...and boy am I glad they've finally arrived. Not that it has been a terribly awful couple of months, just that it has been tiring! So what news since my last post in February? As the children's song that my boys love says, "Our God is a great BIG God, and He holds us in His hands!"
First of all, I had a wonderful couple of gigs with the guys in the band. (I will post pics at some stage) We played Meghaberry Elim and Pentecost at the Loughshore, both of which were amazing. Thanks to Tim for playing bass - it sounded brilliant, and I hope we can get him to play with us again. Thanks also to Pete for doing a brilliant job with sound at the loughshore - we really rocked the place!
Then, I'd applied for a new job - still in the same place - different function...and I got it! 2nd August - the transfer date - approaches quickly. Two things then to give thanks for - 1, that I have been fortunate to work with a fantastic bunch of people these past years in Master Scheduling, and 2, for the chance to do a new thing, that I have been really interested in since my MSc.
I ended up in the plush surroundings of a lovely big house in Helens Bay, doing a leadership course with work. Now I have to say, I go to this things looking for what Ican disagree with - I thik it stems from a series of talks a lot of years ago, about the New Age Movement, and how it tries to infiltrate such management courses! However - whata brilliant course. It turns out that the facilitators are both sound Christian guys, and their organisation's ethos is built on Christian principles - how exciting it was to think that every manager in Bombardier (everybody does this course) is being taught Christian principles for doing business. One of teh big quotes used was that of Ghandi - "be the change you wish to see in the world." And these guys are - they're not just talking about taking your faith into work - they are actually building it in to what they do - not an add-on, but the very foundation of their ordinary work - so thank you Brian and Nick - and thank you God for "another way".
Went to Summer Madness last Sunday at the King's Hall in Belfast...I guess I find it hard not to be citical when I listen to other people playing - so (with Margaret's encouragement) I consiously decided to go and just be. It was a good day - no stewards got in the way to tell me how to park...nobody told me off for being in the wrong place...I drank coffee in the Edwards' caravan, in the Christian Aid tent, and in the Tearfund tent...I met one of my new managers, who was on the prayer team...it was a good day. I suppose though, what I'm looking for is worship I can get my teeth into - do you know what I mean? Bluetree were playing in the evening worship, and they opened up with a couple of brilliant songs - maybe because I knew them! After that though, they went all new on me - didn't know the songs (and it wasn't just because I'm older - other people didn't know them either!) that got me wondering...are the people who hang on to old hymns and worship styles the same way I'll be (or am becoming) about the music/style of worshipthat I like. Had they in an earlier time been longing for their hymns and songs to be accepted as the norm? Do we all hold out for the worship we want? Have we held out too long for change...so long in fact, that when it does change it skips an era/style/model of worship. And if it does, what generation will give in and let their own particular likings go? Or maybe, like we try to do in CoGS, we can incorporate something of all styles/likings - without it all just becoming luke-warm.
I wonder what I would criticse myself for if North ever played Madness?
The last great revelation this month was that one of my old youth leaders (is that what he was - it never really had a title?) has written a book about growing up in West Belfast...it's called Paperboy by Tony MaCaulay - and it is brilliant...the only pacifist Paperboy in West Belfast. Get your hands on a copy, and see that there's more to 1970s West Belfast than you might have thought!
And now the wild life, for tomorrow we'll be on a boat to Scotland, and then the next day we'll be in France, sailing, walking, swimming, drinking Breton cider, eating tasty crepes, and generally soaking up abundant life.
First of all, I had a wonderful couple of gigs with the guys in the band. (I will post pics at some stage) We played Meghaberry Elim and Pentecost at the Loughshore, both of which were amazing. Thanks to Tim for playing bass - it sounded brilliant, and I hope we can get him to play with us again. Thanks also to Pete for doing a brilliant job with sound at the loughshore - we really rocked the place!
Then, I'd applied for a new job - still in the same place - different function...and I got it! 2nd August - the transfer date - approaches quickly. Two things then to give thanks for - 1, that I have been fortunate to work with a fantastic bunch of people these past years in Master Scheduling, and 2, for the chance to do a new thing, that I have been really interested in since my MSc.
I ended up in the plush surroundings of a lovely big house in Helens Bay, doing a leadership course with work. Now I have to say, I go to this things looking for what Ican disagree with - I thik it stems from a series of talks a lot of years ago, about the New Age Movement, and how it tries to infiltrate such management courses! However - whata brilliant course. It turns out that the facilitators are both sound Christian guys, and their organisation's ethos is built on Christian principles - how exciting it was to think that every manager in Bombardier (everybody does this course) is being taught Christian principles for doing business. One of teh big quotes used was that of Ghandi - "be the change you wish to see in the world." And these guys are - they're not just talking about taking your faith into work - they are actually building it in to what they do - not an add-on, but the very foundation of their ordinary work - so thank you Brian and Nick - and thank you God for "another way".
Went to Summer Madness last Sunday at the King's Hall in Belfast...I guess I find it hard not to be citical when I listen to other people playing - so (with Margaret's encouragement) I consiously decided to go and just be. It was a good day - no stewards got in the way to tell me how to park...nobody told me off for being in the wrong place...I drank coffee in the Edwards' caravan, in the Christian Aid tent, and in the Tearfund tent...I met one of my new managers, who was on the prayer team...it was a good day. I suppose though, what I'm looking for is worship I can get my teeth into - do you know what I mean? Bluetree were playing in the evening worship, and they opened up with a couple of brilliant songs - maybe because I knew them! After that though, they went all new on me - didn't know the songs (and it wasn't just because I'm older - other people didn't know them either!) that got me wondering...are the people who hang on to old hymns and worship styles the same way I'll be (or am becoming) about the music/style of worshipthat I like. Had they in an earlier time been longing for their hymns and songs to be accepted as the norm? Do we all hold out for the worship we want? Have we held out too long for change...so long in fact, that when it does change it skips an era/style/model of worship. And if it does, what generation will give in and let their own particular likings go? Or maybe, like we try to do in CoGS, we can incorporate something of all styles/likings - without it all just becoming luke-warm.
I wonder what I would criticse myself for if North ever played Madness?
The last great revelation this month was that one of my old youth leaders (is that what he was - it never really had a title?) has written a book about growing up in West Belfast...it's called Paperboy by Tony MaCaulay - and it is brilliant...the only pacifist Paperboy in West Belfast. Get your hands on a copy, and see that there's more to 1970s West Belfast than you might have thought!
And now the wild life, for tomorrow we'll be on a boat to Scotland, and then the next day we'll be in France, sailing, walking, swimming, drinking Breton cider, eating tasty crepes, and generally soaking up abundant life.
And on the outdoor front...my boys have new bikes! And we spent a super weekend back in Bryansford, with lots of cycling, lots of walking, and some more night nav over Luke's Mountain, and back through Tollymore. The stars were amazing. You can't help but think of Indescribable, uncontainable, You placed the stars in the sky, and You know them by name...