Happy Friday, everybody.

This week: 5/10 overall.

After a whirlwind of a weekend, on Monday I started furlough and I will be on furlough for the next three and a bit weeks. I also have a Zoom licencing date for my new parish at the end of the month.

These two things have been accompanied by both utter excitement and a fair bit of sadness. Hence the score for this week. I’m not great with goodbyes even in good circumstances; although at the same time, I am also buzzing to get going at the Church of the Good Shepherd.

So, if I’m on furlough, what does that mean? It means no phonecalls, no emails and no public ministry.

On Monday morning, I called Granny at 9am to cheer myself up because I would usually have been saying Morning Prayer with my curacy churches. I changed the voicemail and put my out of office onto my emails. I drove for half an hour to Burscough to give blood only to discover that my normally fairly shy veins were being completely unresponsive that day. When I was at home, I wandered around a bit like a lost sheep not really knowing what to do with myself. But thankfully, by this point in the week, I have started to get a bit more used to it.

So, what else have I been doing? I’ve been taking the time to read, rest, pray and get my study sorted for moving. This week, I have finished How To Pray, Hitting the Ground Kneeling (both by Stephen Cottrell) and Leading – the Millenial Way (by Simon Barrington with Rachel Luetchford). I have re-formatted my wall planner for incumbency and I have gone through my diary with tipp-ex and taken out all the things that were in the diary for Holy Trinity and St Michael’s.

I have also shined the sink multiple times a day, done lots of cooking, caught up with people from my home church via a Zoom coffee morning, chatted with my cell group and enjoyed video calls with my family. I have been for walks and I am now getting used to not running for the phone when it rings.

Initially, I was in complete shock at the rate that things had developed. But now, I am seeing this time of quiet as a huge blessing. I can use the time to start to get my head out of curacy and into incumbency. I can sleep without worry and read all those books I’ve been meaning to for ages.

So, that was my week! How was yours?

Love & prayers, Poppy