The Scandal of Sycamore

Kay: So... do we actually have any books round here that support penal substitution?

Lizzie: The Bible! Booyah.

Kay: HA!

A few of my favourite things

I can't look at you any other way

We finally got round to visiting The Ashmolean last weekend with David and Jem. After a couple of weeks of church history lectures, the exhibitions came to life in a new way. Also, they had a special exhibition dedicated to Japanese Ghost stories which was incredible.

Went to Puccino’s cafe afterwards for treats and chats. Yum.

Disco Ice Skating

Another assignment down! They are coming thick and fast this term, looking back it’s going to be easy to tell when deadlines were by my lack of posts…

A few thursdays ago we went ice-skating with a small crew from college and it was so much fun. Earlier that evening we also attended a small lecture at Christ Church College here in Oxford by Pete Ward (Celebrity Culture - God’s Behaving Badly) which was interesting, but perhaps the highlight was walking through a noisy city centre at night, then entering Christ Church College, which was like another world. It was so quiet within the courtyard and all I could hear was the sound of the fountain in the middle of the perfectly manicured grass. I felt immediately more intelligent, and little Harry Potter.

Then we went ice-skating. I fell over. Kim attempted some kind of catapult manoeuvre on me which went horribly wrong, but nothing broken, no bruises! I missed his back slide on the ice, apparently it was epic. Will definitely go again!

The Divine Mystery

One of our modules this term involves looking at the development of doctrine. After a pretty dense week of names, dates and following debates, the chapel set up some reflective spaces where we could engage with the distinctive persons of the Trinity.

Before coming to KBCTC I thought I would be involved with the chapel team, because that is where I had contributed previously. Not so. Instead, I have been able to relax, and learn that it’s not about perfection, or polish, but about a framework for engagement. Which can occasionally involve sleeping (soaking?) on some comfy sofas.

Great job team.

Anniversary Dinner

To celebrate our three year wedding anniversary (a few weeks back now), Kim and I went out for dinner to Jamie’s Italian. It was one of those rare restaurant visits where every mouthful of every dish was taste-bud heaven, it could have been dribbling down my chin and I wouldn’t have cared, it was that good.

After dinner, we headed to Oxford’s very own G&D’s ice cream parlour for a shared banana split. Basically we milked the excuse to treat ourselves - it’s all about celebration!!

And, you can see my hair is shorter. I gave it a trim on the first day back at college and it’s a bit choppy but does the trick. Sometimes I look in the mirror and think ‘is it totally 90’s?’ but I have no alternative hair cutting skills to draw upon to remedy this situation. As such, I have totally lost confidence cutting other people’s hair. My days as the college barber might be numbered, apart from Kim - and David, who has already paid me by way of a delicious spinach and feta pie from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals! Jamie’s stock has shot way up in my books this month.