In the many hours I spent unable to do very much when I had Covid, I got a lot of time to think and reflect. Lockdown meant that I went from curate to incumbent very quickly without being able to say goodbye properly. Thoughts about my time as a curate had been springing up for a while, but it was only once I had the enforced bed rest that something more coherent began to form, hence this blog.

So, to the people of Formby and Altcar, thank you.

Thank you for bearing with me while I spent several of the monthly BCP communion services learning to pronounce the word ‘propitiation’ (pro-pish-ee-ay-shun).

Thank you for leaving aspirin and paracetamol in a tuppaware box in the vestry for when I got a migraine.

Thank you for hundreds of cups of tea and toasted tea cakes at the Monday and Thursday coffee mornings.

Thank you for letting me gift wrap the crib as part of my first Christmas day sermon.

Thank you for letting me leave my slippers in the office for when it was very cold.

Thank you for giving us so many pieces of furniture when we were setting up home.

Thank you for making sure my Grandpa got a pineapple from the sale of the harvest fruit and veg.

Thank you for giving me the confidence to sing the exsultet on Easter Saturday.

Thank you for not minding when I turned up wet/sweaty from riding my bike before I passed my driving test.

Thank you for letting me redecorate the Vicar’s Lounge and turn it into a prayer room.

Thank you for indulging me in wearing bright lipstick when the mood took me.

Thank you for not minding me singing at the top of my voice from the communion table.

Thank you for having the most beautiful blossom I have ever seen.

Thank you for the most amazing hospitality: homemade chocolate pasta, bacon and balsamic sprouts, mackerel pate, roast beef, curried harvest soup are just a few favourites, not to mention many glasses of wine, gin, prosecco and the odd spot of whisky!

Thank you for helping us garden and putting our bins out while we were away.

Thank you for taking us to Uganda, Germany, New Wine and the Festival Of Preaching.

Thank you for a bunch of flowers when I presided for the first time.

Thank you for teaching me about the table of the poor man and the table of the King.

Thank you for letting Nathan play on the drum kit in church.

Thank you for taking jobs off me and sending me back to Retford for a few days when I first went on my antidepressants.

Thank you for home grown cucumbers and asparagus.

Thank you for learning one of my favourite songs just for my first communion service.

Thank you for taking an interest in my blogs!

Thank you for pressing a hanky into my hand as, with tears streaming down my face, I led the coffin out of church after taking the funeral of Margaret, my Formby Mum.

Thank you for finding me a home before I got married, and for the most beautiful house once I moved in with Nathan.

Thank you for running with my idea for Christingle baby shark!

Thank you for helping me raise £3500 for the Anthony Nolan Trust when I decided to chop all my hair off.

Thank you for letting us have a humans VS Zombies nerf gun event for the teens, complete with milkshakes and waffles!

Thank you for letting me join the choir one harvest.

Thank you for indulging my love of all things rainbow.

Thank you for being the community I needed to pray with when I got my positive Covid test back.

Thank you for the laughter, the prayers, the friendship, the singing.

Thank you for the best three years of my life to date.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. For me, it took a United Benefice to grow from a curate into a vicar. For Nathan, it took St Peter’s.

With all my love and gratitude,

Poppy