DERELICT SUNDAY

We had a great service at church this morning, when our preacher, Derek, who is in his 80s, and who has a heart for young people, gave us plenty to think about during the coming week.  I don’t know of many of his age who would go to a Youth for Christ AGM and then come and “fire us up” by telling us what he had heard.  He said he was really excited to hear what this organisation is doing in the schools in Swindon and I know he and his wife attend the prayer meeting every Friday morning to pray for the schools in our area.  Derek is such a gracious and Godly man - his sermon was excellent and many younger preachers would do well to listen to him.  He also touched on subjects that many would hesitate to mention, especially in church – so well done, Derek – I wish there were more like you who weren’t afraid to “stand up” and “speak up” for what they believe in.
 
After the service, Mr. HCB asked where I would like to go to look for something for the Derelict Sunday challenge, but as I had no idea, he decided we would go to the area north of Swindon.  However, that didn’t work out quite as planned because this is obviously quite an affluent area, with many farms, horses, stables and beautiful little cottages around, so there wasn’t much dereliction. 
 
We stopped off at Blakehill Nature Reserve where we ate our sandwiches, and Mr. HCB reminisced about when he used to travel to Blakehill on the bus in the late 1940s to visit his cousin and her husband, who lived in an old Nissen hut there when they were first married. I guess that’s when you know you are getting older - when you start reminisching about what you did as a child! 
 
After that we went hunting.  We came across this building, next to a house named “WotAJob” and it fitted the bill perfectly - my guess is that the owner is a scrap dealer, as there was plenty of it around.  I didn’t get too close though, as many of the properties in the area have notices up saying they are covered by CCTV, and the last thing I want is to get prosecuted for being where I shouldn’t be!  Mr. HCB also seemed to know most of the pubs around the area, so more reminiscing about his youth and what they used to get up to – obviously they didn’t have preachers like Derek in the church he went to!
 
“Speak up and speak clearly.
I want to hear what you have to say
     because it matters.
Let's listen to each other
     and respect one another's opinions.
Although, they may be different,
     wisdom allows us to be responsible
          for our own feelings and actions.” 
Felicia Johnson