‘He must increase…’

For the last while I’ve known that i’ve been going though a a bit of a dark patch spiritually. I’ve let the Lord down on a number of occasions, but i’m thankful that He has cared about me enough to disturb my conscience about it and made me remoresful.

I knew that there was something not quite right in my life, and i’d been seeking the Lord’s face to bring me closer to Himself, back to a place where i’ve been before, the place that somehow and somewhere along the line over the past few months and without realising it, I no longer was. However I was still struggling.

‘Where is that blessedness I knew, when first I saw the Lord, where is that soul refreshing view of Jesus and His word.’

Sunday 9th September, I went to church in the morning to Tyndale FPC. When i got to the church I realised it was Communion Sunday. The way we do it is that we have our normal church service, then those that are saved and wish to take Communion, stay on after the morning service for the Communion service.

The end of church came and I left … I didn’t stay for Communion as I normally would. Why? The Lord had pricked my conscience. Regarding the Lord’s Table, the Bible says that we are to ‘examine ourselves’ before the Lord and not to ‘eat and drink’ unworthily. I felt unworthy.

That Sunday evening I went along to Dungannon Independent Methodist Church. It was a special series of meetings, and the Lord really spoke to me. I needed to discover again the ‘Joy of the Lord’…knowing that this would take away any coldness from my heart. The preacher, Dr Harold Vaughn, spoke on the key to enjoying the presence of the Lord – to stop putting barriers up in your life and serve God in the ways you can, whether large or small, the Lord can use it and will Bless you.

Dr Vaughn referred to John 3:30 where it says ‘He must increase, but I must decrease’, and pointed out that it’s only by allowing God to work in and through our lives that we can fully enjoy Him. I need to get back into serving the Lord in the area’s that I had been before final yr of Uni and all the work that came with it meant that I couldn’t do those things. Final year came and has gone, and I need to again divert my energies into doing things for the Lord. My interests must take a back seat when the two collide … ‘he must increase’.

My daily prayer is now that the Lord would ‘restore unto me the joy of my Salvation’ and that He would give me a burden for souls and a desire to serve Him.

tiger tim

When it comes that time of year again when it’s winding round to wimbledon, it’s going to be that bit less exciting than what we have become accustomed to.  With Tim Henman deciding to hang up his boots many of us will undoubtedly miss his exciting brand of attacking tennis that we have loved to watch, and the rollercoaster 5 sets marathons that kept us on the edge of our seats.

I’ve never understood why many people have put him down so much over the years. The coveted Grand Slam titles may always have just eluded him at the last, however he can look back on a prosperous career having spent the majority of it in the world Top 10, rising as high a 4th, and collecting 13 titles along the way.

After bowing out of the US Open to an inspired Tsonga, Henmans impressive displays in New York made me think he still has something to offer…for another year or 2 anyway.

A u-turn on his decision seems unlikely…nethertheless i’m sure i’m not the only one hoping that the Davis Cup will not be the last of him

from designer to professional footballer…

ok, so it’s an intentionally misleading title but forgive me for my excitement. Recent events have brought me as close to a football career as I will ever get! lol! In the last 3 or 4 weeks, along with a couple of friends,  I have joined a football team -  Agape 2nds. Ok, so we are a small team playing at an extremely low level – 5th division to be precise (and thats of the ameture leagues!!), however, we are still a team playing regularly and competing in a league, so that makes me proud and happy yeeooo! I’m playing Centre Midfield, which is where I like playing best. I’m not 1st choice, in 3 games i’ve started one and came on twice as a sub, but that will be the challenge…to get into the starting line up.

Work with Vision Solutions NI is going well. I’ve built 4 or 5 website since I started 2 months ago and have designed quite a bit of things for print – posters, business cards, leaflets etc. So it’s all going pretty well I feel. I hope that i’m justifying being given the job and hopefully my boss(s) are happy enough with me. Think i’m gonna have a large e-Commerve website to do soon, so that will be tough, will be good to learn though.

Got back to my house (Belfast house) last night after football to hear that our neighbour had died. He just dropped dead…out of the blue. A sudden, unexpected death is nearly always tragic, but this is so much more so. He was probably not more than 30yrs old, and had just got married 3months ago. It’s pretty sad really.

It made me think, and reminded me to thank God every day for every day of life he gives me, and the health and strength that I have. ‘The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away’.

enjoying it all so far

5 wks (hard to believe its 5wks!) into the job and I can honestly say that i’m enjoying it. After the initial settling in period, it’s all gone pretty well so far. It’s been busy…3 web sites up and going in the time that i’ve been here. but it’s good to be busy, so hopefully it will continue.

God has really provided for me. He’s given me a job that I enjoy, the best of workmates and a very importantly, a workplace with a Christian ethos at it’s core. It’s good to be here.

Outside of work, things have been quiet enough really. Went to a wedding last week, it was sad to hear the empty  and misleading words from the Minister. I find it strange people have the ‘desire’ to marry in a Church, before the eyes of God, ask his blessing on their marriage, yet have no regard for him in their daily lives.

On a brighter note, the new football season starts in a week! Can’t wait to that. Looking forward to wednesday next wk when Man Utd play Glentoran in Belfast, so i’ve tickets for that. The rugby World Cup isnt far way now either

I hope things work out ok for Natasha. Things haven’t quite gone her way of late regarding jobs and housing. We’ll keep praying, and God will open doors.

first update from the working world

hi folks. It’s been a little while since my last post as i’ve now started work and have been looking at a screen for a solid 8hrs each day…i’ve had no desire whatsoever to boot up the computer at home in the evenings. Work has been busy, with this really the first little window that i’v not been occupied doing something since I started with Vision Solutions NI last Monday.

I’ve been here a week and a half, just starting to settle in now I guess. Progress with websites has been interupted as we are moving to an office down on the Sydenham Road. I’ve got one site half done, and the initial stages of another. I’m pretty worried about what i’m gona do when the first e-commerce site hits me…not good!

I graduated last week, Wednesday 4th July. It was actually a decent day…more fun than I expected it to be. I tried to make the most of it knowing that it was the final final hurrah of uni, so I was determined to enjoy wearing the silly cloak and hat! Went out for dinner that evening to a place called Olio with mum, dad, my brother and Natasha. It was excellent, the rib-eye steak was perfection. It wasn’t my first time to eat there…and i don’t think it will be my last either!

A bit of really good news…I managed to get tickets to see Ireland vs Italy at Ravenhill on Fri 24th August. Really looking forward to that game, world cup warm up and also the first time in many many yrs that Ireland will have played a rugby match at Ravenhill. Should bee good. Also hoping to get accross to Murryfield to watch Scotland vs Ireland on Sat 11th August. Need to gather some ppl up for that one though.

Lost in spain (almost)

Well…i’m home from our holiday in Benidorm…but just about!! i’ll explain more in a bit. had a really great time over in Benidorm, and i’m missing the weather already. taking the 5/6 days to chill out and relax after a busy busy year was amazing.

now to explain the title of this post. less than 2 hrs before our plane was due to leave…natasha and I were still in Benidorm (about 70km from the airport in Alicante) … and my passport had mysteriously disappeared. our transport to the airport had failed to show up and where my passport went I think i’ll never know…one min it was there…the next it was gone. panic stations.

we raised our prayers to the Lord for much needed help. I sent Natasha to look for a taxi whilst I sprinted to the bank to get money to pay for it. explaining the situation to the taxi driver, he put the foot down and got us to the airport about 20mins before check out was due to close. still the small issue of my lack of a passport!! sending Natasha on to check herself in (she wanted to stay with me but I insisted there was no point the two of us being stranded at the airport) I went about trying to figure out what to do about the passport situation.

Frantic sprints back and forth across the airport, between the helpdesks, police office, helpdesks, EasyJet’s office and the check in were taking their toll in the short time I had before the plane left. A phonecall to the British Embassy helped matters along, and somehow or other…I was allowed onto the plain. I shouldn’t have been on that plane, no way, esp not in today’s security tightened airports.

it was an AMAZING answer to prayer. Whilst I was going about doing everything, I was continuously praying to God to help me and to intervene. It’s when we need Him most that God shows His power. He led me to the right people that I needed to see to sort it all out…and they managed to have a good enough grasp of English to understand me (or if they didn’t, there happened to be someone there to translate, which was the case with one person). Gods hand was upon it all. Thank-you Lord.

update from Benidorm

We (Natasha and I) are having a great time here in Benidorm, Spain. The weather has been great so far (we´ve been careful not to burn too badly although that can be difficult!!). I´ve just dropped into an interent cafe to check the emails but i´ll drop a line or two about our trip so far.

We arrived on Monday morning as expected, and after a little difficulty finiding the correct transfer, we reached our hotel – the Olympus. No complaints about the hotel whatsoever, it has a really nice lobby etc, and whilst the rooms arn´t quite so classy, yet adequate, the food (we´ve gone half board) is excellent !! and thats a big plus for me.

We spent Monday having a nosey around the town and beach, picking up some brochures etc. On Tuesday we enjoyed a relaxing day at the beach and swimming in the Mediterranean. Today we went to Terra Mitica…a large theme park just a short bus ride from the hotel. It was alot of fun, and combined with the sun has made me tired. I think i´ll take and early night as we are heading on a boat trip out to the Island of Tabarja tomorrow, so that should be fun.

That´s all for now from Benidrom

the calm before the storm

it may be a slightly misleading title to the post…but i’m looking forward to some ‘calm before the storm’. My father gave me an AMAZING present today…a holiday comprising of 5 nights in Benidorm, Spain!!

I can’t really believe it, especially cause he not only has paid for me, but also for Natasha. Mum and Dad say it’s for a ‘well deserved break after all the hard work we’ve put in over the last year, and before we start full time work‘. I kinda feel bad about it cause it’s alot of £££ that they could have spent to go away somewhere themselves, but a massive thank-you is called for I think.

We go in 3 days time, Monday 18th June early morning, returning on Saturday 23rd late evening.  I’m looking forward to it, and needless to say, Natasha is dead excited about it all.

Thanks Mum and Dad!

second class: upper division

I got my degree classification this morning online. I’ve got a 2:1 , which I’m very happy with. It’s what I wanted, and it’s what I was working towards. I knew a 1st was out of reach, but with all the work I put in, I would have been very dissapointed with a 2:2… so i’m satisfied.

At this moment, everything is working out well. I’m currently working on freelance work which will bring in a wee bit of £££, i’ve got the 2:1 degree I wanted, and have a job lined up. God has been good to me.

and its full time employment for me!!

quite a significant update this is actually…i got the job with Vision Solutions NI!! i’m pretty chuffed about it, although i know it will be quite a bit of hard work and pressure. its amazing to have the oppertunity to get right into a web design job so quickly after uni. things have worked out really well. i know i’ve God to thank for this.

i start on the 2nd july…so i’ve a couple of wks to enjoy before that, although i’m doin a bit of freelance work these days to pay the bills.

over and out for now from a pretty happy me!