More Liz catch up..

Oops, time seems to have flown by again without me getting round to blogging. I did say I would report back on the New Wine Leaders Wives conference which was a couple of weeks back now, so thought I'd better get round to it before I completely forgot everything, as is my wont.
Brilliant. That do? Ok, I'll dig up more. Pretty nice hotel in Coventry, all got our own rooms (6 of us from college) with huuuuge bed, spa bath, all the luxuries, very nice indeed. And got time to indulge in some of the hotel facilities - sauna, pool etc, tho I didn't do too much of this as most of the time seemed to fly by with lots of ermmm well chatting really. Very nice, I must say, to have 2 mornings of getting up and putting on gmtv instead of cbeebies, and only getting myself ready, and having a bath without little visitors! Nice meals too.
So, the conference bit. Lots of good stuff really. I can see that it was a real oasis for some of the ladies who had some pretty horrible situations going on, to be able to talk about it with people who understand, and to pray together, and just to feel part of a big thing, was just great. I'm not 'out there' as such yet but there was so much stuff that was good for making me think about being prepared for when we do (which is only next year...aaagh!!) Lots of confirmation to me that this time is for resting and for getting to know God better, taking some time out for that, after the rush of the past few years, especially after having been so ill for much of the time, to now spend some time being seems so right, and it's been obvious in many ways that this is what I need to do right now....not to rush around so much for a while. Very liberating, realising that it is OK to do that. :o) A kind of preparation time.
The second evening was good, a gala dinner was put on where we all got in our posh togs and the conference room was transformed into a very nice dining room, and Michele Guinness did an after dinner talk. I've never heard her before, she has an amazing gift, very very funny and very deep too, you just hung onto her every word....she did a kind of run down of stories of leaders wives through the ages, and including a lot of her own experiences. Would recommend reading her books - good stuff.
Celia Bowring, wife of Lyndon (chairman of CARE) did the main talks which were on prayer. And there were various workshops etc. And of course a lot of time to relax and chat. Would definately go again, good place to have a reunion of the college girls too!
So, what am I up to now. well, from March I'll be doing a day in peaches every week, and more supply, so quite busy there, but in a nice way, and after easter N will be going to the school nursery every afternoon, so a big change there...he will love it, I will be bereft!! I'm not sure yet what I'll do with the afternoons, but have a few plans in the pipeline, but for now, just lots of being, praying and reading (and watching neighbours ;o))
We're planning another 'Together' event at the end of March which should be good and everyone seems very positive about, so look forward to that.
That's it for now...will endeavour to catch up more often.

A Church Near You

The observant among you may have noticed that I have added a new link to the right hand side of the blog template. A Church Near You is a great little mash up site that allows you to put your postcode or town into the search engine and will pop up with a map showing where you live, your parish church, and other churches in the vicinity.

Why is this so useful? Well here are a few possibilities:

You are moving or have moved to a new town and you want to find out about the churches in the area.

To are going to Europe for holiday or work, and want to know if there any any English speaking Anglican churches near where you are going. This is because the Diocese in Europe churches are included, for instance, try typing "Milan" into the search box.

You are investigating having a church wedding or baptism. The vicar will be very encouraged to see that you have done a bit of homework about which parish you live in, before phoning her.

TimC

Actually doing something.

I've been at college just over four months, and so far I've done a lot of reading, thinking, reflecting, praying, writing. Yesterday I did some doing. Our first ministerial placement began at one of the local hospitals. The idea is not to train in chaplaincy, but to have some exposure to what it is like being with people in hospital in a ministerial role, and gain some insights into pastoral care. We have six Sunday mornings at the hospital: fetching people from the wards for chapel, helping with the chapel service and then going back up to a ward and cold calling, wandering around and asking if anybody wants a chat.

This is the first time I have done anything like this and I was a bit apprehensive, especially about wandering around just chatting. I was encouraged at how full the chapel was for the service, there were about 20-25 patients there, and it was obviously important to many of them. The ward visit was good. The first guy I spoke to was a Christian and set me at ease and I found it reasonably easy to get talking to various other people on the ward. I really want to think through and explore the boundaries of what I can say to people about faith and relationship with Jesus in the context of their statements of what they believe Christianity is really about.

Stuff

Well things are getting back to normal after Christmas. T is loving being back at school and N is now doing 3 nursery days and loves it at much as ever. He now goes on a Friday morning and I have been wondering what to do with it as the other mornings he goes I am busy with things in college, but yesterday I was asked to take over Friday mornings in Peaches on a permanent basis (in a few weeks) so there's my answer...in the meantime, a bit of reading time, and considering what I'm going to do this year. There are a few opportunities coming up at the moment which I am procrastinating over somewhat but prayerfully iyswim, lol. Will fill you in when I actually decide, if ever. But a bit of chill out time isn't a bad thing...prayer and all that.
We spent last saturday in Luton taking T to her very good friend's birthday party and visiting his family who I miss very much, so that was great to catch up, also got to catch up with more friends. This last few weeks has been a really good catching up time, but it was also nice to come back here - really feeling like home now, and friendships are taking off so much.
Am looking very much forward to next week - am off to the New Wine leader's wives conference (yes, I know, why not husbands too, another issue!) at a posh hotel in Coventry - get to have lots of me time plus teaching, worship, etc etc, am expecting great things, and a chance to get to know some of the others a bit better. The second night we get to glam up and have a 5 course meal which sounds wonderful, then get to have our own rooms with jacuzzi bath, mmmm lovely. Will miss T T and N loads of course, but can't wait nonetheless!!
Will report on it when I return.

Back Home

All but one piece of tinsel is down. Christmas is now officially over and the New Year is here. We had a fairly chilled holiday. Some time at Liz's parents before Christmas and then over to mine for Boxing Day and following. Highlights included: the Christmas Eve crib service, stacked to the rafters in Ipsley, all the kids in Nativity costumes, Tabitha was an angel (one year I'm going to go as a proper angel - not one of these blond girly ones) and Nathaniel reprised his role as the inn keeper; the last Christmas in Ironbridge, before my mum and dad move onto pastures new (or Netherton as it's more commonly known); and the New Year's eve / birthday for the missus party. Bidding is now open for those who want me to YouTube the video of Liz giving a rendition of "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead on Singstar.