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Published: January 3rd 2014
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Friday 21st DecemberSt Chads held it's annual Christmas Carol service beginning at 7.30pm. The little Church with the Big Welcome was full to overflowing which was great to see and the service was preceded with the Choir Master David and the Curate Mary treating those in attendance to some great Jazz/Blues instrumental numbers on the Church organ (David) and the Flute (Mary).
The service consisted of Carols, Bible Readings & Prayer plus the 'Boningales' congregational choir singing selected numbers. A great experience, and something different for us both, to be part of the 'Boningales'. We had organised for someone to take a video of some of the 'Boningales' numbers as proof of our participation. Evelyn's reading was also something special as she read from Isaiah 11 : 1-9. The service was followed by mulled wine and mince pies served in the church.
Sunday 22nd December we decided not to attend the 11.15 am service at St Chads in favour of attending the St Marys Service of Lesson and Carols in which we had both been asked to read, Evelyn read the 4th lesson Luke 1 : 26-35 & 38 while Jess read the 5th lesson Luke 2 :
1 & 3-7, what another great experience for us both to read in a very large Church here in the UK that was full.
What great experiences for us, God continues to stretch us in our learning.
Monday 23rd December and the UK was hit by strong winds and heavy rain which affected Scotland & Southern England. We had arranged to go to Evelyn's brothers for lunch and a Christmas drink and it was a bit touch & go if we went. However we took the bit between our teeth and headed off to catch the 8.00am bus to Wolverhampton then the train to Redditch via Birmingham, no problem in getting there. When we arrived at Redditch we were informed that any travel by train should be completed by early afternoon as services would be severely disrupted or even cancelled. After a quick lunch over a couple of hours we headed back to Birmingham by train only to find out at Birmingham that most trains had already been delayed or cancelled. One thing we have learned on our travels with God is that He is a great travel agent and once again we were blessed with a solution
to any delays or cancellations and an Ariva train heading for Wales made a stop at Wolverhampton, it was on time and so we hopped on and returned home with the minimum of fuss and very little rain.
Christmas Day started with a breakfast of croissants and tea before we headed off to St Chads for the Christmas Day Holy Communion service. It was so good to see the little Church again full as people came to worship and celebrate the birth of our Lord.
After Church, back in our cottage, we settled down to a mince pie and tea as we opened our presents from each other and those received from family. We enjoyed a light lunch of cheese, fruit and mulled wine, which we had made ourselves, before watching the 'Snowman' short movie, if you haven't seen it do try to find a copy it's animated with music, 'Walking in the Air' and only lasts for 30 minutes. For dinner we cooked turkey with roast vegetables, small sausages wrapped in bacon plus some stuffing balls. Dinner was followed by plum pudding & cream. As you can see Christmas day was just the two of us, we
had decided to do this to give us a day of Thanks, Reflection and hope full prayer. It was a very special day.
Sunday 29th December we attended the United Benefice combined Holy Communion Service at St Chads and once again, the third time eight days, it was great to see the little Church full. As we headed out of the Church Rev Jill wished us a Happy New Year and said that with our Journey of Faith we should say "Thanks" to God for what has been and "Yes" to God for what is to come.
Monday 30th December Brenda, a friend from St Chads, picked us up on a wet and windy morning and took us on a drive for the day. We first visited the historic town of Much Wenlock which is credited as the Birth Place of the Modern Olympics. We wondered around the narrow streets with its many shops and also visited Holy Trinity Church. The Church is an active Parish Church and is on a sacred site that has had a continuous Christian presence for more than 1,300 years. An Abbey was built on the site around A.D. 680 and the recent
Church was built in the 12th Century.
After leaving Much Wenlock we headed for Ironbridge but stopped on the way for a nice lunch at one of the many pubs that can be found in and near the towns and villages here in the UK. Ironbridge is a little town that was the centre of the English iron industry and is situated on the river Severn. The iron bridge that spans the gorge was built between 1778 & 1781 and was the world's first bridge built of iron. The bridge is 196 feet long and weighs 380 tons; it has also been awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO. Again after wondering through the shops and enjoying a nice coffee we headed back to our cottage, what a great day with a new friend.
Tuesday 31st December we were invited to a Hogmanay at the Manor house. Bob had invited 13 friends plus their children. The children were supplied with children type food and videos in the main lounge of the Manor house and the adults started the night in the large kitchen with a range of dips, olives, sundried tomatoes, crusty bread and corn chips plus wine, beer
or soft drinks. After getting to know the other people we were all moved into the dining room where a long table had been set out for a sit down meal which included a selection of West Indian Curried Chicken, Moroccan Beef, Savoury Rice, Pilau Rice with Beans, Pasta, quiche, Roast Gammon and Southern Fried Chicken Wings and plus an order that the "Food was there to be eaten NOT looked at". The main meal was then followed by a great array of cheese & biscuits and fruit. Wow talk about eating your fill.
At 11.50pm we adjourned to the main lounge and joined the children for the New Year’s countdown and watched the fireworks on TV from the banks of the river Thames. A strange feeling for us as we had watched some of the Sydney fireworks on TV some 11 hours earlier. Bob then ended the night with a couple of tunes on the Bagpipes and although he said to a trained ear it was terrible we can say that to a couple of Aussie ears it was fantastic.
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June
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What a wonderful time you both had and such a Blessed time with new friends