Under Canvas

This week I have been mainly living in a Tent...

Ok, so that's not strictly true, but the week has been punctuated by being under canvas, at the Bishops House, listening to everything he has to say and speaking to people from various parts of the diocese about their projects and where they feel youth work is going.

The Bishop is totally at home with everyone, through all the ages, and of varying importance, it's great to see him answering questions with a story rather than a one word answer (though that makes it difficult to keep answers short!). This is the man that put his back out at the beginning of the week and thought that he wouldn't be able to be at any of the events... faithfully, he was at every one, chatting and sharing, seriously or not, his life and why he puts on these events. His wife is wonderful too, you can see their partnership and how grateful they both are for all the people in the diocese!

The funniest picture by far of the weekend has to be this though...


A picture of the Bishop eating ice cream!

Not something you see every day. I have been assured by his wife that he has eaten very well this week!

The food was amazing and the company was great. Two of the church's young people joined me and we served drinks for most of the evening.

It was great to see a lot of Billericay people there as well.

If you ever get invited to a do by a Bishop, I suggest you go to it! You (hopefully) won't be disappointed... I will be taking a full quota in two years for the next one.

This weekend has been really busy for me personally.

I spent the whole of Saturday at a planning meeting for a holiday camp during the summer, which was a lot of fun, an opportunity to make new friends and talk about what we're going to do for three days with twenty young people and one boat!

Being away all day Saturday meant that I missed the event of the year in my home church.


My contribution* to the afternoon event for my sister. She has now reached her target of £11,000, way before she even sets foot in an airport to go to Uganda. We are hugely thankful to everyone who has given to her and for her presence at the weekend.

On Sunday, I went on my first ever church walk, which was great. Spending time with family, young people and friends. We headed to Remus Horse Sanctuary, Buttesbury. It's not that far from where we started, but it was through fields that held horses, over stiles and through quite a lot of mud. I am the sort of person who doesn't do that countryside really well, I don't own a pair of wellies, or a set of waterproofs, so I was laughed at for much of the way for holding up my jeans, I'm also suffering from being outdoors for most of the day this morning, my hayfever is the worst it's been for a long time.

But when the world looks like this...

How can you refuse?

The rain held off until the evening and the horse sanctuary was packed, even though it had been really wet in the morning.

So on with another week of planning and thinking into the next academic year, plus finishing off this term.

*This chalk board and artist are available for free to anyone who needs a temporary sign...