The time away was great.

We were able to appoint a great person to become the new director of Taunton YFC. An outstanding person whom I think will develop the centre in exciting ways with a clear vision. More will be announced later.

Catching up with friends and supporters in Nailsea was great and its hard to think that it was over 12 years ago that we left there to come back to set up Gillingham YFC. It was great to see a couple of the people whose warmth and love that I remember from that time has not disappeared. It’s also exciting to see a number of these people who we worked with then supporting us now financially through YFC. It’s always weirdly humbling and exciting meeting up with those who support us in this way.

A unique experience on the way home. The rain was so torrential earlier in the day that the M25 was closed for 45 minutes to allow the police to suck up a giant puddle in the outside lane. Drivers turned off engines and we walked on the carriageway.

For those brief 45 minutes we were stranded. There was nothing we could do. There was a calm resignation to just having to wait. There was a fun type atmosphere as we milled around and chatted, maybe knowing we were doing something that we should not be. We noted that we (hopefully) would never again actually get the chance to walk on the M25!

Looking up and down the motorway, I saw 3 lines of stationary traffic as far as I could see, and dots of humans milling around, waiting until they could re-start their journeys. I wish I had got my camera to record the experience. The picture was vaguely funny. Hundreds if drivers brought to a standstill by a puddle! Whether you were in a £80 000 Mercedes or a £800 Escort made no difference. levelingng haoccurreded. We were equal as we waited. Sometimes we forget, but ionlyny takes a little bit of rain to remind us.

It was a reminder to me that in the eyes of God we are all equal. Some may feel inferior, superior, rich, poor, in, out; but however we feel, or don’t feel, we are all equal in the eyes if Creator God. It is with that equality that we stand before God not just at ‘the end’ but also in the present of today.

It’s been a long day.
With long careful nurturing the Tamagotchi is as good as new, so there have been no major stresses this evening!

It’s been a long day and I’m tired but I look ahead to an exciting week, or at least a few days in the west country.

I will be leaving the house very early in the morning to get to Taunton to sit on the interview panel for the new director of Taunton YFC. Leaving the house at 530 should mean I miss the traffic!

After that I plan to catch up with Annie and Phil Williams in Nailsea who head up Christian Surfers UK. It will be great to see them after such a long time. Following that I will be meeting and staying overnight with good friend David and visiting the Ring o Bells, which was a local haunt when I was the youth and childrens work coordinator at Holy Trinity.

On Wednesday morning I hope to pop in and say hello to a few of my financial supporters in Nailsea before driving home and hopefully catching an England victory on a big screen somewhere.

Lots of exciting things in just a few hours.