England back on track.
what a great few days for English football!
Today I had a great day catching up with Paul at Wycombe YFC.
On the way home I heard those ominous words on the radio; ‘between junctions x and y on the M25 was a jack-knifed lorry with massive cues forming on the …. clockwise side.’ I only breathed a selfish sigh of relief for a second beofore I realised there would soon be a queue of cars on the anti-clockwise side too as people slowed down to have a look. 4 miles away from the accident the almost customary queue formed and travelled slowly at 15/20 mph.
The accident was a car transporter of BMW’s blocking all 3 lanes – nasty if you were on in the stationary queue, but thankfully no-one was hurt – but WHY do people have to slow just to gawp. Amazingly as soon as were past the scene the cars were all up to speed again.
What is it about the misfortune of others that makes us want to slow and have a gawp? Why are we so nosey?
After leaving Haverhill I drove into London to park the car at North Greenwich tube station as I have lectures on Tuesday evening at Southwark and thought it daft to drive home and then catch the train to London.
Armed with laptop I camped in the Members Room of the Tate Modern for a while and managed to get the one seat with a power socket near it. This enabled me to write up my notes from the mission consultation I had ust done in Haverhill.
As I was thinking and searching for ideas that might support the Haverhill vision I was suddenly stunned with a sense of being spoilt and being incredibly fortunate as I looked out of the window from the room I was sitting in. I was also struck by a great creativity of the created human mind. Ancient and modern standing tall together and seemingly at ease with each other.
It was as if God was speaking through the diversity and showing that opposing styles can and do co-exist in a way that brings life and vitality. I was able to worhsip creator God as I looked across his city.
The view from there is one of the best of London. It’s possibly slightly better from the bar on Level 7 – and if you fancy standing me a drink I’ll happily meet you there!
It was great today to be in Haverhill and chat about the mission of the centre.
Beckie has a great vision for reaching young people and I think there’s exciting times ahead for this little town. and I look forward with excitement to what will be happening.
Over the summer, Tom gave me a late birthday present which he tried to arrange for April.
We have been amazed at Tom’s new hobby of writing to celebrities and asking for their autographs. In just a few months he has collected a few and on his wall has signed photos of Jonny Depp in Pirates gear and Gordon Ramsey, who is his ‘chef hero’.
Tom knows my great love of all things Tomb Raider. (for those of you unaware I have a nodding Lara Croft on the parcel shelf of my car next to a Jesus figure – it gives people stuck on the M25 a little amusement!) In light of my interest Tom wrote to Angelina Jolie asking for signed photo for me which has been very nice to receive … now to find somewhere to display it without upsetting a particular lady in my life as well as showing Tom I appreciate his efforts …. the pressure of being a father and husband!
There were loads of great things about this weekend – when was the last time that 3 England teams won there their sporting events on the same day – or even the same month! Some of the performances (well the rugby) may not have been convincing but it gives something to work from.
Football for Gillingham was a disaster with the mighty Gills losing 3-0 to Southend … I don’t even think Southend have a real football team! But; every cloud has a silver lining as Ronnie Jepson, the manager who has had little inspiration despite bringing in good players, has left … so all Gills fans wait with fear and hope of who will be the next manager! Whoever it is must be able to improve on our current start of losing (quite dismally) 4 out of our first 5 matches.
The real highlight of the weekend, however, was Aunty Sarah’s 40th birthday party. This was a great event, the music was good, the location ws excellent and the people were superb. As well as celebrating with Sarah it was a fantastic chance to catch up with people who had left Gillingham a little while ago as well as chat again and share news and laughter with good friends that we have not seen over the summer.
I love weekends!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting up with Gemma, the new, and first, worker for Peninsula YFC.
I got involved in the support of a group of people who had a vision for Peninsula YFC about 6 days after I started this new role and it has been exciting to see these people go to great efforts to get where they are today – an established charity and now a worker!
It was great talking to Gemma who we are convinced from the interview is God’s person for the job. I love meeting new people and look forward to meeting up more and hearing stories of God changing lives.
Please pray for Gemma as it is always hard to start a job from scratch. It’s not always easy hearing what God is leading you to do in a new role so please hold her in your prayers for wisdom, for meeting the right people, for making friends, for finding a church and for hearing God.
The Tuesday just gone saw the start of my last year of SEITE.
I re-read that line with part relief mixed with a mass of disbelief. I need to ask where the last 2 years have gone, and can’t quite believe that the group of us that were questioning what on earth we had let ourselves in for 2 years ago in a dingy Medway hotel are now only 30 lectures away from ordination. Actually I am supposed to be sorting a placement for next term so I am only 20 lectures away!
Actually it was with some sadness on Sunday sitting in St Mark’s when a realisation came to me that I could be in a series of ‘last of’s’ now, which contrasts with my firsts of yesterday.
I sat and wondered ‘will this be my last September in St Marks?’. Then I started to think of it being my last Christmas there, my last Lent, Easter, summer, last this and last that. Even if I become part time OPM, or NSM OPM (?)it still marks a change and the end of one phase and the start of another.
Of course being the last of something also has the consequence of myself being involved in the first of something in a different capacity!
I love change. I have always loved changed. I can lose interest quickly. I have often wondered if I was a child now whether I would have been labelled ADHD. Sometimes I think I thrive on the challenge of change. But … it also scares me to think of starting again, of building new relationships, developing new ways of working, reaching new people, learning new things. It scares me thinking of handing total control back to God because I don’t know what I am doing.
It scares me, but today I have remembered a commitment I made soon after my 18th birthday – commitment to be follower of Jesus wherever that may take me; and today I acknowledge that I don’t know where that may be but I’m praying for the strength to be able to have the courage to grasp it!
Today was Beth’s first day at her new secondary school – and she seems to have loved it. She acts all grown up, and it probably makes me feel a little older!
Today was my first day of working in the new YFC offices in Halesowen. It is an amazing building and a great environment to work in – if you want a meeting or conference area in the midlands area you should make use of this. I facilitated a meeting there today and the experience was really great and much better than some other locations that I could (but won’t) mention.
Today was the first time YFC got together our workers that work with children in junior schools. This was a bit of an historical event, looking at what our workers do and what we can be doing to support them in this unique role.
Today was the first time I met some people from other centres and new staff. I always count the meeting of new people as being a real highlight of my job. I find meeting and talking with people and hearing of their plans and visions helps me to deepen my understanding of God.
Today was also the first time new YFC training room was used!
A day of firsts can be very exciting!
We had a great holiday.
Some of the funniest times, when we laughed a lot, arose from people misunderstandings.
One example comes from a campsite where the wardens sold home produced stuff. Joe came back one morning and asked what would be in Tom’s bags and could he have £1 to buy some as the sign outside the shop said ‘Bag of Tom’s £1’.
Another happened when we were hitching the caravan to move to another site. I asked Sarah to turn the stabiliser in the direction with the arrow pointing to ‘on’. She replied that there wasn’t a ‘on’ but there was a ‘no’ with an arrow next to it!
My final example comes from a child in Sarah’s class who had drawn a picture of a person. When Sarah asked what a part of the picture was the conversation went something like ‘that’s his willy’ ‘excuse me’ ‘his willy … you know, willies that you wear to jump in puddles when it is raining’!
A lot of confusion can occur when we mis-hear, see differently, or misunderstand what is happening. It strikes me that the church is in this position at the moment with people not quite grasping what is being said but immediately interpreting what they think is being said in the light of their own exprience.
For unity, for witness, to show the love of Christ we need to properly hear and understand ech other, which requires more than just listening.
The Shiny Headed Prophet 