And summer became autumn all of a sudden...

Yes I know, it's been a while since I posted anything on here. What can I say? I've been busy...

Summer came and went in a flash. The first art was the usual frenetic high energy of kids' holiday club. This year I created one called 'Wild West' which used the life of David against a backdrop of cactus plants, saloon doors and a life-size cardboard cutout of John Wayne himself. (£30 off the internet!; incidentally, Elvis is £50 - you'd think the cardboard would cost the same; maybe those extra cheeseburgers are worth the £20 extra).

We had approx. 80 kids there each morning and it really was a great week, but as usual, exhausting. The following week I waved goodbye to the family as they headed off on their summer sojourn south, and I entrenched myself in front of the tv to watch The Open Golf Championship from Hoylake, which became another Tiger avalanche. Brilliant player, poor spectacle for those of us who like a nailbiting Sunday afternoon finish. Here's hoping the Ryder Cup makes up for it.

Then, in a stop-start summer, there were preaching and worship engagements as well as pastoral needs, before the holidays. My nephew got married and my youngest was a flower-girl so that was a nice opportunity to catch up with family and friends.

Then a week in the Lake District at the Keswick Convention. We arrived just as the heatwave left town. It rained for 5 out of 7 days. The ministry was good though. Particularly enjoyable was Luis Palau (hasn't aged a bit), Vaughan Roberts on 1 Corinthians and various speakers taking the seven churches of Revelation as the evening theme. I also enjoyed a cd I purchased there when I got home by Amy-Orr Ewing on 'The Need for Aplogetics in a Post-modern Culture'. Lots of food for the grey matter to digest over the next few months.

We then had a quick stopover in Dumfries (my home church) where Alan (their new minister and my old boss) roped me in to teach a kids' song in the Sunday morning service. My claims that 'I'm on my holidays' were met with short shrift! It was good fun, though.

Then an overnight in a TravelInn near Lymm, Cheshire (excellent value at £15 for the three of us) before 4 nights at the Graig Park Resort in North Wales.

Then back to reality. Staring down the barrel of a hectic new session. The autumn programme for youth ministy looks busy and exciting with new attenders and new leaders signing up to help as well as the returning army of keen volunteers.

Had an enjoyable day on Saturday at a Christian event, Awakenings UK, held near Edinburgh. Despite the inclement conditions (it tipped it down all day long) I particularly enjoyed listening to Ruth Bell Graham (daughter of Billy) and the music of Phatfish (with the wonderfully talented vocals of Louise Fellingham). Also there were Mark Stibbe, Ian White and Andrew Mitchell.

Well, now that I'm back in gear I'll be hoping to stay in touch with my thoughts (at least that's what my shrink said would work!)

Looking forward to 'getting stuck in'.

Shalom