Summer Holidays

Thought I'd start the come back with a short update on our family summer holiday. We had a really good time helped by some very good weather. Quite a contrast to last year's camping experience on the top of Bodmin Moor where our concerns swung between drowning and blowing away.

This year we took our tent and our bikes and a few other camping essentials (like kitchen cupboards and a carpet) to Bedgebury Camping, just south of Goudhurst in Kent. Most of the year this campsite is simply farm fields but for a couple of weeks and a few weekends in the summer it becomes a very relaxed camp site. The facilities are on the basic side but are perfectly adequate. There is plenty of space and the girls loved just being able to hop on their bikes and ride up and down. Even visiting the nearest eco-toilet required the use of their bikes! They loved the sort of freedom that they can't get at home.

Our enjoyment of the week was helped by the almost total lack of rain - making this probably our best camping holiday ever. Over the week we visited Bedgebury Forest and Pinetum a couple of times. 

Walking in Bedgebury Forest

The second time we hired a buggy to fit on the back of the bike so that we could all take advantage of the many different cycle trails through the forest. We also got attacked by a legion of wood ants as we tried to find a geocache - the ants won. There is lots to do in the forest - well worth a visit. The girls are still too young to be able to do 'Go Ape' and by the time they're old enough we'll be too old to join them.

Out for a family bike ride

We also went to Hever Castle and Bewl Water, which were both good days out with lots to do. The rest of the time was spent relaxing on the camp site - several evenings spent around the camp fire toasting marshmallows. 

Bedgebury Forest was only 1.8 miles away (by foot) so I was able to get quite a few runs in around the forest - only getting lost a couple of times.

Reading the Faraway Tree while we wait for the fire to die down so we can toast marshmallows

Is this a campsite we'd think about returning to? Definitely.

Then it was on to Devon for the second week of our holiday, spent with my parents. The girls love a week at Nanny and Granddad's and this time all my sisters were there for some or all of the time - which meant that the girls got to spend some time with their aunties and uncle and cousins from my side of the family.

Let's go fly a kite...

Considering we were on holiday it seems like a very busy time - early morning running was required as we were out most days. We visited the beach, Bicton Gardens, Escot, the miniature pony centre, cycled along the sea front, went swimming, went for a couple of walks and visited the cinema to see Despicable Me 2. I'd recommend all those as great things to do/great days out.

The only complaint I have about this year's holiday: two weeks is just not long enough!

I'm still here

It's only a couple of days until it will have been a whole month without a blog post...so thought I'd better get something together. 

That was it! Worth waiting for I hope.

More (proper) posts in the next few days - Holiday Bible Club, the rest of Daniel 1-6, summer holiday camping fun...

In the meantime I'll leave you with this...

Pride comes before a fall

Only 2% of the population are able to spot the mistake in less than 2 minutes. How did you do?

If you found the mistake in less than 2 minutes - well done.

How are you feeling?

I have no idea how many people can find the mistake in under 2 minutes - I made that up. But we all like the idea that we are better than other people. It makes us feel good about ourselves.

Lots of people struggle with pride. But lots of people struggle with false humility.

Daniel 4 is a warning against pride - Nebuchadnezzar is proud of his achievements - but oversteps the mark in verse 30.

Some of us though have low self esteem - we've grown up being told we're rubbish - and now we believe it. We can't do anything. Everyone is better than us. We're worthless.

When the Bible warns us against pride it is warning against an attitude that refuses to depend on God, is unwilling to be subject to God, and takes the credit for things that are down to God.

So what's the answer to pride and false humility?

We need to get our thinking right - about God, about ourselves and about others.

God is behind history, everything comes from God - that is something that Nebuchadnezzar is struggling to grasp. Nothing is impossible for God. 

But then who are we?

We are created in the image of God and we are loved by God. But we are also sinners - for whom Jesus died on the cross. We can become children of God. We are not worthless - we are worth everything.

The answer for pride is not putting ourselves down all the time. It is about pulling ourselves up to our full height - alongside God - and realising just how small our biggest efforts are. It's about recognising that in our strength we can do nothing but with God we can do anything.

Stand up and be counted

Some people don't mind standing out from the crowd - but for most people I guess that the preferred option is to blend in. A couple of days ago I was doing a workshop with a Year 6 class helping them to prepare for their transition from primary school to secondary school. One of the worries that they had was 'being different'.



Being a follower of Jesus will require us to stand out from the crowd at times. 

In our series in Daniel we've reached chapter 3. This is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the Fiery Furnace. King Nebuchadnezzar has built a statue and expects everyone to bow down and worship it. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego will only worship their God - whatever the cost.

Many of us might be tempted to fold at the first hurdle - there we are on the plain and the music plays and suddenly everyone else bows down to the ground, and there we are standing up and standing out. 

But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, along with Daniel, had long ago learnt to say 'no' to things that meant worshipping or serving anything or anyone other than their God. Whenever we start a new school, a new class, a new college, a new job etc we need to make sure that we start the way we mean to continue. Standing out as being different is never going to be easy, but it is easier when we have got into the habit of taking a stand.