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Our new forum is running! It's replacing our Message Board and Prayer Requests page and you can access it by going to www.stmikesyouth.org. I really hope people make it a huge success!

A mixed weekend

It was an odd one. Lots of good stuff, but a bit disappointing too.

Saturday was pretty cool ... one-to-ones which went pretty well, and a Derby County victory over Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup.

Sunday was the mixed one. The morning was pretty good, and the evening service was excellent, but the attendance at Mettle Sunday was slightly disappointing. Only one sixth-former and generally low on numbers. Ho-hum!

And I was exhausted by the end of the day! Three services, two music practices and a youth group session. I'm ready for my day off tomorrow!

Early mornings!

One of my new year's resolutions was to get up and have breakfast with Laura on working days. Get up, have breakfast and do our Bible study together and then pray.

So that's what we've been doing. It's hard, when that alarm goes off at 7.00am (especially when I've often been working until 10.00pm the night before) but I have to say, it's totally worth it. It really does set me up for the day ... I think starting each day with a proper breakfast and a proper bit of Bible and prayer is the best possible start! I've noticed a difference, too. I think Laura and I are getting on better now that we're praying together! Makes sense.

Mettle Group A was great again last night. Laura had a parents' evening at school, so Mary was here in her place and seemed to really enjoy herself. We were looking at "God the Creator", and again had some really interesting conversations (big bang, evolution, all sorts!). The group is really starting to open up and offer some opinions, which is great, especially since most of them are Christians. It's really good to explore together.

But the highlight of the evening was "creating" (see the tenuous link???!!) some non-alcoholic cocktails for the rest of the group to share. We had pop, juice, fruit, food-colouring, and the results ranged from really tasty to ... well, downright odd! Here's a couple of pics of our Tom Cruise wannabees in action (sorry for the poor quality, they were taken with my mobile phone!):



They were actually pretty tasty too ... apart from "Dog-Food Surprise" which physically burnt your throat. Best left at that!

Today is Thursday, which tends to be 11-14s day. What makes this one worse is that it starts with a primary school assembly at St Michael's School. I'm scared of small children, so it's a real test! We have a lunchtime club for years 8 & 9, and Rock Solid tonight, which I'm doing the talk for. I sometimes find it hard to motivate myself for Thursdays, so please pray for me!

Almost a week since my last entry!

My, my, I'm getting lazy in my old age! Actually, it's more to do with the fact that we are so incredibly busy it's untrue. I haven't had a night off since last Thursday, when we cancelled Rock Solid, and I'm starting to feel it. It will be this Saturday before I have one, and even then, we've got family friends over. So, next Monday before I get an evening to myself with Laura. Almost two weeks without one. No wonder I'm tired and a little bit short-tempered!

Saying that, though, everything's going pretty well. Mettle on Sunday evening was the best one yet. We watched "Breathe", which is the latest Nooma, and did a response based on that. Loads of people stayed after the official end of the session, just to spend some more time being quiet with God. That was so encouraging. Occasionally, you get these God-filled moments with teenagers. They're pretty rare, but when they come, they're worth the wait.

Youth Alpha is the other thing to mention. We had to have our session in the skanky Vicarage Rooms this week, rather than our usual plush surroundings at the OSR Coffee Shop. It was cold, cramped and brilliant! Some of the questions the young people are asking are mind-blowing. They're so keen to question and explore and work out what they think ... it's really exciting. Plus, Jane and Carolyn cooked magnificent lasagnes, so I didn't feel the cold nearly as much as I sometimes would.

There's so much going on at the moment, I can't mention it all here. Please do visit our website, www.stmikesyouth.org, and use it as an aid to prayer. We need it, just for energy to do it all!

Artistic...?

We've finally ditched the old Rock Solid and RS2 logos. They were just starting to look a little bit dated. So we've gone for the new ones, and you can see the results on www.stmikesyouth.org.

On the theme of art, I had to draw a picture for an art exhibition at the primary school. Interesting, since I don't really have an artistic bone in my body! I did a cartoon of the St Mikes Youth team (well, the full-timers, Trevor, Liz and I) and amazingly, I'm quite pleased with the results. I'll try to scan it in and post it here over the weekend.

Mettle Group A on Wednesday was quiet, only six young people there as the upper-sixth are in the middle of exams. Do pray for them! It was good though ... it's actually quite a nice feel when there are only a handful there. I wouldn't want it to be like that every week, but it's nice for a change.

We had to cancel Rock Solid last night as three leaders had to drop out (mostly illness). It's a shame, because I was quite looking forward to it after the progress we made last week ... I hope we'll continue to move in the right direction next week.

My mum, my sister and her partner and baby are coming for the day tomorrow, which I'm really looking forward to. Just got to get through RE:fresh first!

Byker Grove, mon!

My grand idea of turning the Old Vicarage into a Youth Centre inched a small step closer to reality last night.

It was the longest DCC meeting I've ever been to. We weren't finished until about 10.30pm! Normally, I'd have been cross about that, but last night I wasn't, because ... well, it was mostly my fault!

I had two major proposals that had to be considered. The DCC are very busy at the moment, what with all the advertising and organising for a new Team Rector. I was a little worried that my bits and pieces might get brushed aside. It is to the DCCs credit that this did not happen. They took as much time as was needed to discuss and consider my two proposals, asked my loads of questions and really didn't rush through. I was thrilled!

As for the outcomes, I am definitely going to have at least one Youth Ministry Assistant next year, probably a trainee from YFC. The money for that has been agreed. We're going to revisit the possibility of having a second one in the next meeting. I'm happy with the outcome of that, although to be fair it's pretty much what I expected.


The second one is so exciting! Without giving a definite "yes", the DCC gave the clearest indication yet that they are open to the possibility of using the Old Vicarage as a Youth Centre. I now have permission to start fundraising, applying for grants and putting a bit more detail on the bones, so to speak. Whether we get the money or not will be our fleece, really ... if this is God's will, it will come. I feel good about it, I think we've got a chance. But it's now that the hard work on this really begins for me. Lots of phone calls, emails, forms to fill in, budgeting ... all sorts to do, and not necessarily the things I'm good at. Still, I'm excited by this idea, and I'll do my best and hope that God blesses it!

Please, please pray! A lot!

Planning, planning, planning!

So much to do, and I'm horribly behind.

I've got planning to do for tomorrow's RS2, a little for Mettle Sunday, the talk for next week's Youth Alpha and the session for Mettle Group A on Wednesday. I've got a concert night to plan for Friday 2 February, two Valentine's dances for February 15 and February 16, and to top it all off, I've got to finish off the proposal for the Youth Centre, which will be considered at DCC on Monday and should have been distrubuted this week. It's not finished yet. All that to do, and that's only the short-term stuff.

So far today I have managed to go to one meeting and update the website. So not much.

Why am I blogging now with so much to do, I hear you ask. That, dear reader, is a remarkably good question...

A positive start to the term!

Our regular meetings have got off to a great start.


Mettle Group A started back on Wednesday evening, and it served as a reminder why I've missed it so much over Christmas. The turn-out was great (only a couple that couldn't make it) and the conversation flowed like it never has before. We ended up talking about whether God could now remove free-will from mankind if he chose to, whether God, being all-powerful, has the power to do evil, and what it was about his nature that makes him NOT do these things. Interesting stuff!

We never will understand God fully in this life. I know sometimes I get to a stage where I think I've got God sorted, I've managed to force him into a box in my life and stuck a label on it. But I reckon that just means that I've distorted my view of God, because he doesn't fit in a box. There isn't room in our whole brain!


Rock Solid was awesome as well. I've found it really difficult lately, but I went along having made a conscious decision to be positive ... both in my own attitude and also in the way I deal with the young people. It's fair to say it paid off for me. I enjoyed it, and I think they did too. Liz did a talk at the end about "friendships that last" - it was a really good talk and, whilst it would be an exaggeration to say you could hear a pin drop, it is true that they listened better than they have for ages. I think that was a combination of a great talk and of an evening of NOT feeling like they were in a battle against us. Working together, that's going to be the key to making Rock Solid work. Especially when there's more than 60 11-14 year olds there!

RS2, Youth Alpha and our three lunchtime clubs started last week, RE:fresh is back this evening, and Mettle Sunday after the evening service on Sunday. Please pray for them, and for the DCC meeting on Monday when we will be discussing further the option of the Vicarage as a Youth Centre.

Aching but alive!

I survived.

Just.

Football training on Monday was for an hour-and-a-half, and included not just a kick-about, but also running. A lot of it.

Amazingly enough, I mianaged to keep up and even play in the game at the end. I did ok, I'm very rusty but that will come with practice and fitness. I certainly didn't discgrace myself - I managed to get a couple of really good tackles in and even found the time to score a couple of goals!

Now, though, I'm in a lot of pain. Every muscle in my entire body aches, and it's worse today than it was yesterday. I'm determined to carry on though. The lads seemed ok, not ever so welcoming to the new boy, but you have to persevere, don't you?

Work-wise, life is as busy as it's ever been. The new Youth Alpha course kicked off last night, and went really well on the whole. We had 14 people there, and all had a very expensive Chinese, which went down really well (boy, some of these kids can eat!). The teaching went ok, too, and I think most of them will be back for the start of the course proper next week. It sounds like there may be a couple more, too, so it was all postive.

Mettle Group A starts back tonight, and I'm so glad! I've actually really missed it over Christmas ... it's the highlight of my working week. Laura's out with a work-thing so Shelley is leading with me tonight, which will be a nice change.

Trevor's away on training this week, so Liz and I are busy picking up the stuff that he usually does so efficiently. Where would we be without him? I couldn't cope with all his work as well as my own every week!

Please pray that my body will recover sufficiently to carry on working ... I feel so old!

Mid-life crisis? I think so!

So it's arrived. I have agreed to do something on Monday that officially ushers in the start of my very own mid-life crisis.

I'm playing football again. There's a good chance it will kill me.

Let me explain: as I was contemplating turning 30 a couple of months ago, I realised that at best, I probably only had two or three years of football left in me. And I've not been playing for the last two. This, I thought, was a waste, so on a whim I emailed a couple of teams in the local church league, asking if they wanted any players.

One or two got back in touch, and I've ended up agreeing to train with Rock Crusaders on Monday evening.

Seemed like a good idea at the time. I wasn't a bad player when I was a bit younger, but my game was largely based on being pretty quick. Now, of course, I'm considerably fatter and have developed asthma.

This may be the shortest comeback in history. Please pray that I don't make a complete fool of myself. Or die. Or realise I'm past it. Hope is a wonderful thing...

Blogging for blogging's sake!

I really don't think I have anything interesting to say (you might argue that I rarely do!). But I thought I ought to do an entry anyway.

The 11-14s Film Night went ok (although not a single one of them said 'thankyou'. Not one. Makes you wonder why you bother...). We watched "Click" which was very funny and also quite thought-provoking.

Tonight the 14-18s are watching "Talledega Nights" which is meant to be quite good. I haven't had time to watch it ... hope it's suitable! I don't think many of them are coming, which is a bit of a disappointment. It is Friday night and we're only trying to do fun stuff for people. It just gets me down when they're not interested.

Liz is back today, and then we have to move her to her third Stoke Gifford residence next week. I love helping people move house. That's why I seem to end up doing it so often!

One more thought: I've just been watching Series Two of Lost and have my own theory. I wonder if it's the Garden of Eden that they've crashed in and it's all showing how sin can corrupt our lives and even the world around us. Maybe...?

Happy New Year!

2007! Happy New Year! It's going to be a cool year ... after all, who's cooler than James Bond - 007? Hmmm... I'll work on it.

It's all getting busy again ... St Mikes Youth is about to swing back into serious action. It all starts tomorrow (Thursday) with an 11-14s Film Night (watching Flick, which I've seen) and then a 14-18s version on Friday (watching Talladega Nights, which I haven't). We have two RS2 sessions on Sunday morning, The Mix on Sunday evening and next week all the Mettle Groups, Rock Solid, RE:fresh, lunch-clubs and the new Youth Alpha course all start. And I was just starting to relax!

Seriously, though, Christmas is a weird holiday, isn't it? Because it's actually only about two weeks, but you get to the end of it feeling like you've had about two days, but having done enough stuff to fill two months! No wonder I'm still tired.

Still, on the plus side, Trevor came back yesterday, and it's nice to have him around again. The office already seems brighter (if already a little cramped). Liz is back on Friday, which will be nice too, but we won't have room to breathe in the office!

Today is Laura's last day off before she goes back to school, so I'm going to take her out for dinner tonight to celebrate the mass of jigsaws leaving the lounge. Hopefully. And being able to get on with time off MY WAY ... watching "Lost" DVDs on the settee for a couple of hours every day! That all said, I will miss having her around in the daytime. She helps walk the dog when she's on holiday ...

Happy New Year! May you, dear reader, have a richly-blessed 2007!