Today

It is of course St. Patrick's day today and being Irish, it is a day of celebration, a celebration of Christianity coming to Ireland, a declaration of freedom of that country at that time and hopefully a declaration that continues today, freedom through Jesus Christ.

There were many and there continues to be many brave people that go out and declare freedom in very difficult circumstances. Look at the middle east right now, or look at the pakistani minister, a Christian, gunned down a couple of weeks for making a stand on the country's blasphemy laws. It was not easy for Patrick either facing druids, chieftains and kings who did not want to hear what he had to say, at the risk of death, freedom won through.

It will continue to win through, some will fall, others will rise up, freedom will win.

Then put that into the daily context of our lives, stop worrying so much about 'being relevant' or ' preaching without speaking', declare freedom.

What title?

Trying to keep on blogging, keep thinking about it and then it sort of goes to the back of the list, no worries, I see that many others are slacking. It is important to not get things the wrong way round, I blog because 'I' want to express something, not because people are hanging on my every word, so I do have a lot I want to say, I will keep on trying to express myself, communication is so important. I know I am now waffling.

The thing I wanted to say right now, is share a verse that really encourages me and gets to my very core of who I am, here goes.

John 6

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

When it comes down to my very being, who I am and what drives me, what my reality is, is this, this truth, that I hope I can never get away from. What I know from the relationship I have with the God I know, is His truth and that is all I have to go on, so I must run with it, be driven by it and respond to it in what ever way I can. There are no one else's words or ways that will lead to eternal life, One way. Jesus.

Thinking

I have been thinking a lot lately, I do think a lot in general, but I have been throwing lots of things around in my mind as of late, things I probably don't have to.

I am thinking about what I'm doing, what am I going to be doing, what do I want to do, what should I do be doing??????

I think about travelling to certain places, but I know the timing is not right, I think about studying, yet do not know how comfortable I would be in that environment, God knows me.

I don't know the answers to what is ahead, I do know that right now I have things to do, so I have to get on and do them. I know doors will open in the future and God has a plan with my life, I should be ready to be moved by His Spirit and trust in what is ahead.

Probably the most important thing I have to do.....is enjoy now, it is so tempting to be worried or caught up in planning for what is ahead and then miss what is right in front of you.

New Year

I have gone from 150 posts in 2008 to 40 posts in 2010. I am going to keep on blogging, I don't know if it will be more or less than last year, hopefully it will be more, I'm not going to put myself under any pressure though, just share, have the odd rant and hopefully try to inspire somewhere along the road.

Tanya, my wife, is going to try to blog daily, my Dad already does, I think it is a good aspiration and encourages discipline, something we could all probably do with more of, getting past apathy and procrastination is still a huge battle and one that has to be faced to get anything done.

I feel a bit cheated with Christmas this year, Tanya and I were sick throughout, not very fun, although I did not put on any more weight, mainly because I did not want to eat anything. I still have to go on the post Christmas diet, which does not seem fair, but I am overweight and unfit, so got to do it. New Years Eve was great though and I am very optimistic for this year.

I am still learning to live in the now, which is very important and I am still working towards more freedom in my life and in a way, I am still in a process of reprogramming, it is so easy to be going on and getting caught up in what everyone else does, telly, things, being normal. I find myself in a battle quite often with what the world says is right and being calm and just going with the flow. I have not got time right now, but that is something I want to explain more about. Who knows when that will be...........

Just Do It

I have a spare few minutes, so I thought I would blog. We have been having problems with our broadband, hopefully all sorted now, I have to say that telecommunications companys, are very annoying and seem to be a law unto their own, hopefully all sorted now.

Sailing was fun, I didn't really sail very much, due to the weather, but the experience was brilliant and I had a good time.
There does still seem to be a lot going on at the moment, that is ok, we have a family which is young and quite big and we do need to be more organised, but also, it is quite obvious that we are going to be a bit hectic and busy because we have a big young family. In other words, just trying to be content in where I am.

God continues to speak, I hope I continue to listen.

Dealing with the past, sitting in the present, excited about the future.

Good Intentions

I did plan on writing more and slowly share what has been going on lately, obviously I am not yet there with my organiasational skills, I am getting better.


We have now gone down to having 4 children again, the sister in law has spread her wings and moved into her own place. 4 children is still very hectic, teenagers are phenomenally hard work and constantly have me doubting myself as a Dad and questioning how to act in the right way, while the little ones just want the attention, which is just tiring. Today, right now, they are all great and in good places and all is well.

Street Pastors have now come to Diss, the first night out was on the 2nd of this month and was a quiet night. I am very pleased, I felt that God wanted Street Pastors here and now they are here. Lots of positives from the night and lots of things to take on board, we already have a really great relationship with the police, which is a great start.

We have just started leading a small group, which has been different and good and a real learning curve and something I am sure both Tanya and I will grow into more and learn a lot from. We have, at the moment, to look at how we can reach out more, as a group, always a challenge. We will see how that goes.

Tanya has been setting up a prayer room in the new base in town our church has acquired, it is brilliant.

Lastly, on Tuesday, I fly out to the Netherlands to take part in something called 'The Race Of The Classics.' This is a sailing race for young professionals and my company has a team and I am going. I am extremely excited, I will be racing in the vessel above, the Luciana, for 5 days and I have never done anything like this before and am hoping I can relax and enjoy it, it is something I have always wanted to do. God is good.
I am a little worried for Tanya, she will have everything on her own for most of next week, she is brilliant and will undoubtedly handle it all, I suppose I just feel a little guilty, I will find some way of spoiling her.

Consider yourselves updated.

I am Still Here

I am becoming a man of lists, which is not a problem, it is me getting organised, I need to be organised. There is a lot of things going on at the moment, which I hope to be able to share on this blog over the coming days, I will have to write 'blog' on a list, then I won't forget.

Tanya and I were at Holy Trinity Brompton on Sunday, just because we were in the neighbourhood, and we really enjoyed the service and got a lot from it, there was a lot going on and a lot of people there and everything went without a hitch. Why?

As I said to Tanya at the time, it does not just happen. There is a lot of preparation involved, practice, training, PRAYER.

I have 4 children and Tanya's sister living with us ( Until Friday), as well as the job and lots of other stuff to do. For everything to run smoothly things have to be organised, planned and prayed for. This is where I am at the moment, with lists and diary in hand, trying to be organised and getting things done.
I need to pray more, although it does not feel right on a list, it should be so much more natural than that, disciplined, something that is part of me and essential to me, to function, maybe it can start on the list until it is that engrained in me.

Ephesian 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.