Drawing to a close and preparing for action

As we return from our whistlestop Celtic tour we have a few days left of our sabbatical to catch up and get ready for action stations again next week. 

Reflecting back on the past three months we both feel that we have been given an amazing gift and have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.  The things we have learned and experienced, the people we have met, the books we have read and the places we have visited will no doubt provide food for a fair few talks in the coming months! 

It has been wonderful to come aside for this time and reflect on all the water that has passed under the bridge since Mark's last sabbatical in 2008.  As with anyone's life there have been good times and happy memories to look back on as well as some dark and troubled days which I would rather forget, but through it all, God has kept us and sustained us, individually and as a couple, and continually given us the strength to get through to the next step in the journey.

As I look forward and prepare now for an exciting new season in my life with my new role officially starting in August I commit myself once again to God's plan and purpose for my life and trust that he will equip me for whatever lies ahead. 

I pray that for each of you who have followed our travels via the blog, you will each know God's guiding hand in your lives and that you will put your trust in Jesus to sustain you through whatever lies ahead in your own life during the coming days and years. 

This is my final blog on Sabbatical Reflections but I'm toying with the idea of writing an occasional blog during my time as World Federation Area Officer!  If you would like to be kept up to date with what I get up to in the next five years or would be happy to be included in prayer/news updates please do email me on markcarolyn1983@gmail.com and I'll happily add you to my list.

I close with a prayer of St.Aidan of Lindisfarne:

Leave me alone with God
As much as may be.
As the tide draws the waters
Close in upon the shore
Make me an island, set apart
Alone with you, God, holy to you.

Then with the turning of the tide
Prepare me to carry your presence
To the busy world beyond
The world that rushes in on me
Till the waters come again
And fold me back to you.

Happy Bank Holiday everyone!  Hopefully it won't rain too much!

A gorgeous little robin on Holy Island...I read that there is a legend that the robin got his red breast as when Jesus was on the cross a robin tried to remove the thorns from his brow to ease his suffering and got splashed with blood.  A sweet story!

In the chapel on Iona...I lit a candle for a close friend of mine who is fighting Ovarian cancer

A happy afternoon - Jo and Ayo drove up to Keswick for the day to visit us

On our long walk on Iona

Derwent Water - a lovely sunny and happy ending to our travels

Pilgrimage to Iona

We felt like our pilgrimage began before we got to Iona as we drove our van the 34 miles across Mull on a single track road to the ferry at Fionnphort.  It felt like a long way and we were relieved to get there eventually!

Martyrs Bay, Iona

We had miraculously dry weather for our day on Iona.  We visited the abbey and ruins of the nunnery following a pilgrims guide we had taken with us.  The best part of the day though was walking across the island to Martyrs Bay as the sky cleared and the sun shone.  This was so named because of 68 monks who were slaughtered there during a Viking raid and we remembered those around the world who still suffer for their faith today.  At the culmination of our walk we arrived at St. Colomba's bay in the south of the island.  Here we spent some time in peace and reflection.  We each took two pebbles...one we threw into the sea to symbolise something we wanted to leave behind and one we took with us as a symbol of a fresh commitment.  It was a very special moment and very apt as we draw near to the end of this wonderful sabbatical and prepare to go back into the fray.

At our campsite on Mull we got to see some sea otters as we were overlooking the bay!  They didn't want to come close to us but at least we saw them!  A real highlight of the stay.

Waiting for the ferry looking back over the abbey on Iona

Celtic tour

View of Lindisfarne Priory from our hotel

On our way up country to Holy Island in Northumbria we stopped off at Epworth Rectory to pay a visit to the special Methodist Women exhibition, 'Transforming the world from the kitchen' about Susanna Wesley and her Godly influence on her children including John and Charles.  I hope lots of you who live near by or are passing through Lincolnshire take time out to call in as so much work has gone into the exhibition and it offers real encouragement and inspiration to us all.

We've now arrived on Holy Island where we are spending the night and have a lovely view of the Priory and castle from our hotel room.  It's such a special place and part of our Christian heritage and I felt quite emotional as we drove across the causeway as I've wanted to come here for a long time.  I'm enjoying reading stories about Aidan and Cuthbert.  One of my favourites is amongst the stories of their affinity with animals and creation.  One story tells of Cuthbert coming out of,the water where he had been praying and being dried off by two otters rubbing round him!  Aw!  Never mind luxury bath towels I want otters!!

At Epworth Rectory

Mission partner reunion

Yesterday we drove to Windsor for a reunion of some of our group from All Nations where we all did our cross cultural training in 2012.  All of us have had our joys and sorrows, our tests and encouragements and it was great to be able to meet to catch up and pray for each other.  Sadly not everyone could come to the reunion, but we were able to learn a lot from each other's experiences and from news we have received from those who are still overseas.  We have all agreed to meet again in three years time!

Meeting friends of friends...

This morning we went to worship at Bethel Methodist Church in Bridgetown.  Friends of ours used to be mission partners here and we wanted to go along and meet some of their old congregation.  We were made very welcome and were able to bring greetings from our friends in England...when we mentioned their names the congregation broke into cheers and applause!  After a long (almost three hour!) service we chatted with a couple I'd been told to look out for and it was a real privilege to chat to friends of friends.  As I've said before, it's amazing to belong to the church and have family wherever we travel in the world.

Me and Etwyn...a friend of Alison and Les Judd

My Mum's dream come true!

My Mum, who is 72, has always dreamt of visiting the Caribbean but never thought it would be possible.  Up until a couple of years ago she had never been on a plane and then she plucked up the courage to fly out with our daughter Emily to visit us in Guyana.  She was even brave enough to come with us on a small aircraft to fly over the Amazon forest to see the Kaiteur Falls in Guyana and surprised us by being completely calm and stoical about it all!

As we were travelling to Guyana this time via Barbados we invited her to fly out and join us for a week.  She was really nervous about the thought of flying alone but we booked her special assistance, my brother dropped her at Gatwick and we met her yesterday at the airport here.  She is now enjoying her dream come true...she never thought she'd see and experience white sand and turquoise sea but her courage has meant she has now done what she thought was impossible.

A lesson to all of us...however old you are there may still be a chance to fulfil a dream if you're brave enough!  Here she is paddling in the Caribbean with me. 😃

Back to school

Mark telling the story of the anointing of David

This morning we went to Mahaica primary school to take an assembly...a school we visited regularly when we lived here.  A lot of the children remembered us and wanted to know where Nettie (our puppet) was!  They also remembered songs we had taught them and we had an enthusiastic rendition of 'Great Big God'.

Cheeky boy! 

Talking to the children about how we can't judge by appearances

After this we did some more visits - one of our visits was to a lovely lady called Shira who some of you may remember reading about in my blog while we lived here.  Three years ago she gave birth to twin boys and sadly one of them died of an infection in hospital and we had the privilege of standing alongside her through that difficult time and together took the funeral for the little baby.  Today we met the surviving twin who is now a robust and healthy three year old.  (A photo will follow once we get home). It was very special to be able to visit her in her home and pray with her again.