Up as dawn broke, and the sun came up. That was my start to Tuesday morning, and accompanied with a cup of tea and my journal I took the train down the road to Southampton for the drive to Bristol with some friends.
This week was my second to last FP Training block, which is effectively three days of Theology teaching with around 30 other people doing what I do. It's pretty cool. After nearly two months of not seeing each other, it was lovely to see the faces that I've got to know this year. Being spread out across the South from Cornwall to Portsmouth all the way up to Swindon means we don't see each other as much as I'd like to, so it was good to be together again.
There's something about people being on the same page that is so encouraging. We may all be involved in lots of different stuff, but our hearts are still after the same thing, and it makes for some easy breathing to be able to moan a little, laugh a lot and be encouraged.
Over the past months visiting Bristol has become rather a regularity, respite of a non-relaxing kind...if that's possible. I've always loved being away from home and seeing something new, and Bristol is a great city. Filled with history and some crazy culture, sometimes it feels like a mish mash of things squashed together amongst the old town houses and steep hills, but it's definitely charming.
Where we are based is in a great place to see some of the interesting sites of Bristol. Back in September we took a look at some of the historic sites, and being next to Stokes Croft we definitely get to see a little of something different. A couple of times we walked into the town centre whilst we were away, as we did a lot of work on the streets this time around. You walk down the long main road, and straight through the area that has recently been having riots over Tesco, and has an Anarchy Cafe; one of it's tamer attractions.
Although graffiti is not my favourite kind of art, Stokes Croft certainly has some interesting and beautiful pieces. Everywhere you look colour is splashed across walls, and we got to see some guys painting the 'Stokes Croft Gallery' which I think is an abandoned building with boarded up windows that create great canvases for graffiti. Something a little like these...
The detail they manage to achieve is ridiculous. On our walk into town they had repainted the canvasses white so they had something clear to start on, and on our way back they had nearly finished their designs!
Anyway, the people and the graffiti weren't the best bits of the week... And neither were my new and very lovely hosts that I stay with...
The best bits were the times I got to spend in the presence of God and hearing from Him. They trumped any of the other things I got up to.
What's even better is that having a relationship with Jesus isn't something limited to Bristol, or FP, or those who work for the church but wherever I am and whatever I am doing, I can rest assured in the love of God and His absolute faithfulness.
Now that's an adventure I want to continue in.
Happy Weekend Friends
LOVE
xoxo
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