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| Now gone to a good home! |
Today has been a difficult day in lots of ways. A final service in my title post, where I just about managed to retain my composure and although I know I gave the final blessing, I'm not sure exactly how.
Then lovely cards, flowers, astonishingly generous gifts, and a lovely feast even although it's Lent. I know I have friends here who I will be sure to stay in touch with, and to think of how much I have grown and changed and learned priest-craft ( is that a word?) in the almost four years I have been curate in the parish, is humbling. But somehow it doesn't seem real.
Somehow, part of me thinks I am getting up in the morning to say Morning Prayer in St Alban's. But I won't. Well I will say Morning Prayer. But alone, in my study. Because a house move is not imminent, it all feels a little as if I'm not leaving at all.
But something happened today which felt much more real. We had sold our climbing frame on a well-known internet auction site. It was a gift from my parents when we moved to Basingstoke (The Big Move South) and our children were both under three. It has been a feature of our lives for nearly 12 years.
And now it's gone.
It provided hours of fun for our children, and many of their friends over many years. It was a great asset to the garden.
And now it's gone.
More real than the end of my title post. More real than the move to a new place.
Our children are now amazing young people, growing up, and with us for only a few years more.
The other changes will kick in and become real over the next few days and weeks.
Somehow, part of me thinks I am getting up in the morning to say Morning Prayer in St Alban's. But I won't. Well I will say Morning Prayer. But alone, in my study. Because a house move is not imminent, it all feels a little as if I'm not leaving at all.
But something happened today which felt much more real. We had sold our climbing frame on a well-known internet auction site. It was a gift from my parents when we moved to Basingstoke (The Big Move South) and our children were both under three. It has been a feature of our lives for nearly 12 years.
And now it's gone.
It provided hours of fun for our children, and many of their friends over many years. It was a great asset to the garden.
And now it's gone.
More real than the end of my title post. More real than the move to a new place.
Our children are now amazing young people, growing up, and with us for only a few years more.
The other changes will kick in and become real over the next few days and weeks.
But this one is real now.
All change.
All change.
It's disconcerting moving somewhere else, but staying put. Obviously there must be reasons for it, but we always expect Clergy to disappear down the road in a Removal Van to wherever their next ministry is.
ReplyDeleteI know that in my Army career, moving every 2 to 3 years, being in one place for more than that was strange, and when I retired from them in 1989 I was in my own home for the first time. I had three different jobs in the following 20 years, but stayed anchored where we'd set up home for our marriage and traveled to wherever the work was. I took some adapting to changing jobs but without moving.
Prayers that you will adjust and that your next post is both fulfilling and fruitful in ministry and personal terms and that God's Kingdom is changed, grown or even amended through it.
Thanks, E! We will be moving house to the new parish, just not sure exactly when yet. I have such admiration for Army families, re-settling so often, which I would find very difficult. Glad you're settled now!
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