Blog for Sunday 12th March 2023

I kept waking up last night as I knew I must get up very early this morning – well, earlier than normal – and I did not want to forget to do so. I kept waking up on the hour every hour! That did not make for a restful sleep.

My alarm clock began her tinny ditty at just before two in the morning and I very quickly aimed a hearty whack in its direction. R-r-r-ring! Whack! Silence. But then … I had to get up and out of bed! Ah, the battle with the duvet that ensued was incredible, but in the end, I was half awake, (at least my eyes were open, but nothing else was really working) and there I was standing beside our bed, waiting for my body to catch up and wake up properly.

I staggered into the living area of the shed and made two large mugs of coffee whilst trying to open my eyes and look as if I had been up for ages. Yeah right! Well, that did not work! The rusks that I had made yesterday were now lovely and warm and crisp, demanding to be devoured post haste with our early morning coffees. I woke Paddy up – he, having been foolish enough to tell me that he would get up with me to watch my niece’s wedding taking place in Scotland at that wicked hour.

It was all rather exciting being part of their – Siobhan’s and Alistair’s special day. That is when the whole thing of internet, videos, Zoom and so on came into their own. How wonderful is that – that as a family, spread throughout the world, we can be part of a special celebration no matter how far apart we are physically. Mind boggling stuff and such a blessing.

Unfortunately, the church in which they married, was very, very old so had not mod cons – like the internet - and the live video kept freezing, but it was still special to know that we were witnessing wedding vows being exchanged at the time it was actually happening.

Paddy and I decided at four o’clock that as the church service was over and we would have to wait until later to view the video of the reception, that it was time to retire to our respective beds and go back to sleep.

We did so.

I woke up again at six o’clock feeling as if I had been run over by a bus. Not a good look.

I had another coffee to get me going again, then showered and got dressed quickly. After which I woke Ken up, as we had to leave the farm at the latest by nine o’clock and I know how much he dislikes hurrying. I was teaching in Sunday School this morning and as you all know, I hate being late, so I tried hard to pace everything so that we left on time.

We did! Hallelujah!

We had great fun in Sunday School – I told them a Bible story then questioned them on it and they had listened well so could answer all my questions. I also have a wonderful Kids Bible app on my phone, which I used it this morning to re-tell the story I had just told them, and then they played a Memory Card game on my phone, pertaining to the Bible story. They loved that. I also had a board game prepared and had laminated it too, so we played that game a few times, with much yelling and laughter. It was then time to do the handwork and they so enjoyed what I had brought for them to do. When they saw the congregation filing out the children were so disappointed as we were all having such fun in Sunday School and they wanted to continue, but today we had our Quarterly Meeting so had to end our class promptly. I was so impressed by their retaining and being able to answer all the questions I put to them. Yes, it was a good morning and fun too.

Matt, our church secretary always runs such a good and productive meeting, and it never lasts too long. So, with a ‘one-two-three’, everything that had to be dealt with, was, and the meeting was over, and everyone could go home again.

Ken and I stopped at the IGA on our way home as I wanted to get some veggies to make a large pot of chicken and veggie soup for tonight’s meal. What with the rain and it being overcast and rather damp (wonderful, we had 18mm of rain overnight!) I thought a bowl of steaming hot homemade soup and toast would be a nice way to end our Sunday.

Once home I put away the paraphernalia that I had taken in for Sunday School, then I watched the wedding videos and had a lie down for twenty minutes.

It has been lovely having a cooler day for a change, and to have had almost an inch or just over an inch of rain was such a blessing too.

In the early evening I went over the SRE lessons for school tomorrow and checked that I had all I would need for that too. Yes, I was ready.

What lesson did I learn today? To always be well prepared where and when I can be.

What am I grateful for today? The lovely rain we got.

My saying for today is …