Coffee with friends...

This morning, I have been for coffee with a friend. On this occasion, a fellow church leader who I meet with about once a month.

I like coffee shops. I do some of my best thinking and praying in the semi-anonymity of a coffee shop. Away from the busy-ness of home, where there's always something else to do and spending time with God, or just pondering, requires resisting the temptation to switch on the computer, or just put some washing on first... Just me, my Bible, my journal and a cuppa. Refreshing, reviving, relaxing.

Equally lovely is coffee with friends. I'm not great at small talk, mind. Not very good at remembering the names of other people's children or where they were about to go on holiday. I like big talk. About dreams and visions and God and life and politics and church and society. Learning from one another. Growing together.

I heard someone say recently that 'pain is inevitable, but joy is not' I guess that could sound a bit morbid. I didn't think so. It made me think that it's worth making sure the joy happens...