Footie and sneezes

I have been blogging... I'm not sure why Blogger isn't displaying July posts. Watch this space, they'll all appear in one go (probably including this one!).

The photograph above shows the highlight of the last few days. Friday evening was our RE:fresh footie night, when 20 lads from St Mikes Youth (mostly RE:fresh regulars) took on the comparitive might of the Friday evening footie crew from church - tentatively known as St Michaels Church FC.

To be quite honest, I did wonder whether their extra knowhow and experience may mean a whipping for our enthusastic but young squad. Not a bit of it, as you can probably tell from the trophy nestling in our captain James Gardiner's hands. We beat them 3-1 and, I think it's fair to say, deserved our win.

But, even though it's a cliche, I'm going to say it anyway: the real winner was football. And not just football, either. Christian football. Most of the lads that come to RE:fresh are by no means churchgoers. They're just a group of lads. But the game was played in a good, friendly-but-competitive spirit, and everyone involved really enjoyed it. I'd love to make it an annual event, at least, and am currently considering the possibility of a St Mikes Youth FC in the Bristol Churches League. Not next season, but maybe in the future. I may look at entering the cup next year. There are some very good players amongst the group and I think we could hold our own. We'll see.

One downside was that I was ill for the game. I still forced my aching body through a bit of the game, but I had a rotten cold and really didn't feel well at all. I'm still trying to shake the tail-end of it now, but I think I'm nearly there.

What else is going on at the moment? Well, I'm still desperately short of leaders for next year, so please keep praying. I have had one or two postive connversations with potential leaders this week, so let's see where they lead.

Jamie Rawlinson, Trevor's brother, is on "work experience" with us this week. It's a quiet week, to be honest, but I still think he's been surprised at what has to happen to make a busy youth ministry like this one function. I think people generally are. One teenager once said to me, "but you must get loads of time off ... almost every day?" Yeah, right.

But I don't mind. In fact, I like it busy because youth minister is more than my job ... it's a massive part of who I am. I'm at my happiest when I know that I'm serving God effectively amongst the young people. God's given me a heart for this, so I can do what I do and enjoy it.

This Sunday will be a highlight. Claire Mill (pictured) is getting baptised, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Claire has really benefitted from the start of Mettle two years ago. Reflect wasn't really her cup of tea, but this has been. She's grown so much. She leaves Mettle as a member this Summer (although she is making a swift comeback as a Mettle Sunday leader!) but I can't think of a more appropriate way for her to finish her time with us. A baptism sums up beautifully what God has done in her these two years. It should be a special night.

Anyway, I'd better go and sleep off the back-end of this cold. Lemsip. Bed. Busy day tomorrow.

God bless x

Ps. Remind me that I have something to say on "answered prayers" that would make this post too long if I wrote it now. Leave comments to nag me, and so I know people are reading!