Christmas is over.....

I have been incredibly tired all day today (but then I did hit the sales today and allowed myself one teeny-weeny shoe splurge - only £10!)

23 Dec and 24 Dec were busy days but great fun. The All Age service went well - huge thanks to G who organised the "Weegie" nativity (only 2 shepherds but 14 angels and about 23 kings - that's what happens when children have free choice as to who they want to dress up as)

Actually - it wasn't a Weegie nativity in the true sense of the word - see picture above!

I loved doing the crib service on Christmas Eve as always - the candles, the relatives and visitors present, the excited children, the sense of expectation; the mulled wine at the Batemans afterwards :-)

Our SP led a great wee service on Christmas Day. Lots of children with great pressies there, although it was perhaps a little risky of me to ask a child to demonstate flying a radio controlled plane in the sanctuary during the service. Before I could clear the "runway" and indicate a free take off slot, the bigger boys had rushed for the controls and the plane soared into the air, only to encounter a freak wind (perhaps??) and crash land on a 2 year old. I did check and she was fine. Surprised but robust (hooray for God making children robust!)

Oh - a highlight from that service - I have now found out that someone I welcomed is a BLOGGER - I recognise your name Doonhamer Geordie, from That Hideous Man! Well done on making the connection! (how did you do it??)

I'm now off to bed early. This is never a quiet holiday. Got loads of reunions on this week - all the parents who I became friends with from early post-natal days 8 years ago; pals from university days, friends from Oxford. Love it.

Wishing you all a peaceful and blessed New Year.

Hopeful Imagination

Blogging here today.

My Week in Statistics

Thursday 13 Dec, just before midnight....

Christmas parties/lunches down - 5
Christmas Parties/lunches still to occur - 6
No. of Christmas Parties/lunches with participants under the age of 12 - 8
No. of packets of marshmallows bought - 6
No. of children attending aforementioned parties - approx 270
No.of vomiting children - 0
(ah, but wait, last year's it was this man's offspring who broke that record)
Amount of budget spent on funding parties - no-one minds, really.
I kind of get free reign because I am careful with money.

One's for a school group, three are for under-5s (one;the preschool's; I don't have to fund; one is for children with additional support needs, one is for the midweek kid's club, two are for Sunday School (though I don't call it that - nor do we hold it in church but in a bowling alley and in a soft play area).

No. of under 12s parties that I personally organise - 4
No. of under 12s parties that others in my teams organise - 4
(50% delegation rate is not bad; could be improved though)

No. of secret Santa presents bought - 1
No. of services that I am fully or semi- responsible for over the the next twelve days - 3
(now that's a scary prospect, she says with glee)

No. of work colleagues who have helped me with all of the above - 6
No. of volunteers who have helped me with all of the above - loads and loads

The last two says it all really!!!

Quick update

Tired.
Busy, very busy.

Not had much time to talk to people in a relational and not purely task-driven way this week so far so today was a great day - lots of laughs in the office (need some money!?!?! Try the children's budget!) and then a very pleasant lunch with the group I am going to affectionally nickname the TheoBoyz - you know who you are.

(The book is called Jesus: Revolutionary of Peace by the way, by Mark Bredin)

Elf Yourself

Much hilarity in my house and office today.

You have got to try this out!

Go on, go on - elf yourself!

Exam over....

phew....this term's work is over, fairly painlessly I thought.
In today's exam I had to write two short essays; one asking to what extent (ah, that old phrase) the Exodus was a historical reality and one accounting for the the differences in the Joshua and Judges accounts of entry into the land.

We shall see if I have misguided confidence. Perhaps there is an OT scholar in me yet!

I'm having tonight off - its just me and Jack Bauer in the house and later in the week I am onto ...Christmas party organising; one an in-house children and family event and one an outreach to families-through-their kids event. Oh, and I'm attending a senior citz one and one at the club for children with additional support needs. And a midweek club one. I love Christmas!!

One of my leaders came in last week to talk through a training issue that is on his heart and it was important for me to take the time to listen to this. As a result we hope to organise a training morning on different types of praying for/with/about children (I do love a bit of O. Hallesby)

I am not terribly programme driven; i.e. I never feel the need to have X, Y and Z happening each week and if X is a success then its time to extend and add in A and B as well; the only way I know how to plan my work is to listen to what God is saying to my fellowship as a whole and to me personally, listening to other people, observing what is happening with the people I serve and then bouncing the whole lot (of ideas) to some trusted friends and colleagues. Dunno if this is how other people in my kind of role do things but it's how I do it. Of course, there are things that NEED to be done and these things happen as a matter of course; one tiny example is making sure Sunday mornings run smoothly.

It's pretty exciting. I am teaching in secondary school later this week but I am feeling I wouldn't give the flexibility, unpredictability and excitement of a pastoral job up for anything......

(you can and should quote me on that when I feel morose!)

What do you love (and hate) about Christmas? Please do respond in the comments.