four elephants

When I was at an age when it was OK to read comics, one of the jokes that did the rounds was this -

How do you fit four elephants into a Mini?

Answer: two in the front and two in the back.

Yes, I know it's not really funny at all. It's on a par with the "what's yellow and has large black spikes coming out of the top?" to which the answer was "shark-infested custard!"

I guess humour has changed a bit across the years!

But I was reminded of jokes like that today because this was very much a four-elephants-in-a-Mini sort of day. Trying to fit everything in.

There's a wedding this Saturday coming. Which makes the week shorter itself. Added preparation and less of the Saturday time in which to be getting it done. Time gets shorter on two counts.

There's a funeral service as well tomorrow afternoon. Same phenomenon again. Another two-fold shrinkage of the time-size of the week.

Today I was round at the school, since the new routines are now established there. An assembly today for Primary 1-3.

These assemblies with the younger set of children will be happening once a week, so I'll get more chance to meet with them than I seemed to do last year. The older group (the Primary 4-7s) will only be meeting once a fortnight - but I'll hopefully have a good deal more of a contact with them through time with them in the class.

At least that's what seemed to emerge from the 15 flying minutes that I spent with the staff in their room at the mid-morning break.

The Primary 5s booked me in for another 5-part course on Christianity. Same as last year which they seemed to think was great. The Primary 7s are wanting me in for a 3 or 4-part course on baptism and the saints. And the Primary 4s are wanting to fix something up about some of the Christian doctrines and the work of a guy like me.

I think they maybe look at the ground they're meant to be covering and think to themselves - Help! So I'm glad to be there to offer such help.

And it's great having that sort of contact with all of the children.

So a profitable morning in many ways, along there at the school.

I'd hoped I might have completed my preparation for the funeral service tomorrow by midday. But that didn't work out at all.

There were computer problems to do with our new database which I tried to address. And that took a fair bit of time.

There were people to see who needed some time just to work a whole load of issues through. And though I hadn't planned on that (I keep my days pretty flexible when I can, mind, deliberately), it was good to be able to have the time with them. The timing today seemed right.

And the whole of the afternoon was much the same. Priorities get adjusted on the hoof. The funeral preparation had to wait. I mean, it does get done: just not when I'd thought I'd do it.

At night I was out at Kirkliston again. Seeing the family where the young man died a couple of weeks ago. They're always glad to see me and give me a lovely sort of welcome every time.

It turns out that that the father whose son had died - he'd done some work with some slabbing round the back of our premises here and knew the place a bit. And his wife has done the catering for many years for one of the groups which uses our premises here every year.

They hadn't made the connection before. It was great to make it now.

It was like the Lord himself just sews these different strands aross our lives and slowly, subtly weaves them all together in a quite amazing way. He knows what he's doing all right!

Like in another situation where one of the folk involved in God's people here e-mailed to say that at last she'd secured just the perfect job. It was wonderful to hear!

A single Mum with all sorts of burdens to bear. And suddenly losing her job at the start of the summer. But her daughter was ill through the summer and she was 'conveniently' therefore at home. And now the daughter's better again - and she finds herself in work.

Wonderful! He knows what he's doing. Even when half the time we haven't a clue.