Off the beaten track ...

Our 10th year in Oxford is now well underway and we are finding our rhythm together with a fantastic group of new students. In many ways there is a warm familiarity to the pattern of the College year although each year-group proves to be very distinct, people whom God has gathered to walk together for a period of formation. Amidst the familiar routine God has been speaking about the need for us to explore the unfamiliar.

One of the key recurring images God has spoken about in recent years is that of a mountain climb. At times the journey has been tiring, painful and has seemed relentless but we can't expect a mountaintop experience without being prepared to put in the work required to get to the summit.

At the beginning of the academic year God spoke again about the same mountain but encouraged us that there were different aspects to explore through taking a different track, the narrow way, and that we should be prepared to encounter some rugged terrain which was off the map leading to us discovering something new.

I'm excited and invigourated by the process of exploration and when content to settle for what is I'm grateful to be following God who has vision for his people to find more expansive places in him and faithfully leads us there - here's to pressing on ...