First Impressions - And The Rest

Well, after all the time it took to get sorted to get to New Wine, it seemed to come upon me very quickly. I kind of thought I would have loads of time to get ready, and then Sunday was upon me. At least I knew what it was like, and what I needed to take-and I wasn't taking a tent, which would be all ready for me when I got there. So we left Cheltenham shortly before 6, and got into Somerset just after 7-pretty good time, all told. probably because there was no other traffic most of the way at that time.

We got onto the site after the main meeting had started, but as we wanted to unpack, we didn't intend to go-so we had a fair bit of time to relax. The tent I was staying in was already up, so it didn't take me long, and I knew my way around the site, so I got to go into the meeting after all. And then after it, I popped along to the marketplace to say hello to my work colleagues (I was working in the art gallery) and find out when I was supposed to be in.
I was in at 10 a.m. the next day, though I didn't have to be. However, I wanted to have the evening off. It was a bit different from last year, when there were only 3 of us. Now there were 6, as there was supposed to have been last year, that meant we got time off. Which came as something of a shock to the system. And the way things worked out, it actually turned out that I had most of Tuesday off, as well-I was just on in the evening. So, in essence, I basically had 24 hours off. Which worked out really well for me. On the Monday evening, after the evening meeting, there was a quiz night, which was what I wanted to go to. I got in a team with a couple of friends and their friends, and a good time was had by all. We didn't win, but we did pretty well-and it was great fun. On Tuesday, God wanted me to fast during the day, which meant I didn't need to get to breakfast, so I had a leisurely shower, and got into the morning meeting a bit late. During which God told me that He wanted me to rest. Which I thought meant just that day, but actually turned out to be the theme for the whole week. So I didn't try to get to any seminars. I went off by myself and read some of  'The Prodigal God' for a bit-which naturally led into prayer and worship. In the afternoon, I went and spent some time with friends on the campsite, just chilling and relaxing. I felt like I got to know them a bit better, and really enjoyed it. A very good day, all in all.
The next day was the actual day off, and a whole bunch of us went into Castle Cary for a pub lunch, and then the girls went off shopping. The rest of us got back, and more chilling and chatting was the order of the day. Which more or less continued for the rest of the week. Most of my memorable moments were chatting with friends, including a good few gatherings in various people's tents after hours-and an idea for a couple I know to take on putting on my birthday celebration next year. Well, ours. We have one other friend whose birthday is the day before mine, so it looks as if it could well be a large joint celebration. Which I'm fine with, as long as I don't have to do most of the organisation.

Something God has been nudging me continually for some time now, is the importance of relationships; and, for me, that's what New Wine was really all about this time. I loved it all.