Amazed & Confused

Hong Kong here I come!

I've been hoping for a reason to visit Hong Kong for many years and today that reason has arrived. I'm typing this from Heathrow Terminal 3 waiting to make my way into the air to touch down in a new city and country. This is my second week of travel; I had a one day turn around from my trip to Germany - our washing machine was working hard yesterday! I can't wait to make new friends and take in the sights, sounds, smells and flavours of HK. I've been told it's the food Capitol of Asia!? I'll be taking photos and will post a few along with my thoughts when I return. In the mean time, where ever you are in the world, have a lovely week...

 

 

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Five days in Frankfurt

How do I describe the last five days spent with hundreds of friends in Frankfurt, Germany?  It seems too much to condense into one post, but I'm going to give it a go.  'Aufstehen', the eurogathering of the 24-7 Prayer tribes, was a flurry of salty food, warm weather, many hugs, lots of singing, praying, smiling, laughing, re-familiarising myself with the German language, outrageous generosity and more.

I love Frankfurt.  On this my third trip, I took time to explore the old city, take in the padlock adorned footbridge and sample some local ice cream - yum!  It was great sharing both the city and the gathering with Steve.  He makes me see things in a different way and helps me make sense of cluttered thoughts.  (It was also lovely to be together when most people discovered our news, but I'll leave that for another post!)

The gathering itself was pretty fantastic!  There were over 200 people connected to the 24-7 Prayer, Mission and Justice movement across the continent of Europe, each loving God and changing lives in their own way.  There was a lot of hope and much laughter in the room as we worshipped, prayed, listened to teaching, sought God and shared together.  There were so many old friends to catch up with and lovely new ones to make.  Each meal table was full of conversation. 

The message that will stay with me the most: remember the story behind the stories...

It's a call to encounter Jesus and then go and share that encounter with others.  (The vision always has been and always will be Him!)

The moment that will stay with me the most: the auction...  

Each year people bring something they've made to donate to a special auction to raise money for projects around Europe.  The greatest contestant is the legendary Peggy from the Boiler Room community in Stanford.  Each year she dazzles with some truly amazing knitting and this year (though sadly she wasn't with us in person) her knitting shone again.  As the bidding for her 24-7 Prayer laptop sleeve tipped over the €1000 mark I was flabbergasted when the winning consortium walked up and gave me their hard won prize.  I had been not-so-secretly coveting it and was speechless at their gift.  My Macbook has never been encased so beautifully.  I am still overwhelmed by everyone's generosity - especially as Steve pointed out that the laptop sleeve was purchased for more than our car cost us!  

Mind boggling, beautiful, inspiriing... I guess that's just another 24-7 Prayer gatheirng.

Farewell London, Guten Tag Frankfurt!

I type this sitting in Heathrow terminal 5 dipping tea and thanking God for the peace and dignity of flying British Airways. Today Steve and I fly to Frankfurt, Germany to meet up with some of my favourite people in Europe. I can't wait to see everyone... Well almost as much as I can't wait to see a bed. 3-4 hours sleep is never enough :) The 24-7 Prayer Eurogsthering here we come!

A night at BAFTA and an unexpected award

Thursday night Steve and I put our glad rags on and made our way to BAFTA's headquarters in London.  In these rather plush and prestigious surroundings we were gathering with some of the 24-7 Prayer team and other hopeful nominees for the Jerusalem Trust Awards.

Each year the Jerusalem Trust sifts through thousands of entries to find the best audio and video content in the Christian arena that year.  Around the room were independant film makers, organisations like ours, independant radio broadcasters and lots of lovely people from the BBC.  24-7 was nominated in three categories and to our total astonishment we actually won one!

24-7 Prayer was awarded the 2012 prize for Social Networking.  Well we are rather friendly :)  The award was specifically given for our work around our lent season of the 24-7 Spaces podcast and the interaction and feedback it provoked on our website, as well as on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.  It was very humbling to win, especially in the presence of so many amazing groups.  We celebrated with a glass of wine / cranberry juice and some rather impressive canapes (a wafer cone of cornation chicken anyone?)  It made for a brilliant night out and I wanted to say thanks to the two teams that considered and chose little old us for the award.  Lady Sainsbury was a particular highlight as she shared her passion for sharing Jesus and encouraged everyone in the room.  She was very lovely when I bumped into her on the way to the loo too!

Is 'evangelism' a dirty word?

***This photo has nothing to do with this post but when I was scanning my images I burst out laughing when I saw this amazing memory.  Mud sliding with friends - there are few things more exillerating! Now, on with the post!***  

Is 'evangelism' a dirty word?  

This was the question that kick started my talk preparation last week.  I think Christian evangelism is highly unpopular in today's culture, and though we are free in this nation to do so, it can seem like a kind of a cringeworthy duty at times. (Maybe it's just me!)  

I find it a great personal challenge therefor that sharing our faith in Jesus is one of the last things said man told us to do before returning to His Father in heaven...

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefor go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28:18-20

So how to we go?  How do we grow in confidence in what we have to share?  What's the heart behind the great commission?  These were the questions that inspired me as I pieced together my talk for my Revelation Church community last Sunday.  It was an interesting journey.  I realised that something I thought I wasn't very big on, is actually closely tied to one of my core passions in life...

A recording of my talk has just gone live on this new Revelation Church podcast stream.  If you have any thoughts on the topic have a listen and let me know what you think in the comments.

Why are we so fascinated by Vampires?

The trailer for Peter Chan-wook's vampire thriller 'Stoker' is online and I have to say it looks chilling.  It seems a decidedly different take on a genre that has come to be dominated by sparkly vamp vegetarians.  I loved the casting, haunting soundtrack, and ambiguity of the characters and I will definitely be checking it out when it's released in March next year.

Watching this prompted me to consider how many vampire stories I enjoy in book or film format.  It's a mythology that's enjoyed many come-backs with reincarnations of these night feeders growing more diverse and the subtext expanding from repressed sexuality to include religion, self control, the animal within and more.

Why all this success?  What truly lies at the heart of our fascination?  

Is it immortality? Our fear of death?  The resonances with sexual repression? Or something else?  Do we just like brooding anti-heroes with more than a little danger to offer?  What do you think?

Have I been sold a lie? Conquering the slow cooker

I am well and truly in my early 30s.  How do I know?  Well I'm getting really excited about my Slow Cooker.  Oh how the party animal has fallen.

When did I go from being out 'til 4am dancing and doing my best impersonation of a social butterfly, to being in bed by midnight and wishing my favourite DJs would play earlier evening slots?!  I feel like it's snuck up on me.  I still have fun but I've lost the ability to brush off a string of late nights and have gained a genuine interest in things like renovating the house, nights in with friends and the aforementioned Slow Cooker.

I ponder this today as I try to conquer said cooker.  It's been sitting on our work top for a few years now, and aside from a few successful attempts by Steve, it's remained an aspiration, a good intention, gathering dust.  Today I decided to turn that around.

My barrier to using it is the amount of prep the cook book I have instructs you to do.  I thought the beauty of a slow cooker was you chuck everything in at the beginning of the day and hey presto! That night you have a delicious meal.  Have I been sold a lie?

So, today I am asking a solidly early 30s question.  Anyone got any good, low maintenance/prep slow cooker recipes our household can try?  Today I made up my own and we have a pot of meatballs simmering away but I am open to being taught by the blogosphere.  Links, recipes and cook book suggestions would be much appreciated in the comments.

Best opening line ever

I've been thinking about openers today...

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

This has got to be one of the best first lines ever.  The opening words of Jane Austin's beloved novel 'Pride & Prejudice are imbued with all the intent and humour the story holds.  It makes me want to re-read it rolling those words around in my mind.

A good beginning must be compelling; like this one from Stephen King's 'The Gunslinger',

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed..."

(I think that would be Steve's favourite...) and this gem from Ann Patchett's 'Bell Canto',

"When the lights went off the accompanist kissed her."

The pictures these words paint draw me in immediately.  I must know whom is being kissed / pursued / married off and I will trust the weaver of this tale, the crafter of these sentences, to take me on that journey of discovery.

What's your favourite opening line?  Are there any that have stayed with you?  I know there are the famous ones (It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, etc.) but what words have moved you, stayed with you, evoke a memory of feeling you long to regain?  Love your thoughts in the comments - hoping for some new recommendations for my book list :)

 

Finding my motivation

I am unwell.  I feel rotten.  The issue is I have lots of work to do and two talks to prepare for on Sunday and Monday.  Trying to psych myself out of illness.  Mind and spirit over matter.  Come on - eye of the tiger!  You can do it girl.  Make that brain focus.

Anyone got any top tips for how to get yourself going when you feeling like crawling into bed?

Are some people predisposed to be good at prayer? What if you're not one of them?

I just read a fascinating email exchange between a good friend and a fellow smart person.  The topic of conversation was "Are some people predisposed to being good at prayer?"  An interesting question.  As I considered the thought that some people are just good about being regular and disciplined - and one's suggestions on how materialism, technology, self control and more affect our psyche, I was brought back to a brilliant book I read over the summer that gave me real hope for prayer amateurs.

Prayer and Temperament by Chester P. Michael and Marie C. Norrisey won't be everyone's cup of tea.  Based on the four core Myers Briggs personalities it explores how our strengths, weaknesses and methods of perception and process affect not only how we interact with God but which Gospel writer's account of Jesus' life we're most likely to connect with.

I am a firm believer that prayer is for amateurs, that God excludes no-one from conversation, relationship and the chance to be changed and change the world around us.  If people find prayer hard - they simply haven't found their language yet.  This book took by intuition (oh yes - I'm an 'N') and gave me some solid reasoning as to why some personalities find prayer easy and others struggle.

Most fascinating was the exploration about how different streams of the church teach prayer in ways tailored to only one personality type.  (It goes into detail on this looking at different monastic traditions.) If you find prayer hard maybe the way you've been taught isn't for you?  

What do you think?  Read, experienced or discussed anything around this topic?  As our conversations amidst friends evolve I may blog again about where we're heading with it.  Until then - conversation in the comments.

Prophetic scam of the day: brownies

This is the iMessage I received today from my cheeky husband.  Utilising the Lord's voice for baked goods - how outrageous.  Sadly it appears I'm a sucker because I fell for it :)  Well he is working very hard at the moment... and food is practically a love language in the Trundle family! 

Brownies are waiting for you at home my love xx

Are there gender trends in blogging?

***Beware the imminent use of gross generalisations***  

I've been musing.  As I ponder what this re-incarnation of my blog will be, and read through the interesting comments from two fellow female bloggers in yesterday's post, I'm starting to wonder whether there are some distinctions - or maybe a better description would be biases or strengths - between the genders in the blogosphere.

Glancing down the 42 bookmarked blogs in my cyber neighbourhood they are divided exactly equally between male and female authors.  From this admittedly small sample group my long time readership tells me that the women often post personal thoughts on a variety of topics and their blogs feel like a glimpse into their life, while the guys also share life but more often dive into debate, opinion and theology as well as using the blogosphere as a place to share their poetry or music.  There are exceptions!  Both Brian Heasley and Phil Togwell blog brilliantly about life in general and Alana Wiens and Jude Smith are two very smart ladies with opinions to share. 

I myself have always avoided entering debate online.  My blog on the whole Rob Bell 'Love Wins' debate explains why more fully why I am reluctant to blab.  I've always found debate to be the kind of conversation I like to have in person.  As a result my blog has been about the things I'm reading, the thoughts I'm sharing, the experiences I'm living through and everything else in between.  I am no poet, I love studying God but I am no theologian, which makes me all the more grateful for the bloggers I read who can offer me what I lack; be they male or female...

Hmmm maybe my question / premise is premature.  What do you think?  Of the blogs you read - are there patterns or similarities in content between the genders or does character type play a bigger role? Love your thoughts in the comments.

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01 October 2012

What's the point of blogging? Or... I can't seem to keep my mouth shut

This is not a post about a verbal blunder (thank God).  Nor is it a rant or complaint.  This is a resurrection.  A re-introduction.  Another hello to this big old cyber-world and my now eight-year old blog.

It's been six months since I left this home and embarked on a pretty fruitless search through the internet for the platform of my dreams.  It continues to elude me but the urge to write grows; so I return.  It may be imperfect - but this blog is mine.

The question that nags me though is what shall it be?  

Blogging has changed.  My writing has changed.  I don't want to fight or debate (very often).  I don't have any ninja skills to offer the world.  And I'm no longer the twenty something who began this written journey.  This post, this month, this moment seems like a chance to re-invent.

What should my blog be?

If you've got any thoughts or ideas about what blogging is to you or how you think I should approach it then post in the comments below...

Posted at 06:49 PM in Thoughts... | Permalink | Comments (4)

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This is not a post about a verbal blunder (thank God).  Nor is it a rant or complaint.  This is a resurrection.  A re-introduction.  Another hello to this big old cyber-world and my now eight-year old blog.

It's been six months since I left this home and embarked on a pretty fruitless search through the internet for the platform of my dreams.  It continues to elude me but the urge to write grows; so I return.  It may be imperfect - but this blog is mine.

The question that nags me though is what shall it be?  

Blogging has changed.  My writing has changed.  I don't want to fight or debate (very often).  I don't have any ninja skills to offer the world.  And I'm no longer the twenty something who began this written journey.  This post, this month, this moment seems like a chance to re-invent.

What should my blog be?

If you've got any thoughts or ideas about what blogging is to you or how you think I should approach it then post in the comments below...

Posted at 06:49 PM in Thoughts... | Permalink | Comments (4)

| Reblog (0)

What's the point of blogging? Or... I can't seem to keep my mouth shut

This is not a post about a verbal blunder (thank God).  Nor is it a rant or complaint.  This is a resurrection.  A re-introduction.  Another hello to this big old cyber-world and my now eight-year old blog.

It's been six months since I left this home and embarked on a pretty fruitless search through the internet for the platform of my dreams.  It continues to elude me but the urge to write grows; so I return.  It may be imperfect - but this blog is mine.

The question that nags me though is what shall it be?  

Blogging has changed.  My writing has changed.  I don't want to fight or debate (very often).  I don't have any ninja skills to offer the world.  And I'm no longer the twenty something who began this written journey.  This post, this month, this moment seems like a chance to re-invent.

What should my blog be?

If you've got any thoughts or ideas about what blogging is to you or how you think I should approach it then post in the comments below...

Posted at 06:49 PM in Thoughts... | Permalink | Comments (4)

| Reblog (0)