A change is as good as a rest!
This month is marked by the school holidays and often by the return of
rainy and cooler weather, just in time for my holiday break!
Many of our number are not directly affected by the schools being off
but we all suffer the heavier traffic at peak times on the Island when
everyone heads out for the day, or back to base camp. We must be
thankful for the way they keep the Island economy going!
Whether we are away or not, August tends to bring a change of pattern
with a number of activities on hold with often a bit more time and space
to switch off and relax. Its good for us to have a change of routine at
times and perhaps to explore a few different things. God built in a
pattern of Sabbath for his people to ensure they were not victims of the
eternal rat race. Someone once quipped – the problem with winning the
rat race is that you are still a rat!
May we all take time to pause, take stock of our lives and celebrate
that, as followers of Jesus, we are not rats but children of God, born
of the Spirit, as Paul reminds us in Romans 8. Our Heavenly Father
delights in us and wants us to learn to delight in him. Maybe we can all
take a little extra time for dipping into God’s word and for prayer and
reflection… to be still and know (Psalm 46:10).
This month, I am away for a chunk of time – a precious time to relax and
refuel in readiness for the next term. Our family holiday in North Devon
is quickly followed by another short trip to USA from 18th -
24th. I’d value your prayers as I connect with the board of
PRMI once again, with just one more year of service to go. I will be
around to speak on 16th while home briefly and will be back
in good time to lead our Saturday prayer time on 29th and
both Encounter and Rylstone worship on the final Sunday.
Sheilagh will be leading a special series of four more informal meetings
on Tuesdays at 14:00 during August, while there is a break from the
regular Bible Bite. These won’t be
live streamed as they’ll be more interactive.
I pray that we will all have a refreshing time in different ways over
what is left of the summer – I do hope we’ve not had it all!
Grace and peace,
PS: Please see details of The Alpha Course in September on our
Events page and let me know if you can
help with hosting or with the afternoon teas, starting with the taster
session on 6th September. Do consider coming along if you
think it would be helpful in building the foundations of your faith and
pray about anyone you could invite along. People tend to come if they
are with a friend to journey with them.
