A day off ... with difficulty!

Today I did something that I haven't done properly for over a month. I had a day off! A full, complete, from the moment I woke to the moment I wake tomorrow, 24-hour, solid day off. And do you know what? For someone like me who's basically a workaholic, a day off is really hard work!

It's been a nice day ... I got up at 11am(!) and made a sausage AND bacon sandwich, and then spent the rest of the day lounging around the house reading - I'm currently into Susan Howatch and reading "The High Flyer", as recommmended by Julie Bradley and now, without doubt, by me! I didn't watch any telly or anything, just read and walked the dog and spent the whole day being quite and trying to resist the urge to do some work. It's really difficult, but I do think it's something I have to learn if my ministry is going to survive beyond the medium-term. I'm really into the idea of one complete day off, a sort of Sabbath, if you like, and I'm really encouraging the young people to subscribe to thinking like that. The tricky bit is going to be practicing what I preach!

I could spend some time now talking about the Youth Service on Sunday, the Christmas Banquet this Friday or whetever, but in the interests of maintaining my day-off stance, I'm going to save it for another day. You can always check the website of you're desperate to know now (www.stmikesyouth.org).

I will compromise slightly to do three Mettle "Happy birthdays": It was Dan Crockford's birthday yesterday, Naomi Bradley's 17th today and Kelly Snow's 18th tomorrow. Three fabulous, very different people who all deserve a great day. Enjoy the pics! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUYS!




From top: Dan (from a long time ago!), Naomi (she doesn't ALWAYS look like this!) and Kelly (wearing my tie round her head!). Looking good, guys! Anyway, back to my day off ... hopefully ...