3.35am Guess what? She’s awake!

6.05am And again!

7.15 And we’re awake for the day so a very Happy Easter to you!

8.10am When I went to change Sophia’s nappy just now, we came out of her nursery and she looked towards there spare room where Mum and Dad stay. We walked towards it and she poked her head around the door in expectation only to find it empty. They’ve gone home for Easter and to support their new vicar on his first big festival, which is absolutely great! But I think I should give Mum & Dad a video call for Sophia to see them, don’t you?

8.30am Isn’t technology amazing? Where would we have been without it these past two years?! Anyway, time to get up!

9.45am Notices done, hot cross buns eaten and tea drunk! Time to get organised and put my little girl in the car.

12.45pm We’re back home after a delightful morning. It was a sunny, happy Easter Day and it was a joy to preach and preside.

My sermon wasn’t too much of a feminist rant in the end, but I did talk about the disciples declaring that Mary  Joanna and Mary’s story was ‘Fake News’ on that first Easter morning. Imagine following Jesus for three years, seeing all those miracles, going through the high of Palm Sunday and the devastation of Good Friday, imagine being Jesus’ closest friends and then on the greatest day of history, you turn around and say ‘you’re talking nonsense’.

Last night I made some Truth Or False cards, with a T on one side and an F on the other. I found a Fake News quiz online and read out the headlines for the congregation to guess using their cards whether each one was true or false.

At the end of my talk, I said ‘you don’t have to use your cards, but I want you to think about this headline: Jesus rises from the dead! Angles at the empty tomb say that he has risen! What do you think? True or false?’

And I looked up to see everybody holding up their cards with the T on the front. It was very powerful.

1.30pm Nathan has taken his curate back home. Before they went we stood on the drive just chatting about our mornings. There is something very special about meeting with other ministers at the end of this week. There’s a look of real joy and tiredness about us all. Even at Christmas, it might have been busy but the services are spaced out over three weeks, not one. And Christmas is great, but the real joy for me is Easter.

2.30pm Nathan has sent me and Sophia for a nap. I’m going to give her a tummy to tummy feed and see how we go.

5pm Well, Nathan just woke us up. Fitbit has logged an extra one hour and fifty minutes sleep. The house smells of gravy and the roast is ready! Life is great right now!

6.30pm Over tea we sat and talked to Sophia about Easter. We talked about Jesus going to Jerusalem, why lots of people liked him but some didn’t, how he was abandoned and arrested and died on the cross. Then we told her why it matters that he rose from the dead. It means that when we die, it is not the end. When we need to, we can come to God and talk to him without fear. And it’s all because we are loved. What a beautiful thing.

8.35pm Sophia is asleep and I’m catching up with Songs of Praise. It’s not something I do every week but today it was lovely. A mix of traditional and modern, worship music and hymns. It was filmed in Lindisfarne today so it was special and I feel blessed to have watched it.

10.10pm Well, that’s Holy Week done for another year! I’m sat in my PJ’s, knitting away and reflecting on the week. It has been my first ‘normal’ Holy Week as a vicar because we were still in semi-lockdown last year. I’ve learned lots, I’ve laughed, I’ve been delighted, tired and even, at times, frustrated. I’ve been blessed by the ministry of others, especially those at Christ Church down the road. The highlight of the week for me has got to be the Egg Hunt event yesterday. We were given money by our deanery to do some mission and we did just that. We opened up, we said ‘we’re here, come and enjoy yourselves’ and we blessed people. It was hard work but it was fantastic. Long may it continue.

Thank you for reading along and for all your lovely comments. I’ll be back soon!