Today I finished working at the Solicitor's office. This means that my travels are just around the bend, almost in sight! Just some packing and an E111 and I'll be on my way to Prague.

Here's a quote from the end of the Hobbit that Viv posted on her blog:

'Then the prophesies of the old songs have turned out to be true, after a fashion!' said Bilbo.
'Of course!' said Gandalf. 'And why should not they prove true? Surely you don't disbelieve the prophesies just because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!'
'Thank goodness!' said Bilbo laughing.

I've been out of the blogging loop for a few days as I've been working on the new cardiff vineyard site. I get very engrossed. I've only barely managed to keep up with the blogging of my friends who are temporarily dotted around the world (see my links).

Things are also quite crazy in the roll up to my European trip. I'm hoping to visit some churchplanters, although there are only a couple we've been in contact with. If you're doing this stuff and you're in a country on our trip (Prague, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Spain) then drop me a line!

Tomorrow we get to baptise Matt and Natalie, which will be awesome. Matt departs for Kenya on Friday for his Elective...I just know God has some great things in store for him.

Fightclub discipleship
I was chatting with Rob, Mark's housemate (and my ex-kickboxing teacher) last night. He's about to take his blackbelt and I was asking him about the dan system. Apparently what happens is that once you are a black belt, if you train someone else to that standard then you will be a first dan. If that person goes on to train someone else to the level of blackbelt then you become a second dan. It works in generations.

I'm sure there's a connection somewhere there with discipleship...

What a crazy few days. It's so cool to be surrounded by so many great people. Last night we had a joint gathering at Chris and Caz' place where we looked some more at the Kingdom of God. I love this subject soo much.

Helen and Viv are now in Cali. with Jason and Brooke and I'm a little envious, especially as the rain beats down on our rooftops. I'm even more envious that they get to see those guys face to face.

I'm gonna go to bed now.

Today I've been thinking about Matthew 6 where Jesus says:

"don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern"

I was struck by how simple what Jesus is saying actually is - "don't worry because if you put My Kingdom first everything you need will be provided." Perhaps this is why the early church so outlived those around them. They weren't concerned with winning arguments, but with living the kingdom kind of life. For them this teaching of Jesus wasn't some kind of mantra to chant when worried ("I must not worry, I must not worry") but rather a command which must find its practical outworking in real life.

How far am I from making the Kingdom of God my primary concern? How often I fall back on behaving like a "pagan," worrying as though it's me who is in control and not God.

Carson puts it like this: "...today's grace is sufficient only for today and should not be wasted on tomorrow. If tomorrow does bring new trouble, there will be new grace to meet it."

*Lord teach me to live this way. Not just to see your words as 'nice words' but as words which can revolutionise my being. Embed them in who I am.*

Last night we had a central gathering at the YMCA. It was a good time of vision casting and sharing. Kathryn told us a story from her trip to San Andreas which was cool.

Afterwards we adjourned to our local coffeehouse 'a shot in the dark' for some reluctant farewells. Cil is returning to London to do some pharmacy work and Matt is off to Newcastle to embark on a degree in medicine (after a pre-med year). It's so weird to be saying goodbye to these guys when they've been part of us for a while. God's been working in both of their lives and I'm sure that he has loads of places where he'll take them. It's just sad saying goodbye!

Helen and Viv depart for Southern California on Tuesday, so we won't be seeing them for a while. I'm off to Europe in 2 weeks which is exciting - so much to sort out first though!

Re:fresh
Just a short roundup of our weekend with a few highlights...

The talking tent: on Sunday morning Matt and I awoke to the cute sounds of children discussing the merits of a talking tent. It turns out that these very same children had, only moments earlier, been playing football on the near by field. When the ball rolled down the hill and hit the girls' tent Viv was lying there and decided to say "ouch..." this continued for some time as the kids kicked the ball repeatedly at the tend seeing if it really was talking.

Finally they all decided to attack the tent and as we strolled past towards the showers we could see the side of the tent being pounded by nippers!

The barn dance: I can't say much, but let's just say that the term 'dance' was re-defined. Much laughter.

We listened to some very challenging talks on following Jesus through pain, through desert times etc. There was consensus in the fact that we're sick of 'evangelising' and would rather simply share Jesus. On a similar note we're sick of being 'Christians' and would rather just be followers of Jesus.

Hey, now that I've finished on the 'summer 2003' re-design I think it's time for a fresh post. I've been thinking a lot recently about my role, God's role and life in general.

God has been showing me over the last few years, months, weeks and days that he is so in control and I'm soooo not. Part of this has come in the way that he has brought people around me who each have complimentary revelations of what it means to follow Jesus, although each is unique to that person.

You might have noticed that I've added/changed some contacts on this blog...check out Viv and Helen's travel blog which they will keep on their travels around Southern California. They'll be dropping in on the Evans family. Viv's solo blog is also worth a read!

I'm wondering whether or not to blog my European trip in August. Tim and I start our travels in Prague in early August and fly out of Barcelona in early September. We are travelling via Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and finally Spain.

We would love to hook up with some peeps along the way. If you're wrestling with the whole churchplanting thang and would like to share some stories with a welsh boy and a laddie from Belfast then leave a comment!

Zoë Returns
Though it may sound like the sequel to a film you never saw, this Thursday sees the return of my little sis. It'll be great to see her, hear about her stories and laugh like old times.

Roath Park on Sunday
Yesterday we chilled out at Roath Park, went rowing, laughed lots and watched our friends recover from the (welsh) three peaks challenge. It was nice to be outside with good friends. Summer fun. We have even more to follow next weekend when we set out for Reading and Re:fresh.

Tonight our little community met at Viv's place. We shared food, laughter, sang songs and talked about what it means to be Christlike and how we are to draw out the best (that which is most Christlike) in those around us. It was nice to chill out, I shared how I've had this feeling of weakness recently and how I don't really know how to interpret it - is it God saying "I am in control when you're at the end of yourself" or am I in a bunout zone? I'm just not sure.

I really miss the times with my now disbanded accountability group. We really got somewhere for a while back there, but I guess things move on. I pray that God will bring people into my life who will be in a place of forming such relationships again.

Until then...