It's Christmas Eve

This is the busiest time for many clergy, particularly those who have several churches under their wing. Everyone expects a service in their own church and many people do not want to travel - and this year it is made worse by the treacherous conditions of our pavements and roads. Spare a thought for the clergy who will be travelling between churches trying not to appear rude as they rush off to their next service even before most people's after service coffee has been poured. The Curate and I know of several clergy in this situation - with rural mission communities growing larger. The mission churches can be separated by some distance - and even if the distances are not great, the route is often along narrow, winding lanes . The narrow country roads do not lend themselves to speeding - even when there is no ice on the roads.
But there is no getting away from it - this is an exciting time. The Curate has a relatively quiet time compared to other curates that he trained with. Other than the sermon at the midnight service, his main service on Christmas day will be in a village hall where there is a very small congregation -and sometimes no congregation. He is not sure what to expect. How many people will venture out in this icy weather? Will others prefer to join a larger congregation down the road at the larger church? I am going to walk up the village church in the village where we live and maybe The Curate will join me there when he has finished. Not living in the parish where The Curate is attached has its disadvantages and advantages. I suppose I never feel I belong anywhere especially as I am only living on the North Coast part time. It reminds me of the times of being a Forces wife and the need to just get on with life however lonely and disconnected you are feeling. My thoughts and prayers are with all those families who are apart at this festive time.
 News update!
Telephone has just rung and it is The Boss (Vicar) to say neighbouring vicar has lost his voice - The Curate has won the whole of the midnight service. The readers have flu so I have won the reading. In at the deep end.
Telephone has just rung and it is the possible New Boss to arrange a meeting with The Curate to discuss the option of moving to his parish - nearer where I work.
It's all go today - The Curate is now embedded in his study for the day.

It's December!

It's 6.30 am, the alarm has gone off and I don't want to get up. At least winter is behaving like winter. We haven't got snow yet but there is an icy wind blowing outside. I have had a reasonable night's sleep which is an improvement as I have said before, bed hopping doesn't really suit me. One more night here then back to the north coast. I decided to give meditation a go last night. My only other experience of this has been the Wii fitness game - the one where you sit looking at a candle on the screen and don't move - and feel like an idiot! Needless to say I'm not too good at that one. But last night was different. I'm still reading Eat Pray Love and I was inspired to try again. What an amazing sense of calm! I shall have to work on this  - so any tips would really be appreciated.
The Curate tells me he has been helping to sort the church out for the Christmas tree festival next weekend. It will be good  to see all the trees decorated and lit up. When did these festivals start?  There are lots of them around the country now. As last Sunday was the first Sunday in Advent , the first Advent candle has been lit. I miss having the calendars to open now the boys have grown up. Perhaps I had better take one back for the Curate. 

How did I end up here?

Do you ever wake up and wonder how you ended up in certain situations?  No? Well lucky you - I expect you are pretty happy with where you are. As for me, I have a fantastic marriage that has lasted longer than the national average and I am happy that it has. But I find it unbelievable that I now go to bed with a vicar - well, a curate, to be technically accurate. The man I married didn't do God - not even to appease the future mother in law. My vicar thought that if husband to be was joining a god fearing family like mine, perhaps he ought to be baptised before getting married in church.Husband to be made a short journey down that road by visiting his local pastor and made a swift retreat after one meeting. It's funny how the Church doesn't look that attractive when you feel you are being made to go. It didn't bother future mother in law too much and God didn't seem to mind. He got husband to be much later. I'll tell you about that another time.
I am the curate's wife. I don't do flower rotas, clean brasses, make cakes or do coffee mornings. That's not being negative - I just go out to work to try to maintain the standard of living we had before the Curate became the Curate. I think The Church assumed that I would give up work when the Curate got his first job and so had no qualms in placing the Curate on the opposite coast to the one we had lived on. This is a two hour journey from my place of work. We could have turned it down but the Curate thought he had been placed there to do a job (and being slightly older than other curates  he didn't want to push his luck - ). Am I allowed to mention luck - or will readers be sucking in their teeth and telling me there is no place for luck in God's world? Now you can see the sort of dilemmas that I have to deal with. I hope that I will be able to share a few other dilemmas with the anonymous reader as I feel I cannot have this sort of debate with the good people of the parish. So stay with me reader and help this square peg fit into the round hole she now finds herself living in.

P.S. I forgot to say I don't do scones either but I haven't got the T shirt that declares that to the parish - may be I should get one.

'THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEEDS THE VICAR’S WIFE MORE THAN EVER'

So said Cranmer's Curate a while ago.