York (because Rachel asked...)

Last weekend Anthony and I travelled to York for our thrice-yearly accountability day.

This started back in undergraduate days, when a group of guys from St. Ebbe's Church used to meet up regularly for prayer and accountability. They continued meeting, albeit less frequently, after they graduated and moved on from Oxford. The first weddings occurred in the summer of 2008, after which meetings were modified to incorporate the wives. The group currently consists of seven men and four wives, now scattered across the UK. But three times a year, we travel to spend a Saturday together. I'm the newest member, having just arrived in February, but the others were so kind and welcoming that I soon felt very much at home. It helped, too, that I was already at least acquainted with everyone from Oxford days.

The plan for the day usually runs something like this: In the morning we listen to a sermon all together and share some news and pray prayers of thanksgiving. Then there's lunch, followed by a fun activity. The guys usually go off to play some kind of sport, while the girls stay behind for tea and chat. In the afternoon, we break into guys' and girls' sessions for personal accountability and prayer. The guys have a list of questions that they use for this, but the girls take more of a categorical approach, reporting on how we're doing in specific areas like personal Bible study and prayer, church, work, family, etc. Some people might have to start drifting off after the accountability time, but a good number usually stay around for dinner and games in the evening. I retired late on Saturday night as the reigning Great Dalmuti champion.

Anthony and I arrived in York in the last stages of tiredness, after a long week of work/study and a series of very late nights. By the end of the weekend, though, we felt deeply refreshed -- it was really good to get out of London and away from work, to spend time with old friends, to have some fun, and to take stock of our lives and our relationships with Christ (even where that involved becoming painfully aware of things that need to change). The girls had our accountability session at a coffee shop in town, and I also enjoyed getting to see something of the beautiful medieval city.