The Weekend

I had one of those really nice and fairly relaxing weekends. With no commitments in terms of teaching/leading on Sunday it was nice just to be.

Saturday saw my first football match of the season. I must admit that I was looking forward to this with an equal mix of excitement and fear. That first game is always a bit of a killer as you wish you had eaten less food, drunk less beer and gone out for more runs over the summer. It was a pretty enjoyable game although I did struggle with my new found responsibility of moving from my usual right midfield role to become a box to box centre midfield player. We did manage to get back from 3-1 down to grab a 3-3 draw. My legs are currently telling me as usual that they don't appreciate being thrown around a field for 90 mins, much pain. As Jo had gone shopping with her mum it also meant that I was able to watch the football guilt free although it was rubbish, that was interspersed by a visit from my brother and his family.

Sunday was also a nice day and it saw the launch of our new form of evening service/discussion time. Using the first Nooma 'Rain' clip here we looked into the area of trials and tough times in our lives and where and why they come. It waas good to see a fairly decent turn out and the more informal environment (coffee and candles and people around tables and all that jazz) seemed to go down well with the people I was sitting with. I'm sure it will change and develop as the months go on but it was a good start. Again it was nice to see our church doing something that will be different and a challenge to some people. It's hardly radical in the grand scheme of things but for our little church family it may just be that. For me personally it was nice to look at something that I have used and taught with with other people. It is so rare that I am in our sunday services it was good for me to engage with issues such as this. I do struggle that often we shy away from difficult issues, I hope that these times will help me to start scratching some of those itchy subjects that often whirl around in my head. I hope that this group doesn't become a place of sharing the right answers but instead looks at the struggles we have and values that process of tackling and thinking them through.

It seems that my love for quotes in catching on as people send me or ask to borrow things that I post here. Andy sends a little offering which fits rather nicely with some stuff that was being articulated last night.

"To demand that others should provide you with textbook answers is like asking a strange woman to give birth to your baby. There are insights that can be born only of your own pain, and they are the most precious."

(Janusz Korczak)

If you have quotes that should be shared please send them to me or post them in the comments. Before someone points out yes the best piece of life advice is still

'Never eat yellow snow'

By the way Christmas lights have just been put up around the lamp posts here in Winchmore Hill (frightening). I'll try and get a pic some time.