I am loving my curacy as always and in particular the journeys to the village churches. However I'm not enjoying the pheasants. Three years ago while at college we had a meeting with a pheasant on the A34 as we headed to Didcot on Christmas morning and the pheasant and our bumper came off very badly. As a result I'm quite nervous driving near them and we live quite close to a breeding area. At this time of year the lanes are full of pheasants happily wandering around and then suddenly flying upward and toward you as you approach. So far I've avoided hitting any but it makes the journeys interesting. (As do other road users who want the whole lane!)The joys of rural ministry far outweigh that tiny pin prick though. Driving over a hill and seeing the valley below shrouded in mist- the sun glinting on the lake or house windows is wonderful. And the churches continue to be a real blessing. Small but with warm hearted hard working people. In one village I've started a Toddler group and its growing slowly and now extending into a Coffee morning for the older villagers once a month. Its great to see the mums slowly starting to own the group and plan for it rather than leaving it all to me.
In another village I'm going to be starting a form of Messy Church and I've had a positive reaction from the congregation and the school head teacher so that looks like taking off.
Frighteningly I'm now almost 18 months into my curacy and though its officially a 4 year curacy in another 18 months I'll be released to start looking for my next post. Something that by this time next year I will have to be paying about and listening for G od's leading as to where next.
On a different front having spent the last 5 years thinking about buying a new home- we sold what had been mine after K had sold his and always planned to buy a retirement home, now we seem to be moving nearer to settling on where. Interestingly its got me reading blogs again to glean information and advice from the expats community. So not in Britain! I shall leave saying where until we are definite. then this blog may take on a totally different flavour as I chart our progress.
