It was a full week back to normality after a few days in Disney and a week in Wales. I’m suddenly aware of how much there is to do and how little energy I have again. But here are some highlights:

The Father’s Day service on my first day back. I arrived in church with butterflies in my stomach and a smile on my face, what more could I ask for?!

I had a nice duck day with Sophia on Thursday which included toddler group, some admin, a trip to the doctors for my whooping cough vaccine and a wander to feed the ducks.

A Sunday yesterday, where God was clearly at work, despite having tech problems and not being able to open the organ desk!

The biggest challenge was a long church council meeting where a variety of theological stances were expressed over a particularly tricky issue. I’m desperate for everybody to feel heard and respected, but it’s hard when I know that we won’t reach a consensus in the long term.

The ta-dah moment had been TIDYING MY STUDY! Because I spend a lot of time in the church office, it’s been easy to ignore the state of my study at home for ages but finally, it’s functioning again!

The God moment has got to be the service yesterday. Lots of people were moved by the music and preach, including myself. Right at the end, I was stood behind the table looking at the congregation, so aware of the love of God.

Mum moment: it’s not a good one this week. On Saturday afternoon, I’d done three full days childcare on my own and I was feeling tired. I felt the need to put the chain on the door because I was on my own with Soph and I knew she wanted to play about in the drivers seat of my car. I quickly learned that she can now confidently open the front door and also fit herself through the gap between the door and the frame even when the chain is on, which I absolutely cannot! Thankfully, I got hold of her arm and could jostle her back inside.

What Sophia said: after the parade service, she said ‘Mummy, you didn’t go to the altar today’. She’s right, I didn’t, and even though it had been agreed by PCC, I felt somewhat told off!

Also, she’s calling ’emails’ ‘e-mallows’.

This week I’m looking forward to a trip to IKEA to get a few new baby bits.