Good evening friends,

Tomorrow is August! How did that happen? One day at a time, but sometimes they seem to go so fast, all these days! August is traditionally a quiet month in church life, but I don’t seem to notice that – weddings and baptisms are more popular when the sun shines and I also feel bogged down with all the things I’ve waited for a quiet moment to do! Will and I do have a trip to the States planned for the end of the month, so suddenly the pressure is on to get everything done! Haha! Most of the pressure is self induced, so no sympathy please 🙂

How are you at the moment? Are you getting a healthy life balance? How is your spiritual life? It’s always worth checking in with ourselves to make sure that we are remembering to pray, to listen to the still small voice of God (or the clanging gong, depending on how he chooses), and to ensure that we are giving the right things priority in our lives. It’s easy to get things out of kilter isn’t it? So many questions!

When I need to check in and make sure my life is balanced I start by tidying my desk! I think that might be a distraction. And then I turn to a really simple book of prayer, the simplicity is important. We can make our prayers and our encounters with God far too complicated. So simple prayers, simple reflections, and simple listening. It really does work. 

That sounds like a sensible point to stop for this letter. I’m off to Solihull tomorrow to see my parents; just a day trip, it’s been a few weeks since I saw them.

I’ll finish with a prayer – it’s a simple one, and you probably know it!

God,

grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Amen

With 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.