Seeking refuge in storm Doris

The scene at Euston on Thursday

Last week during storm Doris, our daughter Jo became stranded in London as all trains to her home in Manchester had been cancelled. Due to the large number of people stranded, hotel beds were difficult to find, the tube stations were closed because of overcrowding and there were long queues for taxis.  She texted us for help and as we prayed I was able to put a message out on Facebook and begin compiling a list of people we knew in the London area.  Within the hour, I had had several offers of lifts and beds for the night for her and the kindness of friends moved me to tears.  As it turned out she was able to find a hotel bed and finally got a taxi there but it was a worrying hour or so for me as a mum thinking of my pregnant daughter wandering London on her own.


This incident made me reflect again on how dreadful is the plight of so many refugees fleeing their homelands looking for safety.  Among them will be young mothers to be like Jo who will not have the benefit of parents with lots of friends who would willingly take them in. Jo knew she would be able to get back home the next day but it is just beyond imagination to think of people leaving behind all their worldly possessions, other than that which they can carry, and travelling to unknown destinations where there is no certainty of a welcome and conversely, the possibility of danger and hostility as they travel.  Even though these people are anonymous to us, it made me remember that they are all known and loved by their own families and each one is precious to God.

If anyone wishes to give a donation to the refugee crisis appeal you can do so through many charities including the Methodist charity, All We Can. Www.allwecan.org.uk

New Year musings

The new year is traditionally a time for looking back and reflecting on the year that has passed and also looking forward to what may lay ahead in the new year.

As Mark and I reflect on 2016 we are so thankful that it was a year full of adventure and marked by a lot of travelling, especially with Mark having had his sabbatical and with me having a suitcase constantly packed and ready to journey around the country by train.  It has also been a year of exciting changes as I have officially started my new role with Methodist Women in Britain and Mark has been given responsibility of an extra church at Ivybridge.  We have met and started to get to know many new people and look forward to building more relationships locally and around the country in the year ahead.  In addition, both of our daughters and their husbands moved house and we learned that we are to become grandparents for the first time this coming year. :-) Sometimes I find it hard living far away from our children and not seeing them very often, but we were blessed with a couple of lovely days all together over New Year in Manchester and for that I am very thankful.

A full house at Ivybridge on Christmas morning

Christmas dinner a deux!

Visiting my parents

Happy to be with my chicks!

Looking forward into 2017 we have lots of things already in the diary about which we are full of hope and excitement and there are other situations in which we are having to put our hand into God's and entrust them to him and his plans for us and our loved ones.   As I said in the last blog entry, we look forward to the coming year not knowing what it holds or what will happen either good or bad but as the old hymn goes, 'I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.'

Sometimes we scrabble around making plans but actually all we have as a certainty is this moment, today and it is good to take time to slow down and enjoy each moment as it arises, appreciate the people we love and remember to count our blessings.

This weekend we will take part in the traditional Methodist New Year Covenant Service and the words are so powerful and if said with sincerity are quite a challenge but I pray that whatever this year brings, you will be given the grace to put your trust in God day by day and be given peace and strength to deal with all that lies in store.  As Wesley said, 'Best of all is, God is with us.'

Methodist Covenant Prayer

I am no longer my own, but yours.

Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;

put me to doing, put me to suffering;

let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,

exalted for you, or brought low for you;

let me be full,

let me be empty,

let me have all things,

let me have nothing:

I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things

to your pleasure and disposal.

And now, glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

you are mine and I am yours. So be it.

And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

When your path takes a different direction

I have been thinking during this Advent season about Mary and how her life took a very different path than the one she had been expecting.  As a young girl she must have dreamed about one day getting married, having children and settling into a peaceful family life and all this changed when she received a visit from the angel telling her she had been chosen to carry God's son.  And yet despite the change to her own plans she was humble and obedient to God's call on her life saying, 'I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said.'

It made me think about the times when our own plans and dreams don't turn out the way we expect and how we react to the change in direction.  Some changes occur through decisions or choices we make - about who we marry, where we work, how we spend our money and time or how we react to people around us.  Other changes are forced upon us - when illness, tragedy, redundancy or bereavement strike, when we wait for passionate prayers to be answered or when things don't turn out the way we hoped.  How do we react when our lives change unexpectedly?

People react in different ways - some people react with bitterness, anger, fear or resentment while others seem to be at peace in their hearts and seem to have an inner strength to cope.  I know that in my own life when there have been changes of direction both chosen and forced upon me, it has driven me closer to God as I have reached out for him and sought his comfort, strength and peace.   That doesn't mean that I haven't wrestled with the 'why' of events or that there has been an easy way through grief or pain, but I have discovered that it is ok to feel what I feel and struggle as I come to terms with things. Thankfully though, I have always ended up at a place of peace so that I can say with the hymn writer, whatever happens, it is well with my soul.

None of us know what tomorrow brings or what changes lay ahead in our lives but I pray that we will all, like Mary, be given the strength to deal with what lies before us and overcome by the power and strength of the Lord and that we will look for ways to help each other along.  If you have any issues you would value prayer for then please do let me know so we can keep you in our thoughts.

Wishing everyone a peaceful Christmas and a fruitful and blessed new year.

A Taste of Texas in Taunton

Last Saturday Methodist Women in Britain held our annual World Federation day in Taunton to give people a Taste of Texas.  The idea of the day was to give people who hadn't managed to get to Houston for the World Assembly in August a bit of an overview of what happened there.

Some of us who had been to Texas shared our experiences of our time there and gave a taster of some of the workshops and Bible teaching we had received.  The hospitable people of Taunton gave us an American themed lunch and a good time was had by all.

The theme of the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women for the next five years is 'Chosen People, Called to Proclaim' based on 1 Peter 2 vs 9,10 and the plan is to explore that theme more deeply over the years in various ways at our conferences, district days and local meetings and to encourage women around the country to tell others how amazing God is through our lifestyles, relationships, words and actions.

I especially loved having Mark there with me for the day as he wasn't in Texas with me and it was good for him to find out a bit more about what went on there from different perspectives.  And it meant I didn't have to drive myself home!  It also made a lovely change to have an event fairly close to home so that I wasn't travelling for hours at the end of the day.  From Texas to Taunton - if I'm honest I prefer Taunton!!

If you want to find out more about the work of Methodist Women in Britain or the World Federation, please visit our website at www.mwib.org.uk.

The lovely banner made for our area to take to Texas.

Some fabulous banners in the church

Everyone arriving and being welcomed

A welcome TV screen at the church - great idea!

I love the joy in this picture - Anne our president having a moment with Alison Judd

This is the bible passage upon which the theme is based. 

This is me leading the bible study taken by my driver and photographer for the day!

A literal taste of Texas!

Plymouth and Devonport ladies enjoying their lunch

Workshops in the afternoon

Gillian and Jennifer talking about stopping hunger

Jude talking about hospitality and sharing stories of Sandylands Methodist Church in the Cumbrian floods

Alison speaking about the UN development goals

 

Almost a full house!

A very busy month!

Things have been a bit hectic over the past month and I have only just found the time to update my blog with a brief summary of all the events over the past few weeks.

Because I was away in Ireland on my birthday, I had an honorary birthday the next day and we spent the day in Plymouth visiting the Mayflower exhibition (and the gin factory!).   Some of my family have done research on our family tree and discovered that I have a direct relative who was on the Mayflower as one of hte Pilgrim Fathers and was one of the signatories on the Mayflower Compact which was the first governing document of what was to become the USA.  It's exciting to have a personal connection to this history and salutory to think of my ancestors fleeing religious persecution and seeking a new life elsewhere.  Migration and asylum seeking is sadly nothing new - I am reminded that most of us could probably trace some aspect of migration and relocation somewhere in our past and it should help all of us feel more gracious and generous to those seeking refuge today.

At the Mayflower Steps, Plymouth

Edward and John Tillie were my relatives.

Mark has taken on the added responsibility of Ivybridge Methodist Church and we are both excited to begin to get to know people there and encouraged that people seem keen to make use of our gifts and what we have to offer.  It's going to take time to get to know everyone as there are over 150 members but we're having a good go at it!  During half term we went along to help at the holiday club there on a pirate theme which was great fun!  

I've been away a fair bit in the last month to the first meeting of the new executive of Methodist Women in Britain in London, to Methodist Council in Hertfordhsire, to One Mission Forum in London and to the Methodist Women forum in Derbyshire.  My case has been constantly packed and ready to go!

The MWIB district reps and executive meeting at Swanwick in Derbyshire

One Mission Forum in London

The MWIB executive having a cup of tea in Regents Park while waiting for our trains.

It's been so busy I have been teetering on the edge of being ill for several weeks and some days felt pretty dreadful so we were very glad to have a short break on the Isle of Wight to enjoy some walking and catching up with our sleep as well as meeting friends and family there.

Meeting up with old friends

Ventnor

Alum Bay

Headon Warren

Sandown

Tennyson Down

During Mark's sabbatical I had a real sense that God was saying that our time of restoration and recuperation after being overseas was over and now the work was going to begin and it really has! Our feet haven't touched the ground!  But we both believe we are exactly where God wants us at this time and that we are fulfilling his call on our lives so we are excited and keen to see all the doors that open in the coming months and years.