BRIGHT LIGHT

Hello everyone!  I walked down to church this morning on a somewhat damp and gloomy day for communion.  He asked us to think of how we imagined heaven, as  was from Isaiah’s vision of the majesty of God, making him feel unclean and how he was cleansed by a burning coal to be a prophet.  The reading from Luke was the call of the disciples and how they are to respond to his call to follow him.  We sang one of my favourite songs, ‘I, the Lord of sea and sky’; I love the chorus, which is in response to God’s question of ‘Whom shall I send?’, as it is how I want to serve others and share Jesus with everyone.

‘Here I am Lord;

Is it I, Lord?

I have heard you calling through the night.

I will go, Lord,

If you lead me;

I will hold your people in my heart.’

During a service a young man joined us and sat next to me, so I showed him the books he needed for the hymns and the prayers, as we have our own ‘Songs for Worship’ book as well as hymns and psalms, and as it was communion Shaun, our minister was using some responsive prayers from the Worship Book.  I was glad that we were singing another hymn from our ‘Songs for Worship’, especially I was struck by these 2 verses as they express the faith better than I could.

Jesus calls us to confess him

Word of life and Lord of all,

Sharer of our flesh and frailness

Saving all who fail or fall.

Tell his holy human story;

Tell his tales that all may hear;

Tell the world that Christ in glory

Came to earth to meet us here.

Jesus calls us to each other:

Found in him are no divides.

Race and class and sex and language-

Such are barriers he derides.

Join the hands of friend and stranger;

Join the faithful and the doubter

In their common search for truth.

 He was grateful for my help and after the service he told me that he worshipped in a Methodist Church in Kenya, where he came from and he was just visiting Harrogate.  I asked him about the problems in his country and he felt that churches seemed to be linked to the state, so nothing really was done to tackle social justice; there was still so much disparity between the rich and the poor there.  The massive airport being built by Barak Obama would do nothing for the majority of Kenya’s citizens who were more concerned about surviving from day to day.  My beloved had talked about that very issue this morning of how the more comfortably off are to be benevolent to the less fortunate, therefore they have a dependency on their always having to be the poor to enable them to be benevolent and therefore feel good about themselves.  These thoughts had been stimulated by the great great granddaughter of Charles Dickens, whose 198^th birthday it was today, as she quoted from a book, which he had written for his children, encouraging them to look after those less fortunate than themselves. Unfortunately that implies that the status quo must remain, rather than making any real changes to address the gap between the rich and the poor.  Let us work for a world where justice and true equality exists; a world that Jesus would love to see!  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  Work has been busy but good.  On Wednesday we popped in to wish Janet a happy birthday and it was lovely to see her daughter Esther there with her husband Alfie and their 2 children Joshua and Hannah.  They had arrived ready for Janet’s wedding to Graham today.  Graham was also there enjoying the family and he had given Janet a card for her birthday which wished happy birthday to his to be wife!!  It was hectic with all the family there but Janet stopped for a moment to open her presents and felt glad of the brief sit down. 

Today I started in a leisurely way finishing my book in bed but I got up in good time to collect a prescription from the local chemist, as I had been prescribed some antibiotics and a nasal spray for my sinusitis the previous day, but was too late to get it on Friday evening.  I hope I will soon feel more myself, as the cold developed into flu in early January and in the last couple of days worsened into more acute sinusitis.  I am still trying to rest and fully recuperate, so I can get back to doing exercises; I am still hearing my daughter, Cathy’s voice telling me only to exercise again when I have felt quite well for at least 2 days, and am remaining  obedient to her counsel.

This afternoon my beloved and I made our way over to St Wilfred’s Church for the blessing on Janet and Graham’s wedding.  As soon as we had been sitting down for a few minutes my beloved began to shiver with the cold in the church and felt so bad that we thought we had better leave.  As we moved to the back of the church to slip out quietly the choir and happy couple were waiting to come in, but fortunately a lovely lady showed us where the radiators, for which we made a beeline.  After a few minutes my beloved began to warm up enough to be able to remove his hat and gloves and even later unzip his coat!  I was relieved as I had wished I had bought a rug with me for him.  We were greeted by the ushers, Matthew Richards my sister Fran’s second son, Graham’s eldest grandson, Ferdinand Holley and my brother Selwyn’s eldest son, Jonathan.

The happy couple processed into the church with the organist playing ‘The Queen of Sheba’ by Handel.  My eldest brother Canon David Goodacre officiated at the blessing of their marriage and the choir from the church sang an anthem for the happy couple.  Esther, Janet’s youngest daughter read the first lesson from Ecclesiastes on the theme of time and her sister Rachael read the second lesson from 1 John 4 on the theme of love.  One of Graham’s daughters Annabel read ‘Desiderata’ and then David gave the address, when he was sure Robert was interceding in heaven for Janet and Graham. The dedication of their marriage, which had already taken place at the registry office, was confirmed with the exchange of rings and prayers.  We as family and friends confirmed that we would support and uphold them in their marriage.  The choir then sang the anthem up next to the organ.  After that Janet and Graham went into the sanctuary and David prayed for them and we all joined in with the Lord’s Prayer.  Our first hymn had been ‘Immortal, invisible, God only wise’ and after the first reading we sang, ‘Through all the changing scenes of life’.  The concluding hymn was ‘Love Divine, all love excelling’ a rousing hymn of love and dedication; in my opinion a fitting hymn to conclude with. David then gave the blessing and Graham and Janet processed out of the church as the organist played ‘Toccata Widor’.  The service came to a triumphant conclusion.

We then dropped my brother Selwyn and his wife back at the hotel, before slipping home to have a quick breather, before returning to the Yorkshire Hotel for the reception.  It was lovely and warm in the hotel which was a blessing after the chill of the church.  It was more relaxed there for us to greet the newly married and blessed couple.  We chatted together with family, before going into the room for our meal, where we had all been allocated a table.  My beloved and I were sharing a table with Beth and Mahmood, a cousin of Graham’s and her husband, a sister and brother, also cousins of Graham and my brother Selwyn and his wife Janet.  We all had a lovely chat.  It was good to get to know some of Graham’s relatives.  We had a buffet meal to which we were invited table by table but Beth asked if there was anything she could have, as she is a celiac.  They came up trumps with a lovely salad for her and then she discovered that Graham’s cousin’s husband was also a celiac, so she made sure he also got something he could eat, even though he was going to say nothing!!  That was an amazing coincidence that she sat next to a celiac like herself!!  The cake was cut before the meal got under way and taken away for later.

The speeches were excellent; Graham’s son Christopher was puzzled about ‘my friend’ who his father had continually talked about.  When Graham said that his friend was Janet, he insisted that they were just good friends!  After Janet and Graham went to America together to meet one of his daughters and visit Esther, Alfie, Joshua and Hannah, things became serious between them.  Before meeting Janet Graham sent a photo of them together with a vintage tractor; only they were rather blurred, whereas the tractor was perfectly in focus!! Christopher was intrigued to meet Janet but found she fitted in well, in fact she seemed just like his father, when after a glass of wine she fell asleep as he always did!!  Janet had told me earlier that I was not to write anything on my blog; maybe in case I jinxed the relationship; I was only allowed to tell my daughters when they were about to get married!! 

One of Graham’s daughters who will be getting married in August also spoke about her father and Janet; she said how kind and gentle Graham was and how he would make Janet laugh.  She asked all the grandchildren to answer questions about how they saw marriage; and their answers were both funny and pertinent. The grandchildren on Janet’s side are Imogen and Hannah age 5 and Joshua age 7 and on Graham’s side, Solomon age 4, Reuben age 5 and Ferdinand age 12.  It was a lovely family occasion. 

Mary then spoke about her Mum and how she was suddenly talking about ‘my friend’, which she especially noticed when she rang her Mum for advice, expecting the usual forthright answer, she was surprised that she listened quietly before saying ‘My friend thinks that…..’  She too got to know more and more about Graham as time went on.  What she found the best part about this new friendship was how happy her Mum was.  Graham slipped easily into their family much to their joy and Janet too felt at ease with Graham’s family. 

Kathleen received a special bouquet of flowers as a thank you for all her support to Janet and she spoke of how thrilled she was about Janet’s friendship with Graham, seeing it as an answer to prayer.  She said they were made for each and that it was the nearest thing to a miracle that she had seen in her lifetime.  My beloved ended the short video he took with the words, ‘The Adventure begins..’  May they have as happy marriage as my beloved and I are blessed to share.

Hello everyone!  This morning was a service shared by members of our congregation led by the local preacher Tim Simms and was a refreshing change.  It was good that more of the church members played a role in the service than just doing readings.  Our opening hymn was chosen by a steward, Les, who chose ‘Shine Jesus shine’, a hymn which took him back to youth weekends he led.  We all sang it with more fervour. 

Tim then led the opening prayers and the children’s address, which was very good.  He showed them a spiky wooden ball or star as the children described it, which he was holding carefully, as though as one child said it was precious, but he soon showed us why, when he let go of it and it collapsed onto the table.  The children were encouraged to come and put it back together, but the two girls soon found it too difficult, and even the two boys invited to help got nowhere.  Tim then offered them the instructions, which they read but did not understand.  Then he showed them how to fit three of the pieces together, but had to show them how to add the other three pieces to complete the puzzle.  The point of the story is of course that we have instructions of how to live in the Bible, but we need help to understand them; Jesus came to show us how to live and it is easier to learn from him.  Lucy, a child introduced the children’s hymn, ‘Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising’. 

Our senior steward Judith chose the reading on time from Ecclesiastes, which she felt reflected life.  Christine our newly qualified worship leader led the prayers of intercession.  The reading from the New Testament was chosen by Rosemary a local preacher and was I Corinthian 13, the hymn to love.  It is one of her favourite passages on love the central message of the gospel.  Another member Christine chose the hymn ‘Take my life and let it be’, which had always meant a lot to her.  Another steward Jenny chose her favourite hymn ‘Brother, let me be your servant’, chosen as it shows how we are called to serve and be there for those who need support; her husband who is very involved with the Samaritans organisation sees that hymn as the Samaritan anthem.  The final hymn was chosen by another church member, Molly, and it was ‘O Jesus I have promised’ as it reminded her of her youth in the youth fellowship, although she became a Christian after she had sung the hymn, ‘Brother, let me be your servant’. She chose ‘O Jesus I have promised’ as it was the hymn of the commitment to follow Jesus and now as a retired lady she is still following him.  Tim before that hymn drew together all the testimonies shared with us all; he felt enriched as we all did by all that was shared today.  With so many different voices it made it easier to remember what was shared; it is an important lesson for me; it is good to have more involvement from the congregation.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  Last week was busy again at work, but I have found that I am gradually getting back to my normal self; I was able to walk faster into town and felt less exhausted when I was at work and especially when I was helping at the Acorn Centre.  Unfortunately I am still not sleeping as well as I was before and still tire easily in the evening, waking early even on days off, so I will have to postpone getting back to exercising a little while yet; I promised my daughter Cathy that I would only get back to exercising when I had felt properly back to my old self and then allow a couple of days of feeling ‘normal’ first!’  I am trying to be patient but it is not always easy! 

The weather is so lovely, bright and cold but it is such a treat to have a bright blue sky; it feels so healthy.  I have been allowing myself time to read and I have just finished an excellent book, as it is described ‘a cheerful book about depression’, called ‘Sunbathing in the Rain’ by Gwyneth Lewis.  My beloved heard it first as a radio play and was so impressed and ordered the book.  She described her background, how the depression she was prone to made her feel her relationship with her husband and her way of coping with life.  She quotes from many sources which enhances her experiences and explains how she has learnt to understand and learn from what depression is teaching her about herself.  She lived life at too great a rate and burnt herself out and was untrue to herself in how she lived her life; thus she pushed herself too much in wrong directions too ready to see her failings and faults and her responsibility for the problems of others. She learnt that she was only responsible for herself and not for how anyone else reacted or behaved; then she was able to see how she could live in a way which nurtured her and did not push her to depression and having to cut herself off from the world around her.  I can see the truth of what she says but I am still ready to feel that I am responsible for how someone else feels.  When my beloved feels hollow and upset by things that happen, even if or especially if there is nothing that could be done about it, I find myself tensing up and feeling responsible even though I am not.  It is still easy to blame myself even if I have done nothing wrong, but I still feel so bad if I have done something wrong; I aim for perfection and feel in that way I will be able to be a good wife and keep my beloved happy.  It is so difficult not to feel I have let my beloved down if he is feeling unhappy, even though it is not my fault!  When will I ever learn?  I will try to remember that lesson from Gwyneth Lewis’s book, so I can be just responsible for myself.

Hello everyone!  I am back again after a little shopping with my beloved followed by a lovely chat with Cathy on Skype, although she kept on not being able to hear me speaking, so she had to stop the Skype contact and redial, but we managed to keep the conversation going despite the interruptions. 

It has been quite gloomy today as though it was about to pour with rain and not too warm, ranging from 3 degrees to 6 at the most, but I am still thankful that we no longer have any snow.  It is good to relax together with my beloved.

This morning our service was led by the Anglican vicar Rev. Tony Shepherd, as it is the week for prayer for Christian Unity.  He was more succinct than we are used to but he packed a lot into a short time.  His children’s talk caught the attention of the children when he showed them his special cassock, badge and collar, which signified his role as a Queen’s Chaplain!  The children were obviously impressed with his bright red cassock and his gold badge with the Queen’s insignia on, especially when he said that the Queen had bought it for him!!

For the sermon he talked of baptism, common to all different Christian churches, if practised in different ways, as it showed common aspects of the Christian Faith shared by all denominations.  First he said that water was used in baptism as a sign of cleansing, either immersion or sprinkling a fresh start.  The mother of the child brought for baptism lit a large candle to show the light of Christ to spread to others; from the large candle a small one is lit for the newly baptised child.  The child was then given the sign of the cross as a sign that Jesus is with them as they go through life.  Tony also gets the mother and godparents to do the sign of the cross on the baby.  I am sure he said more but the sermon was so packed with information that I cannot remember it all.  It was inspiring singing his choices of hymns especially, ‘We are marching in the light of God’, ‘Come down O love divine’, and ‘Great is thy faithfulness’.  I just hope that we can celebrate what we all share as different denominations, namely sharing the accepting, unconditional love of Jesus with a needy world.  May we reflect the light of our Lord in all we do and say.

Hello everyone!  I have had a busy week.  I took the service last Sunday evening, which went well, although I felt shattered the next day at work and couldn’t stop yawning!  At the moment, I find it more of an effort  doing things in the evening, since I had flu at the beginning of January; I still have not got my normal energy back.  Apparently as the doctor told me it lasts at least 4 weeks, so I have to be patient with myself, which is still not easy.  I just feel so easily washed out and I can’t do as much as I would like to.  However I am feeling my normal happy self as I love my life with my beloved and I have actually allowed myself to stop and read recently; I have read 3 books since Christmas which is an indulgence I love and as I do not seem to have the energy to do my normal activities, I do not feel so guilty about it.  The first book, which I got for Christmas from Beth, was an easy read, which was perfect for me.  The second was an autobiography of Sheila Hancock called ‘Just me’, which talks about the way she learns to live with the loss of her second husband John Thaw with cancer, and cope with life on her own.  She writes with wit and realism and I found it an inspiring and gripping read.  That was a gift from my step mother Kathleen, who is always inspired when she gives me a book.  The next book was another easy read from Beth, but this one made me actually cry at some points; it was a lovely moving book called ‘Something Borrowed’ by Martina Reilly.  I would recommend it if you don’t mind having a cry; it touches on family relationships and is very gripping; I could not put it down! 

I delivered some leaflets and letters for the Liberal Democrats, half on Wednesday and the rest on Friday after I had been at the Acorn Centre.  I felt tired after completing my deliveries so I had to stop and rest!  I saw my best friend on Wednesday for a meal at the Pizza Hut, which was good, but I was glad it was not too late. 

Yesterday I treated myself to a pedicure, which as a post Christmas offer included a manicure and it was lovely to be pampered.  I just wish I could properly throw off the residual of the flu, especially as I seem to be sneezing again each day and I still feel headachy and blocked up!  Maybe I will soon feel back to normal and maybe learn my lesson of not overdoing it!! It is lovely to relax today with my beloved.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  Another beautiful snowy day; a light fall off snow landed on top of the already deep snow last night.  This morning my beloved noticed the amazing icicles hanging down from the roof next door, which looked great with the sun shining through them. 

After scraping snow off the roof of the car and the ice from both inside and outside the windscreen yesterday, we set off to do a large shop at Sainsbury’s, as I was sure more snow was coming and needed a few items which were getting low.  I managed to get the car out and the main roads were clear, so we soon arrived at Sainsbury’s.  However the snow was over most of the car park, so I drove round to find a parking place which was not too covered with snow, as I was concerned about driving out again, especially reversing out.  We soon got our shopping, but time was getting on, as I had waited until my beloved was up and till Cathy left, so we bought an Indian takeaway for 2.  I was relieved to make it back home, although it took me 3 attempts to reverse the car into the drive and park it successfully, as the wheels started to spin! 

Yesterday Cathy came over and we went to Café Culture, enjoying the delicious scones, Cathy preferring the fruit scone with butter and jam, whereas I had my favourite cheese scone without any spread or butter.  It was very busy and we enjoyed relaxing there in the warmth.  We continued our chat at home, whilst my beloved printed some pictures for her of baby Joseph’s visit to us before Christmas.  Now I am going to get some lunch for us both.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  Today I am feeling brighter in myself, although my legs seem rather wobbly and alien to me, and my energy level is reduced.  I walked to the local shops to post some letters and was relieved to return home and rest again!  It is lovely to see the continued snow still picturesque in the garden and not to have to get the car out to go to work.  I am enjoying another Christmas present book; this one is equally gripping and very well written ‘Just me’ by Sheila Hancock.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I am so relieved that I chose this week to have a holiday, even though I am recovering from flu, as the snow is magnificent, but I have not had to battle through it to work!  I am feeling a little better today after my beloved’s care and support, but my legs are still rather achy and my energy level is still low.  At least yesterday I was able to start reading one of my Christmas presents, which I completed today!  However I realise I still have to rest more than I expected.  At least we have had time to catch up with videos recorded and relax together, which is perfect.  It is good to have time to rest and relax with my beloved.  The beauty of the snow is exquisite, really deep in such a short time, giving the children a surprise extra day off school to enjoy the snow.  My beloved enjoyed photographing the beautiful back garden buried under several inches of snow, before he went out to clear the feeders and replenish them for our many bird visitors, even pouring out some lukewarm water onto the bird baths to provide a drink to the birds. I was amazed although my beloved was not to see a sparrow actually splashing in the water and having a bath.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and I am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  It has been lovely to relax with my beloved over Christmas and I now have a week’s holiday off work.  I had 2 days at work this week and managed to scan all the documents onto the computer even with a backlog that had built up.  I also had almost completed the coding, so I can enjoy a break with a clear conscience.  Unfortunately I have a bad cold but I am sure it will soon get better and at least I can lie in later and maybe I will actually have time to read. This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  We had a lovely Christmas Day celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus, once we had got over some stresses!  The day started with a gentle celebration as we came too, together, both to our surprises we awoke early, so we did open a few presents and had a glass of champagne to accompany our smoked trout; our traditional Christmas breakfast!  Then I decided to walk to Church for the Christmas morning service expecting it to be shorter than normal, but unfortunately it was the normal length of a little more than an hour, which meant that I was home at 12.30pm, just ¾ hour before our guests were to be arriving!  Suddenly the peaceful start evaporated and we both felt stressed, wondering how we could be ready in time.  I rang my daughter Beth to tell her to delay her, her partner and his son’s arrival, which she was quite happy to do, especially as they had got behind in their preparations.  Now I could lay the table and make the final preparations for the meal.  My beloved became more relaxed and we were relieved to have enough time to prepare for lunch now later at 2.20pm, rather than 1.30pm.  Everyone felt more relaxed thank goodness.

Our lovely special large chicken was cooked to perfection by my beloved with his special roast potatoes and parsnips with steamed vegetables.  We had a break before we enjoyed some Christmas pudding with white sauce and brandy butter, except for Mahmood’s son Sina, who preferred a chocolate cake.  After our welcome meal we began to open a few more presents and exchange gifts, only missing Cathy who after a long wait had reached Barcelona to spend 3 nights there with her partner Ken to celebrate Christmas.  She and Ken arrive tomorrow to have their Christmas celebration with us.

I am sure little Joseph, at about 5 weeks old is too small to appreciate Christmas this year with his lovely parents Kate and Luke, as much as he will next year. 

I love to get stocking presents for my daughters and of course my beloved and I buy things over the whole year, so that a few have accumulated over the time.  My beloved can be over faced with them all at once, so he has opened some on Christmas Day, some yesterday and will open the last ones today.  We will open up Cathy and Ken’s presents when they come tomorrow, so for us the celebration is continuing.  We are so fortunate with all we have and it is important not to forget those who have so little, struggling with extreme poverty, life threatening illnesses, homelessness or addiction to drugs or alcohol.

This morning I led the service and I talked of how Jesus was born on Christmas Day but must not stay in the manger for us, but be born in each of us afresh each day, so that we can be clothed in Christ’s nature; loving and accepting all we meet and sharing His unconditional love with all we meet.  Only as we live close to Jesus can we have strength to grow in our faith, remember Jesus was willing to learn from the teachers at the temple in Jerusalem, in fact he was so fascinated as a boy of 12 that he lost track of time, and failed to notice that his parents had set off for Nazareth.  It is easy to be absorbed in something and not notice the time.  He was then obedient to his parents as he returned with them.

I went to the church dressed in 2 outfits of clothes, including a large padded coat, a cardigan of my beloved over my more festive outfit.  I also wore boots, sunglasses, gloves and a hat, so that I could remove the outer clothes, as part of the children’s talk.  In fact no children came, but I still did the talk.  I pretended I was depressed after the anticipation of Christmas, all the presents opened and everything over and I had overeaten.  I then removed the excess clothing and told them in fact that I was still me under the extra clothes, but that I was not really depressed, as Christmas was not over; in fact we remember the birth, but Jesus can be born each day anew in our lives, when we give our hearts to him, and learn to live with him, loving and accepting all we meet, remembering to treat everyone as we would wish to be treated.  We need the accepting and loving eyes of Jesus as we meet all those in need of his unconditional love. May you all realise that Jesus loves you as you are but loves us too much to leave us that way.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  At last I am doing a blog after a long gap.   Life has been very busy for the last few weeks with work, and preaching.  I took a service on December 13^th, have prepared a service for December 27^th and have another to prepare for January 3^rd; and of course I have been wrapping presents, sending cards and presents to friends and family, all the general preparation for Christmas, which I must admit I love!

We recorded the final of X Factor without watching it, as we had given up on it!  Instead we enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with watching DVDs and programs we had recorded.  It was a relief to give up watching them.  Hopefully Cathy will be living back in England before the series comes on again; her job will come to a natural end in July or December, depending on how long it takes for her employer to sell his house.  The family are being moved to Boston USA, and Cathy does not want to work so far away from her partner Ken.

High points have been the time in the run up to Christmas at work with lovely colleagues, a kind gift from our new secretary of a poinsettia in thanks for help I gave when she arrived, a real surprise to me; Carole is a real treasure and a great new colleague.  I exchanged gifts with two especially supportive colleagues; I am so blessed by those I work with.  I also came home with my share of the generosity of our patients, biscuits and sweets; it is a perk I never had in my previous profession. 

A great high point was the arrival home safely of my younger daughter from Switzerland for her Christmas break, especially with the adverse weather conditions.  Another great highlight for us was made possible by Cathy!  She brought us Kate’s tiny baby, Joseph and we were able to hold him and my beloved took pictures of us all.  He is only 6lb in weight, but so cute and fragile; he gave little grunts as he slept.  His mum, Kate is exhausted after the radiotherapy she had during her pregnancy for five weeks.  Luke the father is getting up 3 times a night to feed little Joseph, so that Kate can have some much needed sleep.  In January she will be starting 6 months of chemotherapy in tablets for 6 months, so it is good that she has been able to enjoy Christmas with her precious child.  Apparently she gives Joseph a kiss every time she hands him to someone else.  Cathy was very struck by her devotion to him, despite her great exhaustion.  Cathy took Kate shopping as she could push his pram as Kate is still not allowed to push the pram, following her caesarean operation just over 4 weeks ago.  Cathy fed Joseph and put him in his pram whilst they had a lunch together and Joseph lay quietly in the pram looking around.  He is a very placid little boy.  Kate’s mother has taken Joseph for the night on a couple of occasions so both she and Luke can have a good night’s sleep.  We all continue to pray for this precious little family.

My beloved has been able to cope more so far this Christmas putting up lovely decorations and we have been listening to Christmas music and watching a Christmas DVD.  It is lovely now to relax in a cosy room with my beloved, having done most preparation for tomorrow.  We would much rather be here together, than waiting at Leeds Bradford Airport for a flight away to Barcelona, which has been delayed by 6 hours, which is what my daughter Cathy and her partner Ken are doing!!  They hope to get to Barcelona to spend 3 nights there together, as they have booked a Christmas break; Ken has been working very hard and needs a break away.  Hopefully they will soon be on their way to Barcelona.  My beloved and I love to relax together at home and would never contemplate travelling, especially at this time of year.  The chicken is cooking, vegetables are prepared, stuffing prepared and the pudding is defrosting.  My beloved has been busy preparing the chicken and the stuffing, as well as feeding our birds and clearing ice from the frozen pond and providing water for them to drink.  The world outside is beautiful with the snow and my beloved also took some great photos of winter scenes in our garden.  Now we are relaxing together for the evening.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I have been so busy preparing a service and sending off Christmas parcels, cards and letters to go online at all.  Work has been busy but good getting to know 2 new colleagues, who share the same first name, one Carol and the other Carole and grew up streets away from each other in Sunderland, even going to the same school, but never met until they both started work at our practice with a week or two of each other!!  We do live in a small world!!

We put up with watching the X Factor for weeks and weeks as we are recording it for Cathy, who loves to watch it, until the semi final last week, which was so boring that we have given up and are just recording the final for her!!  It was bliss to watch a DVD last night instead of getting frustrated with the X Factor set up.  Yesterday and today we have been enjoying listening to Christmas music, which has really got us in the Christmas spirit.  Last year my beloved was not at all well and was unable to appreciate the trappings of Christmas, so he is determined to enjoy it all this time.  Last weekend we went to Focus, as my beloved had 15% discount there instead of the normal 10% and he wanted to get some LED Christmas lights and we were fortunate to get some; in fact we got a lovely big snowflake, which flashes white/blue and some gold twigs with lights, so our front room looks quite festive, although we have not put all the decorations yet.

It was good yesterday to meet with our friends from our former chapel Oatlands for a fund raising coffee morning for Crisis at Christmas; there were several raffle prizes so almost everyone won something and all the items for sale were cleared so I hope a lot of money was raised. 

Beth just rang to let us know that Joe had won the X Factor as was predicted!!  Simon Cowell will be earning loads of money with the X Factor with rather predicted outcomes. 

We watched the more important moving and shaming program; ‘The small Island’, where I was horrified to see the attitude towards the Jamaicans; and yet still today prejudice exists towards anyone who is different; when will they ever learn?  Let us remember that we are all the same and treat all as we would wish to be treated.  This the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Hello everyone!  Yesterday evening we watched the X Factor as we recorded it for my daughter Cathy, but it was worse than ever; the only really decent act which was Danyl was slammed in a round about way by Danni, Cheryl and Louis, so he might be leaving this week.  Even Simon was not as discerning as he can be as a judge, so it was a stressful experience for us.  The talent is one of the poorest at performance, after so much initial promise, so I am not wasting any more time on it. 

This morning our service was led by the minister Nick Witham from Starbeck, who captured the children’s attention, when he did the children’s address.  He brought a rucksack which fascinated the children, as he asked them what they considered their most valuable possession, which they would save from a fire; a member of the congregation said family photos, another said his wife, and a child decided on her teddy!  He showed us what he would have saved as a priority, namely his war games comics of which he has 300 and then football brochures from his favourite team and even old newspapers from the 1950’s and 1930’s from a clearout of his grandparents house!!  None of these would be of such value to me, I must admit, but I would want to make sure that my beloved was safely out.  Nick then reminded the children and indeed all of us of how valuable we are to God.

For his sermon he again reminded us that we were special and valuable to God, but that has brought some responsibility with it.  He described a shopping expedition with his wife, when he waited ages outside changing rooms whilst she tried on a new outfit for him to tell her how she looked in it.  From this story he reminded us that we are the people of God, as it says in Colossians 3 v 12; ‘You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own.  So then you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.’  We are to ‘clothe’ ourselves with the qualities which Jesus showed us.  As we are loved and accepted by God, he wants us to share that with others, and only as we ‘clothe’ ourselves with compassion, kindness and other such qualities can we draw others to experience God’s unconditional love and realise how valuable they are in his sight.  Although the gifts we are to cultivate may not be considered important to most people they are true signs of those who follow the Lord. 

Lunch today was a miracle, especially compared to the last time my beloved prepared diced pork for a meal.  Today the meat melted in the mouth and ample flavour permeated the meal after my beloved used his culinary skills to prepare it.  First he used a rolling pin to flatten and break the toughness of the meat, then he chopped it into smaller pieces, and finally cooked it for longer; the result was delicious tender meat served in a spicy curry sauce with brown saffron rice!  My beloved’s many culinary skills paid off and we had a really tasty lunch; I am so fortunate to have such a talented hubby!  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  I had a busy week at work, but from next week things will improve as our new secretary starts on December 1^st and she will be working each day, so I shall be able to concentrate on my own work.  Also one of our doctor’s who has been off ill for a few months returns next week, so it will mean that we will be back as a full strength team from next week!  It will be amazing too that I can get help with coding and summarising too from the new secretary, as that will mean that it will not be such a daunting task for me to keep up with summarising and coding.  On Friday we all went out for a meal to wish our former colleagues well in their new places.  Our present secretary does not leave till the end of this month, when she will concentrate on looking after her grandson when her daughter, who is a senior houseman in paediatrics, and her husband is a registrar in elderly medicine, are working; of course days change and sometimes she is on nights, so our friend has to be flexible.  The other colleague, who was a receptionist and administration worker, left to be an assistant practice manager at the end of October, so it was good to see her.  We enjoyed a meal at the Bon Appetit in Wetherby; I had garlic mushrooms followed by chicken breast stuffed with goat’s cheese and completed with sticky toffee pudding with ice cream, which was lovely. 

Yesterday morning I delivered letters and newspapers for the Liberal Democrats on a gloomy drizzly day and in the afternoon we went to the Liberal Democrat Christmas Fayre, where I supported the cause, but I agreed with my beloved that it was not very Christmassy occasion.  Unfortunately the weather discouraged many visitors and as it was off the beaten track it did not do as well as it might have in a more prominent position.  When I had nearly finished delivering the letters and newspapers one of my dear neighbours John called me in for an extremely welcome drink, when I had a lovely chat with his delightful wife Betty, who remains a positive person, despite her health problems.  Both she and John are very special people who I truly value, as they have been and are both great encouragers.  Friends like them is what makes life special!

Hello everyone!  This morning I gave 2 people a lift to chapel; one being May who usually comes if she well enough and Molly who just needed a lift to church this morning.  It was a thoughtful and well presented service led by Rev. Christine Gillespie with well chosen hymns.  I was pleased that she came down to talk to the children, as that makes the children’s address so much more accessible for the children.  She asked the children and us for names of Bible people, Moses, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus, Paul and Mary and Joseph were amongst names suggested.  She then went on to say how children’s stories usually had a perfect hero or heroine who was always vindicated in the end and then everyone lived happily ever after.  In the Bible we learnt about the people like Paul who persecuted Christians with a zeal that only ended when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  Peter was an impulsive character who ended up denying he knew Jesus, but Jesus did not give up on him and he became the leader of the church.  Christine showed how God used people who made mistakes but gave them a second chance, in fact he does not stop loving us if we do things wrong and he forgives us and wants us to forgive ourselves.

The hymn chosen for us to sing was about Moses no 450 in Methodist Hymns and Psalms and this verse spoke to me about how God is with us in our faith journey:

‘No matter what you may do,’

The Lord said,

‘I shall be faithful and true,’

The Lord said.

My love will strengthen you as you go along,

For you’re my travelling, wandering race,

You’re the People of God.’

So every day,

We’re on our way,

For we’re a travelling, wandering race,

We’re the people of God.

I find it helpful to know that the Lord keeps company with us on our faith journeys, especially as he does not give up on us, even if we make mistakes.

In the sermon Christine talked about whether we had ever had nicknames, which had stuck or been painful for us.  I used to hate my middle name as a child as it was an unusual old fashioned name, Gertrude, which apparently sounded lovely when spoken by my Grandpa to his wife, so my mother told me!  I was called ‘Dirty Gerty!’ at school so that did not help me get attached to my second name!  My brother Selwyn used to sometimes call me ‘Nellgen Tootiteka’ although I am not sure how it should be spelt, which I always found affectionate and lovely, but did not become a nickname which stuck.  A family friend, Alice, who was at university with my mother, used to call me ‘Scallywag’ and my younger sister Fran ‘Poppet’, both I felt were endearing names. 

Anyway I have got a bit sidetracked; back to Christine’s sermon.  She talked about a person in the Bible who was known not by his real name, Joseph, but by a nickname, namely Barnabus, which meant that he was an encourager, and the name stuck.  He was the disciple who introduced Saul to the apostles after he had become a Christian and thought he would be the right person to bring to Antioch to lead the church there.  Later they went together on missionary journeys, he and Paul.  Barnabus was happy to take second place when Paul became a more prominent leader in the church.  Barnabus was not perfect either as he and Paul had a strong disagreement about John Mark.  On the previous missionary journey John Mark had left and gone home early in the journey, so he had let them down.  Paul was not prepared to let him come with them on another missionary journey but Barnabus, the encourager, was prepared to give him a second chance.  So Barnabus split from Paul and set off with John Mark, whereas Paul set off with Silas.  The good news is that God still used the two groups to spread the faith, although they had had a quarrel and later we find that Paul found John Mark a reliable companion on his missionary journeys.  Barnabus’ faith in John Mark was vindicated, but he did not share Paul’s limelight and worked as an encourager in the background of the church’s mission, which was a vital part of the mission.  We all have an important role we can have in the church and with all we meet if we like Barnabus can be encouragers of others.  Let us all be encouragers and in that way strengthen all we come in contact with.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  We have enjoyed a fantastic tasty chicken lunch served with my beloved’s special potatoes followed by tapioca pudding, which I fancied as I had not had it for a long time and it was lovely.  The chicken casserole was full of flavour and the meat melted in my mouth; it was especially good after the disappointing pork last week, which remained chewy no matter how my beloved treated it!  Today I had the usual tasty lunch for which I am very grateful to my beloved for his expertise as a chef!!  The milk pudding took me back to my mother’s cooking and my father’s love of puddings; I am not sure the pudding came up to mother’s standard but we enjoyed it nonetheless. 

It is lovely today with a blue sky and plenty of sunshine, after the rain and wind, although we were fortunate not to get such storms or excessive winds as down south.  It is lovely to relax with my beloved on a Sunday.

Hello everyone!  I had a good week at work mostly doing letters, as the secretary was on holiday or at least looking after her grandson all week!  I enjoyed relaxing at home with my beloved each evening this week.  On Wednesday evening Julie from Pieroth came to give us a wine tasting session, so we were able to order our favourites.  Last night we shared a bottle of champagne from Waitrose, which was lovely. 

This evening we are watching the X Factor, as we record it for Cathy. Jamie gave a great performance of Radio Ga Ga by Queen to open the show, we enjoyed it despite Danni’s less than enthusiastic comments, Louis’s downbeat comments about him being only an OK singer, and Cheryl endorsing his act with a proviso concerning his hair, only Simon gave him a proper comment and the audience just loved his performance; the audience’s reaction was the most important for him. 

Lloyd as usual did not do justice to his song, ‘A crazy little thing called love’, Danni thought it was his best performance, Louis thought it was better than last week, Simon thought it was too big for him but commented that Lloyd seemed to be enjoying his performance more this week, and Cheryl thought he had come into his own; I suppose it was better than last week’s performance but still weak in our view.  Ollie gave a good performance of ‘Don’t stop me now’ but his voice was swallowed up in the music, so my beloved thought, but he always does put everything into his performance, despite his broken finger! 

My beloved thought Joe would be good in musical theatre but, he's not really a pop artist; he did well but not as well as last week in Simon’s opinion, but he did a quite good performance, but not fulfilling his potential.  The twins rapped and tried to sing ‘Under Pressure’ by Queen, incorporating a Vanilla Ice rap, but it was terrible as usual as far as I am concerned; Simon’s comment was that to comment on John and Edward, he has to enter into the ‘Jedward’ world and judge them within it!!  Simon does respect them for not whining about the attitudes of people. 

Stacey has a lovely natural personality and tonight she showed that she has, possibly, the best voice in the competition; it was certainly her best vocal.  I did not really like the song, ‘Who wants to live forever?’, but it did show off her vocal talent better.  I thought Danyl’s performance was very good, although we have heard better performances; my beloved wondered where Danyl the performer had gone, the show seeming to celebrate blandness in those who are not totally hopeless performers; he is just so afraid of being seen as too cocky, so does not perform as well as he initially did.  I have to watch it to edit and record it for Cathy, so she keeps up with it! 

This is the day that the Lord has made and, X-Factor notwithstanding, I rejoice and am glad in it.

Smiling is infectious

You catch it like the flu

When someone smiled at me today

I started smiling too.

I passed around a corner

And someone saw me grin

When he smiled I realized

I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about the smile

And then realized its worth

A single smile like mine

Could travel round the Earth.

If you feel a smile begin

Don’t leave it undetected

Let’s start an epidemic quick

And get the World infected.

I hope you liked this poem as much as I do.  I love smiling when I meet people, especially as I enjoy walking, and I do often get a responsive smile.  It also makes me feel like smiling more and therefore I feel happy!  Let us all pass on smiles to all we meet, as that is the sort of epidemic worth starting!!

Hello everyone!  This morning I walked down to church, as May was unwell, but I ended up arriving at the last minute as the procession for Remembrance Sunday was filling the whole square near the Cenotaph, where quite a crowd of people were applauding the soldiers arriving; I had to turn round and then go behind the banks to be able to get to church!  As always our service was begun with the prayer for peace.  A retired minister Gordon Lister led the start of our service until our deacon was able to join us from the Cenotaph Service; our opening hymn was ‘O God our help in ages past’, which is often chosen today.  I was struck by Gordon’s opening prayers, which drew attention not only to service men who suffer and die but also to those innocent civilians caught up in the horror of war.  These verses from the next hymn written by Fred Kaan are pertinent I feel;

We turn to you, that we may be forgiven

For crucifying Christ on earth again;

We know that we have never wholly striven,

Forgetting self, to love the other man.

Free every heart from pride and self-reliance;

Our ways of thought inspire with simple grace;

Break down among us barriers of defiance;

Speak to the soul of all the human race.

Teach us, good Lord, to serve the need of others;

Help us to give and not to count the cost;

Unite us all, for we are born as brothers;

Defeat our Babel with your Pentecost.

The Bible reading from Micah reminded us of the hope that swords could be made into ploughshares. In the reading from Romans Paul assured his readers when he said, ‘For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love; neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above or the world below – there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord’ – Romans 8v38-39 In life there would be struggles and suffering but God was in the suffering with them.

The words of the last verse of the next hymn by F. Pratt Green could help us build a better world if we took note:

He (God) reminds us every sunrise that the world is ours on lease:

For the sake of life tomorrow may our love for it increase;

May all races live together, share its riches, be at peace:

May the living God be praised!

Gordon announced the hymn in the hope that our deacon would make it in time to deliver the sermon, planned to follow it!  Sure enough he walked up to the pulpit during that hymn and gave a thoughtful sermon, reflecting on what he had learnt from his parents and grandparents about the reality of war.  He then went on to say that we could only give a proper tribute to those who fell in war, both in the armed forces and in civilian populations, if we work for peace and justice and love another; that task should start here and right now.  Maybe we could dream that the world has made an end to war, so that no more money is spent on the military or weapons but instead the hungry are fed and the poor have a good quality of life.  Let there, as David Hunt our deacon said in the words of the song, be peace on earth and let it begin with me.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.