Your prayers are really needed.

in

The third Preview (ie, free but you are a glamping guinea pig) has just ended. What a fun week we had! Eleven of us in the house, just as the weather decided not to be quite so nice.  Rain in the mornings - so there were work parties on the stairs and landing and in the hall, sanding and filling and painting and decorating. The angelic sounds of singing voices  came wafting down the stairs where they intermingled with the iPad playing worship music. There was a plastic shower cap on one head to avoid paint splashes; rubber gloves on various hands; much fun and laughter. One bedroom door (Stamford) even has its first coat of gloss - which is a first for the whole house! There are miles and miles of skirting boards yet to be glossed ... And in the afternoons we set off to walk.  5 miles across the fields to Surrendell and back; 6 miles round trip to gloriously pretty Castle Combe; and a mere 2.5 miles to circumnavigate historic Malmesbury before investigating the ancient Abbey. And on the feedback forms inevitably a mix:  we walked too far - or not far enough; we walked too quickly - or not fast enough. But Gracie the dog loved it all and enjoyed whichever walk we did.

There was Compline by candlelight in the Library; Lectio Divina one evening, Ignatian Contemplative prayer another. And we finished by sharing in Communion together on Friday morning. The days had flown past and the Lord had graciously met with people in various ways and at various times. Farewells were made with hugs and hugging as email and contact details were exchanged. The Lord brought people together in extraordinarily deep ways in such a short time.

"A strong sense of God's blessing on this place already."

"Three full days was too short!"

"Appreciated being involved and playing a small part at the outset."

"Would definitely like to come back either on my own or to bring a group."

"God really spoke to me in that meditation - I've never experienced Scripture like that before!"

"God was certainly blessing me over these few days and I hope to continue feeling blessed as I take Mays Farm back with me to my life at home."

"Thanks for the quiet times spent together getting into God's Word - very helpful."

"Loved Gracie!"

 

And so the work continues. And the retreats keep going - we are just starting the Preview cycle again, of individual retreats, then a Guided Silent Retreat and then another Walking Retreat. And next weekend, the first time that a small group will be here - 7 or 8 of them coming together, building their friendship and fellowship through being here, working on a project . The Courtyard is currently being re-laid and we are down to 2 or 3 builders and decorators a day - very quiet after the 8 -10 men we had each day at one stage!

We are now taking bookings for the autumn, and the house will be almost finished. It won't be completely finished   - there isn't the finances to do it all right now, as we have not been able to  sell  our cottage so the money is running out . There's no refurbishing and finishing of the office or the chapel, and we are sad about the chapel as it will be such a vital part of the ministry. The lovely Drawing Room, also for the use of guests, will not be usable yet either. There's no summer house to sit in - just the foundations; but that can wait for another year; and the decorating will not be finished .. we shall sit and paint gloss work for days to come, but that's all right.

It's the Chapel in particular we are concerned about.

Might you pray that the money will be provided for this? That somehow, from somewhere, the Lord would enable the Chapel to be finished and fitted out, so that we can have it for services and celebrations, for devotional times and for spiritual direction times. For groups to use and for individuals to sit and pray. And if you are able to contribute financially that would be amazing too, either for the finishing of the Chapel, or to establish a bursary fund to enable those to come who might not otherwise be able to - such as younger clergy.

But most of all we would love for you to pray for this new ministry and for those coming who need this place of spiritual sanctuary, a place of refreshment and renewal, a of retreat and restoration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How you can help:

Please pray

Please come -  and enjoy a retreat at Mays Farm

Please tell others

Please bring others

and maybe begin by sharing this blog post?

THANK YOU -  You are MUCH appreciated!

 

 

Mothering Sunday and a mothering God

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Mothering Sunday (as opposed to the American MOTHERS' DAY in May) is the fourth Sunday in Lent, when traditionally we gave thanks for mother church. I think it was the Victorians who began to send their servant girls home for the afternoon to see their mothers, and it developed and was transformed.  Today it is fraught with difficulties in church, as clergy try to appease so many for whom it is difficult for whatever reason.

Mother's Day is here to stay.

Retailers love it.

But deeper far than any sentimentality (in the best sense of that word) is the mothering of God.

EL SHADDAI  -  I am the Almighty God  (Genesis 17:1 AKJV)   

 

EL - this very old word for God means might, or power. But  SHADDAI has a very different sense - that of provider, the one who pours out all that is needed. Just as a mother feeds her infant, and provides everything - strength and nourishment, love and contentment. Hugs. Oh the hugging of a mother and child in a loving relationship!

 

The Lord God, seen as a breastfeeding mother.

Pouring forth into us.

Pouring out all that we need to sustain and nourish us. 

Pouring out love and blessing.

Holding us, hugging us.

 

Lord, I need to know you as my El Shaddai today:  the lover of my soul.

 

 

This post is linked with a post  from my other blog, Grace2help.com  (a daily devotional for those in the first year of bereavement) and is from Week Sixteen of The Scent of Water - the rest of the week continues the theme.

 

photos courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net Mother's day:Stuart Miles/Retrievers:khunaspix

The main thing I have learnt this January

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How to stave off the annual blues of deepest darkest January?

I've been posting regularly throughout January about  alleviating the bleak midwinter blues - learning about the Revd Sydney Smith, hugs and hugging, living as well as you dare, twinkly lights, sleep.....  check the January post archives if you missed anything.

And now January is coming to an end - its's February on Friday!  So, in this last post on the winter blues, what has January really taught me?

What I think I overlooked or forgot is the encouraging fact that January is a new beginning!

A fresh start.

A field of pristine untrodden sparkling snow awaiting the first footprint. 

photos taken whilst I was on the Captivating Conference in Colorado in February 2012

 

A fresh start is almost always exciting – as a child, that thrill at the start of the school year with new pencils to sharpen, new books to get ready, new uniform clothes, the eager anticipation of seeing friends again, that sense of adventure, heartpounding thrill and newness.

And inhaling the faint air of exciting possibility.

Even now, starting a new journal – opening to a blank page, wondering what the words will be describing as the year progresses, what adventures and emotions will be committed to the paper.

Maybe it’s to do with the fact that we have a God who also enjoys new things.

“This is what God says: ‘Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.  Be alert, be present.  I’m about to do something brand new.  There it is!  I’m making a road through the desert…’”  (The Message).

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness …”  (NRSV)  Isaiah 43:19

God is always doing new things and moving us on and changing us to be the people He wants us to be.

He wants to make a road through (THROUGH!) the desert – not take us out of the desert but enable to cross it and He does a new thing to enable this to happen.

But sometimes the new is scary.

That newness at the beginning of a school term could be scary too. Would we like the new teacher? Would we be in the same class as our best friends?  Would we fit in? Would we cope?

The anticipation is tinged with anxiety and apprehension.

What will happen this year?  Will we cope?  Will we like the changes? And even – where is God in all of this?

But there’s help for this, too, in Hebrews 13:8

“For Jesus doesn’t change – yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself.” (The Message)

Or, as many know it,

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (NRSV)

Jesus is the same: all may change but Jesus never.  And THAT’s where our security lies, that’s where we can find our stability and confidence.  The Lord Jesus never changes; He is always there for us, always loving us, always there to talk to.  We trust in Him, look to Him, and know that we will never be shaken when we keep Him at the centre of our lives.

So there’s the best, proven part of my survival kit.

Putting Him at the centre of my life.

Not just for January but for the whole year.

And not just for 2013, but for the rest of my life.

 

What are you taking from January into the rest of this year  - to help and inspire and encourage you?

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