This weekend I was visited by two friends that I made whilst working with Tearfund managing the Tsunami response programme. The almost two years out there were a formative period of life, I met a girl in the UK, got engaged and came home to get married - but that's another story!

This story was one of reflection and encouragement as we caught up with one another. Sometimes outworking your plan for life and being inspired to raise your game and step out of the boat isn't found in hours of prayer or reading but in seeing how others out work their dreams and throw away comments that you catch. Mark's a guy if it all ended tomorrow I'd think - 'that dude lived!', he's also got himself a great girl to travel this journey with out in Indonesia / East Timor - keep going.

10/09/2009 - 30 Not out!

Last week I turned 30. After such an eventful 20's this might seem like a random time to decide to start a blog. The challenge I am therefore setting myself is to strive and seek to make the next 10 years as interesting and adventurous as the last, this blog is meant to document if I have 'walked the walk' as it were. With that said I am quite happy to avoid being kidnaped in Darfur or battle storms in a tiny plane above Aceh, Indonesia but I do want to live a decade that reminds me I am alive and fulfilled, lets see what we can do.

So, to celebrate turning 30 my wife managed to pull off 2 (!) surprise parties in 1 night (part 1 with all my family for dinner & part 2 many of my friends at a local bar) this was then followed by an beautiful weekend in the Lake District mountain biking. Arriving home sun burnt, tired and fulfilled it was nice to conclude that the first step was in the right direction....so far so good.

Part 1 of the surprise...

(Happy Birthday to my Mum too!)

Grizdale forest, the Lakes.