I woke up this morning, and, for the first time in a good couple of weeks, found myself feeling alive and energetic, rather than considering if anyone would notice if I covered my head with a duvet and dozed off again.
My bedroom was freezing, I’m sure there was frost on the inside of the glass. I found myself crashing into many things, disorientated, as I searched for warm clothes. It was still dark outside, and a few stars still winked through. The prettiness of it all really struck me.
I spent a few minutes wondering what had made me so cheery, so early. Usually I am in a semi-conscious haze most of the way to work. Then I remembered, I have lots of things making me feel excited about the next few weeks. That excitement beats in my chest whenever I am still for more than a moment. It is hope, it is surprise, it is anticipation and it is vision.
Firstly, it is less than two weeks until Christmas now. I am strangely thrilled about that this year. I am looking forward to time off, time to reflect and time to celebrate. I am also happy that this year I am not going to retreat to bed for a couple of hours on Christmas day because I am so drained!!
Secondly, then it will be New Year, when I get even more nostalgic and reflective. I am so looking forward to all 2008 will bring, it will be cool to get there!
Then, on Jan 11th-13th we are all heading off to Swanwick for our big prayer conference – ‘The Gathering’. This, really, is the pinnacle of our year, and I am so looking forward to the event. We are going to spend time thanking God for getting us this far, and seeking him for the future. I’ve also been tirelessly rounding up a bunch of ‘nextgen-ers’ to be there, and I see the weekend as an important statement of intent, a prophetic declaration that we mean business in prayer. I can’t wait to see what it sparks off and sets in motion.
There are loads of other exciting things afoot, but I’ll leave those for another time. Suffice to say these are thrilling days!!
