Wednesday, February 04, 2009
back. i hope
I’m back. The last 3 weeks I’ve been on holiday, and this week I drag my feet back through the doors marked “work.” It has been a great holiday: a week in Marlborough sounds, kayaking, eating well, visiting wineries and the fabulous Kaikoura Coast on the way there and back.
Followed by 4 days in the New Zealand high country; driving the historic Molesworth Station and taking the girls tramping, their first ever mountain hut experience.
Back to Christchurch to enjoy great live Kiwi music at Sounday, then to our family bach. It was a great holiday – active and heaps of memories together.
Last year was a very unsettled year – sabbatical which was fun and productive – wrote near 70,000 words, spoke in a range of places, completed 1 book chapter, 2 successful conference application – but took a lot of time to get into and out of. Then there was the redundancy/reapplication process at Laidlaw, coupled with three staff moving on from Opawa. All in all, a year I am glad to close the door on.
I come back with dreams of a more sustainable lifestyle etc. Then I look at my calendar and I realise that I’m fooling myself. As long as I continue to be tri-vocational – juggling pastoring and lecturing and speaking, as long as I continue to refuse to accept that church is for maintaining the status quo Sunday by Sunday, as long as I continue to dream and think, then my life will be busy.
And I think I’m OK with that.
Hey Steve, what’s Laidlaw? Peace friend. Dan
Comment by Dan Lowe — February 4, 2009 @ 4:38 pm
my seminary where i work (2 days/week) – go here for one perspective http://laidlaw.ac.nz/ and a visual view here – http://www.emergentkiwi.org.nz/archive/where-i-work/
steve
Comment by steve — February 4, 2009 @ 6:24 pm
Steve, wouldn’t it be awful to be working for churches and be bored?
MovieChurch starts here later this month!
Grace and peace for all the year ahead holds
Jonathan
Comment by Jonathan — February 5, 2009 @ 1:07 am