Wednesday 26 April 2017

The Meaning of Chloe Grace

Two weeks ago (Apriil 12th to be exact) Hannah and I welcomed into the world our second daughter. The pregnancy and labour went very smoothly, which we thank God for, but the tricky part was giving our new little girl a name.

We had talked about girls' and boys' names (we kept the sex a surprise!) and eventually went for Chloe, with the middle name Grace. Names are important: not only do they represent us in law and to one another, they give parents a chance to say something to their child, and in some cases say something about a person.

Of course we loved the names for what they are. But here are some more reasons behind choosing Chloe and Grace for our daughter.

Saturday 25 March 2017

Why 'Share to Win' Facebook Competitions Are Wrong

Competitions are a great way to raise awareness of a new product or event. Not only do they get the word out, but they offer your customers or followers something back, a reason to keep engaging with you.


Facebook is a great place to do competitions because every time someone engages with it (by reacting, commenting, or sharing), it is spread to all of their friends. So if you have a good enough prize, you can reach lots of new people.

However, 'Share to Win' competitions are not the right thing to do. If you're running a competition, don't use 'share to win'. And if you spot a competition which is 'share to win', don't enter. Here's why.

Sunday 25 September 2016

3 Reasons Why Freshers Should Go to CU

I had the privilege of speaking at the University of Lincoln Christian Union's Freshers' Week last week. I was asked to talk about why students should go to CU.

If you don't know, CU stands for Christian Union - basically the Christian Society - and is part of a network of similar groups across the world, a community of students who believe in and follow Jesus Christ and want to spread his message to other students on campus.

I've got three reasons why you should go ad get stuck in, and three Bible verses to go with them.

Tuesday 1 December 2015

Why we don't do Father Christmas

A family Christmas tradition we have started is a trip to Doddington Hall where we will take a look around the Elizabethan house's traditional decorations, order a coffee and cake from the delicious cafe, pick out a bauble from the Bauble Barn, and bring home a Christmas tree grown on the estate.

This year, Doddington have also got Father Christmas waiting to meet children in the house's Great Hall. Almost everyone we met asked Rebekah, our two-year-old, if she had come to see Santa.

We were aware of the pressure with Santa - he is synonymous with Christmas in the UK now. So we are starting to think about whether we should introduce Rebekah to him or not...

Wednesday 21 October 2015

4 Proverbs for Social Media

The way people talk - and in the 21st century, type - shows a lot about them. Their temperament, their priorities, their wisdom. I find that, particularly on social media, the world would be a much better place if people were to think a bit more about how they approach what they say and how they say it.

Here are four ways to be much more productive with what you write on social media - inspired by a wise man from almost 3,000 years ago.