8.20am

According to the weather notifications on my phone, it’s going to be up to 20° in Formby today! How wonderful, especially as today there is the walk of witness through the village followed by the Passion Play.

11.13am

Our service this morning went well and we’ve just done the walk of witness. Here is Formby High Street full of people from all churches walking together.

It’s breathtaking to see how many people gather to walk in Jesus’ name. And we’re so lucky with the weather!

The passion play is about to start. Sitting in the sunshine is no chore at all!

The play was great. Well rehearsed, fast paced and on point. I’m so impressed by how many people came out. They all saw the play and heard from Mark who spoke about Jesus and the relationship we can all have with him.

12.24pm

Good Friday fish and chips are a must! We are fortunate enough to have an amazing fish and chip shop not far away. The Good Catch food is just beaut!

3.20pm

The Hour At The Cross at St Michael’s was brilliant. It was dynamic, creative and poignant. It took place at the beautiful St Michael’s, where the blossom tree is looking stunning in the sunshine.

6.13pm

I’ve managed to take a bit of time out this afternoon. I went to Maccys to get Mcflurries for Nath and I (they had ran out!), and I’ve got changed into comfy clothes.

It’s been decided that tomorrow we will do the same Easter Vigil Service as last year so I will get up and work on the service in a bit. Some of you might remember that last year, I was practising singing the Exsultet quite a bit in Holy Week. Well, this year I’m more prepared as I’ve been singing it every other day for a couple of months, so that I wouldn’t feel the same pressure again.

Speaking of getting stressed, I had a really profound moment in church this morning. Occasionally I like to go into church on my own and sing to God. It’s a way for me to connect and I love the acoustics! I was singing in Holy Trinity this morning and I was feeling great until I started to worry. Last week, I was really organised and got the Good Friday morning service planned and ready to go. I did the powerpoint, the printing, the sermon and organised readers. But in church this morning, despite the prep, I still felt huge pressure.

In my mind, I was thinking: it’s Good Friday and it’s really sad and intense and I need to get that across to people! Jesus is going to die a horrible death and I need to engage with it!

My heart was beating fast and I felt panicked. But then I felt God saying: Poppy, you know I am risen, right? I’ve already died and come back. Today you are just remembering. And more to the point, I died so that you don’t need to feel like this.

It was like a lightbulb moment. I’ve been living in the Maundy Thursday/Good Friday readings for nearly a fortnight because of how the sermons and services fell. It had taken it’s toll. So to have met with God like that this morning was really powerful and completely changed my day. Yes, it is massively important to appreciate what Jesus did for us. It is vital that, as Christians, we engage with the whole story of Holy Week. However, that should not make us forget that Jesus is risen and the victory is already his.

10.34pm

Our evening has been quite chilled. We’ve got some little jobs done, eaten left over spag bol and had a couple of drinks. Now it’s time for sleep.

Goodnight all 💜