on my mind this week

  • The fate of General Motors. Not something I would have given a seconds notice six months ago, but having a good friend there suddenly makes it feel personal. Read this blog entry about it and then keep an eye and a prayer on the news…
  • Advent – well, it’s only a few weeks away. I’m going to attempt to make all my Christmas presents this year. I will let you know how that works out. 🙂 In the meantime, the Advent Conspiracy website is amazing. This is what they wrote on their blog this week…

“The first thing to remember is that this is a heart thing, not a numbers thing. We want people to do this not for the sake of pushing back on consumerism, but to give them a personal connection to what this season really means. I would much rather see someone buy one less gift and have it mean something deep and holy and true than someone who doesn’t buy one gift, gives all their money to charity and walks away feeling empty and isolated as the “scrooge” of the family. As you’ll read in our brochure and website we talk about the idea of just buying ONE LESS GIFT. Just one. Start there, and see where God takes you…”

  • Old friends from South Africa. Most I am out of touch with, it got too expensive trying to keep in touch calling their mobiles through uni. But they are often in my thoughts, and especially this week after spending the weekend with the YFC-KZN team. I wonder how they are doing, if they have jobs, if they have got married or had (more) children, if they are still well, if they are still alive.
  • What it means to “regard no one from a worldly point of view” (2 Cor 5:16). Dani from ACET Slovakia spoke on Sunday morning at the Act Positive conference on Isaiah 11, and the verses which talk about Jesus, who “will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears”. I’ve been thinking about that a lot.