The last two weeks have been good, as Toni and I have been on holiday. We spent a week in Lyme Regis, Dorset (see photos), enjoyed Easter, had a day in London including seeing the musical version of Billy Elliot, and last night a great party at home with family and friends to celebrate 50 years of me.

Apart from great food, great company, and great games (as the night wore on), a highlight was an extraordinary photo collage of my life that my family had secretly put together.

Thanks!

What a way to celebrate my birthday: a fitness test at the local gym (First Steps near Corsham). Toni joined some months ago and her subtle persuasion finally worked.

The fitness test went OK, so the next step is that the trainer puts together a personal programme for me.

I've just returned from a week in Austria, organised by Accts MMI (see other articles in this blog) and hosted by the Austrian army chaplaincy.

There were around fifty participants from about ten European countries: mainly from the former communist area plus a lot from Austria. We had gathered to enjoy fellowship and skiing together, as well as to explore what it means to be a Christian in the armed forces. There were impressive speakers giving lectures and Bible studies (I led one of the Bible studies) and participation was enthusiastic.

This is an enjoyable way to do Christian mission, and it was great to see relationships growing during the week.

Today I visited the One Life Live exhibition at Olympia, London. This is an exhibition for people wanting to make the most of their life, and comprised several hundred exhibition stands grouped in zones to do with coaching, spirituality, gap year opportunities, starting a business, etc.

I went along to observe the competition in the coaching market. It was interesting to see that some coaches were obviously clear about what they offer, and others not - and some stands were far too cluttered. I feel challenged to focus my own marketing more effectively.

The spirituality zone was next door to the coaching zone, and some of the stands seemed really wacky, and to be offering escapism rather than a way of excelling at life.. On the other hand, the coaching zone didn't really seem very interested in spirituality, and was thus not really holistic. I found myself wondering what it would look like to offer coaching that takes spirituality seriously as a part of real life.