The other side of it

I'm sitting on what I believe is Friday night and not quite sure. Let me explain...

I worked on Monday, but off on Tuesday. Worked on Wednesday worked Thursday night and again on Friday. This would put anybodies weekly clock out. The reason for my hit and miss week is because of the previous week.

Last week in work we a had a team from Youth For Christ working with is. It was odd being on the other side of teams since I was on a few PCI summer teams both as a member and a leader (and that was over 10 years ago. Where did the time go) and not the one the team was coming to. Ruth and I spent a lot of time working with the team and basically did a double week.

I am still physically tired (thanks to a cold), but also emotionally tired. We had people come in commando style and have more effect on the young people in one week than I have had in the past few years. They have more energy than me, fitter, have more coolness and were able to do more than I could. It is easy to think that I am rubbish and should go and look for another job, but that is the emotional exhaustion talking ( and I was over that by the end of Tuesday, and a day at the beech with Julie and the girls).

What the team brought me was a different view of what I do, seeing other styles at work and the chance for Ruth and myself to try out different programs to see if we incorporate them into the work of the Cornerstone. I got to know the team and they were welcoming to me. Personally, I also got to hang out with christian men. I don't get that chance much. Normally it is either too short a time with men in church or I cannot talk about cars or football/rugby to bond with them. Few talk about comic books, or even God. So it was just good to hang (look at me with all my cool youth talk) and chat and be looked after in a manly, blokish way. It did me good and charged the batteries in a spiritual way.

So to Esther, Clara, Ryan, Elli, Katie, Davie, Lucy, Rheuben or Dan I say thank you.