Holidays or Retreat

The bank holiday provided a great time for us to get away as a family, take a break from the normal routines that plague daily life and just take some time out relaxing. But how often do holidays actually get in the way? I don't mean that I would rather not have a holiday, but continue to work, work, work! But how often does a break in the routine mean that EVERYTHING gets rested, even time with God?

By now I should be on day 5 of my walk through the Bible, but instead I’m on day 2. Why? Maybe it is just because I’m lazy, and rubbish at disciplining myself to spend the required time reading through the different chapters. Or maybe it is because I went on holiday and had a rest.

That leads me onto another question, what are quiet times? In one sense I feel more spiritually refreshed because of the time I spent on holiday than I think I would have if I had spent the weekend keeping up to date with my new reading plan. Whilst away Rachel and I were able to talk and discuss in ways that just wouldn't have the time if we were both at work, we were able to talk about questions such as Eden and what it was really like, explore how we both think prayer works, how we discern the way that God speaks, we were able to discuss tithing, and guidance and have a great discussion on whether all ministry should be Bible centred or not. Now some of these things are those big theological questions that although interesting are not crucial to developing a faith, but others were.

In the end I would have to surmise, that a break from the routine used wisely and not wasted away in lazy days, can actually have a great spiritual influence - so is this what they call a retreat then?

Time to Start Blogging Again

So why now? Why two years after the last time I did this have I decided to try and give it a go again? Will it last, or will this be a one off event that sits here as a testament to the one day that I got bored so decided to write something, decided to blog again?

I don't know! Its the answer to both those questions, maybe this will just sit here and be a strange post from 2009 that seems completely disconnected to the rest of the stuff, which is even older. Or maybe this will be the first of a long string of blogs which even start to get a blog following as many do.

Will anyone actually read it? Now there's a question. I wont get that following if not!

And why so many questions all of a sudden? Maybe there's my answer as to why I am even bothering to write this at all, maybe its all there. Maybe this is my way of trying to get my thoughts straight, trying to understand...

I have heard many times and even read the odd thing that says journalling is a great way to understand what it is that God is doing in your life and through your prayer life. So there you go, maybe that's why I'm doing this, maybe I'm finally facing my fear and writing down my thoughts and prayers. Now don't get me wrong, if this idea works, I'm not going to write down every thought and feeling I have about my life for the whole world to read, that's beyond inappropriate on many levels, but maybe this is the space I require to reflect on life, the universe, everything, God and His word.

I got a new Bible the other day, with a reading guide to get through it in a year. There's my challenge - read the whole Bible in a year, and reflect on here what God is saying and doing in my life. I don't know this journalling thing might work after all. So readings for day one...Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Genesis 1, 1 Chronicles 1 and Luke 1:1-25