This week I was down in Swanwick for a couple of nights at the BUGB ministers' refresher conference.  I love Swanwick, it holds many happy memories for me, and it did not disappoint.

It was good to catch up with friends serving in Wales and England, and good to listen to the thoughts of others.  It was a privilege to share my NZ paper with a small group, who laughed in the right places and engaged in good discussion afterwards.

It was good, too, to get back home, to pick up the routine work of ministry, to wrestle with real concerns, to be the person I am called to be.

I'm not honestly sure I came back feeling refreshed, but I came home with stuff to ponder, and that seems like a positive outcome.

Down the years, I've managed to set off for church having left various things at home... books or papers, a service script (thankfully I had time, on that occasion, to drive the ten miles home and back again and still be early!), visual aids and so on. 

Today I managed to arrive at church without my keys!  So, even before my day begins I've walked a few miles (a little in excess of 4 I think) and I still managed to be here with plenty of time for the various tasks today will bring.

Ninety-nine times out of every hundred, I put my church keys in the same pocket of my handbag... yesterday I didn't and a rare failure to check before I set off this morning meant they were still in my coat pocket from yesterday.

The moral of this tale?  Even organised people are fallible, and me especially so.