So, last weekend was the Alpha weekend away (if you don't know what that is, you can find out here), and I was helping on the catering team, as I had been during the course. Don't worry, I haven't been doing the cooking.
It all started on the Friday-I had the week off starting then, so I was going down early to help set up, and I had to catch a train. I caught one that left just after 1, and I should have got there just after 3-if everything had gone to plan. However, I had two changes on the route, and two of the trains were late, so I was almost an hour later than I had aimed for. Which at least meant I had plenty of time to read and pray during the journey. I am reading a book currently called 'The Circle Maker' by Mark Batterson and I felt God wanted me to write down and keep a record of the things I wanted to pray about and what the answers are. So I started that on the journey. The first thing I did was write general categories of what I wanted to pray for/about, and prayed a bit about that. And it was pretty much non-stop after that, or at least it seemed that way-when we had cleared away from one meal, it was basically time to get the next one ready. I did get a bit of a rest on the Saturday afternoon, when I should have been praying about some of the things I had been turning over on the train journey. Because I didn't do it then, I didn't get to go to the pub in the evening; God was very firm about that. I'm glad I did it, though, because as well as getting some much needed time, just me and God (that was about the only time that weekend I did), some interesting things came out of that. I'm still turning them over at the moment, so I won't write about them yet. And then, it was all over-quite abruptly, as I had to leave pretty much straight after lunch.
And got back home in plenty of time for the baptisms, so I just had to decide whether I was going to go. I don't think I did decide in the end, I just got there. And I'm so glad I did. The people's stories, as always, were amazing-and amazingly different. But it was what happened after that was truly brilliant. Two of the people getting baptised are in my cluster, and speaking to them afterwards, and hearing how it was for them was just incredible. Partly because it was more personal, and partly because I could actually see the difference in them. Wow. Just wow.
And then, the rest of this week has been a week off. Which was brilliant in itself, but also had some brilliant times in it. I spent the first couple of days resting, pretty much doing nothing, just because I could. I did mean to write a blog post about the weekend, but, as I didn't get it done by then, it's merged with the rest of the week. On Monday, I went to Costa and relaxed there; on Tuesday, I relaxed at home, and also prayed over and around the things I'd been writing in my notebook that I've been praying for and about. It was Alpha in the evening, which was fun, though I was still tired, strangely. Possibly because when you stop, you pretty much completely collapse-or at least, I do. People were talking about the baptisms; or at least one of them. On Wednesday, I went for a very long walk. I did have a destination in mind, but somehow, I got lost, and ended up somewhere I don't think I've been before. I did manage to get back, though, and got where I was intending to go, and learned a bit more about the local area in the meantime. Maybe. I'll see, if I manage not to get lost the next time I go that way. And, after that, it was cluster. I didn't know at the beginning of the week whether I was going to go, as there was a session at church on how to deal with violence, which as a member of street teams, I was invited to. Anyway, I got there-just across the road, pretty much-and had a good evening. Though for some reason, I felt a bit out of sorts all evening; and I found it difficult to concentrate. Looking back, it's difficult to remember much about the evening, which probably means that it was very important. The most important thing I can remember is that it was about not comparing yourself to others; not seeing your behind the scenes stuff in the same light as someone else's highlights-which is what you most notice.
And then on Thursday, I went down to Faringdon to see a friend I hadn't seen properly for ages. She was at my church before she went home, and I've only seen her briefly since then. I figured since I had the week off, I should try to get down there. Thankfully, it's actually quite straightforward, so I sorted that out, and met up with her; which was brilliant. I miss having her around, cos she's one of the few people I can really relax with, as she seems to not mind my sense of humour. And it was really refreshing to spend the day with her. I mean, I was expecting it to be a good day, but right from the point we saw each other, it was good. It was essentially one very long, random, slightly silly conversation-apart from the serious bits. Which were still interspersed with random silliness. It was good to catch up, to get some sort of idea of what we had each been up to, and at the end of the day, we got to pray with each other. Just what was needed, I think. I look forward to doing it again at some point. Hopefully not too far away.
And Friday, I got to catch up with my mum, which was great. I saw my sis and niece last week, and my mum this week. We went to the art gallery, which reopened after a massive revamp, and I hadn't managed to get along there before. It was really good, apart from having to stand out in the cold for a while when the fire alarm went off. At least we assumed that was what happened, as no-one told us. We saw most of the exhibitions I think. There was a glass sculptor who had most of the space; his exhibition was huge. Some of the pieces were too. Anyway, we managed to spend over 3 hours there, and then we went and got something to eat. Which was nice. All in all, a very nice day, and it was good to see my mum again.
Saturday I kind of relaxed, and then a friend I hadn't seen for a while came round, which was great. We watched 'Pontypool', which is sort of a zombie film; and then, because he felt he needed to relax a bit, we watched 'Music and Lyrics' (my favourite film), because it's probably the lightest film I own. And it has a great 80s type music video. As well as Drew Barrymore. Sunday I was kind of hoping to go up and see a friend in Worcester area, but that didn't work out, so he came down to see me instead. It was great to catch up with him as well. I have to say that overall, it was a really good week off, and very relaxing-just what I needed, I think.
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