It was really exciting to see your comments appearing in my inbox over the last few days. Thank you for your warmth and encouragements - much appreciated.
I'm now in my third week of not going out, and it is fine for me - I have so much to do that it is not, for me, a big deal not to be going here and there. I explained to the OH the other day that it is actually a great freedom from the routine of life at college that I am not expected to be anywhere or do anything at a particular time just now. My time is my own and it is like a little sabbatical from the quite rigorous expectations of the college routine.
Life at college is very regimented: 0915-1215 lectures, with a half hour break for coffee. 1230 - 1300 Chapel 1300 lunch. That much is the everyday routine. Then we have Cell groups once a week - we meet on Tuesdays at 1400. Some weeks there is a community meeting at 1530 for an hour. At 1700 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays there is a communion service, and it is mandatory to attend one or other. Dinner on those days is provided and is served at 1800. Wednesday afternoons is mostly free, but there has been a lecture on Thursday afternoons both terms so far, until 1600 in the first term and 1645 in the second. After that, I'm preparing to travel - I come home on the 1915 out of Birmingham New Street on Thursday evenings which gets me back here around 2200 if I am lucky. And then I am at home until about 1645 on Sunday afternoons when the OH takes me back to the station here to head back south to Brum. Another student travels from Wigan so we meet up at the station and go back to college together most weeks.
When I am in the college, the routine feels comforting and regular, but once released from it, I have taken some time to adjust to a new schedule at home in the past few weeks. The YFG and I exercise in the mornings, taking over the sitting room for our DVD sessions, by which time the OH has done half an hour on the exercise bike and disappeared off to shower and then to his study. I make a point of cleaning all the "contact points" in the house each morning, which for me are door handles, light switches, taps and toilet flush handles, the doors/handles/dials of the white goods like the fridge, the washing machine, the microwave and the freezer, and then the knobs of the cooker and the oven handle. The kettle handle and lid finish it off and I am done - though if I have missed anything that you clean regularly, do shout. I do also clean the doorbell, the letterbox and the door handles at the front door too - we are having quite a few online deliveries at the moment.
I am finding that housekeeping is a comforting routine and I have even done some baking again. I bought a new bread machine a few weeks ago and have enjoyed digging out old recipes and making them again. So pleased to read that some of my old recipes shared here are still in regular use! The sausage plait is a recipe we introduced to the OH the other month and he enjoyed it too. He doesn't eat much cake, though he is a bit of a stress-eater of chocolate. I have to say though that we have discovered that when everything is clean (crockery AND clothing), there isn't enough room in the cupboard for all the mugs, and the wardrobe is a bit stuffed - I think that the OH was quite used to his laundry cycle taking a long time pre-marriage and had bought quite a lot of clothes....now that the washing cycle is faster, more of them need to be in the wardrobe at the same time!!
The YFG gave me a FatFace knitting kit to make a bobble hat in 2015, and I still haven't made it, so I dug it out this morning and it may become my pandemic project! The girls have got out the YFG's sewing machine and there has been much going on in the conservatory - the EFG has learned remarkably quickly! She is also involved in some online projects, like learning Norwegian, so she is keeping herself occupied whilst the YFG and I are studying.
Today is Palm Sunday, so the OH and I have decorated the front window with green paper palm leaves, and we shared a simple spiritual activity together before lunch. There is a multiplicity of worship currently available online, mostly through Facebook connections, but he is working hard to keep in touch with less technological congregants. We have heard today of his first member to go into hospital with an infection so he is worrying about her, but there is no indication yet that it is Covid19. He is in touch with the family and we are praying. The niece of another member has sadly died, so we are remembering that family too.
I give thanks for this community in times like these - for the encouragements, for the resources, for the sharing and the kindnesses, for the inspiration. We don't know what the future holds in the coming days, but we travel the road in the company of Jesus and those whom we love, and we can draw a little comfort from that, I believe. Stay safe, keep well and keep in touch with all for whom you care and pray.
Back soon xx
I'm now in my third week of not going out, and it is fine for me - I have so much to do that it is not, for me, a big deal not to be going here and there. I explained to the OH the other day that it is actually a great freedom from the routine of life at college that I am not expected to be anywhere or do anything at a particular time just now. My time is my own and it is like a little sabbatical from the quite rigorous expectations of the college routine.
Life at college is very regimented: 0915-1215 lectures, with a half hour break for coffee. 1230 - 1300 Chapel 1300 lunch. That much is the everyday routine. Then we have Cell groups once a week - we meet on Tuesdays at 1400. Some weeks there is a community meeting at 1530 for an hour. At 1700 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays there is a communion service, and it is mandatory to attend one or other. Dinner on those days is provided and is served at 1800. Wednesday afternoons is mostly free, but there has been a lecture on Thursday afternoons both terms so far, until 1600 in the first term and 1645 in the second. After that, I'm preparing to travel - I come home on the 1915 out of Birmingham New Street on Thursday evenings which gets me back here around 2200 if I am lucky. And then I am at home until about 1645 on Sunday afternoons when the OH takes me back to the station here to head back south to Brum. Another student travels from Wigan so we meet up at the station and go back to college together most weeks.
When I am in the college, the routine feels comforting and regular, but once released from it, I have taken some time to adjust to a new schedule at home in the past few weeks. The YFG and I exercise in the mornings, taking over the sitting room for our DVD sessions, by which time the OH has done half an hour on the exercise bike and disappeared off to shower and then to his study. I make a point of cleaning all the "contact points" in the house each morning, which for me are door handles, light switches, taps and toilet flush handles, the doors/handles/dials of the white goods like the fridge, the washing machine, the microwave and the freezer, and then the knobs of the cooker and the oven handle. The kettle handle and lid finish it off and I am done - though if I have missed anything that you clean regularly, do shout. I do also clean the doorbell, the letterbox and the door handles at the front door too - we are having quite a few online deliveries at the moment.
I am finding that housekeeping is a comforting routine and I have even done some baking again. I bought a new bread machine a few weeks ago and have enjoyed digging out old recipes and making them again. So pleased to read that some of my old recipes shared here are still in regular use! The sausage plait is a recipe we introduced to the OH the other month and he enjoyed it too. He doesn't eat much cake, though he is a bit of a stress-eater of chocolate. I have to say though that we have discovered that when everything is clean (crockery AND clothing), there isn't enough room in the cupboard for all the mugs, and the wardrobe is a bit stuffed - I think that the OH was quite used to his laundry cycle taking a long time pre-marriage and had bought quite a lot of clothes....now that the washing cycle is faster, more of them need to be in the wardrobe at the same time!!
The YFG gave me a FatFace knitting kit to make a bobble hat in 2015, and I still haven't made it, so I dug it out this morning and it may become my pandemic project! The girls have got out the YFG's sewing machine and there has been much going on in the conservatory - the EFG has learned remarkably quickly! She is also involved in some online projects, like learning Norwegian, so she is keeping herself occupied whilst the YFG and I are studying.
Today is Palm Sunday, so the OH and I have decorated the front window with green paper palm leaves, and we shared a simple spiritual activity together before lunch. There is a multiplicity of worship currently available online, mostly through Facebook connections, but he is working hard to keep in touch with less technological congregants. We have heard today of his first member to go into hospital with an infection so he is worrying about her, but there is no indication yet that it is Covid19. He is in touch with the family and we are praying. The niece of another member has sadly died, so we are remembering that family too.
I give thanks for this community in times like these - for the encouragements, for the resources, for the sharing and the kindnesses, for the inspiration. We don't know what the future holds in the coming days, but we travel the road in the company of Jesus and those whom we love, and we can draw a little comfort from that, I believe. Stay safe, keep well and keep in touch with all for whom you care and pray.
Back soon xx
.jpeg)
2 comments:
God bless you and yours right now. I'm glad you can be home together as a family. How our life patterns have changed in the last decade that we've known each other! And how faithful and constant our God is, through all the changing scenes of life. Much love xxx
I hope that the lady you mention who is in the hospital does not have Coronavirus and will be well soon. I live alone and miss hanging out with people in person; this is week three for me of being home by myself. Be well my friend.
Post a Comment