Our granddaughter Mia is growing up fast. I can’t believe it was only 11 months ago that she was born. She is nearly walking now. She stands up and chatters away. Not with words anyone can understand except (I think) by her. Last week we went to her local city farm. Outside are some bronze animals like ducks and goats. She really enjoyed standing by them.
Church for the City, the Church Andrea and I go to, has gone through some major changes recently. After setting up a church in Stratford in Newham, East London, over a year ago, And with quite a lot of the congregation going to join them. It was felt we should, as a church, continue to “plant out” more churches. So, yet again, we sent a group of people to set up a church in Bow. Quite a few people went to part of that as well. The leadership of the original church of Church for The City felt we should change the area we should concentrate on and move to Shoreditch. We now meet on the 7th floor of a plush hotel.
These changes have been a little unsettling for me. I am an outgoing person and enjoy being with lots of people. With the number of people in the church dwindling, it felt that less people were there to interact with. I got quite upset and down. The people that did stay in the Church for The City were quite young and had only joined the church in the last eighteen months. That meant they did not really know me that well and did not remember my history. Some from the other churches do but I no longer see them on a regular basis. They have their own church now and are independent.
It was made further difficult for me when the pastor felt a few of the jobs I had been doing were given to others to give them a chance to learn and blossom. It took some time but I finally saw the wisdom of what was said and what was happening. I realised that instead of me “doing it all” and fearing it would collapse if I did not do these things, I should “let go” of them and trust Jesus to take care of business. After all, it is His church. Now, because Andrea and I live in Stepney, I have the job of encouraging those that have a heart for Stepney and Whitechapel, to pray and seek eventually to “plant” a church of our own.
Last week, over Easter, we were able to go to Germany again to see our son Richard. This is the second time we have gone. The first was in October with all the gorgeous autumn colours. Now it was spring and I was looking forward to seeing the trees in their spring growth, hearing the birds sing and see the flowers.
When Richard had first gone to Germany to live I was very reluctant to visit him. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the cost of the air fare or being a strange country with a different culture, but now I hav
e been it no longer holds any difficulties for me. In fact I really enjoy going. Berlin, in its own way, is quite similar to London. With a good transport system and bustling crowds; I felt right at home.The week before though, I had a bout of Gastric Flu. This really messed up my blood sugars. I have to be a bit careful because of my Diabetes. Even though while I was ill I had not eaten for over 24 hours, my sugars were quite high. I went to the doctor who promptly sent me to A&E to be seen. She was worried for me with what she found in the urine sample I had to provide. I was seen quite quickly and after much investigation they were satisfied it was not as serious as first feared. They told me to report back to my doctor again. After all this I was left quite exhausted. When I did return to her she told me to be off work for two weeks. This surprised me a little and I had this flight to Germany. I told her and she said that was fine and to have a nice time.
Because I was ill I could not be at the Easter feast meal I had planned at my work with my Christian Union. I really wanted to bless people who worked at my place of work whether Christian or not. I wanted to show them the Grace of God. When I originally planned it I discussed it with my group. They were enthusiastic. It is really surprising God has made me leader of the group of Christians at my work. Anyway I could not be there. I was glad to hear they took on the challenge of getting the food organised and getting people invited. They told me afterwards how good the event was. I wondered why God had allowed me to be ill and for me not to be there. I think it was all part of what I said earlier that the world does not revolve around me. It’s all about Him not me.
