Post Christmas reflections.

My old Macbook Pro... so much good work... but like me, now old. 

I met a man today. Many years ago here I am helping his mum move into the Habitat for Humanity House we built when he was just a shy boy. 

Pre-Christmas weekend
Last weekend was really busy. At the little local Presbyterian Church we decided to reach out into our community at Christmas. We are a little Church with most people older than I am. On a good Sunday we would get a congregation in the early 20's - but we have been adding to that number - slowly. In the last year or so we have been making attempts to serve our community with a couple of programs geared for families. On Saturday the 22nd December we held a community BBQ in the evening. It rained but we moved inside, and with me cooking the sausages, we had a great time. We had somewhere between 60 - 70 people come through. I led a fairly small Sunday service, but on Christmas Eve we held a family orientated service which we had advertised well. There were 70 - 80 people there, mostly young families. I led that. On Christmas Day we as a family had a quiet day. Our out of town families were visiting in-laws so we only had our local daughter and son-in-law and our foster daughter who copes with severe disabilities. We contacted all our family via phone or Skype. It was, however, a very busy few days. I hope, dear reader, that you had a great Christmas Day too. 
Health
I have been getting over my surgery, but having a difficult time. I have felt tired. I seem to have had indigestion and times of nausea, especially at night. It has distressed me because I was looking forward to leaving illness and health issues behind. I even worried that I was beginning to have heart problems. Last night I woke with world war three happening in my stomach. I got up and found comfort trying to sleep in the lazy-boy chair in the lounge. I got to thinking about my experience, feeling quite depressed. Then a penny dropped. Since my back problems and whenever I had renewed back or muscle pain I had been taking a prescribed pill for damaged nerves, that helped me relax. In the wee small hours of the morning I determined to look up the side effects of that pill. So after breakfast I went on the internet and found the appropriate sites. Apart from one or two symptoms, it was an exact description of what I had been experiencing! So I will stop using that medication and look forward to 2019 with more hope. It has got to be an improvement on 2018!
Today a day of nostalgia. 
A man now - We visited a hardware store and were searching for the right purchase at the right price. I was on the other side of a fixture than my wife when I heard her being greeted warmly by a man. They engaged in warm conversation and I wondered who he could be? "David's around the other side." I heard my wife say. A fully bearded young man came around the corner. I had not talked with him for years. I first knew him as a young shy boy, the son of a woman whose house we built through Habitat for Humanity. I am a facebook friend with his mum, so I recognised him from recent photos. He is now a student, working over the holidays at the hardware store. He lives with his partner and seemed very outgoing, warm and friendly. My mind went over the journey we had been on with his mum, him and his younger sister. We have kept in touch with mum often. I felt good once again about the energy I had poured into building the house for this family. His mum and his sister, also a student, still live in the house.
A fire chief - We were visiting the hardware store before lunch today and coming out we bumped into one of the local fire chiefs. He is high in the regional rankings. He greeted me warmly and his wife joined us. We chatted briefly and moved on. My mind went over our journey. I knew him as a new firefighter years ago, when he started in the midst of industrial unrest in the fire service. I have taken naming ceremonies for his teenage children when they were new born babies. I have taken his Dad's funeral. As I drove away I was having another warm trip down memory lane. 
Changing computer - My old Macbook Pro is old! It is so old that I cannot get updates for applications and modern stuff does not work on it, though it still does a good job. I have eventually been convinced that since I use it for powerpoint presentations, videos and music in Church, I ought to update it. So this afternoon I have purchased a flash new apple laptop, and with the help of my daughter and son-in-law, managed to set it up. There is sadness, the other one had travelled around the world and has done a lot of work for Habitat for Humanity, Churches and for the Night Shelter. It opened up a whole new world for me. I kind of suspect this new one will see me out. 

Change is inevitable, life has its uncertainties, but good warm memories enrich the journey and help bring significance to it all.  Happy New Year, all the best for you and yours, and all of us on planet earth, in 2019.