12th October

Oh yes, the man’s on a roll. It’s been another good day, although I’ve been careful to moderate my activity after yesterday’s exertion. Even so I managed a couple of much shorter walks, firstly around the campsite where I was able to admire half a dozen classic cars belonging to some sort of club I suppose. They were all variations on Austin 7 cars and vans, all way before my time, although I seem to remember borrowing my grandad’s once when I was a teenager… he was a brave man! Those were the days of double declutching to change gear and absolutely tiny cars, the owner I spoke to claimed her car was a 1935 model and they’d just been to France in it. Crazy stuff… my back aches just thinking about it! I remember my very first car was purchased for £5 when I was 16, it was a 1955 Reliant 3 wheeler which needed some major rebuilding including re-wiring but it got me around until you hit a bump which caused the single front wheel to lift right off the road. And then you lost your steering. The doors were wooden with Perspex sliding windows and no locks or even door-handles. To enter you slid the window open and reached inside to pull a cord. I wired an ‘immobiliser’, a simple hidden switch to cut the ignition. Actually, nothing much worked on it. Those were the days you say? For me you can keep them in the past I’ll stay with my boring Ford Focus thank you.

And I’m at it again, reminiscing about a lost youth; I really have to stop as it’s not a good way to live all the time. But it’s hard when almost every minute of every day I’m missing my lovely wife and the only place I can find her right now is in my memories. But they need to be put away, for maybe special times of remembering, not brought out for everyday use. I cannot live in the past, I have to walk into the future which will be very different and it will be good I know. I remember once trying to help a guy who’d been so badly damaged as a church leader that he stepped out of ministry completely and was walking along a completely different pathway. His faith remained strong but he became increasingly unfulfilled in the workplace. The word I had for him may sound a little odd, but basically God does not give a person a second chance when they fall… he gives them another brand new first chance! It’s not second best; it’s always God’s new first choice. And maybe that’s how I can begin to see my future life, yes I am older though perhaps not that much wiser and yes my youthful vigour has moderated a little… but why not expect the best is still ahead? All that’s gone before, amazing as it was, will be just a prelude to the unveiling of God’s new first plan for me.

And my second walk was down to the village green with it’s delightfully picturesque pond, next to the village shop and pub with a 150 year old oak planted nearby and ducks galore wandering around. I remember walking there so many times with Jane, stopping for a drink, buying a loaf of bread, sharing our dreams on a tranquil summer evening… aaah, stop it David, stop it. You’re reminiscing again and you’ll get too sad. Stop it! Anyway here’s my ‘classic car’, quite a rarity as I doubt if there are more than a couple of dozen like it in the country. But this is my second home and it was God’s gift to me a few years ago… it makes me happy.

Revelation 21:5 ’Look, I am making everything new!’ (NLT)