A Graceful New Year

Looking forward to 2012 it is both a time of anticipation and especially this year some anxiety. No one truly knows what 2012 will hold.

A great speaker, Graham Cooke, once said there are no good days or bad days just days of grace. This is how I will try and approach 2012. I know I will make mistakes, get things wrong but I want to approach this New Year not by trying to avoid things but by trying to do things.

Jack Welch (former Chairman of GEC) was once asked one piece of advice he could give to aspiring executives. His answer was simply to allow people to make mistakes. If we live our lives constrained by fear, whatever fear that is, we will never do anything. It is not that we live a life without consequence but that we live a learning life, a developing life.

Grace exists because we cannot be perfect. Our aspiration should never be for perfection but to be and do our best. Grace then exists to make up the inevitable shortfall.

How do we get this grace? Through Jesus. He declared in the bible that he was the way, truth and life (John 14:6).

Let this coming year be a year of grace, a grace that you can find for yourself and hopefully once that you then pass to others.

A Happy, blessed and a graceful New Year to all.

Andy

Looking Back

I have always tried to look forward but every now and then find myself looking back over the years, especially around this time of year.

I often recall the Christmas's gone by when I was a child. They seem almost magical, golden memories. Some of those memories involve people who are no longer sadly with us, grandparents, relatives and friends. Invariably these memories come with a sense of sadness.

My struggle has always been to enjoy the moment. When I am in 'a moment' I have often found myself thinking 'I can’t wait to tell people about this', how good it was, often at the expense of 'the moment' itself.

Today many people want to capture 'the moment', preserving it forever in digital memory but maybe at the expense experiencing the said moment, not just in full HD or 3D but fully immersive 'D'!!

If I had to chose give me my memories any day over a picture or video. I know my version will be edited, incorrect even, but it is mine forever, absolutely personal! It will not decay or fade in quality, it may evolve but it will always be there.

What is my point, not sure really other than to say we need to live and indeed love our lives. We will never get this time again, even if we believe in an eternal life. This time will not come around again.

Don’t miss out on the many moments that life still has for each one of us. Grab them, receive them, enjoy them and immerse yourself in them.

Don’t be a bystander in this gift of life we have been given, get involved, however you can.

Andy

Happy Christmas

Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year. I love the chance to spend time with family and friends, the great food, the games and some great films; "It's a Wonderful Life" has to be my favourite.

Frank Capra who directed that film knew a thing or two about film making. As my mom always says 'they don't make them like that any more.' The essential premise of the film is that no one's life is worthless or does not count for something. The main character gets to see what 'his life' would be like without him!

Unfortunately that gift is not available to us; but all of our lives count and matter. You are unique. Only you can do what you do! We did not just happen, we were created, we were destined, in effect we were chosen by God himself. Ephesians 1: 4 says Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us.

The love that God has for us is ultimately demonstrated in the gift of Jesus. Christmas is a time where we can celebrate that gift.

Finally as we think about Christmas think about the gift that God has given each one of us.....even better than the gift of seeing your life without you in it!!

Have a blessed and Happy Christmas!

Andy

Gary Speed

Thought I would leave it a few days before I would make a comment about this terrible tragedy.

As some of you may know in 2007 we lost a very close relative to suicide....life just became too painful.

Many people have commented that they just can’t get their head around what has happened with Gary Speed. The reality is that we never can. We will try and see the situation through the eyes of logic and quite simply when someone decides to end their own life, logic, as we see it, is never part of the equation.

Again many have said they simply didn't see it coming, they thought everything was fine, or at best ok. I can remember the conversation I had with our relative hours before he made his last decision. I have gone over the conversation many times in my head, what clue did I miss, was there something I could have said. Questions that I am sure I will always ask myself, just as I am sure, the many people that knew and spoke to Gary Speed in his final days have asked themselves.

The reality is that when someone truly decides to end their life there will never be the clues we so longingly wished we could have had. People have said how relaxed and joking Gary Speed was only the day before, even talking about the future. How can this be?

I believe in his heart the decision was made, and a sense of peace almost would have descended on him. He could happily talk about the future because he had (in his mind) reconciled it, dealt with it even.

Saturday I saw a picture of his two sons and his wife....I thought how dignified and brave they were. I will be praying for them. I can only hope that in those final moments of his life Gary Speed found the peace he was so desperately looking for.

Finally I am not sure what lessons can be learnt from these tragic events other than we need each other, we sometimes need to go past the platitudes and dig a little deeper, relationships are key to everything.

Finally, finally thanks to those people, who are part of my life who dig....you may not always get the right response from me but you are right to ask....so thanks to Neil, Jen and especially Ness.

Strive to keep the 'diggers' in your life, we all need them.

Take care.

Andy