The last chapter before next

So here I am, one year to the day that I first set foot on the soil of Durban, South Africa, and into a whole new continent of wonderful things. I've been back a couple of months, but now, a year to the day all the loose ends are well and truly tied off.

After almost endless wrangling my car insurance money got paid out and with it I cleared off all my debts that I had for the car, the trip, and the general expenses that flew my way during that time. I even had a bit left over! The payout in itself, while hugely complicated, I think ended up giving me exactly what I paid for the car (though not its nasty habit of breaking down!), which is far more than I would have got if I sold it. When I bought it I felt that it was a God thing, and I think it's proven to be such and taken me on a rollercoaster ride. Shame Saabine is dead though - I'd love to go for a long drive in her along a South African highway right about now (given that I seemed to get her fixed proper in the end!).

Also, just two days ago the shipment of things (mostly Mandy's) I sent from South Africa arrived. There's a load of books in my house, as well as a bunch of clothes and other nick-nacks, but it's all here, and really everything that physically ties me to South Africa has come to an end. I feel quite sad just writing that!

But a new chapter is ahead. In the last months God has been making His will clear for me to move over to Belfast, from where I write this, where I'll be involved in planting a vibrant new church here in the city. I'm currently looking for jobs and had a rather silly inteview this morning with what seems to be a pyramid scheme business! I think God's making sure I don't take myself too seriously, as though this was all about me!

Exciting things have been happening though and it's clear God is about to unleash something incredible in this place. I'm very excited! I'll probably start a Belfast blog at some point just so that wherever you are you can all keep up to date with what's happening. But for now check out http://onebehindsecond.blogspot.com which is going to be my more formal blog; a space to ask questions, to think out loud, and to hear what you all think too. I hope someone, even if it's only me, learns from it and finds it useful.

What has being in Durban taught me then? I don't know if I can sum it all up, and don't know if I want to. So many things so deep can't be just quantified like a product I purchased, and so many people I love, so many memories I'll keep forever.... it just doesn't do justice to 'conclude' all that. So much of what God has done has a long way to carry on in me, and more than that I can't just bundle this all up and evaluate it as though it has been all about me and my gain. This hasn't been just a means to my end. This sort of sacred fellowship and journey of life I've shared with others in this time deserves to stand on its own merits and not be 'about' anything. It is what it is: precious, thrilling, confounding, glorious. If anything, it is about God; it is about life in all its fullness as just a reflection of the unending riches of the life that God is. My prayer is that I'll find how to wake up to all of that wherever I am and take this perspective into all of life and, by God's grace, make it every wonderful thing that it can be. I hope that will be yours too. Whatever we have now, life to its fullest can only, ONLY, be found in Jesus Christ. I don't know why or how it had to happen in South Africa and from leaving my 'home', but I've gained a sense that life really could be so much more than I've ever known. I guess that's the most valuable thing of all.