Generous fire fighters

I had been out in the country for a wedding rehearsal. As I came back to town and down the hill toward the church I noticed fire trucks surrounding the St John Ambulance Headquarters with hoses going everywhere. There had been some sort of explosion inside. It is just across the road from the church so I went over and talked with fire fighters and Ambulance people. They were winding down the incident and I was chatting with firefighters. It was Green Watch, the crews which will be on duty on Christmas day. They came up to me and said that they will be keen to help. It was almost embarrassing their readiness to be involved. Fire fighters have assisted with our Christmas day dinner every year now since about 1995. I enjoy their involvement and their acceptance of who I am in mission and ministry. It is a real buzz on the day.

A new responsibility

Tonight we had our Night Shelter Trust meeting. I love working with the people on the Trust. Kevin our chairman of 6 years has decided to step down and I have been "promoted" to the chair. We have made great progress this year in establishing ourselves on a firmer footing and we are hoping to continue the momentum. I am going to have to rely on the whole team doing their thing if we are going to progress. They said as they left that I will have to go home and "adjust your CV." It will be quite "life-giving" working with this generally enjoyable bunch of people. 

After the meeting a group of us was sitting around chatting. Into the church walked this rather spaced out looking guy. He turned out to be homeless. He went away and came back again and I eventually took him around to the night shelter. Warren our night shelter manager welcomed him (he was familiar to him) and sat him down to talk with him. It seemed a fitting end to a night of discussing the business side of our work. 

Life for me even at 63 is one big interesting, though challenging adventure.