Learning to Walk

who wins? you decide...

Today is the final day in the Big Brother house.  I watched the first night, then tuned out for a while, and have picked up again recently.  It is incredibly fascinating to watch, as well as incredibly inappropriate at times - there have been times when we have had to switch off, such was the content.

Anyway, tonight it all comes to an end for another year.  The big question is; who will stroll off into the sunset with the cash?  I don't know.  I'm not really that fussed.  Why don't you decide?!

i'm off to see the bishop

The problem is that I now can't get the 'off to see the wizard...' music out of my head!

Yesterday's meeting with the DDO was good.  We had good chat about a number of things including marriage, vocation, the inclusive nature of the SEC, revelation of God and where it is found, plus more.  I enjoyed the meeting, possibly the most enjoyable yet.  I think that this was perhaps because the decision had already been made that I would get put forward to the next stage so there was no set agenda of things that we had to cover.

So sometime towards the end of September I will meet with the Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway.  Excitingly this is the 4th stage of a potential 8 which means, if I go 'all the way', that I am now at the halfway stage.

getting ready

It is All Age this Sunday morning and I am speaking so I am tweaking a talk which (in some sort of personal record) I prepared last week.  We are trying do do a few things differently over the course of this series and so I am planning on using a couple of props (no pun intended) this Sunday morning.  I hope it works...

I am also giving a bit of thought to a week on Sunday when I am preaching on the final chapter of Romans.  I will wait until after Sunday night's sermon before I really start getting into it; but I might head down to the library to get a few commentaries which will no doubt take up a good part of my week next week!

habit forming

We watched a film last night, Reign Over Me.  It was the title that grabbed my attention and the film was good and very watchable in a strange kind of way.  The only problem with watching a film is the not so healthy nibbles that invariably come with it.  Coupled with this was the fact that YKW got home and fell asleep on the sofa rather than going to the gym.  Still, I did manage my 5 a day and I am going to drag myself to the gym now, primarily because I am told that habit forming takes 40 days and this is one habit that I am keen to hold onto.

blogging from india

Following in the style of GV I am going to put a big shout out for a friend of mine who has just started blogging, rather than sneaking him onto the side column unannounced.

He is an ICC graduate currently out in India.  It is well worth reading if you have time, and even more worth praying for him and others like him.

picking up pace

Life is beginning to seriously pick up pace.  This week I started a distance learning module on Judaism.  I have completed the first 2 'units' so far, which have basically taken my up to the destruction of the temple in 66AD (if memory serves me correctly - it might have been 70, or perhaps they just can't quite nail down the date...)  So far it has been revision and padding out of stuff that I have already covered in biblical studies modules, but the next section sees me into uncharted territory.  The course is 8 units long and at the halfway stage there is a small test in order to make sure that you are on the right lines.  I am finding the course surprisingly enjoyable given the amount of reading - although I sometimes think that 'take brief notes' should result in less than the 8 pages or so that I seem to scribble down each time!

So that has been my morning and well into the afternoon for the past couple of days.  Today is a little bit different.  After a morning prayer meeting I am back home doing various bits and bobs for work.  Then this afternoon there is a staff meeting.  I am really enjoying my job.  Of course there are challenges and not so fun bits, but it is a great thing to have been able to get involved in.

Tonight we are planning a night off together.  Gym (did I say off?!), tea, and perhaps a film.  Tomorrow will be another 'unit' of Judaism and then my rearranged meeting with the Director of Ordinands, and hopefully some news on if and when I will be put forward for the next step...

5791

Bizarre title for a blog post, but here's where it came from...

On the way home last night we decided to stop for some chips.  We were stood waiting to use a cashpoint on Sauchiehall Street when two very drunk guys joined the queue.  "5791" slurred one of them to the other, "it's the year I was born...backwards."

Lucky for him I wasn't a hardened criminal, or even just a desperate drunk, ready to smash him over the head and take whatever money lay behind door "5791."

techno-aaaaargh 2

I woke up this morning to no internet on my computer - which is the one that we have been using because YKW doesn't yet have a card (I think that's what they said it needed) to pick up wireless - despite the fact that the wireless signal was still being detected.

However if I plugged the line into YKW's computer I could get online.  I therefore decided it must be a problem with the wireless box.  So I plugged my computer into the modem directly and whilst a connection was recognised I still couldn't get online.  This has led me to the conclusion that the problem is with my computer rather than the wireless.

If my suspicion proves to be right then I will credit myself with another step taking down the 'becoming computer literate' path.  But, whether I am right or not, I still have no idea what to do next!

busy days are best

It has been a busy day, but one of the best in a while.  I think that the reason for that is simply down to a good start and the fact that on busy days I get stuff done, and getting stuff done makes me feel good.

This morning started at 6.30 but, after an afternoon of working through contact details - accompanied by lots of email sending, it is starting to slow down a bit now.  This evening holds a trip to our new gym (big thanks to the Hawks who still count me as one of their own to the extent that I get in on the gym sponsorship) and then a night together without work!  It will be a real blessing given the fact that YKW has been working until at least 10.30 every night since she started her job.

meetings

I had the first home meeting of my new job last night when two people came to discuss the Freedom In Christ course with me.  Tonight I am visiting one of the church's small groups.  It is a great privilege to have the opportunity to join the staff team at St Silas and a great joy, as a result, to be able to spend time getting to know some of the people involved in keeping the (many) small groups running.  It is especially exciting to see the desires and burdens that God has placed on different people for different areas.  Praise him that he does; otherwise we would be a pretty boring bunch, wouldn't we?!