So I thought it was about time I tried to write something on here again and as it has been while it will be a reflection back over the Wet Season (that time that a few who have been lucky enough to travel abroad may be able to justify calling a summer!

Although things here have been quite (at least it has looked that way, more on this later!) the time it’s self has been quite busy. It all started when just a few days after writing the last post I was involved in a car accident, the car behind me as I approached the roundabout decided to try and go across the the middle while I was going round! This resulted in a hand/wrist injury for myself (I was the only one in the car so no-one else was hurt) and after two weeks waiting for a verdict the car being written off! (this seams strange considering I was in a 6 year old Renault Espace and was hit by (I think around a 10 year old) Peugeot 307 which was able to drive away from the scene with a bent wing) Now just over two months later the wrist is almost better, although still gets a bit achy and I don’t have full movement in it!

After this we had our Holiday Club in Faringdon, Called ‘The Wave’ we took a different approach this year with some input at the beginning and end and much more activity in between. It worked really well and reversed the trend of numbers lowering during the week as this year everyday had more children and we reached the high 80’s by the end.

A few weeks after this was Soul Survivor, we went week C, maybe not the wettest week there, but at the end of them all and one one of the worst sites, it had apparently been evacuated during another week, we seamed to have a constant stream of mud flowing through the camp which was pleasant and is always helpful when you have 50+ people in the group. Apart from the mud we all had a great time and the group were fantastic.

At the end of the Summer there was a rather sad day when I had to wave goodbye to the Cyberbus, the work we had been doing with it had been dying down and so we felt it was time for a bit of a change. The bus has now gone off to Colwyn Bay and is with a church there so it was great to see it going off to continue in ministry. The work I am now doing is working more closely with local churches many of which have recently started up youth groups themselves, it means my role has changed a little from more Outreach to more Nurture. Its exciting times ahead, we do also have a grant application in at the moment to get another bus next year so we will see what happens.

The blog itself has been busy in the background with a major hit from spam bots, this does mean that now in order to comment you may need to fill in a capture unless you have had a few comments passed before (this should clear you).

I think that’s pretty much it apart from a couple of weeks Holiday, one house swap with some friends in Norfolk and another week staying with my parents.

Oh the other thing that has been going on is the continued exploration of the call to ordination, this has been going well, still quite a lot to do, but positive stuff so far and still enjoying it, please do continue to pray for God’s guidance as I explore this path.

God bless

Simo

written by Simo

Yesterday being the special day Jonah (my middelist) got his first card from a friend at school (and church) the card also promised a kiss during the day which was apparently delivered. I don’t mind this, the bit that worries me is I know of two other children who received the same from the young lady in question. Is my son being 3 timed? Or am I reading too much into the relationships of 4 year olds?

written by Simo

A couple of weeks ago was complete chaos, it was birthday time for our two boys, which also meant a house full for several days which was great, but it’s a small house especially when you have 5 adults and three children for 5 days! Anyway during the week my mum asked Jonah the question “Jonah why do you have to be so naughty?” normally at this stage a child would tend to play all innocent and pretend to not know what you mean, not Jonah, his answer could do nothing but make you love him even more, “because that’s how God made me!”

written by Simo

I don�t get my children sometimes, they love singing, that�s fine, although if they could not do it at the table with a mouth full of food would be good. What I don�t get is their tendency to sing with an American accent, fair enough even if they were copying songs they have heard on the radio or something performed by American artists but these are the songs we sing in church, songs written by Britons, taught them by English people with no real accent and yet when they sing them they suddenly get this kind of Western American twang in their voices, where does it come from, do other peoples children do this or is it just mine?

written by Simo

You learn something new everyday, or at least so they say, well yesterday I learnt about Fathers Day, of course I knew of Fathers Day but I didn�t know as much as I do now.
It started with being asked if I was going to mention it during the service at which I was leading and preaching yesterday and I said �no, it doesn�t really fit� so I was then asked �well why are you not including it? Why doesn�t the church celebrate Fathers Day?� I replied �because we don�t� The argument that we celebrate mother�s day is that it has a tradition behind it where as Fathers Day, to my understanding, was about greetings company�s making a bit more money, apparently I am wrong, the story is this:-
The idea came from a town called Spokane, in Washington, America. A woman named Sonora Smart Dodd was sitting in church listening to the sermon on Mother�s day 1909. Sonora�s mother had died in child birth with her 6th child and so Sonora had not really known her mother but had been raised by her Farther, Henry Jackson Smart. Sonora saw that her father had made all the sacrifices most mothers do, in her eyes he was a courageous, selfless and loving man and she wanted an opportunity to let him know how special he was to her. Her fathers birthday was in June and so she decided to hold the first fathers day on July 19th 1910. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Fathers day and in 1966 President Lyndon B Johnson signed a proclamation making the 3rd Sunday in June the official Fathers day.
I don�t know when the celebration hit these shores, and I suspect it may have been the greetings companies who brought it over, but the question perhaps should stand, should we in the church be celebrating Fathers, as we do mothers? Could this be a great opportunity to reach out to some of the men who are on the edges of our churches? Whatever the means of it getting to the UK, the roots of the celebration are good, and maybe it is something we should take on board and include in our church calendar?

written by Simo

Last week we went away for a few days up to Norfolk to stay with friends in Mulbarton (where I grew up) it�s amazing how having really left 12 years ago it still feels like going home, I just feel like I belong, not that I don�t feel that in Faringdon that is obviously home at the moment but I can go to Mulbarton and just fit back in with friends and the church as if I�ve hardly been away and I always enjoy worshiping in the church community there it is also always great to see so many new faces in a small rural church!

written by Simo

In the park with the kids at the weekend, Jonah wanted to take his new bike, so Zac took his bike and I (well actually my dad) took my micro bike. Some older children in the park were a bit bored and wanted to have a go on the micro bike which I let them then Zac said he wanted ago, we pointed out to him that a couple of months ago he had no stabilisers on his bike and he seemed to just not be ready yet, but he was determined so we let him have a go and he just got on and rode it! We took him home and took the stabilisers off his bike and after a couple of pointers about starting and stopping he was riding up and down the car park at the end of our road on his own. It was great to see and his balance is fantastic but amazing how he just did it. Hopefully later this summer I might be able to get him to have a go on the proper stilts!

written by Simo

This morning I had an important meeting as I begin to think about my future and where it lies (not that I am thinking of moving on in the immediate or near future for anyone reading this locally). I have been in my current post for almost 3 years, in full time youth/youth and children�s work for almost 8 years and involved in youth work on some level since I was a youth myself of 15. I feel very strongly called to youth work, evangelism and to the rural church, an area so often neglected in so many respects. So this morning I was meeting with someone to discus my vision and ideas, beginning the process of trying to establish in my own mind where and how I feel the Lord is calling me to continue in His service. It is so great to be able to meet with people and just thrash some of these things out, the meeting has given me a lot of food for thought and several people to make contact with as I continue to explore and seek Gods guidance. It is a very exciting time but also a worrying one as it is not just about me and my ministry but about my family the people that God has given me to journey through life with and support and how I do that but also how as a family we seek to follow Him and His call. Things are all very much in the early stages but I would ask that you pray for me and for us as we look to God and His guidance and I will endeavour to keep you informed of the things that are going on and give you more details when the timing is right.
God bless you and have a good weekend.

written by Simo

A couple of days ago Ian over at youthblog posted about the question box his daughter had said they now had in their group at church, he went on to talk about questions you can read his post here. The reason for mentioning it was that it reminded me of a great question I was asked a few months ago by my (then) not quite 5 year old son. We were in the car driving back from somewhere when he suddenly asked me �Daddy did God make the whole world?� �yes� I replied, �does he make the world spin?� again I replied �yes�, �well how does he keep it spinning at night when he�s asleep?� I�m not sure how well he grasped the idea of God not sleeping I think it all seemed a bit much to his mind, haw can you not sleep, but it�s really encouraging as a parent to be asked these questions or hear your children asking them, it�s little insights into their minds but also the simplicity of their questions can sometimes get us thinking through things ourselves.

written by Simo

Just two weeks late wanted to talk about Sunday 7th Jan. On this date we had a daughter Charys dedicated. It was a really great day, the whole service just all fitted together so well, we are just starting a series on John�s gospel and on the 7th we were looking at John 1:17 �The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.� (NRSV). Charys is the Greek word for Grace so this all fitted together really well. The service was fantastic with a great talk by Charles our Vicar and everything just fitting together so well. It was also great to have so many family and friends around to celebrate with us and join us for Lunch, it was a really great day for which we really give thanks to God. Thank you to those who were able to be with us on the day and help to make it so special.

written by Simo