A whirlwind of a week!

This has to have been one of the busiest weeks to date full of variety, excitement...and some frustrations too..

The week started great with the preparations for Lent and a Pancake Party in Taggs as part of our Cafe Church- church but not as you know it. It was great to see a few different faces, to engage in some great conversations and to have some fun thinking about true love...and to eat pancakes too!

My week then moved on to assessment...Marc and I received a visit from the church commissioners ( who gave a grant to the Diocese to pay my wage!) They came to find out a bit more about what we are involved in and to have a look around some of the areas where I work. The 2 people who  came to visit were fascinated by the many different ventures we are involved in and asked the questions why we had managed to make so many contacts. This question has been on my mind for some time this week, and the answers we came up with were simple, we love the people and the place in which we live; therefore we are willing and happy to spend time with people to make our home available to others and to be a full part of the community in which we live.

I also discovered how much I love the "pioneering" side of my job, I get so passionate talking about it to those who will listen and then begin to dream crazy dreams of how things could develop and grow.....WATCH THIS SPACE!!

After such an exciting day I then had to throw myself full throtle into occassional office duties, funeral visits, a wedding and 2 baptisms. I absolutely love being a part of people's special occassions it truly is a privilege but I realised more so than ever this week how vital it is for  those from the church to be as welcoming and hospitable as possible to those visiting us for us occassions. I had two occassions of frustration where traditional view points got in the way of welcoming. We really do need to think about how we welcome, interact and treat those coming into our buildings...it is such a big hting for them to do surely it isn't too difficult to pop a smile on!

My week finished with sheer job, yesterday on my dad's birthday I got to baptize 2 beautiful sisters who we have gotten to know really well through our Upnor toddler group. It is such a blessing to be able to be a part of such an awesome occassion and to help a family you have become friends with to celebrate.

So, it has been a week of frustration, of excitement of despair with the traditional and excitement with the newly developing.... Life certainly isn't dull!!

Home Alone!

This has been a really really tough week....but first let me track back

a few weeks ago we had a frantic call from Marc's older sister to say there had been a bit of a mess up with holiday dates and the first week in February Joseph our nephew would be home alone with no one to look after him ...can Marc go and stay!
My first reaction was yes take Daniel you will have great fun, my second was no I have so many days and weekends I have to be away with work I can't cope with an extra one...my third...It's gonna be tough but yes Marc should go and I will juggle work and Daniel.

So The week is upon us and it has been hard....trying to juggle meetings around Daniel's pre school sessions, trying to arrange grandparents to baby sit around their very busy diaries and trying to function on little sleep because I am a wimp and don't sleep well when the only adult in the house!

However, I have to say it has been exhasutingly full of blessings...I have managed to appreciate what a wonderful job it is I have where I can take Daniel in with me and also where I can dip in and out to fit around him, I 've appreciated other people's flexibility but most of all I have really loved the fact that my parents are willing to change things just to help us out and most of all how amazingly well Daniel has coped with all the changes this week.


This week I have had an exciting meeting about Cafe Church at Taggs and the opportunity to be able to advertise finally, I have met with an awesome and supportive Pioneer to share stories, I have been on some training, written a sermon, plannned a wedding and a funeral and done 2 toddler groups....However, I have also made 2 cakes, done 2 lots of washing, made a speed car run, done a puzzle, made a sand picture and loved spending extra time with my son ( and it's only Wednesday!)