Holidays and Summer School

I have had other things to do and keep putting off writing this blog. No real reason except that I have had other things to keep me busy at lunchtime and so on.
To summarise my holidays I would say that they were very worthwhile. It was great having a solid 3 weeks off work and I think I really needed it. In hindsight 2005 was a bit of a disaster year with lots of hard times (lots of good ones too). Having the time off really helped to recharge, get perspective and start thinking about what I will be doing in 2006.
Last year I think I took on too much ministry stuff. Not that I did a poor job of it but I guess I started growing resentful that I was doing so much and missing out on things and so on. I dont think that is a smart way to go so I am pulling back the reins on what I am doing. Last year I led a bible study, did youth group 2 nights a week, met up with about 3 people once a week, did service leading, prayers, bible reading and music for sunday nights. I am also on the maintenance comittee. That was the regular stuff, not counting one offs! This year I will be doing bible study and maybe a service lead occasionally. I might meet up with a person or two as well.

As for specifics of what I did while I was away from work, the first week off was Christmas type stuff. I went up to Sydney and did various things with relatives. It was better than I had expected and that was nice. I got back to the Gong on about Tuesday (I saw Chronicles of Narnia on Monday in Sydney) and chilled out. It was quite relaxing. Dont remember anything too outstanding about the week between Christmas and new year. I know one night Kester and I played through Star Wars - Battlefront 2 (Christmas present) in one session. That was good. Other than that, it was pretty quiet - totally sweet. The week after New Years was pretty similar. A few nice social events but generally pretty quiet. Didnt mind that at all.

The third week I was away was CMS Summer School. It was sooo cool. We had morning talks on Ephesians (7 Talks took us through the whole thing), evening talks on Islam, relating to Muslims and information on some of the roots of the palestinian conflict. It was very informative and helpful to understand what some of the issues people are facing these days.
Apart from that there were quite a few helpful missionary sessions with the topics from social justice to what to do to become a missionary. There were roughly 5 sessions at a time so you could pick the one you wanted. For summer school you have to sort your own acommodation and food for the week and for the second year running I camped with the Chapmans. Kester and Cath were there for 3 nights and Suze was there the whole time as well.
The format is that you have a morning session between 9ish and 12:15, then there are no sessions until 7 that evening. It means that as well as great teaching you are able to have plenty of time to relax and enjoy Katoomba and the blue mountains. In free time I was able to: do the 1000 steps/giant staircase round trip (near the 3 sisters), go to the local pool, have lunch in town at a nice cafe, and have devonshire tea at the Hydro Majestic.
Other than that goodness, I was able to kind of have a bit of an adopted family for the week in the form of the Chapman's and the Grinter's. Apart from the few days Kester was there I was pretty much the only man of the group. It was cool hanging out with the kids and doing my 'man duties' such as hunting down and gathering water for the camp.
The only down side was that due to the rain, setting up and packing up was a bit of a pain. It didnt bother me too much but I certainly loved my post-camping shower at home and being able to put on some truly dry clothes. I quite enjoy outdoor stuff so it didnt bother me much really.
So, all in all, a great time of being refreshed in Gods word, rehoning my focus and encouraging me to continue on where I am. I think that the current plan will be to work for the next 2 years (most likely in Wollongong, but who knows) and then go straight to SMBC in 2008. God may change that of course but that is the plan for now!