DAY 2: Monday 11th February 2008

Woke early this morning - blood glucose level 6.8 mmol/L - thought about having a cup of tea but . . . remembered I only had two tea bags to last the whole day(if you make two cups in quick succession they are fairly reasonable but if you let the tea bags hang around too long the second cup is really naff! . . . I wonder if I'm a 'tea snob')

A couple of weeks ago I had a conversation with a guy who had lived on the street (actually he preferred to sleep in the Railway Station when he could) he had a small camping stove & would open a can of chicken soup & heat it over the stove - then he can his friends would dip their bread in the can . . . living on the streets with no access to cooking equipment must be really difficult

In my Bible reading today I read of how when Moses was up the mountain the people had made & worshipped a golden calf - he says to God "This is terrible. This people has sinned—it’s an enormous sin! They made gods of gold for themselves.And now, if You will only forgive their sin. …But if not, erase me out of the book You’ve written." (Exodus 32:31-32, The Message)

It's interesting that Moses places his concern for the people before himself - this is the key to any Christian work, particularly working with asylum seekers . . . quite often it's not understood - it's not 'sexy' - but then Jesus did say "I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was Me — you did it to Me."(Matthew 25:40, The Message)

Hectic day at work - in the afternoon gave a presentation on asylum to a group wanting to start a drop-in on the otherside of the City, had a really good time a very responsive group

Living with a 'food parcel' is interesting as Vivienne, my wife, says it has been really well thought out it seems to give you enough to live on & a fairly good balance of protein etc - although if you are diabetic, or have other dietary needs, you do need to vary the contents - lunches are a bit of a problem if like me you take a 'packed lunch' (the fact that everything is 'value food' is a bit depressing when you see all the cans in the cupboard - wonder if I'm a 'food snob'?)

In the evening we had a Bible Study to which Viv & I take two asylum seekers - we always eat before the study . . .

Actually, as a church (East Manchester Family Church), we always eat at every opportunity - I wonder sometimes if the church's Mission Statement isn't:

"if there ain't no eating - it ain't no meeting"

But then Jesus seems to eat with a lot of people, He gave us a meal to remember Him & in heaven we will celebrate at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb . . . food is central to the Kingdom of God!

Breakfast: porridge & 1 slice of dry toast

Lunch: tuna sandwich (made with dry bread!) & fruit

Dinner: chicken korma & no pudding (this was part of our Bible Study & we ate with our asylum seeker friends)

Bed time: Cold!

Blood glucose level 8.5 mmol/L (not so good - I suspect that this was due to the chicken korma being served with white rice & the curry sauce that was used . . . occasionally a slightly high reading is OK-ish)