I started writing first couple of paragraphs earlier this morning, but the router has been falling over even more than me this week, and it was more important to have bible time than to faff with t’internet!

What haven’t I blogged about this week?!

Normally I have been known to write an average of one “this was the week that…” post in my week. Normally on a Saturday, or a Sunday if I’m being naughty. I did wonder if there was any need for me to write one of those post this week seeing as I’ve already blogged more than usual. I’ve talked about the paralympics, though I’ll have to stop that now this is the final day (sob!) I’ve written a couple of commenting-on-the-news posts, mostly about Rimsha, the 14-yr old girl with learning difficulties being persecuted in Pakistan. There was also, selfishly, the soul-baring post I wrote earlier this week on “The (5) days that dared to change my life”. I have been overwhelmed with responses… mostly in people’s kind comments or tweets, or just that people have read it at all… have been overwhelmed by how many people have read that particular post, cheered when I’ve realised how many people have been interested in reading about the paralympics, and heartened when I realised how many took the time to read about, and hopefully pray for, Rimsha. Please do continue to pray for her and for her family, or to start doing so if you haven’t already. Other topics I blogged on this week are things I am likely to write about in the future, like falling, for which I could compete for a medal! As far as Christians being tested for their faith, I have written about cases recently appearing in the European court of Human Rights. We in Britain know nothing of what it is like to be singled out for our faith though. Please pray for those who are. For prayer pointers, please look at the eebiste of Open Doors UK

 “Nowt so queer as folk”

The main thing I have yet to blog about are the other three main activities this week. Encounters with people, learning about the magnificence of horses, and the supporters day for a local Christian Social Enterprise.  First thinks first. I spend a lot of my week managing people. This could mean all manner of things. For example phoning people to arrange appointments, pay bills or phoning nurses, friends or carers for help! I have already talked twice in this blog about care, but I spend much of my week managing carers. Worrying, before I get the rota that week, exactly who will be turning up and if they will be trained to meet my needs or if they will wing it. This week, I went swimming for the first time this year, which you can read about here. The only thing I neglected to mention, is that I’d happened to say to the receptionist I would be exhausted when I came out of the pool. So Emma said and why’s that. I thought oops I’m going to accidently embarras her here. I quetly said it was because I didn’t have my manual wheelchair. ‘Of course you don’t she said. “So where is it? I forgot because you loooked so natural weith the zimmer!” How are you supposed to look with a zimmer exactly?

Horses (I love then to bit at all times, except when they tear lumps out of my chair!

The other exercise of the week was my horse-riding lesson which I spent re-learning some basic dressage ateps. I thought I did pretty well. The worst bit was, I tried to make like a papralympian, in this case, the beautiful Sophie. I have no idea hoe she manages with her feet out of the irons; it looks so painful. I spent a couple of days getting over the shock! That, and I had my first ‘horse related incident. Given this one, You think I’d have learned from it!! I had some mints with me so I shared them among the horses equally, until Paulas asked me to give my last polo to Gwen. This I did, and returned to stroke the nose of the middle horse, mistakenly with the wrapper still in my hand. Not finding any more polos, the horse decided he liked the look of the golf ball I use to steer my chair and stole it. At the point, there were not staff around. Perhaps I could/should have waited till the reappreared. As it was, the horse was not letting me has the golf ball back, so I went knee first into the stable door till he relenyted which sounds bad enough. Wait till you hear the Saturday incident from which I have yet tcover.

Supporters Day… People, horses, and children … young ‘Barry’ anyway!

The final part of week is the other major highlight. The open day for the supporters of the local Christian Social Enterprise charity. To protect the safety of the young in’s I would not care to mention the name of the place. The day started well enough, with a service, thanking the Lord Jesus for all he has provided for us this past year, all that he is providing and praying and trusting that he will continue to provide. I chose my own role for the day after that, talking to the parents of friends, many of whom I know by sight, others I had met on random occasions such as the couple who’d helped me cross London two years ago. I decided then to seek out those in wheelchairs or whatever, the ‘crip brigade’. I made friends with a young lad who gives all the pocket money to us, talking to another wheelchair user who explained the joys of hand gliding (paragliding?) with a chair. I then came across a couple who had been to the farm that frist year. Was lovely to swap geography, and stories with them. Before lunch I had met a young lady called Eleanor and her mum Janet, who explained Eleanor could not see me but could hear me, so talked to her of the horses, and took Janet too them. However, when we got to the same horse who caused me chair related mischief on Tuesday. I should have stayed out of the way! I clearly have not learned my lesson! My chair is now minus the button which ‘reclines’/ tips the chair backwards. I did rescue it from the hourse but it fell of my chair at one point before I lost it. I shall have to phone the wheelchair servicing co,many firs thing tomorrow to figure out how to repair it as quickly as possible.

I had better get myself off to bed. Before I go though, one final word about paralympics 2012 The speakers did not half talk a lot of nonsense. Lord Seb Coes gems of wisdom included the lines: “we will never think of sport the same way, and we will never think of disability the same way..” How is he so convinced that years of discrimination and so on has been turned around in te course of a mere 11 days. He’d have to start by changing governments attitudes to both disability and to disabled people. Another man with high expectations of disabled people is Sir Philip Craven who talked about a small boy who had been reading Treasure Island with his mother, who asked him about the main character, expecting her son to say the man was a “pirate, instead he said “athlete” The implications of this, is to assume that all disabled in some way are ‘athletes’, or can become athletes which is far from the case.

He also committed a further gaffe , which to me was worse than the first, as he claimed the magic of the Paralympic  Games would last  for an eternity, what a lot of RUBBISH!! Sorry to sound particularly Bible bashing, but he really has not thought this one through.My thoughts seemed to be echoed by my friends, including Partakers_Dave  and, and Pam who said she was “worried that such amazing feats will be expected of all disabled [people]in a way that will be even more disabling”. I often feel that disabled people are made to feel the truth of this already as ” superhuman feats’ like being able to work, find and maintain a job is expected of all of us who are out of a job, whatever the reason may be.The last word goes to Clare Balding who says””this will all only matter if it changes the way you think, the way you feel” — Clare Balding. I hope she was talking about attitudes to disability then, because it would have been one of the few sensible things said all night.

Over to you!

I’d love to know:

• what did you think of the closing ceremony? The good the bad and the ugly?

• what now for the future of sport

• Or any other comment you would like to make on any aspect of this blog?!