Learning to Walk

today, tomorrow and monday

Today I'm playing in my third game in seven days and, despite being early in the season, my body (my ribs in particular) is feeling it!  But it is good to be back in and around rugby, and to get to know a new bunch of guys (there are a huge number of new - and young - players at Hawks this season).  This evening we are having a team social: BBQ and karaoke!  I actually organised this event when I saw how many new guys there were, although - due to the busy-ness of this week/weekend - I kind of wish that we had waited until after the first league game in a couple of weeks time.

Tomorrow is a busy day, but one that I'm really looking forward to.  We have called tomorrow's morning service 'Back to School Sunday' and will be praying for both the young people as they prepare to go back to nursery, school or college and also for the teachers and all other people working in schools.  Having been given the responsibility of leading this service I wasn't quite sure where it was going but God really led me throughout the week and over the course of tomorrow morning it will be a real team effort which, I pray, will be an encouragement to those heading back into schools (whatever their role) but also to the rest of us as we go about out daily lives walking with Jesus.  We also hope that people may bring school friends or colleagues along to the service so that we can pray for them at the start of the academic year, showing them that we (as a church) care about the every-day-lives of those in our community.

Then in the evening we are back into our series on 2nd Samuel, starting off mid-way through the seventh chapter.  It is a moving section, with much for us to learn from it, and I'm really looking forward to speaking from it.

Then, on Monday, I'm going to put my feet up for a few hours!

back to...

We got back late on Wednesday and it was straight back into things the next morning as I am preaching this morning and so needed to look at the passage and begin preparing.  I deliberately didn't take a record of what the passage was for this Sunday (Luke 10:25-37) on holiday with me because if I had I would have spent time away working on the sermon.  But despite the fact that I hadn't God has been preparing me for it through my own reading on holiday and also the conversations that we were having.  I have been so excited over the past couple of days seeing how God has been working in my life - even when I didn't know it!

I have also got back into rugby training and played 40 minutes in a 10-a-side tournament yesterday.  We won, which was good - especially as we had a lot of young lads playing, and it was good to get a run out (but I am feeling it this morning!).  Proper matches start next weekend and the first league game is at the end of the month.  I did some running on holiday which has clearly helped, in fact as I was running in 35 degrees + I actually found doing a pretty hard run on Thursday relatively easy!  I also didn't put any weight on and am looking forward to (hopefully) shedding a bit more between now and the start of the league.

So, a pretty good rest, but back to it now.  I'm really looking forward to the next wee bit and beyond.

pre-season training

I can't quite believe it but pre-season rugby training begins tomorrow!  I think it might actually be the earliest pre-season that I have ever been involved in, although my second season in pro rugby also had an early start.

Although official training starts tomorrow I have been training hard recently, especially with my running, and am pleased to report that it might be starting to pay off.  In fact, I have lost about 5kgs (11lbs).  There is still a long way to go, and the final two weeks of term may prove a little harder, but it is a start.

There are two main reasons for this weight loss: First, running.  I have never really liked running, but being a big lad I long ago realised that it was the best way for me to lose weight.  I have even started to kind of enjoy it now, and that enjoyment will only increase as I get fitter.  Second, diet.  I have been realising over the past few weeks just how little we actually need to eat.  Previously I would eat mid-morning and afternoon, but I have been discovering that actually I don't need to, and, if I do, that some dried fruit will be sufficient.  I have also cut out carbs, which I hate doing, but which is again something which I realised long ago 'works for me'.

So, pre-season continues.  Whether I will be there or not is another thing as the next two weeks are very busy and also as training is going so well that I think I might actually be better sticking with what I am doing already.

But we'll have to see what the coach thinks about that...

marching on

The Red go marching on!  What a game - I thought we should have had it sown up by half time, but fair play to Chelsea who could (should?) have won it in the second half.  But that's sport for you...

Things are marching on in other areas too - some quicker than others.  My science essay has been going well and I was hoping to get a good chunk of it completed by the end of tomorrow.  Until, that was, I was contacted to say that forms (which I only received yesterday) and a personal reflection (which I only found out about yesterday) had to be in Edinburgh by Monday morning in order for me to attend this panel and not have to put the date back.

Then this Saturday is the Small Group Leaders training and there are still a few bits and pieces that I need to get done for it (mostly photocopying and collecting food etc), although we have a speaker coming and taking the morning which means less work for me.  The great news is that the books that I ordered a few weeks ago have arrived which means that everybody there will get theirs.

So, marching on.  Although at this rate I'll be crawling over the finishing line in a few weeks time!  But I will be finished.  Bring it on...

the big match

Tonight is the big match; Glasgow is buzzing, 100,000 weegies have made the trip down to Manchester, and most of the rest will be watching it on TV back in 'Vegas.

I, unfortunately, will be doing none of the above because YKW's Mum is in Glasgow for the evening and we are going out for dinner!  But I am holding out hope that we will be back in time for the penalty shoot out...

Plus I can console myself with the fact that nothing will stop me from seeing the bigger match this time next week.

slightly bruised

Last night was an evening of mixed emotions:

We had friends round for dinner and after a delicious meal courtesy of YKW the gauntlet was thrown down, the Wii was switched on, and the bowling commenced.  Normally I would expect to win but, alas, my hopes failed to materialise as I was crushed - not once, but twice.

The only thing that helped me get to grips with the pain of defeat was the fact that Man Utd won through to the final.  But even still I went to bed feeling slightly bruised.

personal training

Continuing the fitness theme of the last post...

As I've mentioned before YKW and I have been 'meeting' with a personal trainer weekly for the past 5 weeks, and have been very much enjoying ourselves - if half killing yourself around the gym can really be classed as enjoyment.  He has also set both of us training programmes for during the week, which we are following with varying degrees of success!  Apparently I have to change my mentality from "It is only good for me if I feel awful afterwards" to one where endurance (what?!) is the goal, over strength and power.

Given the busy nature of this term, the long hours of 'libray time', and the fact that the last thing I tend to feel like doing after the library is training, I have decided that for the next 8 weeks I will see him mid-week too.  Tonight was the first of these sessions, and involved an hour spent on the grass outside the gym throwing heavy things over my head and running around.

But it was great fun, the perfect end to a good days study.  Perhaps that running will start to pay off...

humble pie

I wore my England shirt to the synod today, it was even commented on by the Bishop.  But thankfully the synod finished in time for us to watch the final half an hour of the game at GV's, otherwise I would have been required to eat some serious humble pie.

weight watching

On Saturday YKW and I had our first session with a personal trainer.  It was good fun; a chance to do something together and (of course) to bring out our competitive sides!  However the end of the session wasn't so fun when out came the scales!  I was weighing in at 20 stone and 10lbs (131 Kg.)  Needless to say a lot of weight loss is called for, so I am to up the CV and cut out the weight training - at least for now - as I am blessed in that I stay strong naturally, but not light!

So for the foreseeable future we will be spending an hour a week with our new 'friend' and seeing how the weight comes off (me at least, YKW will have a different set of aims.)  I will update the blog once each week to say how it is going.  Next stop, 18 and a half...

footy

Yesterday afternoon one of my mates took me to my first professional football game in Scotland.  Despite the fact that the crowd were quiet and the team served up little in the way of entertainment (despite a 4-2 win [we left at 4-1]) I had a really good time as we sampled the whole match day experience.  I will be back...