Good evening my friends,

Happy Thanksgiving! Before I married Will Thanksgiving wasn’t on my radar at all, obviously. But these days it has become a lovely family time  – a huge meal in the evening, cooked by Will, consisting of all his home comfort foods. We love it.  When I think. About why I might be celebrating – it is so simple – what do I have in my life that I wish to give thanks to God for? 

Have you ever heard of the principle of a gratitude list? If you haven’t let me explain – it is the practice of writing a list of real, specific, and timely things for which you are grateful. So you can’t really put “sunshine” on it, but could say “the sun is shining today”. The things can be small or huge. It might be that as small as – “I saw a daffodil” or as large as “I loved our family celebration”.  The real challenge comes in how many things you can find. If I can find 5 easily, then I push myself to find 10. If I can find 10 easily then I push for 15. The trick is to push yourself to find more than the easy number – to stretch your thinking and reflecting so that you start to notice things that you had taken for granted. It’s a great practice! Give it a try, you might find it helpful. A bit like exercise, when I least want to do it, is when I get most from the experience!    

Advent is on its way – this year we have one of those occasional times when the secular Advent coincides directly with the church season. Do you have an Advent calendar? Here is a link to one designed by the diocese to be online as a way of having a prayerful preparation time, if you do nothing else, I commend this to you! 

Monmouth Diocese Advent Calendar Monmouth Diocese has created an advent calendar for you! Happy holidays!

That said, it’s not too late to join one of our Advent study groups. You’d be very welcome to join in for as many of the sessions as you are able.

And with that, I’m going to sign off. Dinner smells great and I need to get into my comfy clothes and settle into a family evening. Will and I are off to Solihull tomorrow to help my parents in their new home!

With my love,  Sally xxx

Please note that Friday is usually my rest day. Emails received on Friday may not be responded to until after the weekend. Thank you for your understanding.