Roald Dahl Week

We had Roald Dahl week this week at school, I have had a lot of reminders of my dad as it has gone on. I remember him reading Fantastic Mr Fox to me and my older brother when we were little boys. Well Jak was a little boy, I was more of a little monster. He has been on my mind since one of the boys I work with asked about him, He said, "do you have a dad?"
"I used too," I responded, not wanting to lie.
"He died," he said in a matter of factly way, that only a boy with special needs could. This week I have been plagued with reminders of him as I go about my job. I felt all warm inside when I heard one of the teachers reading Fantastic Mr Fox to the children, the hours my dad spent reading it to us by our bedside. His other favourite was the Minpins, another Roald Dahl story. Although most may not have heard of it, I absolutely love it. I learnt to read using Roald Dahl, the books are such fun. What I remember most is that my dad created voices, each character had their assigned voice, I think as I read to the kids in my class, I am reminded of how he used to read to me. The children comment on how I use specific voices for each character, just like my dad used too (although I have to say he was better at it).  Being a kid was awesome, no responsibility, no chores, laying on quilts and then hurling yourself down flights of stairs (maybe that was just me). Part of growing up is appreciating how fun being a kid actually is. It has been a good week, draining, but good and I can't wait to get back into that classroom on Monday morning, I am hoping things will have returned to normal. Then again when working in a school, I don't think there is such a thing as a normal day. So what I have I taken from this week? Don't underestimate the importance of reading to your children, my dad did very little with us in truth, but he did that and the impact has echoed across decades, I too hope to one day read Roald Dahl's fantastic books to my little ones. For now I'll have to settle for reading to other people's kids; the advantage being I can send them home at the end of the day!

An Update from Bradford: The writing and the youth

Christian's can often feel burned out, it's happened to me before, it actually feels as if it is happening now. My usual reaction is to take a break from God, but this evening I tried something different, I pressed in, I read, I worshiped and to be honest I am feeling better for it. I love my life, I would not trade it for a multimillionaire's. It is uniquely designed by God, for me. Things though are moving at a mile a minute, especially with the website flying, we are getting a deluge of submissions for the magazine from writers eager to get their voice heard. I thought it could happen, but I could never have predicted it would be this fast. It has only been a month, the website is booming, constantly generating new traffic and new hits. It is exciting to be at the beginning of something that has so much promise and potential with Brandon at my side. I would like to thank Jan for inspiring me to take the bull by the horns with her entrepreneurial spirit.

The youth work too is starting to blossom into something special, stories of how God has been using me to reveal information I could not have known previously,  and how he is physically healing others have been inspiring young people to think  twice about the existence of God. Testimonies of how God is healed young people at Newday (A youth conference that runs annually) are inspiring my youth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF5wyeoOWlA, there is not much more I could ask for than that. I spent this evening praying for them, and praying for another church I have been doing some youth work with in Saltaire. Prophetic dreams suggest that our youth work is going to grow dramatically over the next few years (both me and the other youth worker for our church have had dreams in which young people are literally queuing up outside the door). I feel like the giant snow ball has finally been pushed down the hill, nothing to do, but pray, wait and keep reading submissions for the magazine. Someone came up to me today in church and said, "I sense God is going to use you for something only you can do." My first thought was maybe he wants me to destroy the one ring at Mount Doom..... However, that seems unlikely so once again I am going to have to wait and see. I thought back in that moment to a few months ago when I was volunteering, and how God laughed as I moaned at the crap I was going through, and his response was "You have no idea, the good things I have planned for you, just around the corner." Well he wasn't lying, was he? The jobs, the magazine, the youth, it is as if everything all at once has clicked into place. For those that are still struggling, my advice is hold fast, the delay in God giving you what you want is definitely for your own good. You are a pawn on a chess board and he is player, trust him and he will make best use of you when the time is right.

I leave you with the verse I kept getting last year, every time I opened my bible it seemed to fall on this page...

I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, plans to give you a hope and a future.