Every fat person can curl...that's not how that was supposed to come out...crap

Mom left this morning. It was great having her here. We went to Giants Causeway on Saturday. The bus ride up was nice and sunny and gave us some good chatting time but when we got to the Causeway it was rainy and cold. Still a good experience, but I spent most of the ride home complaining about how cold and wet I was. Sunday was spent as all my Sundays are, at church doing various things. Monday (my birthday) at staff meeting Bronny brought me a cake and Paul Reid led the staff in a rendition of happy birthday. Then Mom and I spent most of the afternoon making dinner for the Source students. We were waiting for the water to boil and kicking a soccer ball around in the sports hall. I didnt know that Robin Mark was recording in the studio next door and I was giggling loudly. He opened the door just as I was beside it retrieving the ball and laughing and he gave me the look of death. I felt so bad. So we stopped playing. It was pretty funny. Then Tuesday I spent in class and Mom met up with us afterwards and about 10 of us went to the hotel for a drink then back to my house to watch some friends. Then at 6:45 this morning we went to the airport and said goodbye. It was a short trip but a good one.

I've learnt so much in the last little while, it's been hard to process it all, but I wanted to share what Adrian spoke about in class the other day. As always I wont capture this perfectly so bare with me.

FASTING
I've never really understood fasting. I knew it was Biblical - something Jesus practiced himself and something that he expected his disciples to practice as well (Matt. 6:16 'when you fast and pray...'). But I didn't get why it was so important. I've heard it said that God answers your prayers faster when you fast because it shows him you are serious about your faith because you are making a sacrifice, or that by denying the body you are bring it into submission to your spirit. These things are both good and probably true, but I still didn't really see the application to my own life.
When I first decided to try to become a goalie in soccer I wasn't very good. I had some natural ability but I had to put a lot of practice into it. I remember me and my Dad going out into the field at Sam Livingston School and he would shoot at me over and over again. First he would shoot it right at me so I would get used to handling the ball. Then he would shoot it a bit wider so I would have to move back and forth. Once we got that down I started to make diving saves. Then one day in our backyard we practiced slide tackling for hours until I was comfortable at that. We would do the same thing over and over again. When game time came I didn't know exactly what the strikers were going to do but because Dad and I took so much time practicing I could react no matter what they did. I could dive, jump, punch out the ball, slide tackle.
The same principle can be applied to the spiritual disciplines, including fasting. In Mark 9 the disciples are arguing because none of them were able to cast out a demon from a young boy. Jesus came and drove it out of the boy. Later the disciples asked him why they were unable to do the same. Jesus replied in verse 29 'This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.' What is interesting here is that Jesus didn't stop to pray and fast before he cast out the demon. He didn't have to. Jesus led a life of prayer and fasting so he was prepared when things got tough. He had practiced his slide tackle.
Fasting, prayer, study, meditation. These aren't things that you do for the first time when you desperately need them. We need to live a life of the spiritual disciplines so that when we are required to walk out the hard parts of life, when more is asked of us then we know how to give, we're already prepared.
And don't get me wrong. If you're facing something really hard in life then you may need to fast a pray more than normal. When the championship game is coming up you don't stop practicing - you run the extra laps, and train that much harder.
When we decide to follow Christ we lay our life at his feet. He doesn't just require you in the moments you can't do it yourself, or in the moments you feel his presence like a cloud around you, he requires you at all times. The mundane, the boring, the ordinary. I don't know if I'm getting across what I want to here. There is something inside me that I really want to share, but my words are so inadequate. Jesus gives life - abundantly. Isn't that what we're all searching for?

I hope at least part of that made sense. There's more that could be (and probably should be) said about this subject but those are the only words I can get out at the moment. So if that wasn't helpful then I'm sorry, please feel free to ignore it. C.S. Lewis said that all our prayers are in some form heresy because none of us have our theology exactly right. So take from that what is right and throw the rest away.

I've read some amazing books recently that have made me think a lot about...Well everything really. I highly suggest you grab a copy of Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. The same guy who does the Nooma videos, which are also excellent. And Adventures in Missing the Point by Brian McLaren and Tony Compolo. Give 'em a read and tell me what you think.

Lots of love