This year...

And so, Friday 18th December, so starts my christmas holiday!

Two full weeks, every day is a blessing! I know I will be busy on Sunday and at our christmas day service but even so, my holiday begins at 5pm today.

And so, approaching a holiday that marks the end of a year, I start by looking back. apologies if this seems like one of those episodes of the Simpsons or Friends where they just crib the best bits and cobble together a story. This is my journey, with my heart on my sleeve.

This year we have launched two Sunday meetings which has taken lots of time to plan and involved a tremendous Gift Day which allowed a major revamp of our main hall. We hosted a big community week which alongside running Alpha in January and in September and working with other Churches has made me really excited.

The year had exceptionally sad challenges, including the death of my grandfather, a lovely young man in the Church and a fabulous worship leader. And it all seemed to happen at once.

I have lost weight, and kept it off, and now stand at 11 stone 12 pounds this morning, and I learned more about myself than I have by doing almost anything else.

I have preached twelve times on Sundays, and lead the main meeting an astonishing 19 of our 52 mornings. I have preached on Freedom in Christ 3 times, Alpha 4 times, at our youth meeting 4 times and at another church's meeting for 18-25s once. In a Church this size, and with the teaching gifts of people like Martin Charlesworth and Terry Hotchkiss in this church, I find the level of trust they have placed in me, and willingness to allow me opportunities an absolute priviledge.

I turned 30, and considered the blessings and challenges of my first year in eldership. I greatly appreciated the Newfrontiers Younger Leaders Weekend, as well as the Evangelist's Summit and the Brighton Conference.

I considered what it means to "work together" in posts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and have finished the year considering what I love about Anglicans, Methodists, Mike Pilavachi, Spring Harvest, Holy Trinity Brompton and the Para-church.

I want this blog to actually be my story. My journal. My hopes and dreams. My fears and failures. Open and honest. Gentle yet firm. Thanks for following, thanks for commenting, thanks for reading, and for being part of my journey.