Mike's musings

Walking, preaching, zooing and training

So, I'm sitting in front of Britain's Got Talent (please, oh, please don't let either of the two children win: and if one of them has to, not the dancing one - why am I in tears, oh _puh-lease_?), after quite a day. Father's Day, for course. Presents:

• card by Jo
• picture of Jo and Miriam in a frame decorated beautifully by Jo
• Pirates of the Caribbean CD (from the first film) - great
• Songs for the Young at Heart, which is good car listening
• Jimmy Carr - Live Collection (very rude, but _very_ funny)

I was preaching at Long Melford (none of you came!), and it went well. I was rather nervous to start with, but it went well. I was preaching on justification by faith, and started with Article XIII:

Of Works before Justification.

Works done before the grace of Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea, rather for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.

People started trying to listen, but by the time you get to "deserve grace of congruity", they've lost it. Which is the point: to make justification by faith scary, and then to make it clear. It went very well, and Ian was very positive, which was pleasing. I administered one of the chalices, and after failing to give the first communicant _any_ wine (until she complained), that went quite well. So, all-in-all, a good experience. The problem is that I get home having left Moo to look after both girls for 3 hours, which is hard.

But we went to have lunch, and then off to the zoo, which Jo enjoyed a lot. Was too scared by the "big train", but did the small one in the "familiar friends" area twice.

Then, as Moo was putting Jo down to bed, I took Miriam and Buster for another walk. Heaven knows that I don't treat my body as a temple, but I love walking. Hard, through the country, preferably with a dog, and a child strapped somewhere about my person. There's something so liberating about the physicality of it which I never would have expected to enjoy. So we thank God.

Labels: family, preaching, walk, zoo