Thoughts For The Day!

Here's a few thoughts I want to remember. I think they are worth remembering, and I think God wants me to bear them in mind - always. I thought you might like to hear them...

One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard was that you will regret more the things you didn't do than the ones you did; and, overall, I think that's true. Certainly the more things I do and don't do, the more this seems to be the case. Now, obviously, this doesn't mean that everything I do works out well; sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, and some things don't work out at all. But missed opportunities are one of the most frustrating and annoying things you can ever have. Going through life, you will not escape from wishing certain things could have been otherwise; thinking 'if only' is bad enough, but thinking 'what if' when you know that something was in your hands to change, and you didn't take it is much worse. It's only slightly a problem with things like going to a party or going out with friends when you hear later that they had a great time; but it's a lot more so when it's something like a job, or a mission trip, or moving house. And, more to the point, the more you say 'yes' makes it easier to say 'yes' next time. Saying 'yes' to small things also makes it easier to say 'yes' to bigger things; and, ultimately, makes all decisions seem easier to make. Saying 'yes' more doesn't mean that you stop saying 'no', but it might make it more likely to be a choice rather than a reaction.

The flipside of this, in a way, is something God has said to me time and time again in different circumstances; and that is that doing something is better than doing nothing. This is applicable to all sorts of situations, and in different ways.  It could be that you are surrounded by a set of difficult circumstances, which aren't getting any better on their own. It could be that you don't know how to do something or quite what to do, so you may procrastinate (that's a good word). It could be that you are waiting for something to happen, you just aren't sure what. Sometimes it is just that you can't decide what to do, that doing something is better...

Which leads me on to another thing that God has been particularly saying to me recently. About various things. That in certain circumstances (almost certainly a lot more often than I would like), He really doesn't mind what we/I choose. Just that we/I choose. Choosing something rather than just reacting, or, even worse, just doing nothing and being unhappy about something while vaguely hoping that things will change is better. Just because choosing gets you involved, it wakes you up, as it were. And, even if it turns out to be a bad decision, you're still thinking-and can change things. Choosing is one of the best decisions you can make and actions you can take. Choosing to choose is always going to be good (for you).

And, lastly, remember that if a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing. This seems obvious, so obvious, there's nothing to say; but, following on from the previous comment, it's worth remembering. People sometimes can be inclined to perfectionism, thinking that if a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well; and this can be an excuse not to do it, because you can't do it well enough. And that may well be the case-sometimes. But it shouldn't become a way of thinking. If a thing's worth doing, it may well be worth doing badly if that's the best that can be done, if making an attempt at doing it is better than leaving it undone. But, whatever is the case in this regard, the point is that once you have made your choice and decided that something is worth doing, then you should stick to it. Don't let fear, or difficulty, or, well, anything put you off doing it. If you have to postpone it to better plan, then do so; but don't let it just drift away once you have decided.

And, well, this is what I have been thinking about recently. Somethings I need to bear in mind more, and maybe, just maybe, someone else may benefit as well.

On Being Alone

Now, some observant people may be a bit puzzled by the title, as I did say I was busy-and you can guess that that has continued, judging by the number of posts I've been putting up (i.e. not many, cos I've been busy), so what's it all about, then?

Well, just the fact that, at the moment, my housemate isn't around much at home. He got ill recently, and decided to go back to his parents for a bit, which can't be much fun for him. I still see him, cos he pops in every now and then to get stuff, but mostly, he's not here. Which means I have the house to myself-when I'm in, anyway. Which isn't that much, but I've noticed a couple of things recently.

The first is that the house is sporadically less tidy. Because things stay where I put them. And that has a good side and a bad side. The good side is that things stay where I put them, and the bad side is that things stay where I put them. Because I know things are going to stay I know I'm not going to have any difficulty finding them, so I don't worry about making sure things get put in boxes and things, which makes it quicker to get them when I want them next. But this means that certain places are very untidy. Only certain places, because I don't just drop stuff anywhere; so, sporadically less tidy.

And the other thing I've noticed is that I've been praying more. I've had more time to myself, so I've had plenty of times recently where I've just sat and prayed, sometimes with music sometimes not. I'm not sure yet what the difference is, because I haven't been praying about anything specific; I've just been spending time with God and letting Him set the agenda. mostly, there doesn't seem to have been an agenda as such, except just to relax. Which I've been doing. Which has been great in itself, but hasn't exactly pointed to anything specific. It seems that God is preparing me for something, but I'm not really sure of anything more than that at the moment. I do have some idea, but not enough to describe-it's more like hints and clues at the moment. But I am beginning to see something of what the future may hold. And some of what I became aware of during the week of prayer is definitely relevant. It's kind of like drawing a picture line by line, and as it goes on, it starts to look like one thing and then another until it's finished.
                                                      
                                                              
The other thing I've noticed recently is that I've been reading the Bible a lot more. Normally I don't read much of it on an ongoing basis (though I have read all of it), but recently I have been reading it quite a bit. Mostly during the times of prayer, but not always. It started off with just the occasional bit, but I noticed earlier that I had got through the whole of Luke's gospel this week, and I'm now a quarter of the way through John. This wasn't planned, except in as much as I read through the Bible and then reread it; I just did it.

So, that's what's been going on around here the last couple of weeks or so. Incidentally, for those concerned with how my housemate is, I saw him earlier today. He seemed quite happy, and was planning to go and shoot some trees in Westonbirt Arboretum. With a camera, he wanted to make clear. So, I think he's fairly well again, and will no doubt be back soon. Probably anyway.

And Now...

I've been pretty busy so far this month, being out more evenings than I've been in. Which is good; BUT has a couple of effects. One is that I haven't finished many books this month, and it doesn't look like that's going to change. And the other, more serious, from the point of view of doing this blog, is that I don't have as much time to do posts-and when I do, there's a lot more that I can say. Which would mean more posts, if I actually got enough time to do something about it. My guess is that that won't last forever, but to keep up with a decent number of posts, I think I'm going to cheat a bit by having more than one post in development at the same time. I'll let you know how that works out.


Two Mondays I have missed the film nights at the Wellers' now, and I'm going to miss it again this week. At least this week it's one I'm sure I can get to see at some point-'Sideways' is another friend's favourite, and I'm sure I can persuade him to watch it again at some point. Next week I think it's 'Black Swan', which I'd actually quite like to see. I shall make the effort to do so.

Tuesdays have been busy because of ALPHA,  which has started again, and I'm helping with the catering again. Well, the washing up, anyway-they do have a fully qualified chef on staff. Which is fun, but it does mean I'm out one more evening a week-though I have decided I probably won't do every week, just to make sure I get some time to myself now and then. But I should be able to get on the weekend away-I've booked the time off work, just need for it to be approved now. And this Tuesday, I did something a bit different, as the Literature Festival was on-so I phoned my mum to see if she wanted to come in and we could wander around with me. She was free, so we had an enjoyable day going around. Though to be honest, we probably spent almost as much time in cafes as in the festival. But it was a good time to catch up with each other.

Wednesdays are a bit different now I have changed cluster, at the very least because this cluster meets every week. As well as knowing that I don't have to think about if cluster is on-just where it is- it's actually quite refreshing being in a new cluster, but also, because I know most of the people in it, it feels comfortable straight away. I can't really explain it any better than that, but I really like it; and I look forward to growing with it over the next few months. I don't want to look too far ahead, because I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm really not good at predicting the future. I would never have guessed that I would change cluster, nor that I would be enjoying it so much, and that's a relatively minor change, really. Bearing that in mind, it could be quite exciting to think about what other things God may have for me in the future that I have no idea of- and probably wouldn't believe if I was told in advance.

My Thursdays are the most varied of all over the last few weeks. Two weeks ago, I was at Hungry for God, lying on the floor, as I couldn't really move. But I was spending time with God. Not sure why He wanted me to be there to get me to spend time with Him, but He did. I can remember it was very relaxing. And last week, I saw a film. That was a bit unexpected-I have a friend who has recently started a job in the Uni of Gloucestershire, and was putting on a film night. I asked if I could go along, and she was quite happy for me to join them. So I watched 'The Silver Linings Playbook' which I'd never heard of, but thoroughly recommend. It's a great film. And I got to spend some time with her, which was good; I don't really see her often enough, I think. And this week, I was back out with Street Teams. We hadn't gone out for a few weeks, as our leader was away; so, it was good to get back out there. And, tonight, we had two new people join us for the first time-Bob and Hattie (one of our new interns). And then I got home to finish writing this.

Fridays are actually my quietest evenings, I generally don't end up doing much (so why not write this then-well, I've spent long enough on it already). Quite often Saturdays are the same, but the last two have been full. On the 5th was an event called 'A Night At The Musicals', which was to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Some of the performers in Jacob's Well theatre company got together to put on an evening of song and dance pieces from some of their previous shows-with some preview teasers of the forthcoming one 'The Sound of Music'-which I'm definitely looking forward to. And then this week was Ed's birthday. So he had a party in a local pub, which he'd hired. It was a brilliant occasion, with loads of people there-the place was packed.

And that pretty much sums up my last two weeks, with all sorts of interesting things happening, keeping me out of the house most evenings. Which is great. Always good to be doing things and seeing people. 

Funny, Serious

Well, this week so far has been a bit different. In some ways, a lot busier, for a start. And I've definitely spent more time with people, some of which was unexpected. Very much so, in fact.

Monday I finally got around to going to see a film at a friend's house. He has set up a weekly film night that he invites people to, which started with the beginning of term. This was the first one I got to, due to general tiredness and lack of organisation; and I'm very glad I did. The film this week was 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'; which it probably won't be a surprise to know that I've never seen. And for those of you who have still not seen it, I very much recommend it. It's a really good, light hearted film which stars Mickey Rooney as a Chinese man (yes, really). A good time was had by all; and it was good to catch up with them again. I don't think I'll be able to make it next week, but next week it's 'Jaws', and I'm not too bothered by missing that.

So, the next day was my day off. And I'd offered to help set up for the ALPHA launch event, which was an evening with Paul Kerensa, a comedian. Not only is he a scriptwriter for the BBC (working with Miranda and Not Going Out), he also does stand-up. Oh, and he's a Christian. So he's quite happy to work with churches on occasion. The idea was that he would do a normal length set, and then, after a break be interviewed, and a short set to conclude. So this was pretty easy to set up, as we weren't serving food, just drinks. Julie had some pretty detailed ideas of what was going to happen, and what was going where; and, as I had reflected before, I was impressed by how professional it all was. 
I then went back home, as I had a couple of things to do; and then went out again just after 6. I felt it was right to pop along to the Feathered Fish first and grab something to eat, and then go in. So I went along there for a bit and chatted to Pat and Connie-and Amy, the old barmaid, popped in. She's just got a new job as a care assistant, which is great, as it's what she has been wanting to do for ages. Anyway, I wandered over to the church just in time for the beginning of the show really. I'd left the house in plenty of time, but I'd hung around chatting to people-I thought it was important. And so Paul Kerensa did his thing, which was very funny. I'd seen him before, so I knew he was good, and he didn't disappoint. And then he was interviewed, which was very interesting. He talked a bit about how being a Christian affects his life, and also what it's like being in comedy and a scriptwriter and a Christian. He mentioned that one of the biggest problems he comes up against is blasphemy in scripts-and it's never going to be a good idea to challenge it directly, so he has to come up with a better line. And then it was all over, and I helped clear up and chatted to a couple of our new interns. And then it was really all over.

And, the day after that, I joined in with my housemate's cluster group, which was meeting in our house. He said I was welcome to join them, and I didn't have anything on that evening, so I thought 'why not?', and did just that. It was a great evening, and they made me feel really welcome. I knew most of them anyway, so it wasn't that difficult to feel at home there-particularly since I was at home. After pretty much everyone had arrived, and drinks had been served, we started with Steve playing some worship songs on the piano, and then a few more people arrived. Then Ed told us a bit of his story, how he came closer to God, and then the main part of the evening happened. We talked about all sorts of things, including building community; and then the evening finished with something no-one expected at the beginning, I think. One of the bravest young women I have had ever the privilege to start to get to know told us something of her story of what has happened in her life-a story that brought tears to my eyes. I won't say anything more at the moment, except to say she is precious. If she reads this, she'll know who she is, and that's all that matters.

This was almost two weeks ago, and I have been unable to finish this until now, for various reasons. I have been a little busy, but the most important thing to say, I think, is that I have now changed cluster to join that group. Partly, at least, because I felt so welcome there. Here's to the future.