As tulips and daffodils begin to poke their bright green
shoots through the frost-carpeted earth, and signs of new life awaken everywhere,
I have a very real sense of moving forward from a dark winter period into a
hope-filled springtime. This has been a
challenging few months for me, with my usual rhythms of living and working
having needed to be set aside in order to support my ageing father through some
significant health crises.
Having just returned from a few days away, preparing for a retreat on pondering the
mystery of the questions that life throws up, the word uppermost in my mind is
"surrender". When we can
surrender all that's happening (or not happening) into the hands of God, in
total trust that He is using everything - even this - for an ultimately good
purpose, then it becomes easier to stop wrestling with the unanswerable
questions and to find peace and health in the midst of the storms.
If you'd like to explore this theme a little more, in
company with Jill Hoffman and myself, then come to Penhurst in April and join
us on a creative retreat. Between now
and then, I'll be leading two day events, one for Cheadle Deanery and the other for the parish of
Acton Trussell & Bednall.
For now, I'm immersed in preparation for these events,
together with peripheral work on some other emerging projects. As I juggle many things, the number and
complexity of which have the potential to overwhelm me, I surrender all this
into the hands of the One who is in control and pray for inspiration &
energy in my preparations and balance & health in my living. If you could join me in this prayer, that
would be good!
Please pray also, in the same vein, for my co-leaders,
Jill and Viv ( who is facilitating an art activity on the Penhurst event). Please pray for an improvement in Viv's health.
Pray too for Mary Fleeson, as she completes the design work on our joint book
project.
Thank you for your continuing interest and support.
May you know the blessings of God's springtime and be at peace in the mystery.
.
