ODD things are happening. I'm getting a new mum next month. Now that is weird at 63.

And I'm quick off the mark too.

Before it's even official, I've got my Mother's Day card ready for tomorrow plus the obligatory big blooming bunch.

How, you ask, can an OAP-in-waiting conjure up a new ma? Well, it's all legal and above board. I'm marrying her daughter.

And there's another oddity. We might not be taking the Ma-in-L-to-be on the honeymoon with us, but the church youth club's coming. We're off to Africa to help out at Bethany Orphanage on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Oddest of all is the wedding list: Ann and I have two housefuls of stuff so we've turned things upside down and we're offering the surplus as wedding presents for the guests.

Either that or they can donate to fund the youth trip to help the orphans. We're hinting strongly for this alternative.

When life turns odd you often meet God.

Ann and I, for instance, think we're God's gift to the other after tough times losing our first partners.

Not sure what Ma-in-L-to-be thinks as she ponders a vicar as a son-in-L-to-be.

Oddest of all, in bereavement you think everything's over but then God turns up and kick-starts you back to life, and marriage, and Africa and even taking teenagers to Tanzania.

Strange and mysterious are the ways of this God. But nice.