Moments in time

I am beginning to appreciate more and more the quality rather than quantity of time we invest. My wife is good at teaching me that (she rocks!)

Four years ago in Darfur I met a friend from Yorkshire, we've stayed in touch crossing paths in Khartoum and Geneva, she now lives in Myanmar.

Three years later, in Manchester I made a friend from France.

At the start of this week I said to my French friend (Fred) let's get a beer on Friday, "cool' he said, "but I'm only around until 6.30" before meeting his sister from the airport. Today, my friend from Yorkshire who lives in Myanmar got in touch to say "I'm in Manchester today, but only from 5.30-6.30" as she was flying back to Asia. Both these people met 10 years ago long before I ever met them, so for that brief 30 minutes our lives all crossed only to disappear in differnet directions. I hate missing my train and getting the bus home, walking further than I need to, tonight it didnt matter because the quality I found in the randomness of that event made my night.

Slow down....getting more out of doing less

Following a fellow blogger led me to this interesting article ' Slow down - Getting more out of Harvard by doing less' by Harry R Lewis, Dean of Harvard.

Practical application is always the challenge with these things but one must first be reminded of why to change and the benefits it can bring, these quotes helped me to remember;

'You may balance your life better if you participate in some activities purely for fun, rather than to achieve a leadership role that you hope might be a distinctive credential for postgraduate employment. The human relationships you form in unstructured time with friends may have a stronger influence on your later life than the content of some of the courses you are taking. '

'You are more likely to sustain the intense effort needed to accomplish first-rate work in one area if you allow yourself some leisure time, some recreation, some time for solitude, rather than packing your schedule with so many activities that you have no time to think about why you are doing what you are doing.'

'For most of the rest of your life you will be reading a book or playing an instrument or going to a lecture in the evening simply because it is interesting and fun. Get yourself in that frame of mind sooner, and you will be a happier and more interesting person later. Empty time is not a vacuum to be filled: it is the thing that enables the other things on your mind to be creatively rearranged, like th empty square in the 4 x4 puzzle which makes it possible to move the other 15 pieces around. '

Get outside

There are few better ways of forgetting the busyness of life than getting into the hills. This weekend I was humbled by Marin Trail, particularly the ascent to join the trail from Betws-y-coed but 5 hours later there are few emotions I prefer than the elation of a day in the outdoors having left the stresses of life far behind.

(Not one of mine!)

'Have a bigger dream'... 'Ignore the voices that say it can't be done'

My Church (Ivy Manchester) is going through a challenging and exciting season. Lead by Anthony Delany we seem to be pulled, on a weekly basis, out of our comfort zones and challenged to think, and importantly act, on what God is saying and where God wants us to be.

I made a note of the following quotes, from the last few weeks,

'Things on earth grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace" - a real challenge to getting dragged into daily personal concerns

"To be great in Gods Kingdom you must become a servant"

"surviving is no way to live, be alive!"

"Ignore the voices that say it can't be done"

In our lives we will be in 1 of 3 places: 1. A time to serve, 2. A time to wait, 3. a time to go.

Looking at Moses in Exodus Moses made God wait 40 years until he reached the point that he had sufficient confidence to trust that Gods call was right and to step out. I don't have 40 years so this chapter of life is about finding out what God is saying I need to be doing and then doing it.

We're going to be Uncles and Aunts!

So the other night I received a text message from my little sister; "Hey Bro, just at John Lewis, can I pop in for 10 mins", I'm always thrilled to see my little sister so bounced back a response "hell yeah, come on over". The next thing Jane arrives (looking a bit sheepish on reflection) with her spouse David. She declined a glass of wine (not like her but becoming but more of a coincidence of late...as I again reflected) and sat down. Next thing "So, how do you fancy being an uncles and Auntie!"...yyyyyyyeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhh! I am thrilled, my Dad would be thrilled and the whole family are delighted to have more children to hang out with.