Prayers at the Abbey

So....I'm meant to be linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary to publish a post a day.

Epic fail already! Yay!

But - this week the littles and I have two baked banana and pecan breakfast loaves AND visited Newstead Abbey, a special place a few minutes drive away.

Newstead Abbey - sigh.

It sounds like there are monks singing and stuff, and there used to be. It was also the dwelling place of Lord Byron who is buried in our Church. Now, it's owned by the local council and it's more of a beauty spot.

Plan of Newstead Abbey grounds.

But it still has that feeling, of prayer, of silence.

And noisy squeals when my kids are running round.

It can be empty in winter, with its vast gardens just feeling like a spiritual spot.

Nearing Spring like it was this week, there are snowdrops and crocus and the beginning of all the other flowers we get in England. And swans and mallards and coots on the lake. I can't begin to describe how it conveys the wonder of God's amazing creation. I can't do the beauty of the place justice. How wonderful it's almost on our doorstep. AND, admission has been free from November through February during the week.

View of the (ruined) Abbey from the Big Lake

I've been going quite a lot with 3rd and 4thSister. Often just 4thSister in her buggy and me powering around, taking in the beauty, the grandeur and the wonder. Sometimes we stop to go on the playpark. (YES! There's a playpark, too!) We don't visit the cafe, but yes, there's one of those, too. In high season, the Abbey itself, converted to living quarters for the Byron family, is open for visitors. We have friends who married there.

So although monks aren't really chanting plainsong, God is always there. You can walk around and, as Anne Shirley said, just FEEL a prayer. It's restorative and nurturing. Tramping around is exercise. And you always find something new.

View

This week, 3rdSister and I chose to start at the biggest waterfall, then follow it under the bridge....over the stepping stones...watch the river split into two tributaries flowing around a small island...then up the hill, down the hill, under the weeping willow tree and across another bridge to the island itself. Poohsticks on the bridge on the way back. The river back together again, we followed its course to the second lake. A real adventure! We felt like partners in crime :-) 4thSister patiently observed EVERYTHING from the buggy (she's a watcher, this one.)

SO - it feels okay I'm not keeping up with a blogging marathon when life gets in the way :-)

(all pictures are from the Newstead Abbey website today, as I'm rushing...but we have HUNDREDS from years past. Maybe I'll share some in the future.)

I really don't think I should be here....

So many posts in such little time - can you tell I'm doing Jen's 'a post a day for 7 days' challenge? Head over to Conversion Diary to see who else is taking part and enjoy their posts!

"I really don't think I should be here...."

I was texting my friend who works at the biggest hospital in our city. I was IN the hospital. Not as a patient or for having a baby. No, this time I was training to be a Chaplaincy volunteer. Part of a roomful of people doing a 2 day course on how to be a ward volunteer, support people who wanted to talk to a Christian in their time of need, to talk to anybody, perhaps.

Bear in mind I'd done a placement in this area before for my ministry training. But that's not why I felt reluctant. I felt that God was dragging me here. I'd waited two years to do the course (4thSister arriving in the interim!) and now it didn't feel the same. I didn't understand why I was being brought here. During coffee break, I texted my friend. "I really don't think I should be here...."

And then, of course, it happened. A talk from one of the Chaplains about why we were there to do the work. And I understood again. From being in a place where I couldn't comprehend the amount of suffering around me, I began to see it as a place of healing. From feeling overwhelmed to feeling empowered, remembering what set this journey in the first place. In minutes. Seconds, perhaps. Sometimes, God works like that. (With me, anyway. I literally need a kick up the behind in the way He knows best how to do.)

Earlier in the week I'd felt that I should be working in a school, perhaps, and following a slightly different fork on the path. I don't think this is being ruled out entirely. But I felt I wanted to be working with children, rather than adults. Felt that they made me feel rewarded and see the point in what I do. I'm a big believer in the St Ignatius way of looking at our vocations, whether it's motherhood, ministry, music, more.

So I've only been asked to be on a team in the Children's Hospital, supporting children and their families. Asked to try it and, if I ENJOY it, if it FULFILS me - ME - to continue. If it's the right fit, for God's plan in my life. Again - Sometimes, God works like that.

Yesterday I had a whirlwind tour of the place. Oncology, renal, short stay, long stay. The school. The youth club. Indoor play areas. It is astounding, the breadth and depth of illness and treatment, suffering and salvation. It might be my place. To be like Jesus for people. I may not have thought I should be there, but God does seem to have other ideas.

The Little Children Being Brought to Jesus - an etching by Rembrandt

Our Favourite Books for the Under 5s.

And for me, that matter! When I have to read the same facile Dora story every night it drives me mad - but the list below contains what I consider classics, and love to pull off the shelf and read with children of any age.

1) Anything by the Ahlbergs but especially Peepo and Each, Peach, Pear, Plum

             

2) Hairy MacClary - there's a whole series but this first remains the best in my opinion



3) The Big Orange Splot - metaphors of individuality, independence and freedom abound


4) The Seven Chinese Sisters - great for a 'larger' family!



5) The Pumpkin Soup trilogy

 

6) Eric Carle favourite's such as the Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear



7) Dear Zoo and the accompanying counting books



8) The Tiger who came to Tea - like the Ahlberg classics, this reminds me of an older England.



There are more but this is a good representation of our favourites!