larger Salvation Army Corps a…
As part of our newfound localised ministry, we have been exploring, together with our Corps Officers, how we can best be involved in things at Glenrothes Salvation Army. There are a number of options and things we can do to be honest. The balance we have is not doing too much so we become too bus…
Kathryn's been at it again! To be honest, there's been a few 'kwotes' we could have put on but didn't have time and forgot later exactly what had been said!! But remembered this one. Check the Kathryn Kwote's page to see
Anyone want to buy a lovely house in Glenrothes?? Only £77,000 for a generous 3 bedroom house. Check out the details here. And for those who know us well, the things near the bottom of some of the pictures are called floors and yes, they have always been there - its just the children kept coverin…
I am pleased to be part of the Emerging Church network in Scotland over at emergingscotland.ning.com and hosted by my online friend Stewart Cutler. I went on a training afternoon hosted by the good people at cafechurch.net yesterday and Stewart asked me to blog on this. I've been asked to do web …
We are always happy to share in worship with our friends at Cowdenbeath Salvation Army. They are currently without a resident Officer and running with local lay leadership, assisted by various people leading Sunday worship. The last time we were there was on Mothering Sunday. It was a great joy to…
When leading worship at Kirkcaldy Salvation Army recently, I was led to share a sermon that I have dubbed a Recipe for Life. Based on the wording inside cups at Marks & Spencer's Cafe Revive, the sermon takes three sections - relax, refresh, revive - and uses Luke 10:38-42, Psalm 68:7-9 and Isaiah …
It was our privilege to lead worship at Glenrothes Salvation Army recently. I was led to preach on a passage that has recently come to my attention from Isaiah 58. This was quoted at a conference I was at and, using The Message paraphrase of the Bible, it really takes on a powerful meaning. The ma…
er...Hi! Knew I hadn't blogged for a while but its been 7 weeks - sorry! Loads been going on and just haven't got round to blogging it. To be honest, a lot of what goes on in my life is micro-blogged through my twitter account at http://www.twitter.com/caldjr and you can also follow Carol-Anne at
Well here I am back again after my conference. Now, I have to put on record very early that I know I stated on Sunday night that I wasn't looking forward to this conference. I do not like things like this and I certainly do not enjoy them especially when I'm told I have to go. What I have to put …
I'm heading away tomorrow (Monday) for a few days. Not by choice! But I have been 'invited' to attend The Salvation Army's UK Social Services Conference which is being held at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire. I'm not a great fan of these things but am going with open mind and wi…
Last night, I was privileged to be able to preach at a Salvation Army regional meeting. These are monthly meetings held at varying venues around the East Scotland Division, and go under the name "Power, Praise and Prayer". The very basic format is 20 mins (ish) each of Worship [praise], Prayer and …
It doesn't seem possible, but one year ago, Hannah Lauren Rous, our second child, burst into this world.
In a much more relaxed way (if that's possible!) than Kathryn arrived, Hannah popped out at 23:50 - yep, just about making it in on the Feb 19! With people from Glenrothes Salvation Army hel…
Its been a while since we updated the Kathryn Kwote section of this site. To be honest, there have been a number of items we could have shared but we never had time to put them on and by the time we did, we'd forgotten them..sorry!! Anyway, there's a new one over at the Kathryn Kwotes page now -…
Loving being involved in the whole project 365 thing. Trying to get a variety of pics and to be honest, I have missed a couple of days already, but promise to try harder!! Below is a summary of some of the latest pics. You can keep up to date on our flickr page, and also on the photos page of this…
This afternoon, we headed about 15 miles down the road from us to Dunfermline, home of our nearest Nandos, but more importantly, for today anyway, the venue for our first official 'Specialling' engagement since we were turned down for college. As we said at the time, we still have a ministry callin…
Hannah is getting braver by the minute. She's been desperate to be up on her feet for ages now and over the last few weeks has been taking more and more faltering steps. Today, she got even braver thanks to her baby pram. Check these two videos to see for yourself!
A bit belatedly, I have decided to try and take at least one picture a day and share it throughout the year. I've already missed a couple of days but from now on, will be sharing pics from my world - it could be Carol-Anne, the girls, the house, work, some scenery or something completely random -…
From this........
to this....
and all in 30 years!
Yes, Carol-Anne, my beloved wife and best friend, turns 30 today, January 15, 2009. It has been my privilege to have known C-A for nearly 7 1/2 years now, and we have seen each other through many things - good and bad. But, she chose to marry me…
Happy CHRISTmas from the House of Rous. Its been an up and down year for us but we celebrate with renewed joy, the birth of our Saviour Jesus.
Hope you all have a wonderful CHRISTmas.
It is with sadness and disappointment that I have to announce that this week, the Territorial Candidates Council turned down our application for officer training in The Salvation Army. This was the final hurdle after nearly 5 years of battling, interviews and form filling, and if we still feel this…
Just a quick post to ask for prayer please. Tomorrow (Wednesday 26) is the day when the committee meets to approve (or not) the recent applications for Officership. Think they meet in the morning so please pray that Gods will may be done and that the rubber stamp will be duly applied to our paper…
This weekend I have been away on a mens weekend at a place called Teen Ranch just outside Dundee. Teen Ranch is an interdenominational Christian Youth Activity Centre with an emphasis on the physical, mental and spiritual development of young people. It is based in a 29 room Georgian Mansion that …
You don't need me to tell you that Christmas is soon upon us! We were given the Christmas Carolling schedule during this week and suffice to say, once December starts there isn't much free time! I'm trying to be organised and am planning Catch the Fire already even though for December it moves to t…
Been a bit quiet on here lately - sorry about that! Its been a bit too busy for us off late and we're not even into December yet! Did start writing a blog past last Sunday night - got a sentence written then woke up an hour later! Oops! So here's a quick rundown on what we've been up to since our …
Well, we're back! and what a weekend that was. It is not right or proper for me to go into all the workings of an assessment conference but I will just give you a summary and some brief highlights.
Here are some key words to describe the weekend (in no particular order):
Intense, stressful, biz…
This Friday, Carol-Anne and I will be flying down to Heathrow to go on to Sunbury Court - the Salvation Army's Conference Centre in West London.
"Why are we going there" I hear you ask! Well, we have been invited to attend an Assessment Conference.
Okay, some of you are none the wiser!!
An A…
With our officers (ministers) away on holiday, the responsibility of leading worship and bringing Gods message to us at Glenrothes Salvation Army today fell to our Youth and Community Worker (and all round top person) Jan. Jan's great - she is Glenrothes through and through and always pushes home t…
A review of this months Catch the Fire, together with links to resources for free download, can be seen now over at the Catch the Fire website. Check it out when you've got a spare few minutes.
Well its a day off and once again i'm feeling ill. Been awake most of night as something really didn't agree with me yesterday. Don't know what but it wasn't pleasant! Will spare you any more details. Starting to feel better which is great too cos its a lovely autumnal day and I want to get out an…
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