The third verse of 'All Things Bright and Beautiful' came into my head when I woke up yesterday morning, but not because of the fiery sunrise fringing the eastern sky. Swinging my legs out of bed, I was confronted with the largest, angriest bruise my right thigh has seen since we played a rough Milton Keynes school at football when I was fifteen. It had to be christened 'The Purple-Headed Mountain'. Apologies to all MK residents.
This particular fleshly abomination was the result of about thirteen hours of kayaking over three days, climaxing with rescue drills in the Nene. 'Connectivity' has become a bit of a buzz word - you have to keep the power transfer flowing through your body and into the boat itself, which means a lot of knee braces and pushing with your toes. There's also a heck of a lot you have to do with your trunk / torso - it's really not so much about the arms!
Ditto for canoeing, which we did today. (The rest of the water sports group were on it yesterday, too, when I was in London getting my eyes assessed for laser eye surgery, which will help no end once I get that done, hopefully in the new year.) In canoeing, you kneel, and use one paddle instead of two, steering by using it as a rudder at the back, so you (in general) keep your strokes on the one side of the boat.
Quoc (one of the other trainees) gave us a great morning message yesterday. He took the theme of 'rest' as his way of leading the morning devotions, which we have each day. Physical rest is really important for all of us at the moment, just as much as putting energy into all that we're doing. But spiritual rest is the far greater, deeper fulfillment that we all need, and can have in Jesus - the one who gives us rest in our souls if we come to Him in the faith that He will provide.
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