The first week back at work after holiday is always interesting. There’s the initial lament that the holiday is over, there’s the shock at the sound of the alarm going off, there’s the slow adjustment as your brain begins to whir again, there’s the first Sunday which is a shock to the system… and then you find yourself on the motorway heading to Oxford for a preaching conference!

Ok, so the trip down south doesn’t happen every time we come back from holiday, but it did this week! Nathan and I, his boss, Anne and her husband, Ted, travelled down to Oxford on Sunday afternoon for the Festival of Preaching. We were there until Tuesday and were back in time for a busy Wednesday morning (you can read some reflections on the conference here).

In terms of the rest of the week, it’s been alright.

Assembly on Wednesday was ok, although I struggled to keep the kids from chatting which is unusual, and my 2 sermons at the mid-week services seemed to go down well. I had various meetings that evening and wrote an order of service for this coming Sunday.

On Thursday, I spent the morning in the office and then Nathan gave a talk to our Mother’s Union about one of my churches, St Michael’s, Altcar. He did a cracking job and I enjoyed being his technical assistant and chauffeur!

Then this morning I drove over to Retford for their Scarecrow Festival this weekend. I’m currently typing from my Mum & Dad’s, where I am frequently supplied with tea and chocolate!

The parish Scarecrow Festival has now been happening for over a decade and it really is a lovely community event. This year, it falls at the same time as the Bishops Mission in this diocese, so it might be even busier than usual! Tomorrow, at the teddybear parachute jump mission event at church, I will be face painting, which is something I love doing!

There’s been a lot of travel over recent months. I enjoy driving and spending time in different places, but I have to say that after I get back from Retford next weekend (I am coming back on Thursday to talk at my secondary school), I am looking forward to a few weeks in Formby to have a bit more rhythm!

This week gets a 8/10, a pretty good first week back.