Back to work

My last day of holiday before returning to work :-(

It's been a good break, but time flies far too fast when you're having fun. I've managed to squeeze in lots of reading, a fair bit of geocaching, too little riding (it's been rather wet in Pretoria!) and a couple of movies (including The Bee Movie last night - very funny and worth watching). The second National Treasure movie was also excellent (although I still need to see the first!).

It's been a rather tense couple of weeks, with two very sick children (friends' new-born daughter Claire, who needed open-heart surgery to repair cross-connected arteries, and Conor, an eight-year-old member of Theo's congregation, who has a life-threatening lung condition), both of whom seem to be on the road to recovery (although there is still some way to go in determining whether and how Conor's condition can be treated). In both cases, there has been a remarkable answer to the many prayers for the children and their families.

One great discovery has been the music of John Waller (his first CD, The Blessing, is produced by the same group who manage Casting Crowns, one of my all-time favourite bands). His lyrics have a great spiritual depth ("theological" was the word that came to mind when I first listened to the CD), and the songs are great musically too.

And, since I labelled this post "movies, books, music" as I started to write, I must mention the book of the moment: The Shack, by William Young, which my sister gave me for Christmas. When someone like Eugene Peterson compares a book to The Pilgrim's Progress, you know it must be something special, and it is. It portrays a beautiful picture of God's love, mercy and acceptance of us, in the midst of the most difficult of circumstances, and wrestles with some difficult spiritual questions in a refreshing and wonderful way. Thoroughly recommended!

Anyway, I need to get ready to head for the airport and start the long trek back home. More ramblings later!