BRIGHT LIGHT

Hello everyone!  On Monday I forgot to mention that Cathy had been virtually with us from 6pm till 7.30pm via Skype for my beloved’s birthday at home evening, so she felt a part of the celebration and saw the earlier people arrive.  She wanted us to hand her a glass of wine through the computer!!  It helped her feel not so far away; Skype is so much better than just speaking on a phone. 

If you remember that I had tidied away most of the piles downstairs and dumped it upstairs in the back bedroom and our bedroom, so that there was space to welcome our guests, well I then decided to sort things upstairs so that I did not need to bring it all back downstairs again.  Now our back bedroom has emerged from the piles of things and it does look better.  Our bedroom still has a number of piles to sort but I feel that this holiday time with my beloved has helped me start to tackle them.  We also had a busy time shopping mainly in garden centres, and found initially a drinks trolley for the garden, which my beloved managed to construct with some encouragement from me.  It was of course not as simple as it said to construct but my beloved was as always persistent and managed to do that despite the difficulties.  It was so lovely just relaxing later in bed and having a slow start to the days in the holiday.  I loved having time to sort things, spend time with my beloved, and enjoy being at home together enjoying our garden.  My beloved suggested that I shop later on Thursday instead of my usual early morning start on a Friday, before helping at the Acorn Centre, which made the experience more relaxing; in fact my beloved came with me and spotted a really good offer at Sainsbury’s on a garden table, 4 chairs and a parasol for half price at £79.99.  We decided to buy it as we had seen a number of different sets for sale in the garden centres we had been visiting and my beloved realised it was the best value.  He said it would only take a few minutes to put together, but I was not so sure, after our usual experience, but he was right!  The folding chairs were already constructed fortunately and the holes in the table had been correctly prepared, so once my beloved had got the table legs correctly positioned, so he could fix it.  I must admit I could not have worked out the correct position for the table legs, but my beloved is gifted at being able to visualise things better than I can. 

It was also lovely to relax in bed later on Friday before getting myself ready to go to the Acorn Centre, without having to shop or do a wash; I had also done the weekly wash on Thursday, so that Friday was not the usual rush.  I had a good day helping at the Acorn Centre before returning home to relax with my beloved.   Suddenly he noticed that one of my favourite singer songwriter and poet, Leonard Cohen, was being featured on BBC 4 last night, so we were able to enjoy watching the three programs which we recorded to enjoy again at a later date. 

Today I went on a study day about ‘Fresh Expressions of Church’ and how to be ‘church’ for people who have no church background, especially when there is so much spiritual hunger nowadays.  We were shown examples of café churches, where it was a normal café during the day and then had worship in the evening; that appealed to those outside the church more than our traditional church does.  What was found was that the churches behind the ventures did not gain new members of the traditional churches, but the other ventures outside a normal church setting seemed to grow to such an extent that one venture, shown as an example, which began in 2006, outgrew the café, moved into a redundant pub with a nominal rent and then into the town hall!  What we were encouraged to do was to do surveys  to find out what people would like church to be, and then to find out our resources in terms of skills possessed and availability of funding, premises and volunteers.  What was emphasised was the importance of listening to them and then seeing what was possible.  There has been much to challenge us and much to think about in relation to our church and circuit.  

On my return I looked at the changes my beloved had been making in the garden whilst I was out and we decided to pop down to the nearest garden centre to see if there was anything else we might want to get for our garden.  We found a sturdier pot for a lovely bay tree we had bought yesterday, as we tend to get strong winds in our garden, and it could easily get blown over; in fact we had had to support it yesterday after we had brought it home as it kept being blown over.  We also got another plant for our garden. 

In the early evening we went to Café Rouge for a meal, as we had a 2-4-1 meal voucher courtesy of Saga magazine, to use before the end of this month.  The meal was very good; we both had delicious soup made with tomatoes, peppers and aubergines as a starter.  I had a chicken dish served with herb mash, whilst my beloved had a sea food casserole, both of which we enjoyed.  For dessert I had a chocolate and walnut brownie served hot with ice cream, whilst my beloved had a crème brûlée.  It was a lovely end to our holiday week.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  On Sunday the weather was glorious and hot so we relaxed and tidied up the garden in time to fill the garden rubbish bin.  It was relaxing after all the travelling the day before.  On Monday we started to sort out things downstairs in preparation for visitors in the evening for my beloved’s birthday.  I carried loads of things upstairs and dumped them in the spare room and dusted and cleaned and it looked great and spacious downstairs.  It was just ready by the time people arrived to celebrate my beloved’s 65^th birthday.  Unfortunately the weather was rather cold and unsettled to sit out in the garden, but it was reasonably fine, so my beloved was able to give his friends tours of the garden.  It was good to see so many friends and enjoy shared drinks and nibbles.  We even remembered to take some photos and most of us enjoyed some of the lovely birthday cake, which my sister Janet made and decorated with amongst other decorations a computer; the cake was a great success!  That was the day that the Lord has made and I was glad and rejoiced in it.

Hello everyone!  I am sorry that it has taken me so long to blog, especially as I am on holiday from the surgery this week!  I had a busy day on Saturday, as my elder daughter Beth and I went down to Northampton for the day, as it was my eldest sister Margaret’s 71^st birthday.  She is being well cared for in a nursing home in Brixworth, North of Northampton.  We set off at 8am and arrived at about 11.05am after a good journey, except for a slow 14 miles on the M1 through road works, which took 20 minutes!  The journey was made easier as I had the companionship of Beth to keep me alert.  We had one break on the way there and on the way back. 

When we arrived Margaret was a bit weepy and emotional, as my brother Selwyn, my younger sister Fran and her younger son Matthew had already arrived.  She soon calmed down and was pleased to see we had come.  She seemed to be pleased with the African violet in a watering can and the happy birthday balloon, as well as the chocolates, which Beth had brought.  We then took Margaret out into the garden, as it was a lovely sunny and warm day.  There was a canopy in the garden, which protected us from the greater heat of the sun.  Fran went and asked if we all could have a cup of tea in the garden and the staff were happy to oblige.  After a few minutes a member of the staff brought out a large birthday cake with 4 candles on it and attempted gallantly to light them, but the breeze proved too strong, so Margaret pretended to blow out the candles!!  However we said that we would prefer to have some cake later, as we still had not yet had lunch.  Conversation was rather difficult as poor Margaret could not follow all the conversations, which we were having, though Matthew made a valiant effort to repeat the content of the conversations, so that Margaret could be more involved in the conversation.

Selwyn and Fran had booked a table for us at a local pub, so we told staff that we were taking Margaret out for lunch.  Selwyn suggested that he could take Margaret in his car, but we realised that my car was easier for her to get into, so I suggested that we would also take her wheelchair, as she cannot walk far.  We took Margaret over to my car, whilst Selwyn and Fran went ahead to say that we were on our way.  Beth, Matthew and I were there to facilitate Margaret’s way into the car, but it soon became clear that she could manage to get in on her own, when she felt ready.  Fortunately our Toyota Yaris Verso is an easy car to get into with plenty of things to hold on to.  We soon arrived at the pub, but as it was not easy to access Margaret had to get out of the wheelchair and negotiate a few steps with our support, whilst Matthew brought the wheelchair, so she could ride in it inside the pub.  Much to our relief we were soon settled and choosing our lunch.  Everyone had a glass of wine, except me, as I cannot drink and drive.  We ordered our food, Selwyn, Fran and I had pancakes and Margaret had fish and chips.  Beth had to ask what they could do for her as she is no longer allowed gluten, now it has been confirmed that she is a celiac.  They were very helpful and offered her grilled fish with salad and new potatoes, which looked tastier than ours. Fran and I had had a meal there the last time we had visited Margaret and enjoyed the food so much that we recommended others should try it, but unfortunately this time our pancakes were cold.  Fran and I were ready to ask to have them heated up, but Selwyn did not want to make a fuss and spoil the birthday outing for Margaret so we ate it quickly.  Margaret seemed to enjoy the outing especially the glass of wine.  Selwyn generously paid for most of the meal, whilst Fran and I only gave a small contribution at his insistence!  We had a good time together despite the food being cold and Margaret managed to get in and out of the pub, and in and out of my car without too much difficulty. 

Once we were back at the home we asked if we could have a piece of cake and another cup of tea, which they very kindly provided for us.  Margaret then checked how old she was and wrote that down, and we all had to sign in her diary that we had been there visiting her on her birthday.  She can then read it later and remember who has visited when.  Soon we had to say goodbye and set off for home.  It was good to get home at 7pm and spend time with my beloved, after a long but fulfilling day.  That was the day that the Lord has made and I rejoiced and was glad in it.

Hello everyone!  Today I had a Sunday I could just go to receive as I am not preaching, which is lovely, as I had 4 preaching appointments last month!  I had a lovely walk down to church as my passenger, May, does not feel comfortable attending a communion service.  It was fine this morning, albeit rather windy, but it was so good to have a walk.  It was a lovely service, I felt so peaceful and at one with the Lord, when I was receiving communion.  I did take up the offering, but otherwise I was able to relax and absorb the mystery of the Trinity.  Ashville College chaplain, Rev. David Barker led the service.  He described himself as rather uncoordinated when washing up, when he was studying at college; in fact he was told that he would never be able to juggle!  He therefore decided to try and learn and found that it was a very difficult skill to master.  He then showed how you started with one ball thrown from hand to hand, which he admitted he did not do with much expertise even now!  He then progressed to throwing 2 balls at once, which he managed, but then had to learn to juggle 3 balls together!  He did give us a short demonstration, which showed though he could manage the feat for a short period of time, he was far from expert.

He then described the Trinity as something you needed to ‘juggle’ and have active all at the same time; that is that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit and yet is one!  He explained that the doctrine had not been formulated as part of the church doctrine, until centuries after Christ, but that it grew out of the disciples’ own experience.  I could tell he had the gift of a teacher in the way he explained it so clearly and systematically.  He talked of how the disciples came to understand that God was their Father, as Jesus revealed him to them, especially when he told the parable of the prodigal son; in that story God was shown to be looking out for his errant child, so thrilled to see him coming home, that he ran to meet him and welcome him, before he was able to show how sorry he was for how he had let his father down.  God was longing to welcome him home and ready to accept him as he was.  I am sure Jesus realised that not everyone had had a loving father, so he told the story of God the Father, who was always ready to welcome our feeble attempts at coming back to him. Jesus lived among them struggling with the same problems, which faced all people, living his life with us, yet in constant communion with his father, as he was ready to criticise those who were too busy following rules, so that they could not love or accept those who did not conform to the many regulations. Then after Jesus was taken from them into heaven, they felt filled and encouraged, in fact they felt impelled, to share the message of their risen master Jesus with others, so they began to see that the Holy Spirit was another manifestation of that same God.  We learn through the Holy Spirit to recognise Jesus and God’s encounters with us each day, and we are given God’s wisdom as we minister in this needy world.  I feel I perhaps have more understanding of the concept of the Trinity, three in one, even though it is still too great a mystery to grasp; however if we did grasp it God would not be God, as we would be restricting his being to what we could describe! 

I conclude this summary of our message with 2 verses from hymn no 5 in our hymn book, written by Alfred Edward Alston.

‘Father most holy, merciful and loving,

Jesus, Redeemer, ever to be worshipped,

Life-giving Spirit, Comforter most gracious,

God everlasting;

Three in a wondrous unity unbroken;

One perfect Godhead, love that never faileth,

Light of the angels, succour of the needy,

Hope of all living;’

This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

This week I have been busy at work, working late, as I have been covering typing for our secretary, who has reduced her hours to 2 days a week, instead of 5 days!  I was pleased that I only had one evening meeting last week, as I prefer to be able to relax with my beloved.  At the weekend we ordered an arbour for my beloved as part of his special 65^th birthday, which is on June 15^th.   It arrived on Wednesday, but it turned out to be quite a challenge to put together!  The instructions were not terribly clear, but with the help, expertise and drill of our friend John we were finally able to complete its assembly!  The work started at 3pm and we took a break at 5pm for about an hour, as John and my beloved had hit as snag, and had some tea.  After tea my beloved had worked out a way to tackle the completion of the assembly, so that by 7.30pm it was finished!!  John was such a help and encouragement that we could not have possibly managed without his help!  It is wonderful to have such great friends.  It is a wonderful addition now to our garden furniture, even offering some shelter from too much sun or some rain.  It is at the back of the garden, so that we can see the panorama of the garden, with it active bird life, including the magnificent jackdaws, the squabbling starlings, the busy tits, the industrious dunnocks and sparrows; our garden is a treasure of wildlife, with bees visiting our abundant flowers.  It is wonderful to enjoy the haven of our garden.  I love my beloved’s enthusiasm for the birds and the variety of plant life and water features in our garden.  We are so fortunate with all we have.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  Today the weather is beautiful, hot and sunny, although it is too hot to sit out at the moment.  As my friend May, who I usually take to church, was unable to come because her hay fever was bad, I walked down to church this morning.  I was leading worship this morning on Pentecost Sunday, when we celebrate the day when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had promised them, and the church was born.  I love this Sunday, as I can so imagine the disciples still bewildered and feeling bereft after they saw Jesus disappear into the clouds a few days before, suddenly transformed when they received the power from above.  No longer were they afraid, hiding behind locked doors, which they had continued to do, even after they had met the risen Lord.  Whatever had happened to them was clearly visible to all the crowds there for the festival, in fact many thought they were drunk; but Peter felt suddenly full of courage and could not stop praising God, when he told them that they were not drunk but full of the Joy of the Lord, as the prophet Joel had foretold, they had been filled with God’s Holy Spirit, which was available for all who believed in Jesus.  He did not hesitate to share joy with the crowd, telling them all about Jesus, who had been crucified but who God had raised from the dead.  The disciples’ enthusiasm led 3000 to repent and commit themselves to Jesus.

For the children’s address, although there were no children present, I had candles of various shapes and sizes, which I tried to light.  Most were lit and stayed burning but two squat candles kept going out!  I reassured the congregation that all could receive the Holy Spirit, even if they felt unworthy, or that their faith was too small; all they had to do was to give themselves to Jesus.  One elderly lady said that she felt inspired by my service, but regarded the candles that would not stay lit as elderly people, whose lights burned low; however I reminded her that it could be any age of person whose faith was burning low not just the elderly, but  that the Holy Spirit did not give up trying to light all lives and re-ignite their faith. Jesus and the Holy Spirit do not ever leave us but are ready to come to us all with reassurance to refill us again and again.  Come Holy Spirit fill us now and each day to help us pray and care for each other and our neighbours. This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I have just realised that I did not share much of my experiences last week.  I had a good week at work, even when the computers went down at one stage; at that point I began to spread out the patient notes ready to slot the extra notes in.  In a short time the computers were back on, so I was soon on task again.  I have almost got up to date summarising new patient notes and I have started on summarising those we have not summarised for years.  I love my work.

On Wednesday I thought that my beloved would like to have a drive out to find out where a colleague from work lived with me.  He was a help to me as he saw there was an easier way to go back to the main road, than my colleague had suggested.  I had offered to pick her up on the following night, as we were going out with staff for a meal to wish one colleague a happy retirement from work.  It was at a village called Thorner, where she lived just off the A 58 between Wetherby and Leeds.  We followed a narrow winding road hoping we would not meet any car coming in the opposite direction, arriving at last in the village; by which time my beloved was feeling very stressed, especially as we did not have the exact address of the Beehive, the restaurant, where we were to be eating.  As we drove down the main street of Thorner we seemed to be leaving the village without having seen the restaurant, so I turned round and asked a lady, who was walking a dog.  She told us that it was just round the next corner, but I took her word for it, as my beloved was so stressed and upset he needed to get home again.  As we were approaching home he visibly relaxed.  I felt awful that I had stressed him out by the trip.

I came home for about an hour after work, before setting off to collect my work colleague and go to the restaurant to meet our friends.  The journey there was uneventful, but when we arrived the table booked for us was still occupied by the previous customers, so we had some drinks and soon were able to sit down, as we awaited our table.  The table at the Beehive had been booked for 8 for 8.30pm, but by 8.30 the table was still full and we had not yet seen a menu!  It was not until after 9pm that we were able to get to our table and choose our meals.  By that time the main fish dish, Colley, was sold out, and a few of us had chosen that, so we had to reconsider.  It was after 10pm before we had our starters and nearer 11pm before we had had our main course.  We then selected our sweet, only to find the one most of us wanted had sold out!!  However most of us chose Crème Brûlée as a sweet and it was delicious.  Now at about 11.20pm I thought I must ring my beloved to let him know that I was about to set off for home.  I had no signal, which was a total surprise to me.  One of my colleagues said that she too did not have a signal, but Joy’s mobile did have a signal so she kindly let me use her phone to phone my beloved.  My poor beloved was really stressed as it was so late and he had tried to ring me at about 11pm and of course could not get hold of me, as there was no signal!  I had told him I would have my phone on, which I had, but he could not get hold of me!  He was worried about my driving back along the narrow lanes and that it was so late, as I often tend to fall asleep in the evenings later on at home!  I felt so sorry that I had got him stressed and set straight off to go home at my colleagues’ insistence, so fast in fact that I realised later I had not paid my part of the meal!!  I drove home as quickly as I could, as my colleague had told me to go on as they all realised my beloved was very anxious about me.  When I arrived home my beloved was still rather angry and stressed as he had been so worried about me, but he was soon sorry to have upset me.  I too felt so sorry that I had worried him, even though the lateness of the meal, the slowness of the service, and the lack of a signal for my mobile phone were beyond my control.  I could understand how worried he had been, but once he knew I was safely home he began to calm down, although I still felt guilty about the stress I had caused him.  It was so lovely to be held and cuddled by my beloved; I was so glad to be home with him!  I still felt concerned and upset about the stress I had caused my beloved the next day, but he told me it was all forgotten and over.  He has just kept reassuring me that he loves me and I too love him and love to spend my time with him. 

On Friday we had booked an appointment for my beloved as he has been getting more stressed and the doctor was understanding and helpful.  He is changing some medication and my beloved is relieved.  We are both so fortunate to have such understanding doctors, who are always prepared to listen and give such sensible advice.  I am so fortunate to have such a lovely and caring husband, who holds me in his loving arms and makes me feel so special.  It is so good to be cared for so well.

Hello everyone!  It is a beautiful day, even though it is rather breezy with a hint of damp in the air.  I hope to be able to get some more gardening done after lunch, as long as it does not change to rain.  This morning I led the service on the theme of the Good Shepherd at Bar chapel.  The church looked beautiful full of wonderful displays of flowers ready for a wedding of the daughter of a member of the church this afternoon.  I hope the sun shines for them and that they are half as happy as my beloved and I are.  I had a picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, which I used for my children’s talk, even though there were no children there!!  I had some tracing paper which I used to draw round the picture of Jesus and the sheep to show how I had to have it fixed to the clipboard to keep it close to the picture, so I could draw it properly.  We have been called to follow Christ and follow in his footsteps, our lives following the pattern of his, just as I had tried to trace the Good Shepherd picture.  We often make mistakes but Jesus is there to help us and bring us safely back onto the safe path with him.  Whenever we feel lonely or afraid, or weak and are tempted to do wrong things I suggested that they remember the picture of the Good Shepherd and remember that he is with us always.  I used the Good Shepherd prayer, which Lauren had written for after my service last year on the same theme, to conclude the children’s talk.  The readings from Acts and 1John3 reflected the main theme of the Good Shepherd as in Acts Peter faced the same authorities, who had had Jesus condemned to death, but he was unafraid to tell them that he had healed the lame man through the name of Jesus; the very same Jesus they had had killed had been raised to life by God and continued his ministry of healing by the power of the Holy Spirit.  John in his letter urged his readers to show their commitment to Christ in their actions of love to the people in need, being prepared to lay down their lives for their brothers and sisters.  I urged them to continue to follow the example of Jesus and care as he did for our fellow believers and those in need.  We sang some great hymns of praise including ‘Praise my soul the King of Heaven’, ‘I know that my Redeemer lives’, ‘The King of love my shepherd is,’ and ‘In heavenly love abiding.’  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I had a late start to the day enjoying a welcome lie in.  I have spent a number of hours attempting to clear some of the rampant ground elder and tackling some of the still serene dandelions!!  It has been an ideal temperature for gardening, except for about 2pm, when the sun started to beat down more, so we came in to have some lunch and listen to the radio play. It was good to relax for a while, but then we went out into the garden again, only coming in at 5.45pm to record ‘New You’ve been Framed’ to add to the DVD for Cathy.  Now I realise that I am tired; out there I seemed to have oodles of energy!  It is good to relax and listen to the radio with my beloved.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.  

Hello everyone!  I have had a lovely afternoon digging out ground elder and some dandelions in our garden, while my beloved has been topping up the flower beds with compost and bark, after I removed the worst of the weeds.  He also planted some poppies in our wild area, an ornamental poppy in one of the wilder borders and wild wallflowers in our central flower bed.  We suddenly realised the time at 6.55pm!  Time flies when we are having fun!  It has been overcast but just the right temperature to garden.  We were also thoroughly entertained by our young neighbours, as they played together mostly happily till the younger three year old girl did not get her way; then all hell broke loose!  She could certainly manipulate things so that her brother two years older got into trouble.  She was a real drama queen, who reminded me so much of my younger daughter, Cathy, who always manipulated things so her elder sister Beth got into trouble.  When the young lass next door was obviously getting tired she got herself into a right ‘Tizwas’ trying to get her bike put away in the shed!  Cathy used to want to do things yesterday and always got into a tantrum, if she could not do something!!

We had a treat this morning for our service, as we were joined by members of the Methodist Schools’ Conference and the choir of our local Methodist Independent School, Ashville College.  It was lovely to have a full church.  We are usually spread out a few to a pew, but this time our pews were full so we all moved to sit together, which is much better.  We want to remove the pews to make the church more flexible; maybe then we would sit closer together instead of spread round the church filling back rows before anyone sits nearer the front!!  I heard of one church where there was only one row of pews and as it was filled up another row came behind it and so on, so that the church was filled up from the front!!  A very good idea, I think!

Anyway back to this morning’s service; we had a good selection of hymns with a good Easter hymn to start with ‘Christ is alive! Let Christians sing;’ including ‘One more step along the world I go’ and ‘Will you come and follow me’ which is one of my favourite Iona Community hymns.  I especially love it because it has this verse in it:

‘Will you love the ‘you’ you hide if I but call your name?

Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?

Will you use the faith you’ve found

To reshape the world around,

Through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

That verse really touches me, as it is so true that we often do hide who we are at times, as we feel and know our failings, but God loves all of us, not just the person people see, but the whole person.  I now realise that most of the time, especially thanks to the love and encouragement of my beloved.  Oh dear I have got side tracked again.  The chaplain of Ashville College did an interesting children’s address by asking the whole of the congregation to do the Mexican Wave; at first he threatened to do that, only relieved that he would not have to participate!  Then he did ask us to do it starting from the choir then from the right back to front, then the middle, where I and my friend were, finishing on the left from back to front!!  Most people participated except my friend, who did not take part; I know my beloved would have joined her sitting it out; he does not like being told to do something!!  It was fun, I thought!

We had a wonderful preacher, a former president of conference Baroness the Rev Kathleen Richardson.  She spoke about taking the risk of faith, reminding us of the risk God took in giving us Jesus to live with us even unto death, as he loved us so much.  The risk that when God raised him from death was would the disciples and people really understand and accept such an amazing and wonderful truth.  The disciples expected Jesus then to take control of the world after his resurrection, but he left them to take his message of the love, acceptance and compassion of God to a needy world.  She told about a preacher who was sitting in his study looking for inspiration for a sermon, when his eyes fell on a spider spinning a web in the corner of the room; his first thought was of annoyance then he watched entranced as the spider produced a perfect web and he realised the amazing faith that spider had needed to take that first leap across to the opposite wall to begin the web!  There was his inspiration!  Yes we do have to take leaps of faith at times but we do not leap alone, because Jesus will be leaping along with us; he will be alongside us as we go through tough times, loss, pain, illness, even if we think we are alone.  We were not promised a life free of pain or suffering but we are promised that we will never be abandoned by God, who will understand our pain as he has experienced it himself.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I have been busy at work again this week, but at least I was able to have Wednesday off to spend time with my beloved.  I had two evening meetings this week; on Monday I was at the house group, where we have been studying a York Course on the theme of Faith, Hope and Love.  We only meet once a month so we only completed the course on Monday.   We studied the same book at the Lent Course at the Lent Group, but each group brought out something different from the book, so it almost seemed like a different course book. 

I was glad to be able to spend the evenings with my beloved after work on Tuesday and on my day off, but on Thursday evening I had a meeting at Church for the Church Executive, which was a long meeting unfortunately.  I am just so glad that I am now able to relax and enjoy evenings in with my beloved.

The lovely spring weather has made it possible to do some tidying up in the garden, although the still thriving dandelions seem to be laughing at me!  I am tackling the rampant ground elder too with even less success!!

Today I had a good day back helping with computer skills at the Acorn Centre; I was busy most of the time, which was great.  Life is good in my work, my volunteering and especially with my beloved.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  It has been good to have today relaxing with my beloved, even though it started in a disappointing way, when the hall heater finally died!  I thought it would be good to have some heat from the hall, as it had got so cold last night, but no matter how long my beloved and I tried to get it to light it refused to light!  It had served me well; my late first husband and I bought it about 26 years ago when we had lived in our present home for a year!  It does not owe us anything now.  My beloved looked on line and found an up to date version of our hall heater, so we decided to get it from the same company who had fitted our lovely fireplace.  It is being replaced on Tuesday and we shall have most of our appliances serviced as well. 

After a somewhat chilly start to the day, the sun began to break through at lunch time.  We sat together by the pond relaxing and watching our four new fish, two red and white comets and two golden orfes, as they swam with the four larger goldfish.  Our largest fish is now about 7 inches long and the other three are of varying sizes, which makes the new fish seem tiny in comparison.  Since we bought our new pump a week or so ago the water of the pond is so clear that we can watch the fish easily as they relax on the bottom or swim near the waterfall or come up for food.  It is great! 

Beth came over after she finished her shift at work this afternoon and we enjoyed a drink and a cake at Café Culture; she felt better afterwards she said, as she had not eaten since her breakfast.  She is certainly busy working as a baker at Sainsbury’s.  When I went shopping this morning I had a chat with her at work and took some hot cross buns she had just finished baking; they still felt warm! 

After she went home to rest, I came back home to my beloved and began to tackle some of our profuse crop of dandelions!  I went round a couple of days ago chopping heads off, but they had returned with splendid defiance today.  The dandelions seem to thrive in our garden along side the emerging ground elder; however there are some lovely spring flowers coming out on our rockeries and the daffodils and narcissi are at their best.  I loved weeding in the lovely afternoon sun, although I did not make many inroads in the luxuriant growth of weeds!  I hope it is good weather tomorrow, so I can tackle more weeds.  Now we are relaxing together watching the story of Pannonica Rothschild and Thelonious Monk’s relationship, which grew from her love of his jazz music.  It is fascinating.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  It has been a chilly day here, cloudy with a cool breeze but I soon warmed up when I had a brisk walk into town.  On the way back home I found it seemed a little warmer.  I had spent the morning typing out my service outline, order and rechecking my sermon, so I could print them ready for Sunday.  I then had my usual bread and salad lunch as I listened to the afternoon play.  Then my beloved and I went for a walk together, and then stopped for a drink and a scone at Café Culture, which is such a relaxing experience.  This evening I shall meet my best friend Hilary for a meal at Pizza Hut; we share a feast for one; potato wedges as a starter, an individual pizza usually with mushrooms and onions, and a cheese cake to finish with.  We enjoy a chat, catching up on our news.  I have enjoyed having my day off to relax with my beloved.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I only worked on Thursday last week so I was able to get more rested and I went to a Circuit Communion that evening. The seats were arranged in a layer of circles which gave us a greater sense of community.  There were a series of readings of the first Maundy Thursday last supper of Jesus with his disciples, interspersed with songs, hymns and prayers.  Then we were given a time to go to three different venues for a period of up to 20 minutes; one venue gave the opportunity for meditation on the Bible reading of the last supper; another gave the opportunity to pray for a needy part of the world, and place a sticker on the country on the globe or there were also post it notes to write down prayers for situations or people to place on a cross in the room; in the third venue you could wash another person’s feet or have your feet washed by another person, so I went in to offer to wash the feet of a lady there, but she had already had her feet washed and washed mine instead.  I found all these different activities helped me focus on the last supper and led me to think and prepare for Good Friday. 

On Good Friday I went to a meditation on the cross as told by John’s gospel with readings and music and a time of prayer, when we were able to light a candle and place it below the cross.  I just sat with my eyes closed listening to the readings, music and prayers and remembering what Jesus had suffered on that day; it was very meaningful for me.

Today the Easter morning service was led by our deacon David Hunt and began in an appropriate way with the acclamation Jesus is risen, alleluia and we responded He is risen indeed, alleluia!  That acclamation was repeated at intervals during the service which was uplifting.  David described a strange animal, which was a mammal which laid eggs, had a furry body, a duck’s bill and burrowed in the ground!  When that animal was first described the early naturalists would not believe it until they had seen a specimen.  It was of course the Duck Billed Platypus, but the specimen was closely examined to make sure that no one had sown the duck’s bill on and that it was genuine.  In just the same way many could not believe until they saw the risen Christ, that he had actually been raised from death!  They needed to meet the risen Lord for themselves and not just except hearsay.  We all need to meet with the risen Lord.  The resurrection is not just important for the future but changes our lives, as we are now in a living relationship with Jesus each day.  Our lives have been transformed by that great day when God raised Jesus from the dead and is continually is with us. This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I am sorry that I have not blogged for so long, but life has been very busy and I got rather worn out.  I did 27 hours of overtime last month as we had deadlines to reach by the end of the month and we did manage to achieve what we had been aiming for.  Now we can work again at a normal pace and I can have my weekly day off again!  I am afraid that I got rather overtired and needed a rest, so I took a few days off last week.  I was also busy preaching, as I had 2 services 2 weeks running, on Passion Sunday and Palm Sunday, so I had a lot of preparation to do.  I am also preaching next week.  During Lent I was involved in leading or participating in a Lenten Study group, so I am relieved that it is now Easter.

After I completed my service last Sunday I left Hampsthwaite and turned towards Killinghall, intending to pop in and see my sister Janet, but I had a car accident, which was my fault.  I positioned myself in the centre of the road ready to turn right into Grainbeck Lane, where my sister lives, and then began to turn slowly right, but failed to see a car coming from Killinghall and I turned into the car!  I damaged the front wheel arch on the driver’s side of my car and scraped along the whole driver’s side of the car I hit!  Neither of us had passengers and I did apologise and was quick to give him my insurance details and my name, address and telephone number.  He did not have his insurance details with him, as his wife had them, but he had my details to make all the necessary enquiries.  He was more concerned about the fact that I had damaged his brand new car and how I had not seen him.  I ended up in tears saying that I could only repeat that I did not know how I had not seen him, but I had not.  Obviously I had a lapse of concentration and felt rather numb and shaken as well.  I then drove to my sister’s house and wrote a note, as I had not seen her car there to explain that I felt rather shaken up and would return home to my beloved.  I went to the house and found a note to say that she had had to leave at 12.20, so had not been able to wait any longer.  I left my note and drove off,

My beloved was kindness itself, as he took me in his arms and held me, and was just relieved that neither of us had been hurt.  It helped me feel better although I was still rather numb and shocked.  I rang my insurance company to let them know about the accident and to ask if I needed to contact the police; I was assured as no one had been hurt that the police did not need to be informed.  When they asked me the name and address of the man involved, I realised that I had forgotten to ask him and he had not given me any details.  I had not even thought to make a note of his car registration number, but I expected him to contact me with his details by phone, but I have heard nothing so far.  He will have probably rung my insurance company by now to make his claim, even if he has not contacted me.  I was relieved to be alright and that the car was still drivable, but needed to rest.

Fortunately I had taken last Monday and Tuesday off for a break, as I needed a rest.  I rang my insurance company to give the details of the accident, when there were more staff on, and was told how to arrange the repairs of my car.  I would have to await a call from the approved garage to arrange a suitable time for the repair.  I then went into town to meet Beth as it was her day off and we had a drink and scone together.  On my return I found that the garage had contacted my home phone and left a message on the answer phone.  The garage picked the car up on Wednesday and I have a courtesy car, a Corsa, to drive, until my car is repaired.  I am now getting used to the car, but I will be glad to have my car back.  I give thanks that no one was injured and that my car and his car were not badly damaged.  I am now beginning to feel the benefit of my few days off.  That was the day that the Lord has made and I rejoiced and was glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I am quite tired today as I have had a very busy week, doing overtime to try and achieve the deadlines at the end of this month.  I am looking forward to a break at the end of this week, as the computer course has just finished and will not resume until April 24^th and I will have Friday off.  I will be working late on Monday and Tuesday, but I will be able to relax on Wednesday and actually have a full day off, as it is April 1^st.  I shall be having a couple of days off a week on Monday which will be lovely.  I was also preparing a service for this morning, so it has been good to relax and enjoy the garden in the rare sunshine this afternoon.  It is lovely to see my beloved eager to do some gardening, although he knows he must be careful not to overdo it.  I expect he will push himself too far but it does give him so much satisfaction to do something.

Yesterday I had a treat of a pedicure and a free manicure, which is the last special offer for Christmas.  It is an annual pedicure only as my favourite treat is a massage.  However it was a lovely relaxing experience and I enjoyed a chat with Danielle the therapist, as she completed the treatment.  I put money aside each week so that I can have a treat.  I never used to do anything special for myself, preferring to treat my family, but now I allow myself some relaxing treats!  It was very much needed yesterday and I am feeling the benefit today.  I shall go to bed early as I am still tired and I know my body will not yet have adjusted to British Summertime.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I have had a very busy week of overtime as we are still trying to catch up with summarising at our practice to meet the deadline at the end of the month.  I only did an extra 2 ½ hours on Wednesday as I took my beloved to the doctor, but it was lovely to have more quality time with him, having a walk and enjoying a cheese scone and a Rooribush citrus tea at Café Culture.  I had a busy day helping students with the computer at the Acorn Centre on Friday. 

On Saturday morning I took the bus to Leeds as I had been invited to participate in ‘Biobank’, which is for the purpose of research to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness and the promotion of health throughout society; our group consisted of people aged from 40-69.  I found it a relaxing experience, once I had done the initial questionnaire on the computer and completed the memory check test, as they were not too taxing.  I then had an interview and my blood pressure checked where I gave my medical history; I was pleased to find that my blood pressure was normal.  I then had some measurements taken, I was as I thought 5ft 3 or 160cm in height, but weighed more than I usually do, as I had had breakfast and was weighed in clothes; my BMI is 26.5 which is overweight.  My bone density was good and my lung function was good too.  My cholesterol was 4.04 with HDL of 1.76, which the Heart Foundation nurse said was good.  She thought that despite my high percentage body fat of 38% and being overweight I had a risk score of 4% of cardiac disease.  It was reassuring and interesting to know the scores.  I hope the research team will benefit by following the progress of all of us in the years to come, so that others may have better health outcomes.  I was glad to take part.

In the evening Cathy’s partner Ken came and brought Cathy’s gifts for Mother’s Day, which I was thrilled to open this morning.  I now have a delightful set of coasters with Cathy, Ken and her best friend’s photos on them; they are too good to use everyday!  She also sent me some Swiss chocolate and a beautiful card of 2 kittens wrapped together in an embrace, as she cannot hug me in person!  She rang on Skype this afternoon and we had a lovely chat; she does not seem so far away when we can talk to her and see her at the same time.  It made today special.

After a lovely family service for Mothering Sunday, my beloved and I had lunch with Beth; we had delicious baked salmon with salad, courtesy of Marks and Spencer after a grapefruit starter, with potatoes baked in a cheese and whole mustard sauce.  For the sweet we had apple crumble and custard courtesy of Marks and Spencer; it was a lovely treat and so good to be waited on by my elder daughter.  She gave me a lovely mug with photos of herself, her partner Mahmood and Cathy.  It will be treasured and not used so that the photos do not fade; a mug which had a photo of Cathy on it faded totally after several washes.  It has been a lovely Mothering Sunday with my family.  It has been good to relax today with my beloved, Beth at lunch and Cathy this afternoon via Skype.  It is so wonderful to be able to communicate so easily with Cathy even though she is so far away at the moment.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  On Thursday we had some sad news when Beth rang and told us that Mitzy, her 11 year old cat had collapsed suddenly gasping for breath.  Beth had rung the duty vet, who examined her and found a massive tumour, so she had to be put to sleep.  Poor Beth was devastated as she had first got Mitzy when she moved out into a studio flat when she was almost nineteen.  Mitzy was a rescue kitten. Apparently Mitzy had been losing weight but had seemed OK when she had had her injection in October.  I told Beth that it was a blessing that she collapsed when she was back from work, as she did not have to suffer long and she was able to with her as she slipped away.  Beth still feels the loss strongly as she was her first cat, although she also has adopted a semi wild stray, Charlie, who is about Mitzy’s age and not too well and she has a lovely lively 6 month old kitten Jasper.  I expect that Mitzy will always have that special place in her heart.

On Friday evening my beloved and I went to my sister Janet for an evening meal and had a very good chicken casserole with mashed potatoes, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower followed by syrup sponge and custard.  It was lovely to see her and share the meal, but unfortunately my beloved was feeling exhausted and needed to rest.  He has not been well and is not coping without caffeine.  He still misses it terribly.  He then rested yesterday and last night and seems a little better today; it has helped that the weather has been brighter today as my beloved has enjoyed pottering in the garden.  Spring seems to be really coming with crocuses all over the Stray and daffodils beginning to come into flower.

Hello everyone!  I have had a busy week working till 6pm on Tuesday and Thursday, till 5.30pm on Monday and an extra 4 hours on Wednesday, as we have a lot of deadlines we are working towards before the end of March.  I also went to my monthly Bible study group on Monday evening and led the second Lent course on Wednesday evening, so I was busy in the evening too.  In between times I was finishing off the preparation for my service this morning.  It is good to relax now this afternoon and recharge my batteries ready for another busy week.  I enjoy my job and I love to share my love of Jesus with others as I lead a service.  I just think it is so wonderful that God gives the free gift of grace through Jesus to help us closer in our relationship to our Father in heaven.  We only have to accept the free gift of grace and receive the loving accepting forgiveness of God, who will help us each day in our daily lives and struggles, as we trust in him.  I just wish that everyone would realise how much God loves and accepts them and how much he wants to help us each day through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Let us not ignore God’s forgiving grace but say that ‘That’s what I need’ and Jesus will give it to us.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  This morning I had a lovely walk to church, as my passenger was not coming today.  It was a bracing chilly morning with some sunshine, which has become more wintry showers this afternoon.  The minister talked with the children about the building of Big Ben 150 years ago this May; he even had a painting of it on display.  He described how reliable the clock was being wound three times a week, apart from some blips such as when some starlings slowed the clock down as they rested on the second hand!  However he was keen to explain about the chimes of Big Ben being based on one of the songs from the Messiah.  We sang together these words to the tune of the chimes:

‘All through this hour

Lord be my Guide

That by Thy Power

No foot shall slide.’

Those words say exactly how we need Jesus as our guide every hour as we face the challenges of life.  We sang as the opening hymn, ‘Ye Holy angels bright’, which always takes me back to my time at St Peter’s Junior school.  We also sang ‘May the mind of Christ my Saviour’ which also shows us how important our walk is with our Lord.  The theme of the sermon was denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus.  He used two stories to illustrate his point. The first was of Clare in AD 1200, a wealthy young lady, who slipped away in the night from her castle home with her aunt as a chaperone, to see St Francis at his monastery, where she dedicated herself to Christ in a life of service and poverty in a nunnery initially nearby until she found a building, where she could establish her own order of nuns.  Her father furious to find she had left sent soldiers to bring her back by force, but when she turned and told them that she had dedicated her life in service to Christ, they were so impressed that they returned empty handed. She stayed the rest of her life at the same nunnery but her wisdom and prayers brought people far and wide to consult with her there.  She denied herself the opportunity of living in luxury in the castle or palace, the chance of marriage and children to serve Christ and others through him.

The second story was more contemporary about a young man called Sam, who had a ministry of taking Christian films round the 84 islands on Lake Victoria in Uganda to give everyone an opportunity of meeting with Jesus.  He has to battle treacherous conditions on the lake and much opposition too, but he is determined to share the love of Jesus with those who have not yet met him.  He too as a young Christian could have had a less demanding life, but he gave up ease and comfort to reach those who needed Jesus love.  He had become a Christian and wanted to give others the same opportunities he had had.  I think these stories are an encouragement to us, but not everyone is called to such a life.  However all who know and love Jesus want others to know his accepting love and forgiveness, so that they might have life in all its fullness. 

The final hymn was one of father’s favourites, ‘Let all the world in every corner sing’, and I sang it with joy remembering father’s love of it. It was a challenging and joyful service.

When I returned home I went into the garden for about half an hour to chop up some branches, which had been cut from one of our apple trees earlier and chopped and neatened the shrubs, filling up our garden bin.  I would have done more after lunch, but the weather deteriorated into heavy wintry showers, so I decided not to do any more this afternoon.  It is good to relax with my beloved this afternoon.  He is still struggling and has had to go for another cigarette.  I have as yet not had anything I have been told to give up and I am therefore much more fortunate than he is.  I do wish I could make life easier for him, as he is very understanding and helpful to me.  May God give him comfort and strength at this difficult time; he knows it is not good to smoke but he does find it hard to resist now.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.