Friday 27 July 2012

A quiet joy...

Our yearly reunion came round again, eventually. It always seems both long - and short - since we last met up. Words are not enough for our relationship.  It feels like family. It feels like best friends. It feels as if, sometimes, these friends know me better than I know myself. Safe. Loving. Accepting. Joyous. Peaceful. Enough.
Ann, Cath, myself, Mary - barbecue supper...

...and fruity al fresco breakfast.

The Church of Christ the Healer - with God, all things are possible.
Meeting up again
just a year ago
we walked together, laughed together,
celebrated
a friendship endured
across years
across countries
across continents.
These friends 
who know and are known.
Truth tellers.
Masks off, souls bared. No pretence.
Women who ask real questions,
listening to unspoken yearnings, doubts, loves.
Questions answered in honesty
to know and be known.
There is no sense of urgency.

We live in the moment, THIS moment. 
Gazing back at shared experiences, looking forward 
to an unknown future, 
LIVING, together, in this moment.
Finding healing together.
After they left, I felt bereft, momentarily
until the gap closed
and normal life resumed once more.

Thursday 5 July 2012

Jumping June!

July already well under way and I haven't yet paused for breath.
Yes, end of term.
so June...
Juggling 'normal' class teaching with writing reports (only 8,500 words this time...), completing the school gardening club scrapbooks (spending every available moment on selecting photographs, cutting, pasting and labelling) and going to a presentation ceremony for the local Conservation Awards.
Undergoing the ordeal of being filmed for our school website. I got to know the film crew rather too well when they pitched up in my maths lesson, then gardening club at lunchtime and finally in our Art lesson.
Nothing in school has thrilled me quite as much as seeing the progress the children have made this year. Their art work in particular has been stunning - they have produced amazing fabric designs, trying out all kinds of embroidery stitches for effect. Wow.
Ended the month with our annual trip to Manor Adventure Activity Centre in Shropshire. 5 days, 4 nights of fun activities from abseiling to wandering around the underground maze. Travel back in time to a Victorian village and sleep deprivation came as bonuses.

It wasn't all just about school. We celebrated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and gained a fantastic overview of the events of the New Testament with Walk Through The  Bible.  I started a Bible study on the Proverbs 31 woman with friends from our monthly breakfast group. A friend got baptized. Another had a serious operation. Joys and sorrows...