Yesterday, Husband and I sat rather apprehensively in the kitchen, awaiting the arrival of our second (or technically third?) house guest from Ukraine. I realise now that it’s been a year since our first foray into this world, and I still haven’t written a jot about the many, many reflections this bizarre experience offered. (There…
Tag: marriage
That Old, Forbidden Crumble
Trigger Warning: This post discusses the issue of adultery, particularly in a Christian ministry context. It is not aimed at any particular persons, but rather addresses the alarming rate of clergy infedelity and reflects on why this might be. Please don’t read further if this is likely to upset you. “Did you hear about Elaine’s…
The Availability Factor
Those who followed the Lockdown Diaries may remember a whole series of events through which God challenged my felt uselessness with an instruction to ‘be available.’ As a project-driven extrovert, I found many of our bubble-restricted days in limited locations difficult, and thought ‘availability’, aka loitering without intent, a sorry excuse for a vocation! Then…
A Brief History of Summer
Dear regulars, I’m sorry it’s been so long. Truth is, there’s been far too much to say and far too little time in which to process and then say it. Which is a bit of a novelty now, post lockdown, isn’t it? Anyway, rather than just reappear after a few months and dump the heavy…
“Very Nice Shoes”
Short and sweet one over here- much like me, according to the lamp post I sat next to at dinner yesterday. “You can’t possibly have eaten enough,” he says, passing the tray of fancy food over my plate again. “You’re about the size of a hamster!” Of course, when he eventually stood up and made…
Diary of ANOTHER Lockdown: Week 7
Thursday On Thursday morning I published a now-deleted post about the first 5 days of this half term week. It was a post I desperately needed to write, for those five days had been a fairly intense emotional and spiritual journey in themselves: raising questions about both ministry and marriage within ministry, as well as…
Diary of ANOTHER Lockdown: #4
Saturday The Eldest has a Zoom birthday party in the morning, which is a strange experience. She is happy enough to see some of her friends but really doesn’t like the concept of seeing them all at once. “Why are they all staring at me?” It takes a while to convince her that everyone is…
Diary of ANOTHER Lockdown: #2
Saturday I wake up and all is peaceful. There are two adults downstairs and no drama. So… I write. Obviously, out of sight is out of mind and so I do the mature thing and skip breakfast so as to continue being forgotten. Find a stray piece of chocolate and eat that instead. Why not……
Diary of a Lockdown: Week 6
Saturday So last week wasn’t the best week, on a whole, but we’re out of “the red zone” now and the clouds are starting to clear! There’s much about my attitude and approach to life that needs to change, so I ask Husband to pray for me and with me. Which he does. ‘Cos he’s…
Diary of a Lockdown: Week 2
Saturday, March 30th… Enjoy a long-scheduled brunch with friends over Zoom, during which we feed the kids approximately 2 dozen Hot Cross Buns to sit still and chat. Still, it’s good to talk! Saturday nights are pizza and movie nights in our house and, by some miracle, we have managed to find tomato-based sauce for…
The Stuff That Stuck
Over the last few posts, I have been attempting to convey how and when the invisible cloud began to lift; how I went from one pretty dark year or so, to the light I increasingly sense now, with little more than a retreat in between. There are some big, obvious factors in this; namely, our…
Out of the Hole
A couple of months back I was at a conference for church family workers and volunteers, attending a seminar about Perinatal Mental Health. During the seminar, the speaker showed this video by Brenee Brown, explaining the difference between Sympathy and Empathy. In it, a little fox is alone in a dark hole. An empathetic bear…
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