Catch-up Time

Catch-up Time

"It's about time!" I hear a lot of you say... Well I could come back with something inane like "life is like an onion" borrowing things from block-buster films, but I shan't. Instead I will try give you a summary of what has been happening.

Brad and Iryna are now happily married, Grace and Sean have a house and I am back home. There we go, summarised...

No, really, Brad and Iryna are married :-) I have had one of the best summers in my life because so much seems to have happened right from the time that I tried to stop for a breather until... well, it just keeps on going! Not the weather, that has changed, just my different lifestyle. After spending a few weeks of helping the Blunt family with their mission to bring the Gospel to children up and down the country, helping Just42 with a bible club, helping with our teen retreat and bible club weeks at Faith Baptist Church (pauses for a breath) I started to re-evaluate where my priorities are.

Computer programming has always been fun for me because my mind is able to work things out and bring me to the point where I know what should be done - it's the doing after that that takes far too much time out of life. Working with children for just about all of the summer allowed me to see another side of life that I think I may have bypassed to some extent due to the pressures of work and getting those darned programs written! So, the time has come to calm down with the programming and ramp up the children's work!

The times that I have spent with some very special people recently has allowed me to re-evaluate my priorities in life. The time with my children and family (new and old) allowed me to see how important family life must always be. The time spent with the Blunts bringing God's Word to the gypsy people allowed me to see that we are all God's children and we all deserve a special life with Him. The time spent with our own youth groups reminded me how special those children that are closest to us are. My time spent helping others has given me time to remember that we do need to be there for some no matter what. My time spent with Just42 has allowed me to see some very special people at work and has rejuvenated my spirit to work with children. So all in all I want to be able to change my lifestyle to get down to doing the things that I now see are important rather than keeping the wheels turning in business all the time. Yes, business is important because without it we would not be able to do half the things we want to do; but it should not be the be-all-and-end-all of your existence...

I have now started volunteer work for Just42 and help out wherever I can, enjoying immensely the privilege of being able to work alongside some very special people who have shown me how much we should all be caring for our children. What an amazing change it has made in my own life - and I hope and pray that that change will be reflected in the lives of those very special children God has entrusted into our care.

To my own children, I know you always say that I am a good dad, and I know how much you love me... but I really do think things can get better! Let's just say that I want to be able to do more now :-) It's not going to be about money but rather about quality and time. I love you dearly! All of you!

When God gives you a second chance - what will you do with it?

I think my second chance started over a year ago when God started to show me a whole new side to life; one which I had long since tried to put behind me, but one which none of us should ever let go of... just plain loving others with a true love and not a pretence. Maybe the things in my own life have not made it plain enough for me to see whatI should have been doing, or maybe I just did not want to see anything other than work. But right from last summer things have been constantly changing for the better... with me walking with God instead of making it look like I was walking with Him. If you want to see what God can do in your own life, then you have to allow Him control - that can be difficult unless you really do trust Him!