Crikey, it was 2009 when I started this blog?  What happened?  Moved house, two kids, and the best uplift in business that we've had in years, that's what happened!

Then, a couple of weeks ago, a birthday.  One of those significant ones, where the first number changes.

I didn't like this idea, really, I didn't.  It got worse. We're starting a football team at Holy Trinity, so off I go to buy my first pair of boots in a very long time.  Down to Sports Direct and a explain to a kindly sales assistant that I'll be starting to play again for the first time in years.

He looks at me, studied, and then says, "You can get boots in all kinds of colours these days, but if you haven't played for a while, no harm to you, but get black ones."

Then it struck me, on a Sunday morning, when our vicar at Holy Trinity, Neal Barnes, was going on about growth and displaying his vegetables, that maybe things had grown in a good way.

At 50, I have a settled family life, two fabulous little girls, and work-wise, in the past year I've achieved more than I have in years. I've seen income grow at the Gurkha Welfare Trust, we've helped re-vamp direct marketing and launch online fundraising at the Thai Children's Trust, given East Anglian Air Ambulance a phenomenal start to individual donor recruitment, and taken Emmanuel College Cambridge's annual fund appeal online as well as on paper.  I've become Development Director at Holy Trinity; a chance to restore a wonderful 13th century church, and do things that could transform a city. That's thrilling.

Things are good.  In fact, they've never been so good.  I don't mean that to sound complacent.  Each and every client presents challenges, but that's why it's so good.  Being a father is the biggest challenge of all (quote from my big brother, "If you think you're doing it all right, then you really don't know what's going on").  So it's not easy, and it shouldn't be.  It's the challenges that inspire.  And it's good.

So.  50.  Not bad.  Even if I did nearly die after about 10 minutes of Holy Trinity United's first training session.