PSALM 19

 

This evening was started our new book 'we make the road by walking'. 

Housegroups

I have always know how important house groups are within the context of a Christian Faith.  Growing up house group happened every other Monday.  As children we had to be tucked up in bed before the folks started arriving.  As we got older we would be allowed to stay up just long enough to answer the door and let everyone in and sometimes as a special treat we would be allowed to stay for some of the meeting, normally the prayers and reflection time at the beginning.

Five years ago or so, during the Advent service of Light, I felt a prompting to set up a house group of my own.  As the service progressed a list of names came together.  I pondered and wondered.  Over the course of Advent, things fell into place and by the new year I had written to a group each of the people and our group was formed.

In the last five years we have laughed and cried, prayed and worshipped together but more than that we have grown together in our faith.

This last year, we have been studying a book by Rachel Held Evans, 'A year of biblical womanhood'.  We have considered what the bible has to say about gentleness, domesticity, obedience, valour, beauty, modesty, purity, fertility, submission, justice, silence and grace.  It has been a fascinating year.

We have been challenged and entertained in equal measure and for each of us there was a different association with the various themes of the book.  It spoke to us all at different times of the year, each of us in different seasons of life.

We have finished the year of study by each committing to continue acknowledging the women of valour in our community.  It is something we all do really well and something we should continue to do. For more on women on valour see Rachel Held Evans blog http://rachelheldevans.com/women-of-valor

To Rachel, we say thank you for an amazing year.

Reflecting

There is a challenge on Facebook at the moment to say three positive things a day for five days. It should be an easy challenge and in many ways it is, yet each evening for the last four days before I have made my party I have had to stop and pause and think.

I have so many things to be grateful for but most of all each evening I have been most thankful for my friends with whom I can everything and for my family who accept as I am.

This year my house group have been studying a year of Biblical womanhood by Rachel Held Evans. We have each engaged with book in own ways taken different bits from the book. I am eternally grateful the wonderful women from my house group who are so wise and full of faith. The depth and breadth of experience that they represent is inspiring and reassuring. If I am struggling with something they will help me tease the issue apart, when I am weak they make me strong, when I am sad they share my pain and when I am happy they share in my joy.

Fleecy jumper

This evening I have been for lovely cuddles with baby Austen. He was georgous and it gave me the opportunity to deliver the little fleecy jumper that I knitted for him.

Ripples

I have long been a fan of the Attic24 blog and enjoyed reading about the ripple blanket.

This month I decided to give it a go and make a little ripple blanket for a friend's baby, due in June.

I had a practice first.

I started off using doubles to create the pattern but it all felt a little dense and bulky so then I had a go with triples and the effect was more open and airy.  Happy with my sample I ploughed ahead with a little cot blanket and I am very pleased with the result.

Elderflowers

Tis the season for Elderflower Cordial making and so today we have started the process of steeping.  We being me, my dearest friend Sarah and her son Edward.  We have this morning been and gathered only the freshest of elderflower heads.  We have boiled sugar and water, added lemon, citric acid and finally the elderflower heads and now the steeping process begins.  The making of elderflower cordial is all about patience.

We used the recipe on the BBC Good Food Website Elderflower Cordial