count down...

This is the first day of the last week of the first year of my first son's life.

I think that's worth blogging about.

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.

I wrote this for you

I would stay up all night, every night for you.

I want to be there in every moment to share all time with you.

I recognise that there will be some challenges that you will need to face and overcome on your own - despite wanting me there.

I know there will be times when I will want to be there - when all you want is to step out on your own.

I’m not the Father spoken of in Psalm 139 but nonetheless I am blessed - for He has given you to me as my son and when the day comes that you call me ‘dad’ I will no doubt be unable to describe how that feels.

But I will spend my life showing you.

Through the peaks and the valleys. On the way up and back down. In the big and the small.

I want you to know

• I will always be with you.
• I will always be for you.

big picture/fine detail

A friend of mine is faced with a decision. A decision with two options. The problem is that both options are incredibly similar and so he is a little thrown. Chatting it over it seems to be that, to reach a conclusion, he can only rely on what he wants.

Is it that simple? That seems so selfish.

We discussed everything from the money and location to friends and family...but it all came out as swings and roundabouts.

I know what I'd do in his situation but it's not my decision to make. It seems what is incredibly important to me is a minor element for him.

What are your defining factors?

it's been a long time

Once again I've neglected to keep this up to date but with good reason. Apparently the most stressful things you can do include:

• changing job
• moving house
• starting a family

In the last half a year we have experienced the first two and the third is due any minute now.


Here's to life never being the same again.

for fun's sake

Someone once pulled me aside, having overheard a conversation between colleagues, and, being of a different generation, asked

"What's all this about 'comfort zones'? When I was young there were things you did want to do and things you didn't. You had to do the things you didn't want to do and you waited to do the things you did."

Thankfully I am blessed with a life where I actually have the option of making those choices but this comment makes me reconsider what choices I make and whether or not they are the right ones every time I'm confronted with a decision to make.

Climbing is something I very much do for the fun of it but it is riddled with these moments. The intense, short experience of leading a route can cause you to come away feeling like you've made a life-time's worth of (potentially) life or death decisions. People I know who aren't into this kind of thing often assume I love taking risks, pushing limits or chasing rushes of adrenaline when actually the truth is quite the opposite. For me the satisfaction I get from climbing, and other similar sports, is the feeling of having done something well, having been successful and being very much in control throughout.

And now the God bit - simply put, deciding to live faithfully is simultaneously the most exposed yet peaceful and satisfying choice I've ever made and will continue to make. I'd thoroughly recommend it.

still walking in faith

It does feel like things have been quiet for a long time now but I know that's looking at this walk from my perspective. One thing I do know is that, before my very eyes, a miracle is being shaped and nurtured. As my wife's tummy grows with our first baby so does my faith in the God that is 'knitting' it together.


Life is about to get a lot louder (or so I'm told) so it's probably a good thing that God is letting me enjoy this bit for what it is.

how (not) to move house - God does it His way (part 4)

Surely this was the easiest bit? As mentioned before - we sell, he buys. Easy. For one reason or another it never is. Days passed and it eventually got to the day before we needed to sell or would simply be out of pocket. I had been invited to a men's prayer breakfast. My friend rather boldly claimed "of course it would work! A couple of weeks ago we prayed for my sister and brother-in-law's place and they got it that day." Again...my thoughts fell on 'can't hurt to try.'


Up at 6am, breakfasting, praying, enjoying a good start to the day. I did leave feeling positive but it's funny how a deadline can soon change that. Approaching lunch I had a chat with a work mate about it all which finished with him encouraging me to "name it and claim it!"


"TODAY I WILL SELL MY HOUSE!"


No sooner had the words left my mouth but my phone rang. It was the solicitor. It was Monday 31st October. To avoid all manner of complications we had to sell before 1st November. On Friday 28th our solicitor had assured us that exchange and completion on the same day is very rare. Something to do with the process having to take 5 working days.


"Hello, this is your solicitor...it's all happening a little backwards isn't it?"
"...yes?"
"Well - the buyer's solicitors have already paid us but I am in fact calling you to check over some details and make sure you still want to sell."

Do you see now why I wrote 'reality'?

God is the same God yesterday, today and forever. My God is the God that created the universe and conquered death. If He says 'move' of course He's going to get my house sold.

But the story hasn't finished yet. In fact I feel like we're only just getting going. My only hope is that when He reveals the next part of His plan to us I won't have that 'can't hurt to try' thought preventing the clarity that comes with faith.

how (not) to move house - God does it His way (part 3)

The offer on the house dipped a little below the line. We didn't want to lose this buyer but needed more than was on the table. We talked, prayed and decided on a number. As an aside this happened to be a number I had thought of when first considering selling. Unfortunately I had brushed this aside feeling it didn't make sense and that I'd probably just plucked it out of the air.

The buyer accepted! Not just that but he was a cash buyer. We sell, he buys. House selling doesn't get more simple.

Hang on...have I said 'praise God' yet?

PRAISE GOD!

Now all we need to do is find a place for us. Something the following weeks revealed not to be so simple. Returning to that initial prompt time and again we trawled the options but there just wasn't anything. Sat at my laptop one evening I searched 'Christian places to rent'. My attitude was one of 'can't hurt to try' but, once again, God reveals Himself in a way that makes me sit up and take note.

The first place was ideal. The price was everything we had hoped for. Perhaps more unbelievably was that the couple who had posted it had only decided to do so the night before we found it. We got in touch straight away, ran with it and that is where we are now living.

We just needed the exchange and completion to go through...

how (not) to move house - God does it His way (part 2)

The initial shell shock of having made such a decision soon wears off and you naturally begin to try and 'manage' the situation - 'damage limitation' as it's also known.

One thing was clear - a drop in regular income would mean needing to sell the house. Thinking abstractly this all worked nice and neatly for me. Among other things it was coming to the end of our initial mortgage agreement so there was a feeling of coming full circle. Like the closure of one part of your life leading into the opening of a new part.

'Reality' was very different however. You'll learn the reason for putting that in inverted commas as you continue reading (God is definitely not limited by what we might see as insurmountable issues). Approaching those in the know ie estate agents the feedback we got was pretty much "you couldn't have chosen a worse time to sell your house, and the less said about the time frame the better." But we had made this decision so pressed forward.

A few months passed...

While on holiday we discussed our options. Clearly the best way of getting interest was to drop the price. We had a bottom line we didn't want to cross as this would most likely mean making a loss and probably having to pay more out of the money we wouldn't have to get rid of it. Until my wife made the observation that we had been praying intermittently about it but not regularly. She suggested that we do so and we became more expectant, assured that a buyer was out there.

While looking at our numbers again I came across a completely untouched envelope tucked in amongst everything else. Considering I open all letters as soon as I pick them up off the doormat this was slightly unnerving. Inside it was a letter from our mortgage lender saying that they are scrapping all early repayment charges on old mortgages like our own. Sorry? thousands of pounds and you don't want it?! Ok then. With this new information we decided on a number we felt we could manage and immediately received an offer.

how (not) to move house - God does it His way (part 1)

Another title for this post could well be "An unusual journey/in the world - not of it"


Earlier this year my wife and I felt God was setting some stuff in motion. Some decisions needed to be made. Of course, when making life changing decisions, it's normal to need some degree of control over it. Tied into the prompt though was a much bigger/deeper need. That of faith. And this is how it is going - are you sitting comfortably?


Our church leader brought together a group of young adults with the hope of empowering/enthusing/enabling us to make some faith led decisions and responses to what God might be wanting to do with us. We focussed on the story of Peter walking on water and what Jesus commanded of him, how he responded and what he needed in that situation.


My wife and I discussed this, both understanding that this wasn't just an opportunity for working out the theory. The 'what if' was to become reality. The initial step was recognising that there has been a dream and desire that my wife has held onto since an early age. It was her motivation for going to uni and is something she endeavours to pursue in her own time. Now it was time to push for forming that into a reality which meant handing in notice to her current employer.


Done - that was easy.


A few days later we found out she was pregnant...help! So this is where the faith comes in?


As I have learned before, God's timing is not necessarily synched with my own but His wisdom goes way beyond. Really though?! Ok...let's keep pressing on.