Tumbling Tumbleweeds

As the wind whistles around my blog and the tumbleweeds blow up the street you may be forgiven for thinking that I have given up on blogging altogether. I haven't, honest, and I do try and get around and visit as many of the blogs I link to as possible as frequently as possible! I still value the insight and food for thought I get from my blog buddies, I like the challenges I read from those who see things differently to me and I wish I had more time to offer my own reflections here for those who are kind enough to respond and react.

It comes down to time - blogging takes thought and time (though you may not think so looking at the quality of some of my previous posts!). I have discovered that the time I have for blogs and twitter and Facebook, all of which I enjoy and appreciate, has had to take a back seat to the other things which fill my life - particularly my Ministry, my family and my friends. I am sure you'll all be pleased at my attempts to have some kind of work/life balance, or rather to have some integrety and prioritise appropriately. I'm happy with things as they are, on the whole, though have found myself more tired in this particular form of Ministry and life than in any other context. I wish I had more time to pray and to write and must take some of the blame for the imbalances which prevent those things sometimes - or rather which prevent more of those things happening sometimes.

I'm writing this on my day off, which used to be my day I never blogged! I have been abandoned by wife and children - though fortunately only for a few days as they are off staying with my wife's sister and doing all the kinds of things that children can't do in the middle of nowhere - a day at Legoland, Windsor, visiting the shops around London, generally enjoying the noise and bustle of urban life! So I decided to take a moment to say hi to you all and say just a little of what is going on. I do hope to get back into the swing of blogging, but if I am absent for long periods of time it's just because I am focussed on where I am and doing what needs to be done, or simply enjoying life with my family! Having said that, there's a few thoughts percolating around my brain which may well find expression later today...

...after a ride on my motorbike :-)

Oh, and look out for me on twitter (@revdal) as a quick microblog moment is so much easier than sitting here thinking!

And whilst here, a thought for the week (has to be done, for the sake of my own sanity in getting gradually up to date!) It seems an apposite one in the light of what I just said and comes from a couple of weeks after Easter!

One of the things which was difficult but worthwhile for me in the lead up to Easter was the silence that is such an important part of Holy Week. I am not naturally inclined to silence – in fact I find it very difficult. I fill my days with activity and busy-ness and the iPod, radio or TV are often on at home, in the car and in the houses I visit during my week. On Good Friday there is a traditionally a three hour time of silence – though many Churches have shorter versions of that service. Silence can make us confront the things we are avoiding about ourselves, our lives, our faith. It can be a struggle to take time to be silent, and to use that time to pray, think, meditate or just to stop – but if we let Him, God can speak to us in the silence.