A bed of roses

I've come down with a cold :(  But my flu jab is doing it's job and it's probably more a 48-hour thing than a week-long one.

Work-wise, the week was productive with LOTS being done on resourcing the Roadmap and planning it against the current portfolio.  We even talked about rolling some individual projects into programmes!  We'll be a 3PMO before we know it!  Just as I'm reading articles about PMOs being called something else...  Most of the number crunching was done by my line manager but I helped out here and there.

I've also pinched one of my work templates (hey - they're MY templates!) to use as a 'final report' on ToG and used my morning writing slot to chip away at it.  It's really interesting to map the whole thing out and see what we did - and to trace the beginning of the end.  It was definitely the pre-Christmas lockdown last year, I think.  We were beginning to engage with the garden group in-person, but they didn't join us when we pivoted back to on-line, so when we went back to in-person, they felt no real connection to us.  They join in if they happen to be around and have time, but they have no real bond with us.

The success story, though, is the member who joined because they were curious about all things religious and used us as a way of finding out more.  Not only do they now regularly attend church but they are looking at starting something up with the garden group!  ToG has provided a seed bed for them to grow in - now they are ready to branch out on their own.  And yes, I can keep the gardening metaphors coming all day :D

And the big un-success story has been accessibility for the person who uses a wheelchair.  The building we use IS accessible - when the doors are open, and getting them open before the person arrived was sometimes a challenge.  Ironically, they are now ALWAYS open because of the garden group - but the person is still self-isolating because they have a suppressed immune system.  NOW the problem is getting the tech to work to provide a hybrid offering!  *facepalm*  Still, I've learned to think more broadly about 'accessibility', so it counts as self-development.

Right, time for my exercises before the shopping arrives!

So, work continues on the garden.  We've spent this week painting what is, really, quite a small fence but has so many nooks and crannies.  I'm working during the day and the husband's arm can only do so much.  But it's done.  We're now thinking of growing climbing plants all over it, which will hide all our hard work :D

We can now think more seriously about the pond.  We know where we want it and our conversations about plants, etc, seem to line up - at least at the moment!  Next steps are to a) clear out the crap from the soil (including but not limited to small stones, chocolate bar wrappers and plastic dinosaurs...) and b) source a pre-molded pond that's the right size.  We also need to think about planting but I'm not sure whether to do that as a third strand, or wait until the pond's in and we can get a better feel for it.

I'm also pondering creating a teeny-tiny Zen garden in the corner that never gets any sun, but that's a project for another time.

Work continues to be work.  I found a great dungeon-building site - here - to help with my 'project as a quest' idea, but I think the whole concept might just be TOO esoteric.  And the Visio process map I have is bright and pretty.  And we're looking at developing a set of webpages, and that has to be as simple as possible, at least to start with.

But I did get to play with the dungeon-builder!

Had a nostalgia-fest re-watching the BBC's 1995 version of Pride & Prejudice.  It's still brilliant.

Started watching Warrior Nun because my chat buddy is watching it and a lot of our conversations recently have been, 'I watched this thing!'... 'I didn't... but I watched THIS.'... 'I didn't...'  Anyway, not really feeling Ava and co, yet, but I'm only two episodes in.

Meeting up with the mother and the daughter for a delayed Mother's Day meal later today, so housework will be done this morning.

And that's pretty much life at the moment.  Oh, we've started a new series on the Beatitudes - you can watch me mumble on about 'the poor in spirit' here.  Thankfully, the scheduling means I won't be talking about Greeks or cheese-makers (sorry, the meek and peacemakers)!

See you next week for more randomness.

I'm enjoying a couple of days off work.  Yesterday, the husband and I had a little trip to town to try to track down a black LFC goalie shirt for the grandson.  It's actually the son's birthday present for him but it's my job to buy it...  Anyway, said shirt is proving to be rarer than hens' teeth.  I went into the Liverpool One store to try ordering it but they don't take orders in the store and the lad advised me to order it online.  I explained that I've tried that but I couldn't find it and he said they must have had a lot of pre-orders.  He then said they were expecting more stock in August.  Grandson's birthday is next Friday.  I'm going to try the Anfield store today but after that, the son is going to have to rethink his present.  I'm going to suggest he pays us for the red shirt that we've already bought and we get the black shirt at some future point, if he really wants it.  We are also going to get him Fifa 20 (although, again, this is a kind of non-present, since the game isn't released until September...) as per, and can get him something small to open.  They are selling pint glasses with a large number 6 printed on it, so that's a possibility.

Other plans for today include polishing in the living room and our bedroom, and hoovering the carpets.  And playing Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and watching some more Jessica Jones.

I also have the first episode of Catch 22 to watch, but I might finish Jessica off, first.

Watched The Shack last night, which I didn't realise had been made into a film.  Mostly, I thought they did a good job with it, although it seemed to take a while to get going.  The husband didn't 'get' that the family were God, which I thought might happen.  I found it less frustratingly preachy than the book.  Whilst I agree with much of what the book said about God's love for everyone and lack of judgement and so on, it felt like it was telling me I had to believe that rather than letting me work it out for myself.  The film felt gentler - but it still felt that everything was resolved too easily.  I dunno.  I'm also in a different place in terms of understanding and experiencing my faith, so that probably made a difference.

Had a conversation with the Rector yesterday about the future of A Taste of God and it feels like we should move it to St Michael's.  The Library is a lovely space but securing the room every week means booking to far ahead in terms of our cash flow - which we don't really have anyway!  St M's have a community hall that can (just about!) be our neutral space - and it's getting a lot more traffic from non-church groups, so it is feeling more neutral.  The chairs and tables can be moved around as we need them and the kitchen is at our disposal for drinks and soup.  It's accessible for our wheelchair using member and is easier for them to access, and slightly nearer for the St Nick's contingent.  It's about the same distance for me but we can also store our stuff there, so I won't have to carry everything.  We've got a team meeting on Tuesday, so I'll float the idea with the group, then.  

And it's pouring with rain - yay!

On Saturday, I stood for two hours in a biting wind in St Luke's (aka 'The Bombed Out Church in Liverpool' - look it up!).  It was hit by a bomb during a Sunday service during the blitz of 1941 and has stood without roof and windows as a war memorial ever since.  It is also the titular church of my parish - St Luke-in-the-City - so formed a focus for some events during the recent Bishops' Mission.  This is when all the Bishops from across the north of England visit each others' Diocese - this year it was Liverpool's turn.  The Bishop who was supposed to visit our event (Bishop Toby from Bradford) didn't turn up.

Anyway, we were there to listen to the Formby Brass Band and to promote two new congregations - 'That Music Thing' and my own 'A Taste of God'.  We did give a few leaflets away but most of the people who came in were tourists who were only there for the weekend.  Anyway, we got to speak to people and be 'Christians in public', so that was something.

Then, 'A Taste of God' had its first meeting/service/whatever on Tuesday! *excited Rosa*  After nearly a year in the planning, it finally happened.  It's a 'simple half-hour service' - a bit of liturgy, a reading, time for discussion followed by open intercessions, with some liturgy to finish - but I can't tell you how much planning went into it.  And I wasn't even 'preaching'!  I kept thinking of stuff - like a cross for the table, and how to dress the table to fit with the theme (Baptism of Christ), and how to arrange the furniture (which was a moot point because the tables were all joined together), and... and... and...

But it all went off beautifully.  I prayed for one person to come that I didn't know and the Rector brought someone from her book group!  I don't often pray for something so specific and I don't think I've ever had such a direct answer to prayer before.  I told her she was an answer to prayer!

We had talked about using water for the intercessions - inviting people to dip their hands in a bowl or something.  Then I was worried about how to dispose of the water afterwards (although there were both an outside balcony and some toilets just outside the room, as it turned out), so I cut out some drops from shiny blue paper.  The idea was for people to take a drop and lay it on the cloth we were using to represent the River Jordan and to say a prayer - or to pray silently.  Even the newbie (who has no experience of church at all) had a go.

Things we still need - a facebook page and, probably, a twitter account; a banner for the ground floor of the library as well as for outside the room.  But these are the things you find out as you go along!

It was a day of firsts.  It was also the first time I've led a service and really not felt much from it.  Other people have described this to me and I've never really understood it.  But I think I was so anxious about the whole thing, and about getting everything set up, and not knowing where to get the key for the room...  Yeah, I had a lot of unholy, but very necessary!, things to manage, whereas in church everything is there or within easy reach.

Anyway, now I can relax for a couple of weeks because other people are managing those, apart from having to be there to get the key because I'm the person who booked the room.  Although I do need someone to put up their hand for 26 March...

Yesterday, I took a day off work to join in with a meeting for the Bishop's Reviewers.  Every year, clergy have a Ministerial Direction Review - aka annual appraisal - to look at their personal growth and their work in their parish.  Of course, this presents an immediate problem because not all clergy work in parishes - some work as chaplains, for example.  Anyway, there is a feeling that the system mostly works but can be improved.

I did my training - four days on a coaching course called 'Better Conversations' - more than two years ago but still haven't done a review.  I raised this after the meeting and spoke to the right people and I think something might happen!  One of the people I was introduced to is a retired prison chaplain who is passionate about the uniqueness of chaplaincy.  Chaplains tend to be part of a more work-like structure with formal line-management, so the professional side is taken care of.  However, they can also find themselves in environments where the faith side of their work is barely understood, so having a review with someone who speaks the language would e helpful.  I think I could be a good fit there - I'm in a working environment but have the faith side to accompany it.  We shall see...

So, it's been a bit of a holy week and March has more holy stuff in store!

 Firstly, Nano. I'm a bit behind the curve at 35k but still have time to finish. Because I know I can write a 50k novel in 30 days, I tend to use the process as a way of trying out new things. This year, I'm compiling a dossier of evidence about how some androids killed some sentient creatures but it wasn't their fault. Each document is about 1k and takes 45-60 minutes. One took about 90, for some reason. But that's NaNo - sometimes it's just a slog.

Next FFXV. We've reached Tenebrae, another underused area. We've lost Prompto but gained Biggs and Wedge.

Then there's work stuff. My annual review document has (finally!) been updated by my line manager with some exciting new elements around governance (yay!) and finance (er…?). But I have a year to make progress on them (double yay!!).

And then there's the new congregation, which is getting more and more real. A good next step, I think, is to meet with each member of the team and get to know them a bit better.

So, the potted version of life at the moment :)