Sabbath

I feel like my world has been turned upside down - probably because it has (a bit). With this new job, I’m going to busy when hubby isn’t, and not busy when he is! I’ve not had to work today, and although I’ve had some stuff to do, I’ve been bored and missing hubby who is out working. I’m not sure how I’m going to organise my three day weekends now, but I do want one day to be a sabbath. I guess the point of this day is to renew myself - spiritually, physically and emotionally. Here’s some thoughts of how I might spend that day each week.

• baking! A new recipe each week, that I can give away to someone at work or church.
• reading! Taking the time to escape into a different world, or even challenge my thinking on a something.
• get outdoors! This will be difficult without the car, but whether it’s by foot or by bike getting out into the beautiful countryside.
• god time! Whether church or just an extended quiet time, I need to chat over my week with God and just chill out with him.

That’s plenty to fit into a day! Now I just have to decide whether it will be a Friday, Saturday or a Sunday. I guess I will just have to try them all out. Friday (today) hasn’t worked as there have been lots of things to sort out that I haven’t been able to attend to during the week. This may change as I get used to work, or I might still use my Fridays to complete chores. Of course, I have study commitments regularly on Fridays, so I think they’re out for a sabbath. I can’t have a sabbath tomorrow (Dr Bike) but I could on Sunday (even though I am involved in the church family service.) Sunday it is for this week then! Church in the morning (by bus?), a gentle walk home through the woods. Lunch. Baking. Prayer journal. Tea. Bath. Bed with a book. The perfect sabbath perhaps?!

confused day

Today - tuesday - normally my day off, not today.

I knew that I would be spending the day doing bike maintenance training, so I was planning on having most of tomorrow off and yesterday I didn’t work my full hours either, so it would all work out. So today was a working day. At least it was, but the trainer had to leave our session at lunchtime. We then began to see today once more as a day off. We relaxed, did our usual dithering over how to spend the time and expected to work a bit tomorrow. Then we heard that our meeting tomorrow was cancelled - a full day off now possible at last! So back to work we went! I’m feeling very confused, and as a planner, this working/not working/working again is rather stressful! But if I do another hour or so’s work today, then I’ll have the whole day off tomorrow! I’m completely confused as to how many hours I’ve worked, but as long as everything is done by the end of the week, everyone is happy!

So now my thoughts turn to tomorrow - I have a whole day off with no plans yet of how to spend it!

info overload

I was at a youth strategy meeting this morning which covered a wide area and a lot of people. It was worthwhile going, but left me reeling from information overload. I then went straight from there to another meeting where we we rushing to make decisions about an event that is about a month away. I came home to a relaxing cup of tea before heading off to my new work place to get a CRB form checked. Home again for some blog reading, cooking dinner and now I have just completed the days admin tasks. I’m about to convert the office to our guest room as my Dad is coming to stay the night. Then there is a bible study to prepare for later this week. That is just today. Tomorrow I have two meetings and I’m hoping to go up to London in the evening. Thursday I have three meetings, and then two again on Friday! It’s a busy, busy week, but I’m gaining lots of knowledge to help me in my work at the church on the hill. I just hope I can digest all the info I’ve received today before I learn more tomorrow!

I’m also trying to decide whether to go to New Wine this summer. Reasons to go include getting to know people from church better, and getting some spiritual input. Reasons not to go are the new house and new job will all just have happened and perhaps I should stay at home. Another option would be to go on a retreat by myself (or another conference if the dates work) in the gap between my current job and the next. However, that time is more or less earmarked for sorting out the new house! Decisions, decisions!

back from the lakes

We stayed for four days in the lake district, and in that time cycled 40 miles on the tandem. It was great to be up there again, even if it was cold! Strangely I didn’t feel like I needed a holiday, probably because my work load has been a lot lighter over the past few weeks of transition. The holiday had all the elements of a top holiday for us - tandem, self catered, beautiful countryside and a mixture of TV, puzzles and books to keep us occupied in the evening. We also had some great news on our journey home, our offer on a house has been accepted! Pretty soon we could be moving and settling into our new home! Now it is time to really get stuck into my new work with the church on the hill.

holiday questions

Ok, so I have three days holiday booked, but that’s about it. Can’t decide what to do or where to go.
What do I need?
The answer is a new job. A break will only help short term. A retreat may help healing, but then so may a holiday. I don’t think I need a big retreat.
I’ll book my quiet day as decided.
I’ll book the holiday, once I’ve done a bit of looking into locations.
And as for the Feb holiday, if hubby has bookings, then I’ll spend a day in the hotel room reading! Pefect!
It’s all so simple when I write it down!

Greenbelt was great!

I loved greenbelt! We’ll be going back next year if we can.
We got there (despite my train being cancelled!) and then got straight into preparing for hubby’s first show which went excellently. After a chat with a fellow magician we had a chance to explore the site before finding our hotel room and crashing for an hour! We woke up at about 7.30pm, to discover we had missed the show we had wanted to go and see! We returned to site, got some food, caught up with some friends before heading to Last Orders where hubby was doing a 10min slot. As soon as he had finished we were gone, back to the hotel room for more sleep. (A 6.30am start for me and a drive from Glasgow for hubby had left us rather weary.)
Monday we had a late breakfast, hubby did some close up magic for a very long queue while I hit a seminar. Next was lunch with an old friend of mine who only lives 1 mile from the racecourse. We were back at greenbelt in time for another magicians chinwag for hubby and another seminar for me, his second show followed by a quick snack and a taste of delirious before heading home.

The atmosphere at greenbelt is fantastic, and it’s just a great place to dip in and try things. The two seminars I went to were on spirituality, and were just different from anything else I’ve been to. Great for experiencing new things, and for giving me food for thought. Really refreshing. It took me a day to get into the swing of it, but that’s partly because I wanted to spend my time with hubby and he was in work mode. Once I left him to get on with it on the Monday, I felt I really got a taste of what greenbelt has to offer.

Now I’m back, getting on with lots of work, trying to make sure I’m ready for the start of term!

Yuk!

Full of a cold, work not getting done.
I’ve just cancelled tonights supervision meeting, though I’m about to go and meet some young people. Part of me hopes no-one turns up so I can come home and sleep, part of me wants to see them and do some more painting.
Hoping I’ll be better for the weekend - celebrating my birthday at greenbelt, but at this rate I could be working or just sleeping in our hotel room. (I know a hotel is not normal accomodation for greenbelt, but hubby is performing, and keeping his suit nice and magic stuff in a tent was not going to happen!) Look out for him Sunday 2pm, Sunday night somewhere, Monday doing close up in the food court and Monday night 8pm. No doubt I’ll be close by somwhere.

Refreshed and renewed

We’re back after a great few days cycling in the new forest. The beauty of the New Forest refreshed me, and the book I was reading renewed my mind. I was reading ‘When People are Big and God is Small’ by Edward Welch. It’s about fearing God and not fearing man. I’m not 100% sure that I agree with all his arguments, but it has given me a new perspective on the situations I was worried about before I went away. If you are a people pleaser, then I’d definitely recommend it to you.
So I’m back, and able to get on with work without it stressing me out. I’ve got a week now to prepare for Soul Survivor, write an essay draft, and do some planning for September. And the sun is shining!

What to say?

I’ve survived! I’m ready for my holiday tomorrow, and am really looking forward to celebrating our third wedding anniversary. A week of camping and cycling, and reading (if I can find hubby a book to read that he’ll enjoy!) It will be hard to leave my worries behind, but I’m determined to do so. Hubby and I normally set ourselves a time from which talk about work is banned. This is normally an hour into the outward car journey. This way we have an hour in which to switch off from work and begin our holiday. We have the same rule for the way back, only an hour from home can we begin to talk about work again. I’ve found this really helpful in the past, and it’s challenging for us to talk about something else rather than youthwork and magic! (I think I may have to include study in the banned list of topics, I’m worried about assignments that are due in the autumn!)
So all that is left for me to do is some last bits of study and then the packing! (I have a horrible feeling that some of our camping gear may be in the loft!)

three times in one week

This week I’ve visited three national trust properties. The first was on Tuesday, on our way back from Hastings. The second was on Thursday, a quiet day, so I explored the house (but mainly the grounds) of Standen. The third was this afternoon. I arrived back from church rather stressed out and so we quickly made a picnic and took it to Knole in Sevenoaks. It only takes a good half hour to get there, and we enjoyed a nice walk around the deer park.
Each of these trips have been relaxing, a chance to get away, something I feel I need a lot of at the moment, but I can’t escape every day!
We go on holiday a week tomorrow, and it can’t come to soon. I’ve got enought to busy myself with this week, like preparing for Soul Survivor, and looking back at the past year. Then it will be time to really get away and let the combination of the New Forest and tandem rides refresh me. I just hope the stress doesn’t return as soon as I do!