“Good, thanks!”

I’m back now 2 months from my trip in Peru and Colombia. I have found good support and encouragement about the children’s home project in Arequipa. Thank you for your interest. For some it’s still not clear what they are supporting....and in reality sometimes I don’t even know myself!

I have said that this blog will continue till I reach one of three options:

· Set up a children’s home myself.

· Or, join an existing home and take things from there.

· Or plan ‘C’......What ever that is?

In this post I want to inform you where this project is at, in the context of a few thoughts on “Good, thanks”.

Life is often presented as doing well at studies, getting a job and being happy, so that when people ask, “How’s life?” you just reply, “Good, thanks!”

However, what have I been doing? I have been to many small courses, from suicide prevention to youth ministry weekends where there’s seminar after seminar about youth and our role in their lives; I have had many conversations about the whole vision of a children’s home; I have asked questions to directors; I have been finding out everything about charities and children’s homes; I have drawn up a list of books to read........

Why am I not just thinking about “getting on with what my life has dealt me with so as to be able to say, Good, thanks”? Rather than thinking of where I’m going or what I’m doing.

Post-Modern culture has brought us up to think , “what ever”,, and , “have it our own way”.. we have an “if it feels good, go with it” attitude and in all this we are,, “good thanks” The world goes by and often we don’t stop to understand what it’s all about! We don’t take time to think what’s going on, why we do what we do, or whom we do it for....unless, one day, we find things are “not that that good”!

My thing is, don’t just “get on with living” - take a step back and think what it’s for. Whatever we do in the future will be determined by the stand point we take now.

· Think about what the Trinity is about and how this will impact how we live our lives.

· Think about the cross (Forgiveness of sins, Christos Victor, Reconciliation, Redemption) and how this will impact how we live our lives.

· Think about God Incarnate (God took on flesh) and how this impacts how we live.

· Think about a call to mission and how this impacts what we do with our lives.

· Think about empowerment by the Holy Sprit, the tasks of Word, prayer and spiritual direction. And how our lives could be with this?

· Think about our role in the Church and how this impacts our lives.

The relationship we have with these truths will guide our interaction with what we do. Let’s not just coast and keep saying, “Good, thanks”.

So this is what I’m doing at the moment...trying to:

Don Browning “action-reflection model”.

- Understand (what’s going on?),

- Reflect: (what am I doing?)

- Detect and Evaluate: ( putting down commitments in my life)

- Project: ( Strategies, on how I can live my life for GOD)

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HOW CAN YOU BEST SUPPORT ME?

- Please pray: for the vision to set up a children’s home. May it be a God-inspired venture. Pray for God’s leading - I don’t have the answers and need to be lead forward.

- If you know of people who have gone thought setting up a charity, I would love to talk to them about what they think.

- Also if you know of any children’s home around the world, I would like to contact them.

- If you know a good book about youth or children at risk, even parenting, leadership books.. Subjects that can help me think about this project more and get more understanding.

- If you know any courses out there that are relevant to this work let me know.

- I want to start getting a list of people who will dedicate themselves to pray for this with me. So please if you want to be part of this, it would be an encouragement if you would let me know - even write your name on the comment box at the bottom. THANKS!