Tag Archives: christian

Ride of Remembrance and Harley fun!

As promised! The story of the bike ride! When I was approached with regard to being involved in the 100th Anniversary of the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal back in August, I jumped at the opportunity. The organiser, Kevin Murray, asked if St Paul’s could be the starting point for 100 motorbikes, each of which […]

I’m not ready to slow down!

I wake up some mornings and look, sleepy eyed into the bathroom mirror and think ‘What happened?’. You see it all looks such a mess – the hair, the face, not just bed crumpled, but full of longer term creases. However I feel inside, the outside picture is that of a 63 year old woman […]

As summer draws to a close…

As I write, our late summer break is drawing to a close. Mick and I have spent the past few days at our son’s home in South Devon. It has been a lovely opportunity to slow down, reflect and recharge our batteries before we embark on the busy times ahead of us. As always, the […]

Challenges and Blessings

It has been a couple of weeks since I’ve added to my blog. This is not because nothing has happened, in fact it has been quite the opposite; the past week or so has been an incredible mixture of being exceptionally busy, times of trauma and moments of great blessing. Two weeks ago the festival […]

Announcement

The past week has been one of mixed emotions as I’ve announced my impending retirement at the end of this year  in many ways it seems months away, but I know only too well that once the summer holidays are over, the weeks will fly by. There are many conversations still to have and so […]

An unexpected calling…

🖤🖤 ‘Secrets behind the collar’ is my story. It is the account of the traumatic events not only of 2020, but also of the abuse suffered during my childhood and teenage years.  If you are reading my ‘Secrets’ blog for the first time, you may wish to go back and begin reading from where my […]

‘Come to me…’

Tuesday saw us return from a wonderful week long break in Devon. It was everything we hoped it would be. It was a week of total switch off, the first for me in eight months, and I hadn’t realised just how much it was needed. Of course, any busy person returning from a break will […]

Doing things differently

I am currently sitting in the quiet of my son’s home in Devon. It is a lovely barn conversion in a coastal hamlet, only metres from the hotel he manages. It is secluded and it is silent, other than bird song, and I am enjoying the spectacular views and a much needed retreat from parish […]

Piecing the jigsaw and the prospect of a challenging visit

I find that I am forever finding and placing new pieces in the metaphorical jigsaw of my life, and in particular in the traumas I experienced. This week, as I reflected upon conducting the funeral of one of my parents’ oldest friends last Friday, more pieces fell into place. As I listened to her son […]

A time to be silent and a time to speak

  This week has seen me conduct two funerals on two consecutive mornings. At each of these services, the chosen Biblical reading was from the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes. The third chapter is familiar to so many people as it speak of there being a time for everything. Older readers will also remember the […]