Comment for the week
September 6 -12
I am just finishing a weeks leave although I have just run a session of our Alpha Course, which is going very well by the way. As one of our older ladies said when we were cleaning up our guests are being blown along by the wind of the Spirit even though they are not sure what is happening to them - and something is happening - you can see it week by week.
I speant last week as coach of the Bream Bay College Hockey 1st X! taking the team to the Woolaston Cup Tournament. This is one of the tournaments held throughout the country for secondary school teams. Our tournament had 16 teams in it from the top of the North Island. We finished 13th out of the 16. A little dissappointing from first expectations of being ranked 4th at the beginning, but in context a fair result for us. We played 6 games winning three and losing three. We scored 10 goals and conceded 8. The last two games the team played at their best, but we needed to win the first two to do better than we did. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We awoke on Saturday morning to a text message on my cell phone at 6.50am. I thought it was from Josh who had left at 5.30am to go milking and was texting to say he had run out of petrol or broken down. But it was Ben and Caroline in Christchurch telling
complicated things, some of which have a big impact on peoples lives?
It is amazing still how I can lie in bed at night with things churning over as they do and as each is given to the Lord in prayer each is left in a place of peace. I have to admit though that with one of the things I have to deal with this week I have to fight to find the peace - but that is the battle of persistant prayer. Then with the peace comes next steps, answrs and solutions - and eventually light at the end of the tunnel.
But I also know that there are often many twists and turns with surprises at times that are unexpected - so it is back to the prayer and peace and the next step unfolds.
I am looking forward to this week. It is not going to be dull. For those who read this from Canterbury, you are being prayed for and may God bless you out of your difficult time.
Peter.
us they were OK after the earthquake, a few things broken and the cat had gone awol. So on with the radio to catch up on the news. As the day unfolded I think everyone in NZ gave thanks, even the PM said we were "blessed", for having no deaths.
Alice in Dunedin, my Mum in Gore and Helen's Mum in Invercargill were also shaken awake showing how powerful the quake was. Like most a Canterbury quake was almost a surprise as we always think Wellington is the target. Alice's flat mate was a bridesmaid in Christchurch on Saturday. The church was badly damaged, the reception venues staircase collapsed, the grooms party was evacuated from a central city hotel and couldn't return to get their suits - all in all a day to remember. Happy to report that another church opened its doors, the reception was held in the church cafeteria and the groom looked OK.
A friend of one of my uncles had a near new house near Darfield that was destroyed with the fault line passing right through it. They are saying that the land moved up to 3.5 metres along the fault. In some areas one side overroad the other with up lift of 1.5 metres. Flat paddocks now of waves. Amazing. Thank God there were no deaths.
This week I have got some big projects to work on from church related to Board of Trustees and also community things. How does a country pastor end up doing so many
