twenty

I've had a good day, with moments of sadness in places, but it's ended in frustration.

It started with the news that it looks like some friends of ours are going to have to move back to England. These are some of our closest friends; we have led cell groups together, our children our best friends, we have been on holiday together, and we have been together in the middle of it when things have been really hard, and when God has come through in amazing ways. Please pray with us that they don't have to leave. They don't want to.

Church was great, with Dave's preaching getting better each service. He really majored on the subject of us being afraid of God - afraid that he won't approve of us, afraid that when we sin he rejects us, afraid that he is keeping score on us and waiting for us to trip up so that he can judge us, when in reality it's the opposite, and he wants us to live in freedom. He used clips from the Shawshank Redemption, and, as I said yesterday, based the sermon on the parable of the talents.

I took Tobz, Hez and Grace up to Johnny Carino's for lunch. It's an Italian restaurant on a boat floating on the Nile in downtown Cairo. It was great to sit on the deck and eat great food and unwind and download with friends. I think Tobz got through three double espressos. I then went up to Katameya (A gated community about 20 mins drive from here) for Rik and Lonneke's leaving do. That was a nice party, and I got to chat to some good people but it's really sad having to say goodbye to lots of friends every summer, knowing that we may not see them again. Rik played keys in one of my worship teams, and he and the family will really be missed in church.

I got home at about 9:30, and have spent an hour trying to get my new bike tyre inflated on to my new wheel so I can go riding tomorrow, but no success so far. It's tubeless, and I don't think my punp puts enough air through the valve to seat the tyre on to the rim and seal it properly. It's really frustrating!