Band, Blackpool and Bella

The last week has been full of alsorts of experiences for us as a family...we have had a much needed few days off from work ( it's never exactly rest when you have a 2 year old!)

Our time off began with me going out ( for pleasure!) to see Marc's wonderful band The Lost Missiles perform. We had taken the bull by the horns and invited a few of our new acquaintances and friends to come along too. I was delighted to see some friendly faces ( nothing worse than being a band widow!) and the band went down a storm. I felt so proud and even got told that I am the coolest vicar ever known :)
It was a truly amazing night and the easiest opportunity to chat to people and get to know them much better on their territory!...If only we could spend more time in the pub!!!

Our time off then took us to the wonderfully sunny seaside resort of Blackpool....a place I often went to as a  child to enjoy the illuminations!
From the second we spotted the tower I felt like I had reverted back to a 10 year old child I was so excited, seeing the sea, the tower the piers brought back wonderful memories and to re live those memories again with Daniel was truly delightful, he was a total delight and absorbed everything we did with the enjoyment of a 2 year old. He tasted Candy floss explored the sea life centre and discovered many new things whilst we were there and to see his eyes light up with the illuminations it was a real sight to behold.

We then travelled down the M6 M56 and M53 to see my beautiful little niece who was celebrating her 2nd birthday. Our niece has been a poorly little poppet since birth so to see her and Daniel running around together like best buddies happy as a daisy was again a delight to behold.
The thing that I really struggle with my job is the distance that is between us and our family, we don't get to see each other nearly as much as we would like to but these moments that we can spend together are to be treasured, from going to the urban farm and meeting up with my Aunty and cousin to going to Chester Zoo to watching Daniel and Bella just playing happily together was truly worth its weight in Gold.

We won't get to see our family now until Christmas time...2 long months but the moments we have had this last week will be happy memories to help us until we create the next ones .

Living in Context!

This weekend has seen mean join together again with my fellow curates to do our continued ministerial development...we get to spend from Friday until Sunday afternoon usually at Ayelsford Priory contemplating various important issues that will help us develop to be better ministers. It isn't a retreat or a jolly but involves deep, hard thinking and reflection. However it is also a wonderful opportunity to review the work we are doing and also to catch up with some wonderful colleagues ( usually over a glass of red in the bar but don't tell anyone ;) )

This weekend our year group have been looking about the importance of mission in context. The need to be fully aware of the context in which we live and work and how God may look in that place ( to put it in a very small nut shell). Two things came to mind for me;

First of all we reviewed how it felt to live in a totally different culture, this gave me the chance to reflect upon our time in Indonesia and also our move from North West to South East. It is only in these times that you become aware of how exhausting but how amazing an opportunity it is to be able to engage in a totally different culture and place despite how very difficult it can and still continues to be.

Secondly it made me reflect on the importance of taking time as a pioneer to fully explore and become part of the community you are there to serve and live alongside in order to be able to fully understand the needs of those you live and work alongside and to not feel guilty about doing so.  Recently I have had a bit of a panic that I have not managed to achieve as much as I wanted to in the last year but this weekend has helped me to realise I have achieved more than I could ever dream of and I truly love HOO!

Aylesford Priory, despite the cold and monastic style of living is a beautiful, relaxing and Godly place. It's a place of peace and tranquillity ( if you can avoid the goose poo!) As much as I struggle to be away from home over these weekends I do see them as an opportunity to reflect and just be!

The sun shining at Aylesford this weekend ( stolen with permission from Phil Greig!)