Last weekend saw me take a 98.2 mile north-easterly course.
Naturally, the destination was Arbroath. As for the occasion; an annual weekend away with the youth group from the church I attend.
The idea is that the 40 or so young folk, aged between 15 to late 20s, can spend a worthwhile and enjoyable weekend in one another’s company. Time to relax, afternoons to explore the local area, opportunities to get to know people, sessions to consider the relevance of the Bible, junctures to eat good food…… and we managed to squeeze in some sleep too.
On the Saturday we opted for a Tay Bridge traverse towards St Andrews. Our two points of interest there were the renowned Janettas ice cream parlour and the Himalayas putting course, both of which suited the gloriously sunny day down to a tee. For the former, I can recommend a double wafer cone with tablet flavour ice cream. As for the latter, I’d encourage you to, at the very least, play well at Hole 14 where diners at an overlooking restaurant window can’t help but laugh or cry with you.
‘Minute to Win It’ was the game show imitation of choice as we played out our own Saturday night entertainment back in Arbroath. A hilarious boys versus girls battle ensued during challenges whose bizarre titles included Ready Spaghetti, Extreme Hanky Panky, and Tea Party. The girls won so let’s move on.
If you thought putting in St Andrews sounded dangerous, then you better turn away while I briefly recount the Arbroath cliff walk we indulged on when Sunday afternoon arrived. While sauntering ropeless along a man-made, level, metre-wide path, there definitely were moments when I chastised my adrenaline junkie nature. It’s going to land me in a tight spot one of these days.
At three seperate half hour points over the weekend, a 30-something speaker called Mark Fyfe, who works at Abernethy Outdoor Centre, referred to various parts of the Bible as he prompted us to reflect on what our true ‘treasure’ is in life. What do we value most? Money? Career? Image? Relationships? Possessions? We evaluated how much worth each of these ‘treasures’ carries in the grand scheme of things, and looked at why Jesus Christ merits being prioritised ahead of each and every one of them.
I’ll close with a pertinent quote from C.T. Studd: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”
No comments:
Post a Comment