Saturday Post -- 15/10/16

18 months and already 'going to the toilet'. With assorted
furnishings.

The first happy babbles and head-bumps shatter the silence like a Marrakesh tannoy. It's 6am, Sam is up, and for one lucky parent, all that awaits is a barely decipherable, "Isn't it your turn?" from a couple of feet away.

This morning was more challenging than most, having crashed around midnight (the equivalent of my 21-year-old-self's 3am) after a busy day organising and executing the Marriage Course reunion meeting (the word 'meeting' in Spanish is translated, reunión, just to avoid confusion). Nobody's fault but mine, as Robert Plant once screeched, not least as I had a similarly wild night on Thursday, sitting on the sofa and watching NFL till eleven p.m.! I tell you, Keith Moon had nothing on me.

Still, consolation comes in taking a glance at my watch to see that we're already about halfway through this freakishly busy month of October. Oh, so that's how time disappears.

Amanda can at least look back on the last week with a great deal of satisfaction, as, after many hours waiting around in dusty offices over the past month or so, she finally took receipt of Melissa's one-year residency visa (Melissa being our current short-term worker from the USA). She really deserves a pat on the back, of which Sam, no doubt, will be more than happy to deliver several in some shape or form.

Sam, meanwhile, has discovered the joys of furniture removal. It started with moving his cuddly toys from one end of the stairs to the other, making transporting nappies between their boxes a mere inevitability. By the end of the week, he'd decided to up the ante, ensuring that dining room chairs became toilet seats.

So concentrating on the main task in hand for the week proved something of a challenge, but we just about got there in the end. When we finished the course last year, Andrew & Ruth had mooted the notion of a reunion meeting somewhere down the line, something I had mentally put to one side back then, but had begun thinking more about over the last few months. 

You know how these things end, right. Think back, even, to your camp days. After seven days of intensive physical abuse involving dead legs, mackerel, toothpaste and underpants (often at once), it was only natural that you came out of it pledging to never let a week go by without, say, 'writing a letter' (ask your parents, kids). And with the adrenaline still flowing around this time last year, Amanda and I were keen to keep up the contact with the course participants, particularly those who were not part of the church family. Alas, just like those camp pledges, that one got sidelined, not least as a certain small person was looming on the horizon.

So a couple of months ago, realising to my astonishment that the anniversary was looming large, I put it to Amanda, and then my fellow elders, that perhaps a reunion reunión was worth a stab. Happily, they agreed, and last night was the result.

Just like the course itself, the evening was set up like a date night, with couples sat at individual tables. We kicked off with a 'Mr & Mrs' game, a novel concept to most attendees, which probably explained why they enjoyed it so much (Stuff You Can't Get Away With Any More In The West #37: "What is your wife's favourite hobby?" "Cleaning the house."). This was followed by a delicious meal and then, most excitingly of all, an appearance by 'Andrés y Rut' themselves, albeit via a recorded video. Sort of like one of those "Sorry I couldn't be with you tonight" awards acceptance speeches (usually delivered by a Los Angeles swimming pool; happily, the sense of sorrow at not getting to sit through yet another performance by last year's X Factor winner is duly mitigated), except with a Bible in hand rather than a stupid-looking trophy. Anyway, the group was encouraged.

Andrew & Ruth: in spirit, if not in body.

There was then a little follow-up from the course, with three small discussion tasks for each couple. Firstly, how do they see progress in their marriage from the course. Secondly, in assessing their marriages right now, what areas of the course booklet would be worth revisiting. Thirdly -- and probably most importantly -- each couple had to schedule their next date night, inform Amanda and I of the date and time, and expect a visit from one of us to check they were fulfilling their duty. I may have made most of that last part up (can you tell I'm tired?).

To finish, I gave a short reflection on -- apologies to Whitney Houston -- the greatest love of all, talking about how Jesus' sacrifice challenges us to love in all circumstances, no matter how unworthy the recipient may seem. A quick group photo, and then a casa. 

Anyway, it was a thrill to see most of the group make the effort, and testament to the dedication efforts these people are putting in to their relationships as a result of the course. Our next date night? A week on Wednesday. Fix me another Red Bull please, waiter.

Prayer

• Camp, of course, hangs heaviest over this month of October, and the preparations step up a little this weekend, with Craig overseeing the first of three out-of-hours band practices over the next two weeks. We have potentially eight musicians playing, and a few new songs to get through. Pray for patience and focus.
• Next weekend, we have not one, but two visitors arriving. Edwin from Langham Preaching will be in town from Friday till Monday to touch base with the group here, and then Latin Link's team leader Louis Woodley arrives, God-willing, on Sunday, for an overnight stay, presumably looking to get to know us better. Poor guy.

Praise

• For a great turnout and much fun last night at the Marriage Course reunion.
• For Melissa's visa being processed.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda