And grace poured down

Well I made it! Sunday 10.45am in the cathedral I was ordained

a deacon in the Church of England- after 8 years of the most recent journey and after telling my mother when I was 17 that I would like to be a Vicar! Pouring down had been the theme of the retreat- literally. On Thursday morning between the Morning prayer and address and the noon Eucharist we had a cloud burst in the east of derbyshire- the result a lake in front of the gate to the church , a stream running across the path from the hotel and worse to come inside the church. in order to get in we all had to climb over the wall using chairs and stools kindly provided by those who had braved the lake and paddeld in. The scramblers included the Bishop of Repton resplendant in his purple cassock. Once inside we discovered that thelead to the vestry roof had been stolen leading to a seive like effect. Water poured in and we all began practising our diaconate ministry by emptying the vestry of everything we could- what we couldn't move got covered in plastic table cloths! It continued to rain over the following days and completed the pouring by raining as we all left the cathdral yesterday morning for the photographs. hence my rather windswept look. but nothing could dampen our spirits or our smiles- yeaterday was such a great day. And how did it feel? Through the retreat it all felt a little unreal- rather as if i would still be living in the hotel 3 weeks from now waiting for ti to happen. but then as processed into the cathedral and up the aisle in front of freinds and family I found myself very close to tears. I'd made it at last. Godhad been faithful to His calling and the church was now about to ordain me. The tears were never far away throughout the wonderfull service andthen it was pure joy as we left for the photo's and the after service party. it was also a thrill to have so many freinds there as well as relatives. The only cloud being the fact that two of my sons were iunable to get time off work to be there. However they have sent messages of support and maybe next year they can be at my priesting. now its down to work and the first full day out and about in a dog collar. I must admit so far it hasn't been at all daunting but I'm sure that will come. Thank you to all who read this blog who have prayed and encouraged me at any time- it was very much appreciated. now off to have some sleep as last night I was so full of adrenaline I only managed three hours which on top of less than normal sleep at the retreat isn't good!