Naturally Supernatural

St Hugh's 16+ headed off to join a conference at Soul Survivor Watford last Thursday. Naturally Supernatural was all about the Holy Spirit. Ken Costa was speaking on the comfort side of the Holy Spirit.

Once I understood the real meaning of comfort, I have really latched on to it as something that gets me through all days. For the rare moments when I feel as though no one is on my side. And for the moments when it's all going swimmingly well. God is there cheering me on. 2 Corinthians 1 mentions the God of All Comfort.

It's good to be in a different place hearing these things, even if Ken was using words I didn't understand, I got the general idea behind what he was saying. I love the way that God takes the words of others and uses them to talk to every one individually.

The Saturday before last was a perfect example of this, the Spirit of the Lord was upon me and He has anointed me! I used my gift well last weekend and got a bit of money from the community for my trouble. It was enjoyable. God using my words and his convincing to get us some money! Yeay!

May the God of all comfort be comforting you!

Going Home

Last week was half term for most schools across the country. Which is a good thing for the traffic. The drive to work takes 5 minutes wth no school traffic. This morning it took closer to 30 cos of the school traffic/heavy snow combination.

It's also good for us youth worker types, because we get to do a different type of youth work. On Shrove Tuesday we had young people in and out of church, wanting hot drinks and pancakes. It was very interesting to see young people and just have the opportunity to sit and chat.

We were busy this last week, but that didn't stop me having some time to go and see my family. And to preach at the church where I grew up. Christ Church is a very lovely place to be. Lots of people of all ages, all very welcoming and I had a good time. I told a joke during my 10am preach, but failed to set it up well, so didn't get a hint of a laugh! Even now I'm still learning!

I'm sure the audio will be up soon, so just keep looking out for it.

I think I left a bit of my heart in Essex this week.

We've started Lent and the new Bishop Alan Smith has set our Diocese a challenge. I'm enjoying it so far... another challenge we've been set is to pray more. Church is gonna be open all day for prayer. So feel free to drop in.

IT

I know a tiny bit about IT, just a smidge, bits I've picked up from Dad since I was old enough to have an attention span of longer than 30 seconds, I can generally troubleshoot, but I still have a lot to learn.

Enter my latest 'mistake' - purchasing Norton360 with out consulting the IT gods (aka Dad). I only just noticed how it's little icon in the taskbar had a orange ! and when I tried to open said programme all I got was a blank screen.

So you find me mid re-install just 2 months after purchase. Whilst Windows Defender (on Vista) works against the clock to complete a scan it's been stopped from doing (by norton) for over 700 days. Poor thing, it'll never make it, I've downloaded so much rubbish!

I didn't notice how slow my laptop had gotten after the download of said programme, it seems that my laptop is in fact still speedy. But because I have patience I hadn't noticed how much it had slowed, til now.

So even though I'm mid re-install on a programme which cost a bit of money, I'm still considering petitioning the IT gods for a new an improved (preferably free) antivirus software.

Compassion Fatigue

I do not cope very well with international natural disasters. I do not really know why, but as soon as I've heard the story once, I do not need to hear it again, nor can I cope with all the pain and the horridness that comes with it.

Of course, I'm heartbroken when it happens, but after a day, I can't face it any more. I give money, I know that it can help a little bit. But the thought that I'm not doing a great deal, leads me to think less about it and more about my own work and my own area.

I love that the world is now doing all it can for Haiti. I just wonder, how did it get to the point where there is no real army/police, no road signs, no real government? How did the island fall into such poverty? That's the saddest thing to me...

Of course we will continue to pray for Haiti, but compassion fatigue has hit.

Loyalty and Priorities

Sticking with the Revelation theme... we'll be talking about the book on our weekend away in March. And whilst I'm thinking on it and have literally a moment to spare in a chilled Sunday (I realise the paradox in that) I was thinking about the positives and negatives of realising a truth, or gaining clarity on an issue.

I have had a few revelations this past week, so I'm starting to not only see the other side of the argument on somethings, but also seeing that I have to make some changes if I want certain things to improve.

We were talking about the 12 year old Jesus in the temple this morning, the boy who knew his priorities (Luke 2v41-end). I had one 12 year old in my group this morning, who's priorities were very different from the others.

I really wanted to encourage them to know that God can be our top priority, we read one of my favourite Psalm, no.84. "Better is one day in your courts, than a thousand elsewhere". We'd also spoken about the gospel over lunch, we should be in awe of it, not think we know it all. God as my top priority makes my life look so different to what it could have been, and here's today's revelation for me. God's slipped down my list a bit, my own fault. I'm not perfect, I find myself prioritising meaningless things.

Working on putting God at the top of the list.

Revelations

Quiet moments allow for revelations, travelling is a great chance to think through things. Much like Paul travelling on the road to Damascus, though I haven't been blinded, I guess sitting in your car in the snow and horrendous traffic, gives you chances to think.

I was thinking how long the newness of a new year lasts? A day, week, month, six months? So I'll keep waiting for the revelations to find me!

In other news, it's been an interesting week for the building of St Hugh's, we are currently coping without any heating for the church part of our building. Something broke and tripped the electricity, so the whole boiler needs replacing. Pray it happens quickly and the parts arrive and get fixed. We were pretty cramped in the hall on Sunday.

I'm looking forward to this term, as it panning out nicely and I feel prepared for all the things that could happen. We're really busy, and it means I have to miss a few things, but I'm sure there are bigger plans at hand.

New Year, Old Me?

Christmas and New Year's celebrations have been and gone, and it was a great end to the year. At home with family for most of it. So, no, I didn't get snowed in, and in fact it wasn't even a white Christmas. By the time I got home there was no snow on the ground.

I got back to Luton today, and it's been sleeting abit, but not enough to cause any trouble. I will be enjoying Sunday catching up with church family and thanking them for the presents given me.

I haven't made any resolutions this year, but am praying for revelations again. It could be a year of change and a year of new attitudes. Holding on to hope and laying any plans (which are few, normally I have a lot) before God. I think I'll be guided through the beginning of this decade more than ever.

Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year wherever you were. many Blessings for this coming year.