Christmas

So another Christmas has come and gone, and on reflection this has been one of my favourites. Relaxing, family time. Very enjoyable. I hope you have all had a great Christmas dear readers.

The Magnificent Attraction of Stairs

Strange title for a blog post you may think, and you would be right to think so. Its in reference to a curious thing I observed whilst at church today. The church I attend is held in a local school hall, the entrance of which is raised up from the actual hall itself. Consequently to get from the door to your seat you have to drop down a handful of steps. Simple enough and something I haven't really paid any attention to at all in the two years we have been in that building.

However, today I was stood by the door on welcome duty (essentially hello and welcome to Christ Church etc) and was highly distracted by the three young toddlers who were besoted with the stairs. No matter where mum or dad carried them to, they were determined to return to the simple staircase, whereupon they climbed it with great gusto and laughed heartily upon reaching the top.

It was all highly entertaining/distracting, and funnily enough I can just about remember when stairs held that kind of attraction to me.

So there you go folks - The Magnificent Attraction of Stairs.

Quarter Century

I had a strange thought the other day (Steph you will have heard this already of course) about the reality of turning 25, which will happen to me in a very short period of time. Its a sobering moment when you realise that you are half way to 50, and that you only have another 25 years to accomplish anything before that milestone in life.

Its especially sobering when you look back to your previous 25 years and realise that you haven't really accomplished that much.

Though, that of course doesen't take into account that you haven't really been in a position to accomplish much in those initial 25 years.

Strange yet interesting.

Update

An update for all you die hard readers out there... All none of you. :-)

Life has been interesting since my last post. The degree is all done. Completley and utterly and totally finished. I graduated last Thursday in a flurry of highly enjoyable pomp and ceremony. Twas marvellous and a great way to end an often fraught three years.

I have also been blessed with a wonderful relationship with Steph. After a couple of interesting years waiting to see what would emerge the Lord has guided us and provided for us both in what is still a difficult situation (ie trans-Atlantic dating). It continues to fill my heart with joy and has made both of us quite the world traveller with a couple of trips Stateside in my case.

Life still has its ups and downs, little health issues here, job confusion there, as well as the many blessings and difficulties of living at home. But, all in all its been good.

Praise the Lord.

The End

As I sit and type I find myself nearing the end of a number of phases of my life. My room is looking increasingly bare as I begin the process of packing up five years worth of accumulated clothes, postcards, books, and assorted bits and bobs, all of which have laid untouched in this room which has been home for so long. And it is a long time, with many, many memories, such growth in my faith, and almost two complete degrees.

Because of this it seems so odd to be leaving. To be leaving not just a room, but a place that has been host to almost a quarter of my life, and allowed me to be blessed with wonderful housemates and friends from across the globe. Odd indeed.

I am moving back to St Helens next week unsure of what comes next in so many areas of my life... Strange.

As well as moving house, however, I am also slowly coming to the end of my masters degree, an endeavour that has rarely taken the course I expected and at times has seemed like the greatest of weights dragging me under. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, but... whilst looking forward to finishing, the very process of finishing will be accompanied yet more uncertainty.

Don't get me wrong. The Lord has blessed me in adundant ways and I trust that He will continue to make my paths straight in all His love, strength, wisdom, grace, and just nature. Its just one of those reflective days folks..

New Post

So.. I've been asked to put up a new post. I'm not really sure what to post though. I've been learning a lot from the Lord these last few months and have been thinking an awful lot about some analogies that help to explain our relationship with the Lord which is cool. However I think i am going to post about my favourite place (at least on this blog), Sefton Park. I have so, so, so many photos from this beautiful city centre park, but I took a few cool ones today. First up this is cool little waterfall..


Secondly a friendly little squirrel. Nice...