Today was BV's 10th birthday! it was great to be at church today there was a joyous feeling in the air and a very full house indeed. One of the light hearted highlights of the service was a photo-slideshow they put up on the big screen during the coffee break. People were so fascinated by the photos of the last 10 years (including seeing pics of Andrew & Ros, Ian etc ten years younger and Naomi, Tom etc in their student days) that hardly anybody got out of their seats to grab a coffee, how unusual is that! The office had used photos from anywhere they could get their hands on, so it was great seeing this cross-section of people activities and ministries that we've all been involved in, seeing for example homeless banquets all the way back to '97, pics from Salt and homegroups and houseparties and so on and so on... This afternoon, my housegroup went to St George Park to give away chocolate and talk to people. Me & a few others also went to the car-park saying "would you like us to clean your winscreen for free while you're in the park!" So we'd polish up their car windows while they asked us about how and why etc., (you usually get a bit more chance to chat than with giving away chocolate). There are now a few more people who have encountered the invisible church in St George (i.e. church not in buildings), people who asked for our phone nos. so they can come along Wednesdays. I love the way God works through this simple, anyone-can-do-it stuff. It's been one of the things Vineyard has done since day one. however the one firm impression I came away with is that we do it too seldom really!, if we were to give up even just an hour or so every weekend to clean 10 or 15 windscreens we might see a lot more impact...All you need is a smile, some Windolene and a kitchen roll! So..this is one of my resolutions from here forth. Not jus to do it myself but to take people from HG along and get everybody doing stuff like this and seeing if God doesn't also occasionally send us someone who needs prayer or healing too.

In the service today though God did say through a word a friend had for me that I should continue to take rest, talk to God, get to know him and rest in His arms, and he'll let me know when it's time to kick off again. So I am intent on balancing my work and rest very wisely this coming year.

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