Saturday 23rd February

It is a cold but dry day today. The wind is bitterly cold as we take the bus into town. Fr our coffee break we tried a new cafe on Lower Parliament Street called Thea Caffea (a traditional English Tea Room). It is hidden away down a tunnel but the inside is excellently set out with one or two settees if you are lucky enough to grab one. If you turn left from Marks and Spencer turning up Low Pavement, on the opposite side of the road is the alleyway leading to this tea room. Judging by the number of people in the tea room, it looks like this is one of the best kept secrets in Nottingham. This could become our cafe of choice in future.

Last night I played tennis as usual. We had a really good warm up but once again the actual game didn't live up to our practice standard.
Now it's time to sit down and enjoy the rugby - Wales vs France.

Thursday 21st February

I spent the morning reviewing the Fresh Expressions of Church in the district. I have collated the Methodist Database and produced reports of all the Fresh Expressions. In the afternoon I went to Mike Redshaw's manse for an MSM planning meeting. Only Mike and Lesley were there but we made good progress. I offered to co-lead next Thursday's session if Graham Bell can't make it. We nearly got Mike's ipad working on his router but there is some problem which looks like being the interface between the router and the ipad. The ipad drops the DNS settings.

Tuesday 19th February

A intensive day doing desk-work but very productive. In the evening I relaxed watching Arsenal, learning more about my iPad and keeping an eye on the Forest game.

Monday 18th February

This morning I had a meeting with a steward from Nottingham (East) to discuss the Discipleship Day. We had a very fruitful conversation and have sorted out the timetable and details of how we present the subject matter. There are two main aims.

1. Discipleship - the review what is meant by the term and how it works out in the 21st century
2. The Circuit Renewal Project - what it is, how it will benefit the circuit and what the attendees need to take away with them

I stressed the importance of not 'preaching' to them but instead, getting them involved in discussion. We can't assume that all will know the meaning of the word discipleship, nor will they fully grasp the importance of the new initiative.

On the iPad I installed Pages - the iPad equivalent of WORD. It's not a patch on the real thing but at least it allows you to store documents, catalogue them and print them. I will need to be careful not to duplicate things in different places. iCloud is not the same as google drive and dropbox and confusion could be created. I found that with share+print/open in Another App/Word - choose app - offers DropBox or Google Drive. DropBox works best.

1st Sunday in Lent

I went to West Bridgford this morning where Paul Hill led an excellent family service on the 'temptation of Jesus'. I received congratulations from a number of people after the birth of Matthew.
Doing more research into the capabilities of the iPad I found that uploading photos from my SLR is simplicity itself.

It's a pain being a baby.
All I ever get is milk,
milk and more milk!

Here's one I loaded earlier.

The weather today is sunny and mild. It feels like spring is round the corner but let's not speak too soon.
Janette, Margaret and James will be arriving soon with Esther. Lunch is nearly ready so off I now go.

Wollaton Hall in a puddle

In the afternoon we went for a walk in Wollaton park. The industrial museum is now charging for entry.

I worked out how to upload photos from my iPad to my PC. I am now listening to the Dalai Lama speaking about the importance of the mind.

New iPad

Well the day has finally arrived. I have given in to the temptation and taken Andrew's advice and purchased an iPad. Now to get used to it. I only ordered it yesterday from Apple and it arrived first thing this morning along with the camera adapter - amazing service. So far it's working fine. Email, calendar, Facebook, twitter all ok.
At the end of the day and I have installed about everything. I have been printing, synchronising calendar, tasks, emails etc., viewed the Beatles on iPlayer and listened to the Bible. It is a truly amazing piece of kit.
I played Alka at squash tonight in a league game. I lost the first game 0-9 and then lost the second easily. I then discovered I had broken strings on my racquet, I borrowed one from a chap nearby but it made little difference. I felt so slow and powerless.

Lent week 1

Deut 26:1-11

^1 “When you come into the land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance, and have taken possession of it, and live in it, ^2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place which the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. ^3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘I declare this day to the Lord your God that I have come into the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ ^4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
^5 “And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father; and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. ^6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage. ^7 Then we cried to the Lord the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression; ^8 and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders; ^9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ^10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O Lord, hast given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God; ^11 and you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

Psalm 91

Assurance of God’s Protection

¹ You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
    who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,^[a]
2 will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
    my God, in whom I trust.”
³ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
    and from the deadly pestilence;
⁴ he will cover you with his pinions,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of the night,
    or the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
    or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only look with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your refuge,^[b]
    the Most High your dwelling place,
¹⁰ no evil shall befall you,
    no scourge come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder,
    the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

¹⁴ Those who love me, I will deliver;
    I will protect those who know my name.
¹⁵ When they call to me, I will answer them;
    I will be with them in trouble,
    I will rescue them and honor them.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy them,
    and show them my salvation.

Romans 10:8-13

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

⁸ But what does it say?

“The word is near you,
    on your lips and in your heart”

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because^[a] if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. ¹¹ The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³ For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Luke 4:1-13

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Temptation of Jesus

4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

⁵ Then the devil^[a] led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶ And the devil^[b] said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ Jesus answered him, “It is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
    and serve only him.’”

⁹ Then the devil^[c] took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to protect you,’ (Psalm 91:11)

¹¹ and

‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

¹² Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Matthew and Grannie do High Fives

Here is Matthew playing with Grannie Margaret - click here

The flight home went fine. Andrew took us to the airport on his way to work. We had a relaxed time waiting for departure but the flight was on time and we soon landed back at Birmingham where it was snowing quite hard. However, we drove home with no problem, went to ASDA and relaxed during the evening - I had a bath. By nightfall the snow was melting.

Another lazy day

We woke to find another layer of snow - no where near as much as yesterday. The airport seems to be functioning normally. I spent about an hour keeping Matthew amused. He seems to be such a contented child, or perhaps its my magic touch.

My Ebay items completed last night but only one person claimed his. Esther kindly sorted out the administration for me. I tried transferring money into Paypal but it failed - probably because I didn't send it from my nominated account. It went out and straight back into my bank account. Therefore I still don't have an iPad and am still unsure it's the best thing to buy. I have a bid in for a Dell Inspiron at £22.

A Christmas Pudding

Challex's trusty snow plough

We went for a walk through the village this afternoon.

Pancakes tonight - yummy! This is sadly our last night in Challex. Tomorrow we fly back in the morning. The weather forecast looks favourable both ends so we should be fine.

A snowy start to the week

The snow started around 5pm last evening and has not stopped since. We now have around 6". We still hear planes taking off from Geneva airport although we can't see them.

We looked after Matthew while Mum caught up on her sleep. Mostly he was fine and very contented.

So - what if the flight to Birmingham is cancelled.
You can stay here and keep me amused instead.

I went around the village taking photographs. We have over a foot of snow now. The news has just broken that the Pope has resigned due to his failing health.

I beat Becky twice in a row at Stack. I played a more aggressive game. I also emailed Allison about the district web site - got a nice reply and am set up as a guinea pig to update my page.

I decided to go for an ipad after all. Paid money into Paypal but have to wait for tomorrow. All my carts are sold but only 1 is paid for. Waiting now for the bulk of the money. Esther kindly sorted out the admin.

The snow is still falling but it's slushy. The flight to Birmingham was cancelled today but hopefully all will return to normal tomorrow. The snow ploughs here do a great job. They are a tractor with a plough on the front and they came through the village at least 3 times today. Andrew took 3/4 hour to get to the UN - twice as long as normal.

We all watched Matthew's bath time tonight. He's a real joy.

I posted the following before and after pictures to Facebook.

10th February

11th February

More photos of Matthew

Today was a lazy day. We woke late and relaxed until lunch. The only church in the village has a service at 10 am but last time I tried it (Christmas Eve) no one turned up, not even the preacher.

In the afternoon we all went for a walk. It provided Margaret and myself with the lost art of pushing the pram. We went in the direction of the Swiss border. The weather was cold but dry.

As the day wore on we looked at the photos Andrew has taken of Becky and baby. He is a real artist and they easily compete with magazine portrait shots.

Towards tea time the snow started to fall and by bedtime there was a gentle covering. No doubt tomorrow will provide a different scene from today. Matthew was so well behaved. He cries very little and sleeps a lot. He lies on the sofa as we eat and it's easy to forget he is there.

The photos on this page are my own work, Matthew provided the wonderful expressions - a good team eh?

Well it's bed time and the snow is incessant. Looks like we're in for a covering by morning.

Grandparents at last

Travelled over to Langley Mill for the start of the MSM course, leaving at coffee break to prepare for Geneva. Loraine opened with prayerful reflections and endorsed MSM. Mike Redshaw did the openeing session followed by Michael Mitton. It was good to see Tim Mitchell back from America (sabbatical). Four visitors from South Africa were there. They are starting an MSM course soon. It was good to be there with the MSM leadership team. There is a real sense of unity and comradeship. It's only 4 weeks until the first MSM residential weekend at Bawtry Hall. On the way over to Langley Mill it started to snow but didn't settle. Let's hope that the snow holds off until we have taken off from Birmingham later today.

Arrived safely at Airparks Birmingham. It is not as sleek as Luton's but we boarded a bus promptly and arrived at the airport at 3.30. I tried to spend my gift card in W H Smiths but it wasn't accepted.

Sitting in the departure lounge is always restful but I spent the time tethering my netbook through my HTC. It works fine but the netbook is painfully slow, especially when it starts up and insists on doing a virus scan. I must set the thing off. I wonder how long it will be before I succomb to a tablet.

After a short drive from Geneva to Challex (France) we settled doown with baby Matthew. He is so placid even with odd folks like us. Grannie Margaret couldn't put him down.

Final Clearout

We're off tomorrow so I need to get my desk work up to date. Tomorrow is the launch of the MSM course at Langley Mill where the numbers are low but tolerable. It could make for a better dynamic on the course overall. The weather forecast is looking good for tomorrow so we should not be delayed at the airport. I'm looking forward to using Airparks at Birmingham. Their service at Luton was first class.

Exported the entire district's data from the Methodist statistics web site. Now to format it for analysis. As I thought the number of Fresh Expressions in the district is not as high as we were led to believe.

I'm really impressed by both DropBox and Google Drive. The latter is cheaper and so I will invest in that for the future. Around £20 per year for 25gig should be enough.

Played a final game of tennis. Devised a new technique for holding the racket and improved my serve as a result. Anyway I'm tired right now so off to bed ready for an early start for MSM and then off to Geneva.

Head Down before the off

Mrs Happy at the Montreux Christmas Market

Yesterday saw my tooth re-filled by the dentist after the filling dropped out (again). I'm getting dangerously close to 'crown time'. Last night I made my first sortie intoi Ebay selling with some unused printer cartrisges. I've got one bid already - but not exactly a 'bank-breaker'.

Today I need to clear a backlog of desk work before flying off to Geneva for a long weekend to see our grandson for the first time (in the flesh). Dealt with various web-related items like the MET web site needed a new section for the Development Worker and I uploaded one of the latest articles from the new magazine.

I spent a good deal of time preparing the Discipleship Agenda for Nottingham (East). In the evening I watched as an Ebay last minute auction took place for an iPad 64g cellular. It finally went for £521 as opposed to the shop price of £620. The last minute scramble was interesting but quite common.

We finished the photobook of our Christmas in Geneva. As it uploaded it looked as if the transparency in the PNG files was not handled properly. Let's hope they can sort this out before publishing. Just to make sure I emailed the company to gain reassurances.

Another Day in Paradise

Last night was the final session of the Welcoming Churches course in St. Ann's. Despite having to set up in a hurry due to the late departure of Nottingham Citizens things went really well. The acoustics were not brilliant but overall people engaged brilliantly and gave very positive feedback.

Now to get down to some solid work before flying off to Geneva for a long weekend.

Welcoming Churches - Final Session

I am looking forward to tonight's final session of the Welcoming Churches course at church @ Community. Having piloted the course a couple of times I realise that the best format is over 3 sessions and with either a cluster of churches or an entire circuit.

Broken Filling

Over breakfast I heard a crunch in my mouth as I ate my cereals. My tongue was sent immediately on a fact-finding mission and sure enough it reported that an already flaky filling had further eroded. That's two call to make today - one to the dentist and the other to British Gas to repair a leaking washing machine.

So it's down to work, starting with a prayer time, especially remembering the new Archbishop of Canterbury who takes up his post at a turbulent time for the church and the country at large with the debate on Gay Marriage due to take place tomorrow. It's going to need a former oil executive to slip through these challenges.

This morning I cleared my email backlog - great! Also I registered for Ebay for the first time, set up my Paypal account and bought a man bag ready for Geneva this weekend.

I took Margaret to the QMC to have her ears cleared of wax. The firsst one caused her to nearly pass out but after about 10 minutes she was ready for the second and all was completed fine. We went there and back ffrom Queens Drive MediLink - very good service.

Shopping for Computer Kit

Bought a cheap printers (HP) after a bad experience with Canon. We saw Les Mis today. It's an excellent film - most moving. Had a tummy upset today but it started to subside after our evening meal.

Also tested this laptop using my smartphone's Wifi Hotspot. I was delighted with its performance and it saves me a few hundred pounds because I don't have to buy a tablet. Watched England beat Scotland at Rugby, I cooked a chicken stir fry tonight - most tasty. The weather today was dry but cold. Feels like snow is not too far away.

1 Corinthians 13

1 Corinthians 13 - The supremacy of Love

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 
10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This pivotal chapter, written by St. Paul to a church which has gone off the rails in terms of spiritual gifts and communion, emphasises that without love, all else is void. Also it hangs in between two chapters talking about spiritual gifts. It acts like a fulcrum on an old-fashioned pair of scales. Take the fulcrum away and the scales are useless.

I used this reading at my son's wedding in Budapest last year.

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Now that my (relatively) high rate savings accounts are coming towards their expiry dates, I need to find something new. That will be a challenge.

.@metpoliceuk officer, 33, held on suspicion of misconduct in a public office under UK's Operation #Elveden probe into corrupt payments
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) February 1, 2013

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I completed the update to the MET web site to allow people to apply to be placed on the mailing list.

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Put the final touches to week 3 of the Welcoming Churches course for Nottingham (East) next week. I'm really pleased with the end result.

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Had a strenuous game of tennis but feel all the better for it.

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