Changes

Well, I don't think it'll be too hard to decide where to start on my catch-up reading plan (see previous post)... thanks Ivonne for the only comment - I'll start with your suggestion then! (Perhaps any latecomers would like to consider the question while I'm studying a bit of Freud anyway).

So, I have made it to my (our) new home - though it feels more like a house with a load of boxes everywhere than home at the moment - though the home aspect is increasing daily. We're at that rather strange point in time where most people here are relative strangers, I haven't started work again at this end (though I'm very glad to have a break), TeenSon is waiting to hear if he has a place at the 6th form college and I keep walking into the downstairs loo instead of the kitchen because the doors are unsurprisingly in different places to our old house!

As I sit here pondering a bit, it feels like only yesterday when we moved to OldTown for the beginning of my curacy (trainee vicar post), when everyone there was a stranger and the thought of beginning life as a new minister was pretty daunting. Now they're the ones we've come to love and have said goodbye to, ministry has been a challenge and a delight over the last three years, and there are now new challenges ahead. So it's good to remember as I sit here waiting that God has watched over, guided and equipped me (us) all the way... and will do so again. Hmm... if he can guide my path through that lot you'd think guiding me to the kitchen instead of the downstairs loo would be a doddle!

Playing Catch-Up

I didn't work very hard when I was at school, I was probably a bit of an unnoticeable - quite nice, not too naughty, not a high achiever, mildly disruptive and minimally rebellious. I believe most of the staff (who knew who I was) thought I was harmless enough but wouldn't really make much of myself - and in fact years later it was quite a surprise to my old headmistress to be told that I'd just moved to Cambridge to train to be a Vicar, "Isn't it amazing what the Holy Spirit can do!" she said. I don't disagree, and happily give God the credit - though I was slightly disgruntled at the time to have it put in those terms.
I had unsurprisingly left school with very little in the way of qualifications having drifted through one year of sixth form with the only significant achievement being an ability to type by the end of that year. That meant at least that I could get a job in an office, which I did. So the years passed and as they turned I travelled my road from office to parent to childminder and alongside that served in the church until I came to the day when I went off to theological college.
So I had two years to study and read and learn and write essays (which they often had to drag out of me) but I loved it, loved the time set aside for these things and of course that essential gem, 'theological reflection'. And of course I met many different people, some of whom had been to university and were gathering degrees, and others like me for whom this was the first real experience of any form of academic endeavour, at all, or at least for many years; and since then I've been fascinated by the academic experience and knowledge, the quantity and quality of books read and the ease of opinion and expression of those with a richer educational background.
Now don't get me wrong, I have always loved reading and have surrounded myself with books and value the experience of my own life and the riches of faith that have grown through very different experiences; but now I want to play catch-up a bit - gather information - read the books people took for granted during A' levels and first degrees - and form opinions on current theological discussion, literary masterpieces, government policies, bits of history and random parts of the Old Testament - to pluck a few strands from thin air!
So where shall I start? What literary classic/ websites/ journals/ theological tomes/ newspapers/ writers... would you recommend?
Then when I've put the kettle on, prayed for an outpouring of self-discipline and focus and turned off the DVD with "Miss Marple" on - I can get started!

Pop!

Someone from the removal company delivered all my boxes and packing materials this morning... including a GIANT roll of bubble wrap! I suspect that by the time I move in just over two weeks there will be significantly less bubbles on the roll of bubble wrap.

Simplify

I am moving in just over two weeks and am determined to have a decent clear out before I go and get rid of a lot of the clutter I have gathered (even since the last move). So there will be trips to the charity shop and trips to the tip/recycling centre (many!).
I am a huge fan of camping - I love to go off to some scenic and quiet campsite and live the simple life in a tent. I especially savour that moment very early in the morning of crawling outside and boiling the kettle for that morning cuppa on my beloved camping stove, enjoying the peace and the view and being outdoors.
Hmm, so how is it that I love the simplicity of camping but at home I seem to have slight* 'cluttering' tendencies?
I picked up the classic 'Celebration of Discipline' by Richard Foster again yesterday and read through the chapters on simplicity - the outward life of simplicity leading from an inner attitude: "The inner reality is not a reality until there is an outward expression. To experience the liberating spirit of simplicity will affect how we live."
Well, I'm setting to work on my outward expression now so I expect I'll see how healthy the inner reality is so far!


*If my mum were reading this she may quibble with the word 'slight' here!