A ticket to ride! The Law won!

I got a speeding ticket the other day.

It really wasn’t my fault. I’d been driving like a good boy for a while, enjoying my A4 Avant 1.9tdi.
It’s really cool, quiet and economical at 60mph. I enjoy watching the trip computer stay up around 80-90mpg as I soar and swoop at a steady 55-60mph.

On this day however, I needed to be somewhere near Elgin. I was driving from work in Buckie along the A98. The main route between Fraserburgh on the extreme East of Scotland and the A96 [ the main Aberdeen to Inverness road ] which makes the A98 a MAJOR traffic artery for East West traffic. This road is well laid out, has two lanes, lots of bends but nothing serious or dangerous that can’t be negotiated at a steady 50 – 60. The speed limit for this road is 60mph.

As is very often the case in Moray, we have a plague of drivers who insist on forming convoys which travel at 40 – 50mph. This means they slow down to 30- 40 on the bends and seem incapable of speeding back up to warp 1 afterwards.

So on the day in question Officer, I overtook some of these snails, reaching 71 mph in order to use a particular opportunity before crawling into a bendy forest section which might have necessitated these ‘drivers’ stopping for a surveyor’s report on the state of the bends!
Sadly my manoeuvre occurred right in front of a mobile camera van!

It is impossible to contest the fine – I broke the law.
It is impossible to do anything other than admit the case and pay up.
It is also impossible to do anything about crawlers .

Why?
Why can there not be a speed minimum imposed on certain vital sections of road which are shared by people with time constraints as well as those with barely a pulse?
So my wrongdoings have caught up with me.
My fine will wipe out all my fuel economy savings over the past months.


But I still get to drive a great motor round some of the world’s best country listening to some excellent music and teaching messages.

A Joyful Christmas to all!

This may be my last post until the New Year....

...so if you're regular or just visiting....

Have a Lovely Christmas Break and

a Prosperous New Year.

Joy to the World

Last night, two of my church cell groups combined to go Carol Singing in the streets around our church building. It was a beautiful night anyway with a gusty wind which would carry our voices and a sharp clear night with stars and a cracking atmosphere.
There would have been about 16 - 20 of us including teenagers, and we all greatly enjoyed being together and singing out of our love for the Lord and our desire to bless this community.
For those of you that don't know Scotland, we live in an area which is difficult to reach, not through persecution, not through aggressive response, not because of anything other than an apparent indifference. People seem completely unmoved - until you either wait for them to make the opening, or till you touch a sensitive area in their own being. The latter seems to be the only way to reach out. To do this you need to be in relationship and open with folks.
We had many people coming to their windows, children receiving sweeties, many folk just listening, a couple paused on their way past. As we moved between locations, a young single mum and her friend had been stood on the kitchen doorstep - listening.
On being greeted with a "Merry Christmas!" she declared that our "carols had made it seem like a real Christmas" for her - "at last!"
Hopefully we can continue to get alongside these lovely but damaged folks with our toddler groups, dance groups and 'Kettle's On' coffee times.
One thing's for sure - they're ready and open it seems.

Men, Ministers and Mrs's on a Mission

Louise & I went to a ministers meeting yesterday in Inverness. The kind of meeting where pastors and leaders from several different denominations meet together not just to talk shop but also to network and more importantly PRAY for the collective work of us all. The organisation is called People With A Mission Ministries [ PWAMM ] and meets in Perth and Inverness and soon in Aberdeen.
One hot topic was the forthcoming Seasonal Advert on Scottish ITV and it’s viewing schedule. Please pray for Scotland since over 2.7 million people may well see this ad.
God is most definitely moving in his pastors.
Hopefully we will point the sheep in the right direction.

Usually I don't really enjoy these kind of gatherings. I suppose it's an attitude thing again, plus the fact that over my life and career, 'meetings' don't seem to do much. However, yesterday I had a minor head cold and was a little detached from the proceedings. But the Lord wasn't detached from me. I had a succession of those little nudges that I've come to consider as God-prompts, one of which re-visited a prophecy spoken over my ministry back in 2001, another confirming an initiative in which I'm currently involved.

I love the way the Lord never wastes anything we give to Him.