No, it's not a date!  It's something that was prompted in my mind by today's PAYG which was based on  Isaiah 40: 25 - 31, a passage that I used to shape my 'testimony' bit in my ordination service 8 years ago (to the date) yesterday; hence the 8.  The 14 is the number of years since I 'heard' my call on 5th December 1997, the 5 is the number of years since my end of NAM interview by the MRC ahead of full accreditation as a BUGB minister.  As I listened to the reading, I was transported back to each of these 'places' momentarily, and to past reflections thereon (check back the archives for any year I've blogged and I will have mentioned it!).

For whatever reason, this year it had pretty much slipped my mind that these anniversaries come in a rush at the start of December, linked in my mind with Advent 2, and I concluded that's actually quite a healthy thing... a sense that given time, being this minister-type-person becomes 'normal' and no longer noteworthy, even for me.  I think it's helpful, too, as a reminder that other things that seem large and significant will, given time, relegate themselves to the background.

I still quite like to recall these dates, to take a moment to reflect and rededicate myself to the promises I made.  Perhaps, though, just as birthdays are less significant for adults, these anniversaries matter less to 'grown up ministers'?  Anyway, I am 14 or 8 or 5 or something!