a marathon not a sprint

The next time you find yourself looking out to the horizon consider this - how many boundaries are there between you and it and what are they?

A 30 second discussion with colleagues, looking out over a view from behind our offices, threw up these answers:

1. Lots - too many to specify
2. Physical boundaries: Fences, walls, trees, hedges, rivers, cows, private property. Personal boundaries: health/fitness, purpose/drive/motivation, navigational skills

I asked the question because I had been out for a run that morning. It wasn't going well until I realised that I had my focus on the ground in front of me. My drive was simply to cover distance but I needed more than that. I looked up and, in doing so, found motivation in the beauty of my surroundings. It probably helped a great deal as it meant I opened up my airways and improved my posture but gave profound mental and spiritual benefits too.

Suddenly I went from regretting every pace to wondering if I could keep going until I reached the horizon...and that's when I began noticing the boundaries. All of the things that would prevent me from getting there.

Until God stepped in.

Yeah, but look again at the bigger picture. Isn't it beautiful?

The scene before me became a living analogy for the race I'm running. The path marked out and the God given design on my life. It's not always going to be a level track on even ground. There will be times when what's underfoot throws me off balance. Occasions when I come up against barriers that I need to overcome or circumnavigate. There will even be moments when I lose sight of the horizon completely as I work my way down one side of a valley to get up the next.

I am not taking part in the 100m final. This is cross country.

that sounds like a conversation for elevenses - social media hide and seek

Step 1 - I got myself a smart phone. Good times. Hopefully it's not going to out smart me but rather help my life progress forward whilst bringing together all that stuff I put out there into one place.

At least that's the plan.

Step 2 of this master plan involves the jiggery-pokery of navigating my way around social media galore. Different strokes for different folks so, depending on who you are, you can select from the following menu:

• LinkedIn - the chef special.
• Wordpress - a three course option for the discerning.
• Tweet me @JLACasey - recommended as part of a healthy, active lifestyle.
• Or just stay tuned right here for that home cooked feel.

Step 3 - Your turn. Count to 10, then come find me.

you'll need some ID...

Listen to this,
read this,
discuss...

We are often asked to verify who we are through identity,

I'll need your driver's licence or passport

but there's clearly still a part of my everyday which more readily identifies with something much more basic as I had this tune ringing through my mind getting dressed the other day.

Hair...check

shoes..check

brand new fit...looking cool..check

and I was looking in the mirror thinking "ooooh yes!" as I laced up my favourite trainers with which I'd taken the effort to coordinate my tshirt.

Now - I do stand by that which Lecrae has observed

Identity is found in the God we trust

Any other identity will self destruct

I'm not the shoes I wear. I'm not the clothers I buy.

I'm not the house I live in. I'm not the car I drive.

I'm not the job I work. You can't define my worth

by nothing on God's green earth

my identity is found in Christ.

so why is it that this stuff holds some value?


I enjoy that moment on a day off where I can get dressed in what I want to wear. Clothes in which I 'feel like me'. Yes, how you look carries heavy weight in the boardsports industry, but it's not peer pressure that causes me to feel this way. I simply like it.


I don't think it's controversial to suggest that maybe there's something of God in all of this? That the feeling of finding and belonging to a group who walk a certain route is in God's plan, just as Jesus was 'in' but not 'of'. Sometimes it's not a case of hitting 180* and walking in the other direction, but taking a bearing and heading in a slight fraction off that which people are experiencing already...ultimately leading to a huge difference further down the line.

cloud shapes

When was the last time you lay somewhere and just allowed yourself to stare up into the sky spotting clouds that look like something else? There's one cloud formation that seems to catch my eye more than most - other than big bad thunder clouds - is this one. I can't help but think of beaches on which I tread where the tide has retreated. It leaves a rippled effect almost like a cast in the sand of the very motion of the waves.


Yet here it is in the sky thousands of feet above my head.

I am constantly in awe of water. At least, I think it's water that I'm referring to. All the states and forms it comes in. From the effect extreme heat has on it to the beautiful ways it moulds itself at the opposite end of the scale.

How...and why can one thing be found in so many different ways?

good morning!

How are you?




Who are you?




What are you up to today?




Where are you going?




Who will you see?





Let me know how today was for you when you've found out.



Until then - whatever, wherever, whenever - God bless.

time flies

It's been a week...have I lacked inspiration? Far from it. A busy week, a full week, a week of everything from hiking with a group of Peterborough Utd teenagers to Archery with Yr3 prep school kids. Of kayak skills training and the beginning of going deeper into faith stuff over the rest of the year.


This culminated in a weekend away. A trip home. An opportunity to see family and friends. An occasion to be refreshed and inspired for whatever lies around the corner.


That last bit needs a separate post...or ten.

season all change

What's your favourite season and why?

No doubt you'll soon work out mine but for now let's focus on the here and now. A short stroll to the shop this morning included this moment. The transitional time between one and another. Take a look at this picture - what do you see?

A changing of colour? A herald of what is to come or, like me, is there a stirring of memories that brings about excitement? I'm sure I am not alone when I say I'm full of anticipation at the thought of a chill in the air or the smell of rain. What is it that resides there inside of us? That awakens at a smell, a taste, a memory or a hope. Maybe it's just the thought that you could reign supreme when, against all Health and Safety advice, you obliterate your opponents in a much needed game of conkers.

Over to you. Get involved - what is your favourite season and why? Go for a walk - what do you see?

explanation of the title

Signposts and Wanderings - inspired by 'signs and wonders'




I love learning new things. I always have. When something captures my imagination I am very rarely happy just to know that it's out there. There's got to be some way of getting involved. The process that follows seems to take the same route.

1. Read &/or watch anything that might expand understanding and knowledge
2. Tentatively take first steps to trying it out
3. Experiment - succeed/fail - repeat
4. Establish some form of success and explore the possibilities

Having done so I then consistently find myself in a position of sharing my experiences with others. This is both in a formalised teaching/instructing/coaching sense or simply sharing time with those that share the same passion. I recognised it first happening while skateboarding in my teens and have seen it continue across the board ever since through the practical/theoretical/theological, at work and play.


...but 'signposts and wanderings'?





The passion that underlines everything for me right now, that surpasses anything, that gives reason and purpose is the hope I have because of my faith. Ultimately none of this is about or for me but for God's glory. I am a signpost. Here to gain your attention but my hope is that your attention - in the everyday and the extraordinary - will be drawn onwards and upwards.


So that's what this is all about. Simply making a note of what I experience in order that you might encounter something of what I hold fast to.

initial steps

Are you ready?

I'm not sure I am but let's get going. I don't know where we'll end up but, as with any journey, you won't know until you've set off. With that in mind feel free to invite anyone that you'd like to have with us as we wander. Speak up too - you might have noticed something the rest of us have missed.

Right then...