Dabbling with a bit of Reggie

Yesterday the Youth Alive Tour with Reggie Dabbs came to Gloucester.
It was my privilege to take Reggie around the schools during the day
and we estimate around 700 students heard his story.

As I found myself laughing at the same stories for the fifth or sixth
time I wondered why Reggie's story works so well? Why it gives him the
opportunity to speak to two million teenagers around the world every
year.

I didn't need to think too hard because I think the answer is
simple... It's his story but he'll let anyone know about it if it
means someone might me better off by hearing it.

That means my story, as miles away from Reggie's as it is, can also be
useful. It might never be millions that hear it but as long as one or
two are better off because of it...

Moving Home

For 56 days now Louise and I have been living in Gloucester. We moved from Woodford in London for my new job at Robinswood Church and I can't believe how quickly those 56 days have passed.

Unfortunately, because of the 'current financial climate' or 'credit crunch' or 'downturn' or whatever you want to call it we've been unable to sell our flat and buy a house here. Great news today though as next Wednesday we have agreed to move into a rented house where we'll have all our own stuff all in our own home once again. Living out of a suitcase has it's challenges but thinking about it there's been a load of benefits of living with family...

1. It's free

Both my brother and my parent's have let us stay with them rent free! Not bad especially when you consider the level of service we're getting.

2. Processing stuff

My bro is my boss, so when I leave the office and go home for dinner he's there too. But that's cool because we can still process thoughts and plans and actions in our own time - I think differently on a sofa or kitchen stool than I do at my desk.

3. Louise is in the loop

While I'd much rather get home and crash in front of the TV, I have a wife who wants to know how my day was and needs to know what's going on in my world. Living with other people that are in the same loop means we share the info and everyone's a winner.

4. We've been useful

Whether it's been cooking, babysitting, picking up, dropping off, fixing the living room door, or finding the right website for 'snowed off schools' I like to think we've been useful to my brother's family while we've been staying there. I'm sure they'll miss us when we're gone lol.

I'd much rather have had this whole move done and dusted by 1st January, and be typing this in the living room of my new house, but I can't. But now I've taken the time to think about it, there's a ton of reasons why moving house in stages has been a good thing. Even though we want to do things our own way there's always a rhyme or reason for them to happen the way they do and I'm glad that this time I realise why.