My head is still spinning a bit from Martin and the guys coming over, but life continues. Here’s what I feel most challenged by at the moment…

They talked a lot about availability - making and keeping yourself available to God. That means lots of different things - but mainly it means constantly challenging yourself in situations where if God doesn’t do something you will probably end up looking silly. It means things like walking across the pub to prophesy to someone without yet knowing what you are about to say. As I’m a planner I find this whole concept a bit scary and difficult - but I’m willing to try.

I think the other challenge was just to make more time for actually engaging with people - I’ve been guilty of letting life get a bit cluttered with things that aren’t important, and I need to refocus my attention on the Shankill and what God has us here for. As summer is approaching it means I can make a natural break with some committments, and so have more time available (which I still have to intentionally use properly).

More to come as it continues to sink in

Jonny, Laurie and Sofia are off on hols this week (we’re all jealous), so Christina and I have been looking after their little dog called Tico. Christina thinks this will mean we’ll get a dog of our own soon; she’s wrong. Oh the intricacies of married life!

Anyways, I’ve never had a dog before, and even though its only been 2 days its been an experience. I was rudely woken this morning at 7am by him jumping on my head. Lovely. Yesterday, I was walking him and I felt like God was trying to say something to me, so I did my best to listen.

As we walked along, Tico pulled on the lead to the left, and to the right, sometimes he stopped to pee on a lamp-post, sometimes he tried to run ahead of me; but all the while I had the leash and decided the way to go. When other dogs came along I had to see him round the danger (he is a woose, but thinks he’s hard).

I felt like God was trying to show me this is how we can be with Him; we want to go in the right direction, but we chase all over the place following where we think is best to go, sometimes we run too fast, sometimes we go too slow; more often than not we don’t go in the right direction. But in the end, God has the leash - he directs our paths, he makes all things work for our good, he corrects us and encourages us.

Maybe its time for us to relax a little, and trust that God has it all covered, to really believe and live like He knows best, and will get us to where He wants us to be? Maybe we need to stop pulling at the leash and just go at the pace He wants us to go at?

It certainly seems that walking a dog is much easier when the dog lets you take control.