CELEBRATING SUMMER

Some midsummer madness going on here …….

Summer is here -  some days! In my part of the UK we've had days of torrential downpours, days of heatwaves (over 83F in my garden last Wednesday!) and days of just grey cloud. But most days have been clear blue sunny warmth. I love it! And I love summer. You?

But I'm also so over this lockdown thing. No, I don't want to go back to how it was before;  I'm longing to move forward into the new normal. 

So I thought it was just the time to celebrate summer and the new normal with a little midsummer madness.  There are some things in this blogpost I'm sure you'll love.

      - a new box-set of books  (Surprise!)  The third and last set.

      - booking now open for a Celtic Pilgrimage, May 2021

      - a new SPICE course. 

       - an audio book recording

1     SUMMER SURPRISE BOX SET

The first box set at the beginning of lockdown (wow, that seems a long time ago!) had 4 books and we sold all 20 sets in just 10 days! Everyone was wanting to read during those long hours at home. Now we're all planning our holidays - YAY!  I’ve been asked by lots of people for another set, as they are excellent value. So -

For the third and final offer, I've put together a wonderful summer surprise box set ready for your summer holiday reading.

You get 3 different new books, several signed by the authors, but you won’t know which 3 until you open your parcel! The total retail value of your set is usually over £25,  but you pay only £16.50

BOOK 1:   EITHER "The Making of US" by Sheridan Voysey 

                  OR "Taking my God for a Walk" by Tony Collins 

BOOK 2:   "Walking Back to Happiness" by Penelope Swithinbank

BOOK 3:  1 FREE copy of one of the other books in the photo above

To order your set  - and there are only a limited number, so do this NOW!

CLICK HERE to go to the order page. You will enter your credit card info, your address info and then the box set will be winging its way to you! 

There are also just 8 sets of the Virtual Pilgrimage box set still available so if you're not able to go away right now, why not travel the paths of other pilgrims and read their stories? All from the comfort of your armchair.  

CLICK HERE to order either box set - SUMMER SURPRISE or VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE

If you’ve already got a copy of one of them, why not give the new copy to someone for a birthday or Christmas gift? Or order a set to be delivered to a family member or friend with a birthday over the summer as a lovely surprise parcel. We can add a gift card if you email your message to penelope@ministriesbydesign.org when you order.

If you live outside the UK mainland, please note there is a surcharge for postage. 

2         CELTIC PILGRIMAGE

Are you feeling the need for time out?     

Needing to reset your soul? 

Thinking of 2021 for a real restorative time away? 



With restrictions being lifted, we can begin to plan for next year, God willing. 

the old Celtic coastal pathways in Cornwall

​​​​​​​BOOKING IS NOW OPEN for the Cornish Celtic Pilgrimage, walking from the furthest west of England to the furthest south - Lands End to the Lizard, along the coastal pathways often travelled by pilgrims and celts - and by the authorities trying to catch smugglers! 

​​​​​​​MAY 21-28, 2021 (Friday to Friday) 



PILGRIMAGE: the old/new way to wander, walk, think, pray - and reset your soul. To saunter along ancient paths. 

"Hiking - I don't like either the word or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains - not hike! Do you know the origin of that word 'saunter?' It's a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, "A la sainte terre,' 'To the Holy Land.' And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not 'hike' through them."
~ John Muir

If you would like the full details of this 8 day holiday, walking with just 12 women, talking, praying, having time to reflect and to be with God, email me here: penelope@ministriesbydesign.org

It will be a special week, with plenty of time for resetting your soul. The walk is only 45 miles (although there are a few steep ups and downs occasionally, as it's a coastal path) and there is a day off mid week to cross to St Michael's Mount with its pilgrim chapel.  It can be seen from the house where we will be staying.

St Michael’s Mount crowned with the pilgrim chapel. Visit on our midweek day off from walking!

This really is a vacation with a difference, as we walk, pilgrim, pray; and set aside time for the things of God. 

There are daily devotionals, based on Cornish Celtic saints and we visit ancient churches, old villages and walk along ancient pathways.

It can be hot and sunny or cold and blustery … no matter what time of year!  

May 2018 was (mostly!) sunny

The total is 12 women (including me) from any stage or walk of life, as long as you can walk 45 miles in a week! But you'll get info in advance on how to be as fit as possible in readiness.  So, with only 11 places bookable, email now for your full information and booking form.  penelope@ministriesbydesign.org   

Why not come with a friend?

Ancient Celtic cross tombstone in a Cornish churchyard

Sea views from the house where we will be staying

3.   THE SPICE COURSE : becoming your best you. 

helping you make a lasting transformation to live your life as God intended. 

I am so excited about this new course I am putting together ! Based on years of experience both in my own life and in helping those I mentor, it's a simple yet profound way to discover your best you, the YOU God made you to be. 

Many thanks to all those (97 ! THANK YOU! ) who filled in the survey for me about SPICE. 

I bit the bullet and complained to the host company who then allowed the option of paying a month's fee,  so that I could see more than the free 40 replies! And it was well worth it for all your comments and suggestions. 

Almost 70% would prefer a downloadable ebook/course with some online input.

85% would prefer 3 one hour (max) online sessions, over 3 weeks.

45% wanted most of the content to be input/speaking/teaching, with the rest spread evenly between reflections, readings, and online participation from attendees.

And then your lovely comments! People praying for me as I plan and write it; people wanting to sign up immediately; suggestions about formats; pleas for personal sessions with me to follow up. 

Having read the survey, prayed and thought carefully, and reflected, I feel the course will be a package  with options: 

• a downloadable ebook and access to a closed Facebook group

• 3 sessions (one a week) live on the closed Facebook group, but able to be accessed at any time after they're posted. 

• the option of 1, 3 or 6  (spread out over a few weeks or even months) one-to-one 45 minute sessions with me afterwards via FaceTime or Skype or Zoom. 

SPICE will be available in just a few weeks,  so that you can do it over the summer.

Details about how to sign up will be coming soon.

AND FINALLY - not just a paperback, not just on Kindle …..

AVAILABLE SOON AS AN AUDIO BOOK

Finally, some great news - 'Walking Back To Happiness' is being professionally recorded June 29 & 30 as an audio book and will soon be available for you to download and listen to. Please pray for me as I read it aloud over the 2 days and for the technology to work! 

If you skimmed through to the end, you missed

• the Summer Surprise Box Set  - click here to order it

• the Celtic Pilgrimage in Cornwall - email for full info

• info about SPICE. Full details coming soon!​​​​​​​

• ​​​​​​​the audio book of Walking Back to Happiness 

Enjoy your summer - may your days be filled with the surprising blessings God sends us. He's a God who loves you and delights in you and just enjoys being with you. I hope you enjoy being with him, too.  How do you best do that?  

Me? I'm off for a walk, of course!

- Penelope

Where Shall We Walk Today?

This time two years ago, my husband and I had just embarked on the momentous walk right across France - 330 miles from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.

512 Kms - plus all the extra ones we did!

I wish I was doing it again now - or, the other one I’d love to do: Canterbury to Rome on the Via Francigena, parts of which I’ve done in Tuscany and Lazio. It takes about 3.5 months, and I' need to do it soon or I’ll be too decrepit! There’s something about a long, long walk.

Many of us have been walking each day during lockdown. And we know that even 15 minutes a day makes a huge difference to us, mentally, physically, emotionally and even spiritually.

2,400 years ago, Hippocrates emphasised that no medication could have such a broad effect as simply putting one foot in front of another. Walking is man’s best medicine, he said. And apparently it can add seven years to your life and improve your health in numerous ways. 

Professor of inherited cardiac diseases in sport cardiology at St. George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in London, Sanjay Sharma suggests: 

“We might never avoid being totally old, but the time we become old may be delayed. When we’re 70, we might look younger and actually live on to our nineties. Workouts by walking actually gives you an extra 3 to 7 years of life.”

And perhaps we are inspired by Colonel Captain Tom and his walk for the NHS, as well.

I’ve just finished reading three GREAT books that I highly recommend, on walking. And you don’t actually HAVE to walk to enjoy them!

Erling Kagge's book is a reflection on a life time of walking  and how walking makes a difference to our lives. He is the first man to have walked to both Poles AND climbed Mt Everest! This is an illuminating examination of the joy of walking, and Kagge’s joy when he walks just shines through. “A walk refreshes and comforts and delights. Shut in at home, I would miserably decay and dry up.”

Bishop Graham Usher's words on how walking impacts our spirituality, our thinking, our looking. How it can be a time for healing, creates space for silence and solitude. Following in the steps of Jesus and other Christians, this book shows us how to walk our way back into Life. I’m devouring this more slowly, taking time to think and pray through it.

“Know how to tramp (ie long-distance walking or hiking) and you know how to live…” Stephen Graham, a man from a previous generation, gives advice on what to take (a collar and tie in your pocket in case you need to enter a bank, for instance) when hiking in the 1920's. Beautifully written and nostalgic! “Don't forget to take the coffee pot ... “ he writes. I loved this little book, and his reflections on people, food, clothes, itinerary - lots of little individual chapters, so easy to pick up and read for a few moments. Originally published in 1926, The Gentle Art of Tramping is a guide for anyone who has dreamed of taking to the road with nothing more than a bag full of essentials and big ideas. It gives guidance on walking, on being open to discovery and on being kind - advice as relevant now as it was then. Again, small chapters so easy to pick up for a few moments to enjoy. It’s a delightful size too - fits in a bag or a pocket easily!

Click on the links above to get your copy of any of them.

WALKING BACK TO HAPPINESS

And of course, I have to mention my book of our walk across France! Did you know

• it has lots of colour photos in it, so you can actually see some of the places described in the book

• it’s been listed for the annual Book Awards by the American Library in Paris. The finalists will be announced this autumn. Find out more here

• It’s a travelogue, a memoir, a pilgrimage, and a Francophile’s description of S W France

• It’s also available on Audible. But you can get a signed copy of the book if you click here.

Clockwise from top left: Stuck in a tree, The Green Path, Leaving Drax, pain in Eugenie-les-Bains

A WALKING PARTNER

I find that walking alone enables me to spend time with God. From the very beginning, God wanted a relationship with his people; he went "walking in the garden in the cool of the day" (Genesis 3:8). God created us for the enjoyment of a walking relationship, involving companionship, dialogue, intimacy. In fact, I find it easier to talk to God when I’m out walking, chatting to him in a way I don’t when I’m at home.

Who do you walk with?

Where do you find it easiest to walk with God? To talk to God?

Drop me a line - I’d love to know! And I often pray for people when I walk so let me know how I can be praying for you. (confidentialially; I don’t share it with anyone else)

.

There are some affiliate links in this blog post. If you click through to buy one of the books, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!



Could you do with help right now?

Tricky times, these. Locked in, locked down, locked up …..

or the busiest you’ve ever been?

Bored at home or frantic at work?

I’ve come across some excellent resources that might be helpful for you too. Things such as Meaningful Meditation, Planning with Help and Hope, Walking (for real or from your armchair) Praying, and Daydreaming.

And let me know what you’re finding helpful during these pandemically challenging times.

MEANINGFUL MEDITATION

MEANINGFUL MEDITATION is offered by Olivia Shone a couple of times a week (for free! Thank you, Olivia!) There’s something extraordinarily helpful about being led in this. Olivia says:

Find... Peace | Strength | Freedom

Meaningful offers a welcoming space to individuals to find fullness of life. Experience peace instead of stress, discover strength in the face of life's challenges and find a freedom to live life fully. Meaningful meditation draws on ancient contemplative traditions and also uses modern techniques to offer a 'heavenly' experience that flows over into the 'everyday' so that a richer, stronger, fuller life is experienced. Meaningful mediataios are available on Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings. Find out more about Olivia and how to sign up here. She writes: How certain are you feeling at the moment? We’ve just had an announcement from the PM which might have left you feeling a little uncertain as to what exactly is permitted and is safe.  We are still living in uncertain times. However certainty is also a quality of our experience and is something that can be cultivated within and is not dependent on outward circumstances. (Here’s the secret:  we can know inner calm, stability and certainty despite our circumstances!  I have personally found this to be true over the personal challenges of the last 8 years of my life.)

Join her on Zoom this week for some inner calm!

PLANNING WITH HOPE AND HELP - Developing a bigger vision

Praying for your family, especially your children, nephews and nieces, grandchildren, cousins, can be a chore or a delight, a burden or a blessing. Susan Yates has just produced a free online resource to accompany her book, Cousin Camp. The free book is available on her website, and includes 100 ideas of activities for children of all ages to do this summer, even when you’re At Home! “One of the things we need most during this time is a Grand Vision,” says Susan. “Determine to dream big. Ask God to show you new things about Himself. Ask Him to give you a new vision for your family…”

The main book, Cousin Camp, is full of amazing ways to have a family reunion, whether it’s all the family, the young ones, cousins, nephews and nieces … loads of ideas.

The free resource is a very practical way to plan and dream big right now! Start planning now - and why not begin with this little free resource you can get here. I found it inspirational and very practical too.

WALKING - From the comfort of home!

I’ve just finished reading three GREAT books that I highly recommend, on walking. 2,400 years ago, Hippocrates emphasised that no medication could have such a broad effect as simply putting one foot in front of another. Walking is man’s best medicine, he said. Perhaps we are inspired by Colonel Captain Tom and his walk for the NHS …..

Erling Kagge's reflections on a life time of walking  and how walking makes a difference to our lives. He is the first man to have walked to both Poles AND climbed Mt Everest! This is an illuminating examination of the joy of walking, and Kagge’s joy when he walks just shines through. “A walk refreshes and comforts and delights. Shut in at home, I would miserably decay and dry up.”

Bishop Graham Usher's words on how walking impacts our spirituality, our thinking, our looking. How it can be a time for healing, creates space for silence and solitude. Following in the steps of Jesus and other Christians, this book shows us how to walk our way back into Life. I’m devouring this more slowly, taking time to think and pray through it.

“Know how to tramp (ie long-distance walking or hiking) and you know how to live…” Stephen Graham, a man from a previous generation, gives advice on what to take (a collar and tie in your pocket in case you need to enter a bank, for instance) when hiking in the 1920's. Beautifully written and nostalgic! Don't forget the coffee pot ... I loved this little book, and his refections on people, food, clothes, itinerary - lots of little individual chapters, so easy to pick up and read for a few moments. ‘Originally published in 1926, The Gentle Art of Tramping is a guide for anyone who has dreamed of taking to the road with nothing more than a bag full of essentials and big ideas. It gives guidance on walking, being open to discovery and being kind - advice as relevant now as it was then.’ Again, small chapters so easy to pick up for a few moments to enjoy. It’s a delightful size too - fits in a bag or a pocket easily!

Click on the links above to get your copy of any of them.

DAILY ONLINE PRAYER: LECTIO 365

I’ve been listening to/using the LEctio 365 daily devotional while I walk.

It’s a brief yet profound 8-10 minutes of praise, reading, thought, prayer, and is currently doing a series on how to pray, based on Pete Grieg’s Book “How to Pray for normal people.” I love the succinct but meaningful reflections - some days that’s all I can cope with in these difficult times. Some days it gets me through. Some days it gives me a lot to think about. Written by the 24/7 prayer team and CWR, it’s based on the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, and on six practices that help us live like Jesus - prayer, mission, justice, creativity, hospitality and learning. Just download the (free) app and off you go.

The book’s quite good too!

DAYDREAMING - a lost art

A website with an article on daydreaming that I found interesting and helpful. I used to day dream, as a moody teenager; it’s something I’d forgotten about - and forgotten how to do. Maybe I need a hammock for a sunny Sunday afternoon ….. to relax and dream …..

photo by Avas Sol from Unsplash

Just a few box sets of the VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE still available at a third off the retail price. Click here to order.

There are some affiliate links in this blog post. If you click through to buy one of the books, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!