Only yesterday morning I awoke to beautiful blue skies, devoid of any cloud cover, and with the promise of another sunny day at 35 degrees celcius… Unfortunately, I also awoke yesterday morning in Spain, and not Dublin.
I have spent the last 5 days of my July luxuriating on the south coast of Spain, on holiday with my family and two other families that we head away with (the Kirks and the Scotts). It was a break that couldn’t have come at a better time, giving me a great chance to get away from Belfast and just get my head showered, and start to get a few things sorted in my mind for next year.
The view from my bed (yes, that is my foot in the foreground)… This is what the sky looked like the whole time. I think I saw 3 clouds in the whole time I was there. Unlike now, as I look out the window and am searching for the blue sky…
The pool…I spent a lot of time in here!
So, after all that relaxing, why am I in Dublin and not back hard to work in the office in Belfast? Well, I’m taking all that rest that I’ve saved up this past week, and I’m about to blow it all on a youth trip to Germany! Bright and early on Saturday morning, I’m going to be heading away with my friend Karen’s youth group to TeenStreet, which is a Europe wide youth-conference run by the mission organisation OM (Operation Mobilisation). From what I’ve heard about it, I think it’s a little bit similar to Summer Madness…but on a bigger scale, so I’m looking forward to seeing it in action!
We’d love to be going to Germany with your prayers. The theme for the conference is “Blindsight” and talking about how Paul became blind but then regained his sight when he met with Jesus. We’ve also been praying about our time in Germany, and feel like this message has a lot to teach to the 7 young people that we’re going to be bringing! The idea that at the minute they may be blind to a lot of the spiritual world around them, but that God really wants to open their eyes and open them up to Him. It’s an exciting time!
Hopefully my return from Germany will also mark a return to regular blogging! I’ve been a little lax these past few months.
I leave you with this passage that God has given us as a team taking these young people to encourage us. Perhaps you can use it as an aid to pray for us.
tom
Mark 8:22-25
They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
1 comment:
Hi Tom
just catshing up on your blogging activities!
love the Tate O'Factory story - you should be in marketing.
Also fond memories of the welcoming pool & blue skies.
Keep up the good works
Bruce
Post a Comment