Ok, it's confession time. I have always loved the start of the new school year. From a very young age I've loved the meeting up with friends after the summer break, I've loved the onset of autumn and the prospect of woolly jumpers and thick scarves. But most of all I've loved the opportunity for ... new stationery. The joy of a new pen and notebooks yet to be written in cannot be underestimated, and many years on that joy remains the same! (I know, I need to get out more). There's something about that blank notebook that holds so much potential - thoughts yet to be had, stories yet to be written, reflections yet to be reflected.

Over the summer I've been reading some of Donald Miller's work, and particularly his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. In it he reflects on the experience of having his biography turned into a feature film. What caused him the most concern was that the film producers wanted to adapt a lot of his story (when I say adapt, read invent new stuff) because it just didn't contain enough drama to be turned into a film that people would watch.

Moving on from those thoughts he asks what might our lives be like if we think of them as stories - or for our organisations or churches rather than having a mission statement, we have a storyline? He talks about the fact that no-one ever sets out thinking that their greatest dream in life is to be the owner of a Volvo, but actually that is often the height of excitement for many of our lives.

This got me thinking about what kind of story it is that we're inviting young people into. Kenda Creasy Dean says that if young people are to grow in consequential faith there are a number of things that need to be in their a story:

1) a God worthy of belief
2) a community to belong to
3) a hope for the future

As we head into this new term with a blank page ahead of us and a story to be written, what will that story contain both for us and those we lead?

Write well! Ruth