Sand, cigars and whisky

Pete, Fliss and I got away to Horsey on the Norfolk coast last week to get out of the city and make the most of the bank holiday. Had a really chilled time, good to get some space and perspective. A couple of pics...

Hebridean highlights

Here's a few highlights from our recent trip to the beautiful Outer Hebrides.

Mobilise 2006

This last week has been the best week of the year, it's really been absolutely awesome, like the world's best party, loads of the nicest friends you could hope to have, and some inspiring times all rolled into one. Difficult to describe everything on blog, but we had some great times: Mobilise (1100 students and 20s) were together in the mornings til 4pm, then we had break til 7 and cooked dinner on the beach and took a rest and time to process, and in the evening we were all together with the 5000 from the main leadership conference. There was excellent relevant preaching which was so motivating, great worship times, with some fantastic Zulu and Shona songs which you can really jump around to on a couple nights, an amazing offering time, and I've been really stirred up especially about church planting, sharing Jesus with people who don't know him, and about having much higher expectations, especially in the whole area of signs and wonders.

Was also really encouraged in my studying to keep pressing on well with medicine and working hard at that, knowing that the day will come when it's gonna be put into use. Some great quotes with started off the week and have been with me through it:

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all" (Helen Keller)

"Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter". How true is that.

So the next few weeks back in Cambridge with GPs and projects and lectures before the summer holidays, starting to step out into some new things and keeping it all in focus.

All topped off by our first anniversary on sunday, which we spent up at Sheringham on the Norfolk coast in a little B&B and went out for a lovely Thai meal in the evening much thanks to the generosity of my Nana. Beautiful.

Here's one I made earlier

Well not quite...I watched this little chap being delivered in theatre, where I was twice mistaken for the father which was highly amusing! The father thought so too and took this picture for me.

Alton Towers

Thought I'd add a few photos from our recent trip to Alton Towers with Alan & Nadia!

...God said, "let there be ice cream"

Reading friends' blogs recently has inspired me to pen some more stuff down here, it can be amazing to follow through a train of thought and events when you're away from it. Yet another beautiful incredible evening in Cambridge, the way the sun sets over the rooftops can be really mindblowing. Fliss and I wandered down to the river for a walk, ended up sat down outside Bella Italia enjoying a massive fudge caramel ice cream sundae, watching the lights from the Granta reflected across the pond.

Good time to chat, talking about how it feels being in Cambridge at the moment, which has been in the back of my mind but haven't had time to articulate fully. It's very nearly a year into our marriage now and a good time to look back over it and reflect. What I thought was that we've been so blessed with time together and God has so blessed us as we've done that and really grown us together in love and in purpose. That's really amazing to give thanks for. What feels a bit odd at the moment is being integrated here: lots of upheavals with almost all of our close friends moving off to London and other places to work, or get married (and work); it's been a really odd time in that respect because socially and in terms of church it's felt very much like starting all over again; sometimes at the moment on a Sunday I look around and although I know people, I don't KNOW that many people at the moment. Can feel like being on the outside. Cell is something to really give thanks for because that's definitely not true with those guys. So although we haven't moved anywhere sometimes it feels a bit like we have; Dizz have been going back over your old blogs and they made me think!

So a little at the moment life can feel like a series of from home, to hospital and back to home, and not enough integrating outside of that. Awesome times at home or wherever with Fliss, but feeling something lacking in terms of depth of friendships growing at church, at clinical school. Still involved in on the street stuff at the moment which is an exception to that. Feeling that now is a time to start prodding new opportunities as they arise, ones that get me excited and raise my blood pressure, and waiting to see how God stirs us through them, and what people we come across in the process. Up and coming things are a weekend of 24/2 prayer in Cambridge, although I've just found out that's been postponed, so waiting til September when they're doing the next one; I find those times really exciting. Also drumming for injustice in a couple of weeks with Christian Aid in Cambridge, will keep you posted on how that goes. Next week I'm anticipating as a really key week away with space to think, pray, dwell, and learn - going down to Brighton for Mobilise, New Frontiers annual conference for Students and 20s running alongside the leadership one. Blogs to follow on that. Enough thoughts for now, need to get on and write some "reflective case studies". Adios.

In the beginning...

Wow how do you start writing one of these? Been meaning to for a long time ever since someone I know shipped off to NZ and wanted to keep us in the loop. Mine's been lying dormant ever since. So what's new? Ambling around a sunny hospital in Cambridge, making friends on our sunny streets with guys who need purpose, trying to work out how worship and justice and living all fits together in an exciting way. Lots of musing. It's nearly a year now of being married, and it's been a very exciting ride, lots of fun and we're being challenged lots on key things. Loads of thoughts running round my head right now on radical living and the whole shabang. More to follow. And pictures. Good luck Ghana. Bring on summer holidays, beaches, surfing, mountains, how I've missed them. Rob I'm so envious of your amazing scenery down there.