Recently in God Stuff Category

No, it's a blog entry!!!

Thought I'd share an "aaaah" moment.

Last Sunday we sat down with the kids for dinner and suggested that rather than throwing random ideas at us for Christmas, they might like to write us each a list.  This is a first as, up to now, we've not done lists with them before.

Anyways, Jamie said, completely out of the blue...."Christmas isn't about presents, it's when we remember the birth of Jesus".

Neither of our kids ever really ask for much and that was so nice to hear.

They both then sat down in front of the telly and wrote down ideas of DVD's they'd like!!!

Our church is having a weekend of prayer and fasting.  There are lots of issues that need prayer at the moment; various situations that need more attention than we can give.

To start the weekend off, we had a service at St Oswalds.  I had a very obscure text message early on the Thursday morning from our vicar, Martin.  He had been informed by another (you know who you are) that I had previous at playing the trombone so might be able to play the Shofar at the service on Friday night.  My first issue was not knowing if I could help due to Caitlin's ballet commitments.  My second.....what's a Shofar??  Google to the rescue..."The Shofar, a well known symbol of Rosh Hashanah, is one of the earliest instruments used in Jewish music. Usually made from a rams horn....."

Anyway, I was free to play so I agreed.  By eck it's a wierd old thing.  It is indeed a ram's horn and is a good 2 foot long.  It is also surprisingly hard to play.  When playing a brass instrument, one has quite a sizeable mothpiece to work with; when playing a shofar, reduce that by half.  Add to this the fact that I lost my embrachure a good 15 years ago!  (If you don't know what one is.....Google it!)  It is surprisingly hard to master a consistent technique.  The net result was, at the service, really good.  It seemed to hit the note (pardon the pun) and was also quite moving to play - quite biblical to be honest.

Martin has since asked me to play again at both services tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it.  The hairs on my neck will be at attention again!

10:30 (Sunday morning communion) and 19:00 (Prayer event) are the times for tomorrow if you fancy coming to join us!

TTFN

Hipp

On numerous fronts, I've been truly blown away this weekend.

Firstly, I went out for the morning with Si on Saturday to SoundControl in Birmiungham, while Caitlin did dancing stuff (including an exam which she seemed remarkably calm about).  Si wanted a pedal for his guitar and I wanted to pop over to see if I could get a new amp head.  Was a great time, and successful on both fronts.  (Now have a mighy 300W to play with instead of the 180W I actually paid for!)

Secondly, we had Richard and Lois and the gang round for a BBQ last night and had a very chilled time.  Stress-free and social.  Also great to catch up a bit - not seen them in eons.

Thirdly, I went to Church this morning and had a not-so-fine practice - nothing seemed to work.  Prayed about it and the worship during the service felt so much better.  Really enjoyable and spirit-filled (quite poignant considering that today's Pentecost! - If you don't know what I mean, ask your T.O.)

Fourthly, popped over to Sarah's school for a bit this afternoon for the kids to pretend to be guinea pigs on the new climbing wall.  Again, nice chilled out time watching the kids excel in physical activity.

Fifthly (is there such a word?), we finished off the day at my cousin's house for a BBQ to celebrate her little boy, Ben's 4th birthday.  Great to catch up with my cousins and also Helen and Graham.  They had a bouncy castle and it was funny watching them all bounce off the walls and each other in a relatively confined space.  J was particularly taken with the spicy chicken twist kebabs.  So taken that he wanted the recipe!  He was a bit disappointed when he discovered that they came pre-packed from Tesco's!

Why is this so amazing?  Well, the sun has not stopped shining throughout.  The weather has been so uplifting and fantastic.  Also, we have had chance to just spend time with people this weekend which is what it's all about and it's been GRRRREAT!  Cheers, big man!

Camp is over for another year.  It's 10:50 on Sunday morning and we've missed Church.  Woke up FAR too late.  I guess camp was more tiring than I thought.

What a great holiday it was too.  It was really inspirational being around other people who were so up for God.  I've had a realisation while being away too; I'm too shy on my blog about my faith.  Not that I'm gonna go all "wierd" (spelling just for you S & J!) but I'm going to try to be a bit more open about it.  After all, it is the reason this blog exists....had I not met Jon (thru Church), I would not be writing this here.

The real highlight of the week for me was the last night.  All the kids and team were sat in the lounge at Tower Wood and talking about their spiritual lives, both before during and after camp.  They were so open and honest and encouraging to each other.  Quite an amazing evening.

Other highlights were gaining my Safety Boat certificate!!!  Wahooo.  Thanks (immense) to Graham Cutler for his work in helping me to get this.  Also, taking the power boat out with Caitlin and Jamie on board and seeing their faces as we were battered by all the elements and the wake of the Lake police!

I still have no cable to add photos (sorry), but as soon as I do, there'll be an update...I promise.

TTFN

Hipp

Long time since the last posting (just for a change).  Lots has happened.

Jamie's 6! 

Can't quite believe it.  He's an absolute diamond.  Just hope he realises how special he is!  Anyway, he got his DS for his birthday and equilibrium is finally achieved in the handheld world of the Old house.  Special moment watching him and Caitlin "connect" for the first time.  I don't fully understand how this works or what it means, but they seem happy!  Rather worrying that I'm in the IT business and don't know very much about DS consoles.  Maybe I should rectify this after their bedtime???

We've had Easter

Really odd to have Easter so early, but it has and was a timely reminder of how amazing God's creation is and how graceful he is to us.  Amazing.  We spent Easter entertaining the Gooch's (well, they may not have found us very entertaining - cue a comment Brian!).  Great to catch up after SO long apart.  Highlights were definitely taking the kids to the parks in the "odd" Easter weather.  They are all SO funny.  I managed to encourage Sarah to let them a bit more loose and just see what happened.  What happened was Jamie managed to master cycling on his BIG bike and Caitlin managed to fall off, a lot!  Hilarious.

We then spent the rest of the bank holiday with the Mills', up in Stoke.  Again, great to catch up and just watch children interact.  We went to a farm and adventure playground and had great fun.  I'll pop some photos on in a future blog, when I remember to bring the cable home from work! D'oh. 

D'minished

Tomorrow, we lose the kids for the night and Sarah & I let our hair down in the O2 arena.  It's, sadly, the last Delirious gig with current drummer Stew Smith.  Really looking forward to it, and excited at the new direction the band will undoubtedly take.  Another example of how God has changed lives and continues to do so, through my favourite medium - MUSIC

Plastic Hats?

While writing this epic, I have been slowly transmogrifying.  It's become a bit of a tradition that I "highlight" my hair before embarking on a West Runton camp.  As we're off to Motivation a week today, and as I'm off with work for a few days next week, this was really my last chance to get it done.  Sarah has obliged with the treatment once again and in approx 10 mins, the big unveiling will take place.  Watch this space.

Well, that's it for now.  TTFN

Hipp

PS - struggled to categorise again Jon!!!

The only comments I get on my blog are from "The Blog Master" asking why I've not posted.

The simple reason is that I just haven't had time.  I've been a really busy boy of late.

A quick precis of the last 4 weeks....here goes:

Knee - improving.  Physio has said to me, only today, that I may be up for a game of badders in 4 weeks time - "WAHOO".  The list of exercises I get from her grows, week on week.  But the improvement is starting to become evident....I even broke into a small jog with Jamie the other day (but don't tell anyone! - It's our secret...shhhhh)

Work - very busy.  But, happy and busy.  Finally feel as though I'm doing a job that I enjoy.  I have so much to do and can never fit it all into a day which means that I am never bored.  Frequently frustrated by not being able to resolve problems and issues, but really find a sense of achievement when I do resolve them.  I went to the head office at Cisco last week for a meeting and was given a demonstration of a product called TelePresence.  It's a video conferencing system with added "WOW".  Check the video link on the linked page...pretty cool technology.  http://cisco.com/en/US/solutions/ns669/networking_solutions_products_genericcontent0900aecd80546cd0.html

Music - worship at church moving on nicely.  As a band, we're 'understanding' each other better.  This makes the music more free and spirit led which is cool.  The "band" has also started rehearsals and is making some reasonable sounds.  More on this another time.

That's about it.  Check th chalkbored (www.realyouth.net/chalkbored) for more on what Sarah and the squids have been up to recently.

TTFN

Hipp

Another GREAT weekend.

Firstly - if you're reading this, cheers Vicky for helping out this weekend- you're a star!

Ali Orchard (name in despatches - whoo whoo!) organised a weekend reunion for all who attended Motivation and Sail & Surf camps earlier this year.  The camps are all part of the West Runton Holidays organisation (feel free to click the links for more info).

Anyway - enough of the advertising - the reunion kicked-off on Friday night at 8pm.  It was at a venue called "Dukes Barn" in Beeley, Derbyshire.  Had the reunion been about 4 to 6 weeks ago, this would not have been a problem.  However, finding this place in the dark - well that's a completely different matter.  It's amazing that the smaller the village, the more possibilities there are for getting wholly lost!

Once we finally got there, the weekend was a great chance to reflect on the camps, catch up and spend quality time worshipping.  For a venue, it was great.  There was a lovely walk through the grounds of Chatsworth on Saturday morning - on the doorstep!  There was an abundance of fantastic food (cheers Ali!!!) so I can only assume that the catering facilities were very good? (I don't do cooking, so I can only base my opinions on culinary quality!)  We had the use of a games room and a good sized meeting room.  Then there were the bedrooms; family Old had the use of an 11 bed dormitory (13 if you were to include the annexe) and an en-suite shower room with 4 showers!

We popped to a local church in Baslow.  It was great - I reckon we doubled the congregation.  It was a really welcoming place.  Jamie and Caitlin felt 'big enough' to join the kids group - this being a Very Big Deal for them.  They duly marched back into church with their group and straight to the front to show what they'd been doing.  They had carved out a pumpkin - not for halloween, but as a Christian symbol.  The pumpkin represented the world.  The scooped out inside represented worldly sin and the candle in the middle was the light of the world.  There was still a face carved into the side, but a smiling face and some crosses too.  Cool idea.  The worship was a real mix too.  We had a burst of Great Big God and a selection of 70's songs from Mission Praise - I realised that this was an era of progressive worship that I'd really missed?

Well.  The weekend's over.  Half term is over.  Back to work & school and life continues.  I like the fact that we can intersperse our normal daily life with these glimpses of wonder and fun.

Makes me feel all dreamy.....

Hipp

England didn't manage it.  Lewis didn't manage it.  Hey ho, it is only sport.

For some reason, Sarah thinks I should be gutted about the end result of both.  Not so.  Why?  Because in the Rugby, the England team gave away too many simple penalties and they just weren't up to the task.  Overall, South Africa played better over the whole tournament, so no-one should be too bothered really.  It was not the most scintillating match, but the end of a good and surprising championship.

As for the F1 decider - well done Kimi.  A great race and as I always say, the championship is there to be lost more than it is to be won.  Lewis is a great ambassador for motor racing and sportsmanship.  Lets just be glad that the politics of this season are over.....(or are they - www.formula1.com)

Had a good day today though.  My maw and paw came round to watch the race and do dinner too.  Great to catch up and watch sport (again!).  Day started quie well too with a good service - good preaching and very enjoyable worship.  The band really felt together and it felt really free.  I enjoy worship like that as I don't need to concentrate too much and can worship on my own.  Also re-discovered the joy of not-playing-playing!  That is, with guitar in hand, taking a break and not playing - the silence is so effective and ....  I just love it!!!

Anyways, we move on into the throes of a new week.  What's in store?  (Besides groceries and stuff?)  We'll see now, won't we?

Hipp

...and it WILL be my last.

Don't worry, I'm not gonna burst into song (even though it's a really good one - Youtube clip of John Miles - Music (oh the memories!))

I've just got back from worship band practice.  I'm on a real high. It was great fun tonight (not that it isn't normally), but it just felt really good tonight.  Hard to explain, but we were all feeding off each other's ideas and making quite a good sound with it too.  At least I think so - we'll see what happens on Sunday!  God was definitely inspiring tonight! 

Anyways, bed beckons me so TTFN

Hipp

Just got back from the hospital after (another) consultation about my knee. I've been referred BACK in 2 months to see if it improves any more! Apparently, the MRI scan didn't CONCLUSIVELY show a tear although my description of the feeling (discomfort, lack of real stability, etc) indicates that there is. Anyways, back I go in 2 months. If I'm still not happy when I go back, I can choose to either have a steroid injection to ease the pain (no pain mentioned, remember - just discomfort and lack of stability) or keyhole surgery to investigate further. I tell you, if I ever find the kids who wrapped that swing......

Ho hum.

Family holidays are officially over today. We returned from Sail & Surf (Windermere) via Shrewsbury to drop off a boat and then via Stoke to visit some friends. The next day, I took Jamie to Norfolk to stay with his grandparents for a couple of nights. 2 days later, swapped the kids in Wisbech (one for each other, with grandparents - not for other random kids!!!). Tonight, I swap Da (Sarah's grandfather) for Caitlin - again at Wisbech. Miles on the car, or what?

Sail & Surf was awesome. We had a great bunch of kids to look after and the weather was fab. Sun and wind - perfect combination for any watersports activity. I spent most of the week pottering around the water in a rescue boat. Caitlin tried her hand at windsurfing (photos to be uploaded to Flickr soon) and Jamie generally splashed around. Sarah was basically shore based, chatting with the kids that came in off the water for drinks and stuff. Really good spiritually too; had to co-lead a dorm group (group of lads - late night discussion group) and found it both challenging and rewarding doing God stuff with da boyz.

When I took Jamie to Norfolk, I popped to the D2DT field to see what was happening there. Great to see old faces (Ant, Yvonne, Tim, Sally, Mr Stanford, Maurice, Jean and others, too numerous to mention). Felt wierd being back there with no campers having missed it all, but there's life for you. Progress, huh?

Anyways, that's about all for now troops. Do get / keep in touch.

Hipp

derek@realyouth.net (oh the irony of the email address - old@youth - hee hee hee)