Homeward bound

Today is my last day in Kolkata - it's been a challenging visit (see my last blog post for the link to the blog for the trip), but I feel ready to go home.

We have a final morning of sightseeing. Apparently we can't leave until we've seen the Victoria Monument and St Paul's cathedral!! But my bag is packed, though not quite closed yet(!)

Looking forward to seeing the family, but perhaps not quite so keen on hitting the ground running for college and work. College begins next week with one day in Cardiff followed by a three day retreat in the Brecon Beacons.

But for now, Kolkata one last time...!

Passage to India

I'm off to Kolkata, India on August 24th with two fellow students and a lecturer from South Wales Baptist College.  We will be staying at the BMS centre there and taking part in a variety of different activities.

If you'd like to follow our progress and see what we get up to over the two weeks we're on placement check out our blog: swbckolkata2016.blogspot.com

If you head over to the blog now by clicking on the image above, the link itself or by typing the address into your search bar then you'll find that I've already put up a few posts explaining our journey so far.

Enjoy!

Bex's Graduation

What an awesome day! So lovely to spend time with Bex celebrating all her hard work over the past four years.  Can't believe it's gone so fast.  

The Great Hall

The Chancellor: Baron Paul Myners

Mind the hats...!

The Graduate!

Love this!

This is my favourite picture!

With Anna

Anna, Ruth and Bex - housemates for the past year.

So proud of this clever girl!

Graduate with a graduate duck!

Beautiful girl!

God's in control...

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.

I wrote the following reflection a number of years ago in very different circumstances, yet my future then was uncertain, just as I feel it is now. Just needed to remember who it is that is in control - of not just my life, or my family, or this county, or the world, but everything even when the way forward isn't clear.

Obscured

I stood and looked for a way ahead
On the journey of my life
And I could not see the path
For the fog had closed in deep
I stood quite still and held my breath
I could not venture forth
Fear of the unknown route in front
Held me still within the gloom.

I turned and looked for the way I'd come
But that, too, had vanished and gone
The path I'd walked was obscured by mist
The route I'd taken, disappeared.
I did not know which way to go
I looked left and right, but all was grey.
In confusion I looked down;
And I could see the rock beneath my feet.

'See here', the voice whispered deep within,
'The rock beneath is firm,
You can see just far enough
To take a single step.
For with each step the travelling begins
And the journey is revealed
Just trust the way that you can see
And move on in faith and hope.'

'But I'm frightened and afraid,' I said
'How can I walk on alone?'
And straight away the voice replied,
'You won't - I'll walk with you.'
So, tentatively I put out my foot
And took a step on the rock in front
I moved forward just one pace
And stood again in the dark, quite still.

'Walk on', the voice said in my heart,
'Keep moving, don't stand still.
For although, to you, the way is unclear,
I know the way you should go.
Trust me to lead you onwards
Though the weather may close in more.
Hold on to me as you walk my way
And I'll take you to where you should go.

So slowly, step by single step,
I began to walk.
And my feet stayed firm on the rock beneath
As I journeyed onwards into the unknown
And though the way ahead was still obscured,
And the fog stayed thick and close
I trusted in the one with me
And walked on, in faith, with Him.

(c) Ali Taylor 2008

Proud Mum!

In this past week I've heard from Bex that she has gained a 2:1 in her degree in Computer Science with Maths.  She is now looking for jobs and waiting for her graduation ceremony in July which Andy and I will be going down for.

And I've also heard from Abi that she has gained a level 3 qualification in Applied Theology with Moorlands College during her YFC year.  She has a few weeks left of her year and I'll be going up to Trafford (which she moved to just after Easter) to collect her at the beginning of July and then she has a final celebration in London before she's back home again.  She too will be looking for a job.

I am thrilled with all that Bex and Abi have achieved.  I am a very proud Mum!

In the meantime...

Whilst dealing with the aftermath of Beth's accident I have continued in my role at Kendal Road and also written my 3rd and 4th essays.  I had to apply for an extension to the submission date, which was thankfully granted and they were submitted at the beginning of this week.

I can't believe that my first college year is over!  It has gone by so very fast.  It's been a challenging year - writing essays alongside preparing sermons and all the other things I've had to do in my role in church, as well as dealing with family life (and not least Beth's recent accident) has meant I've had to do some creative time management!

However, with college over I have a little more time to get my head round everything that's been going on and to prepare for my mission trip with college to Kolkata, India in August.  I shall be travelling with two other students and a tutor to the BMS centre in Kolkata and will be involved in a variety of projects.  I've just set up a blog (swbckolkata2016.blogspot.com) which I hopefully will be more successful at updating than this one!

An accidental lack of updates

I am so so sorry...I am so not managing to keep up with this blog, but this time for a very good reason, rather than just forgetting!!

On Good Friday Beth was knocked off her bike by a car as she was crossing a road on a pelican crossing on the way to a youth group breakfast.  The pictures the paramedics showed us show that she hit the windscreen on the passenger side so she was nearly across the road when she was hit.  The bike frame has been broken in two places so it is miraculous that her legs aren't broken.  Police were on the scene in minutes as they were passing at the time which is amazing.  

She was immobilised and taken to our local hospital about 10 minutes from the accident site.  I didn't find out about the accident until I returned from my own cycle ride that morning - finding a note on my doormat that asked me to call 101 and quote a reference.  They asked me if I had a daughter, and seeing as I have three and only knew where one was (upstairs in bed) I had no idea who to ask about!  

Beth sustained a serious head wound that required surgery to clean and suture. She also broke two vertebrae.  One between her shoulder blades and one in her neck.  The one in her neck was initially unstable, but specialists at Southmead Hospital in Bristol decided that surgery wasn't necessary to stabilise it.  She was put into a supportive collar which had to stay on permanently, 24/7, for 6 weeks.

She also had other bumps, bruises and grazes, but incredibly few considering what happened.  And none on her face which is a blessing. The doctor in A&E said that if she hadn't been wearing her helmet she might not be with us - a really scary thought!

After 6 weeks in the supportive collar she was given a 'soft' collar instead which also had to be kept on permanently for 6 weeks.

As I write this, it has now been 12 weeks since the accident and Beth has made remarkable progress. She has been able to return to school full-time after the recent half term.  There is still a long road of recovery ahead, but we are so so very grateful for her wonderful progress so far.  We go for another check up next Tuesday and hopefully Beth will be allowed to take the collar off and will be referred for physio for her back which is still very painful.

18 months of silence...

Good grief...

To anyone that bothers to pop past you must have thought I'd moved off the planet or maybe given up on social media all together.

Well...a brief summary of the past year and a half...I'll do it in bullet points or this entry will be as long as all the others...

• Bex's motorbike fascination didn't last all that long as she unfortunately had an accident during the summer of 2014.  Both the bike and her are fixed...but surgery on her broken wrist has left her with a plate holding her arm together that means that she can't bend her wrist all that well. We're left holding the bike now - anyone want one that's not done a lot of mileage? 
• I've now finished working as a teaching assistant, leaving my job in July 2015 to start part time as community worker (minister-in-training) at my home church.  This is in conjunction with a place at South Wales Baptist College to do a ministerial formation course and a place at Cardiff University to study for a Masters in Theology.
  This is very full on - but I'm loving it!
• Last Summer Bex finished her year in industry and moved back home from her lovely little flat in Yeovil for a few weeks before heading back for her final year at Exeter University.  She's now trying to pull everything together for her dissertation project and all her final assignments while also applying for jobs.
• Abi completed her A-levels last summer too.  She is now doing a year with Youth For Christ, currently based in Coalville in Leicestershire.  It's been a challenging year for her so far, but I am hopeful that God will use this year to lead her on to great things.
• Beth is now in 6th form having completed her GCSE's - she's busy studying though finding the work load quite intense.
• Andy gave up his role as Gloucester Table Tennis Association match secretary which he'd done for a number of years and is now enjoying just playing for both the Gloucester and Stroud leagues.

Does that sum up 18 months...doesn't seem a lot when I write it down...there is a lot more I could include I guess, but for now...at least that's an update.

Hopefully more to follow...!