Monday, November 20, 2006

Birthday blues (and greens)

I'm not sure I enjoy birthdays anymore. I tend to look back too much and wallow in nostalgia, thinking of different turns I could have taken in life, different choices I could have made. I'll be over it in the morning. I prefer New Year as a time to look forward.

Anyway I had a great birthday weekend with the lads in Dublin capped off by an awesome win by Ireland. I don't think it is pushing it to say that Ireland are the second best team in the world right now. I've been down to Lansdowne Road many times but this match was more significant as it was the last time I will be there. It's being flattened for a super new stadium which is great for Irish rugby but sad at the same time. There aren't too many international stadiums left with a wee cottage in the corner and trains driving past one side. I'll miss standing silently listening to the 'Fields of Athenry' reverberating all around me.

Footnote:
my blog has reached 5,000 hits.
As Apu would say....Thankyou, come again.

5 comments:

dave wiggins said...

Happy Birthday you old fart! and don't worry, the trains will actually be going under the new stand.

Anonymous said...

Belated Happy Birtday John!

But you are too young to wallow in nostalgia... :-) I think most of us have regrets and wonder what would have happened if we had chosen differently at certain crossroads... I have come to the conclusion that there is not a plan A, plan B etc. We have to believe that God was sovereign all along. And where we made mistakes, he can fully redeem them for his purposes. There is a quote that may sound like a cliche, but I think it holds a lot of wisdom: "Don't spend your life trying to make right decisions, but spend your life making decisions and making them right".

Have the best year yet!
Nina

J-Mac said...

Good words Nina...thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hi, if you werent the guy that was speaking in Emmanuel on sunday you can just delete this, (havent bin a member too long so not totally sure who everyone is sorry!)but yeah, it was a top night so glad to be a part of church that actually has a passion for doing something to help eliminate HIV and AIDS. Anyway i wasnt a member when the whole uganda trip happened so not sure all the details there but i was wondering, are they planning a return trip and is there any kind of future plans for what they want to establish out there? i would totally love to help if there are cos i used to work with Abaana and loved it and ive always wanted to establish some kind of orphanage/hospice to help deal with this and in going to Beautiful Gate in cape town in march so can totally steal ideas there! sorry for hijacking your web-thing for this interrogation!
thanks,
joanna

J-Mac said...

Hey Joanna,
Yeah it is great to have a leadership in church that don't hide when it comes to facing issues like these. We will hopefully be going back to jandira at some stage. There is no team from emmanuel team next summer (possibly the following summer) but we have established a link so there is plenty of scope for individuals to go out and help in the community we were in. There is much need. Speak to me on sunday.
j