"Don't slam the door!", we would all shout.
Slam!
Too late, another brittle gas mantle broken and another caravan holiday to remember. When we were little not only did we holiday (other than rare stays at relatives) every time in a caravan, but we even went to the same places every time. The beach in Yorkshire that still had (I kid you not) the concrete block tank traps, carefully placed to prevent the Nazis invading and children finding hermit crabs in the rock pools. The layby near Preston where we had to stay the night once because the site was full and my Dad went down with a sick bug so couldn't drive us home.
It was only some years later that I became aware of the exotic lure of the Costa del Sol and places where the sun shone most days.
As we grow we become more aware of the environment around us. In teenagers this often appears in the form of rebellion and a rejection of everything the family home, up until then, has stood for. But only by being aware of our environment and its benefits and weaknesses can we, as teenagers are actually trying to do, grow out into previously uncharted territory.
If a bit of Lent is about the clearing of the accumulated rubbish that will allow the delicate plant of our spirits to grow then we need to spend some time looking around, thinking, what if I grew in that direction? What if God is actually leading me somewhere new? What if I might become more like Jesus by changing direction and not letting where I have been until now from shaping where I am going to be tomorrow?
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