I said last week that I may have forgotten something
and it turns out that (in my “eagerness” to start ironing) I actually forgot a
rather massive (and crucial) plot point. I walked home from Si’s birthday party
that night (distances don’t seem to matter after having a drink) and had a
lovely time on my slow (thanks to being inable to walk in a straight line) walk
home. It was my thinking time. It was a chance for me to ponder life’s big
questions (like who decided that blue and black were the appropriate coloured
office pens and why are yellow high – Vis jackets more widely used than say
orange) and to provide Wifey regular updates as to when I’d be home (as she was
waiting up to let me in).
On my
(somewhat flukey) arrival at my sister’s and brother in law’s house I rang
Wifey to let me in. There was no answer. I text her (admittedly something
probably looking like “whake yp. I’n hear xx”) – but there was no response.
People walked passed the house and chuckled at the sight of a suited up man
pressing his face into the window (there may or may not have been a window kiss
attempted – but no mooning) to try and get his wife’s attention. But all to no
avail. My Wife had fallen asleep – and friends once that has happened, waking
her up is a real issue.
But I was
stuck for options. With the twins asleep, I couldn’t attempt my normal tactic
of making as much noise as humanly possible. There was no dog to wake up to
make noise either. I kept trying to contact Wifey (I dread to think how many
texts she woke up to) but after 45 minutes passed I started to plan the most
comfortable position to sleep outside the front door. Just before I settled
down though, I made a quick call to my Brother In Law – Sam. Amazingly, he
picked up and sheepishly came downstairs to let me in. “I didn’t hear my phone”
said Cass in a kind of stating the obvious moment. “It’s ok” I said, as I half
took off my clothes before passing out………..
So anyway.
Here we are and friends - I’ve had a good week. I’m ten days into Detoxtober
(at the time of writing) and I’ve gone one step further than just “No Booze” in
the fact that I have also ditched all caffeine and fizzy drinks (bar sparkling
water). Do I feel better? No. But I didn’t feel bad in the first place if I’m
honest – I just thought it would be a good idea to do.
The last time
I gave up booze for a substantial period of time was when I was 19. I did it
for a month and actually found it quite refreshing (towards the end), so we
will see at the end of my 25 day stint this time (we’re going away on the 25th)
how I feel (Wifey has forgotten that I’m detoxing and has just text me saying
that she has got me a bottle of my favourite wine – but I WILL be strong!).
But for all
of you doing Stoptober this month (Dan & Silky for example) I wish you all the
best. I know how hard it is (and I’m sure that the story behind that will come
up at some point). But incidentally dear readers - if you do know someone doing
Stoptober this month – support them and love them through it. Don’t be on their
case if they fail – and above all else - do not try and pretend that you know
what they are going through if you don’t understand it – for as much as your
heart might be in the right place……it just isn’t very helpful.
But what else
has been going on since the Birthday Party? Here are a few highlights for you……
I spent a
fantastic afternoon with Christine and baby Ameila, I’ve spent some time with the twins, Marlow Wolves won the
Britbowl, Sp*rs lost to West Ham and I’ve probably done loads of other stuff as
well – but something that I did want to mention was an afternoon that I hung
out with my friend Neil Fix. 
Neil is a
vegetarian. Not that being a vegetarian defines a person. But he is. He is also
one of the most thoughtful and caring people ever. He is calm and takes time to
process things whilst he also has a habit of saying profoundly accurate things
(and normally in a way which catches you completely off guard). Neil writes a great blog and you can check
out the great facebook page he started here (featuring loads
of amazing blogs).
A couple of
weeks ago I met up with Neil to look at the future of Seek His Face and to see
how he could get involved further. What followed though was just a few hours of
chatting, laughing and him mocking me over some of the events of 10 Resolutions
so far. Obviously we spoke about Seek, but we also spoke about so many other
things. It was just really good fun and yet another example of someone that I
really enjoy just spending time with.
The weekend
after meeting up with Neil, I found my suit, prepared the duct tape, brushed up
on the rules of Ruggers and packed the cigars – all for Chris Banwell’s stag do. And this my
friends I’m pleased to say was a stag do of epic discoveries…….. (Albeit very
simple ones)
- The combination of Beer and Cider
(and then red wine) might well taste nice during consumption but the
results and after effects are questionable.
- Initially I thought that I didn’t
understand Ruggers but it turns out that I do understand
- Even after a “small” amount of
booze – I can still shoot an air rifle (somewhat worrying although FYI
- not quite as worrying as being
allowed to shoot live ammunition from AK’s in Latvia after one or two
beers beforehand).
- Ed Smith is one of the most amazing people I have ever spent time with.
I met Ed
Smith at New Wine a number of years ago and he
is someone that (in my head) I’ve always associated with Chris Banwell. Every single time I
speak to Ed I learn something new. Sometimes about me, sometimes about the
world around me or my faith – but when I say this – you need to understand that
I really am speaking here about every single time. Not occasionally. And by
saying this I don’t mean that Ed spouts of hundreds of useless facts at me (FYI
did you know that the average handbag has more bacteria contained in it than a
toilet?). Ed has an amazing ability to “observe and report”. To see you, or to
look at something and to see how it works. What this basically means is that it
is useless trying to put on a “front” around Ed because he will break you down
(without even intending to) in a matter of seconds (as he did to me without
realising on the night of the stag do). He is an amazing man who will go out of
his way to support and encourage you – and I’m honoured to be able to call him
my friend.
I finished
the night by requisitioning a bottle of Port. Now I’d like to say that I drank
it the next night, or even that evening - but in fact I didn’t. I brought it
for breakfast for all of the Groomsmen and Chris’s family on the wedding day
the week after……With a cheeky smile I tried to convince everyone that Port with
Breakfast was a natural thing for weddings. Bizarrely enough, no one went along
with my plan…….The wedding however was an amazing and beautiful day. But we
will get to that in a minute.
The night
before the wedding, Cass and I hightailed it down to the
I love
weddings. That should be blindingly obvious by now – and this wedding was no
exception. It was absolutely amazing (bar the weather). The service was beautiful,
the food was stunning, the people made me smile and I don’t think that there
was a dry eye in the venue when Danutia gave her speech. Captivating, engaging
and heart wrenching – I think I’ve been privileged enough to go to about 150
weddings in my life and I can safely say that Danutia’s was one of the best
speeches. It was an honour to be part of it and Cass and I both had an amazing
time (as everyone else probably did - until I started Djing…..)
But let me
introduce you to some people:
Sophie and Jamie Barnett
Sophie and
Jamie are both members of the Fal-Collective and were also
part of my band for Rivercamp. They are recently
married and I don’t think they would moan at me too much for saying that they
are both a bit quirky (which definitely isn’t a bad thing). They are both astoundingly
good musicians and both possess amazing servant hearts (to the level of
forgetting about their own preservation at times!). Jamie has the ability to
just bring warmth into a conversation (despite having a pet snake) and Sophie
encourages those around her to push forward. They are great to spend time with
– and you can see more of them (and please do) by checking out their brand spanking new VLOG (and no, I
didn’t know what one was before now either).
Jamie Martin
Let’s get
this out of the way first - Jamie is an amazing guitarist. I’m lucky to play
with a few of them, and he is definitely a great addition to the fold. But he
is also so much more than that. Jamie is funny, occasionally completely
oblivious to the world around him, a man of great faith, a joker and a great
friend. He is also a massive fan of Bacon (and let’s face it, apart from
Veggie people - who isn’t!?
James Moffitt
James is yet
another fantastic musician (as part of the Fal Collective) but is he also a
brilliant artist and did the Graphic Novel part of the artwork for the album.
He’s got a great personality and cares deeply for those around him. He also
made me cry a few weeks ago when I received in the post all of his artwork
sketches for the album and lots more besides. It was an amazing gesture (and
something that I would never think of) – and certainly not one that I’ll be
forgetting in a while as it was so thoughtful. James is also in possession of
the strangest accent in the world. A mix of Northern and Cornish….
Ben Jenkin
Once upon a
time Ben was in my youth group at Trinity in Cheltenham. He won’t mind me
saying that he was an absolute nightmare. And because of that - It’s also fair
to say that I saw an awful lot of myself in him. But when I left Trinity, we
lost touch - so imagine my surprise when I came across Ben again in Falmouth.
Ben is smart, caring, funny, an instigator of mischief and has a personality
that allows others to relax around him. He is also (and I’m not sure if he has
realised this yet) a leader and someone who can get things done. I’m really
looking forward to spending more time with Ben – and getting to know him
(again).
Anna Mason
Anna is one
of my favourite people to hang out with in the whole world. It’s quite simple.
She makes me laugh (and can laugh at herself), she’s completely mischievous,
she thinks externally, she genuinely cares about others and is probably too
hard on herself at times. For some reason - she also occasionally comes to me
for advice about men - which is scary (especially considering how some of my relationships before Cass
ended). I find hanging out with Anna to be really refreshing, so I was really
happy that she was on our table at the wedding.
Ruth Duckworth
You would be
hard pushed to find anyone that cares more for those around her than Ruth. Her
heart is simply massive and it constantly astounds me how much she cares or how
compassionate she is. But alongside that, she is also a massive encourager and
even in the hardest moments of writing 10 Resolutions she has been there
alongside me, encouraging me to push forward. She’s an amazing woman and I know
that I am a better person from knowing her and seeing the example that she
sets.
So there you
have it – and you are pretty much up to date. We had an amazing Seek the other
night, I’m just about to start working on Matt’s EP, I’m off to lead in Wycombe
at the weekend and I’m 6 anxious weeks away from being 30. I still have the
feeling that something exciting is brewing, it’s just that I don’t know what
that is yet. Hopefully it will come into sight soon though…..
I did want to
finish just by mentioning one other conversation that I’ve had this week – and that was with Flik who brought it
to my attention (albeit through laughing at me extensively) that an awful lot
of my stories involve booze. Which on reflection – is a completely fair point
(just see the start of this chapter), and something that I hadn’t really
thought about (although maybe subconsciously I had – hence Detoxtober) until
now. So I’m sorry everyone (I think?) and to make up for it – let’s have a
party! (Joke). I’ll balance you out in the next chapter with a story that VERY
few people know from my childhood.
Please send
in any questions you may have via the Facebook page,
the comments section, Twitter or email and please
remember to subscribe via the big white box at the top……
Oh – and I’ve
only got a tiny number of limited edition albums left so
please get yourself a copy (if you get one now you’ll get a
special present)
Have fun,
keep safe and God Bless. Until next time
