Living in the now

Finding a new home is often both a stressful and exciting event for many people. Since we have been married, The Curate and I have owned several houses and lived in married quarters. We have taken on old houses and renovated them and still have a three hundred year old cottage that needs constant attention. But for now, we live in church owned houses. It was one of the hardest things I had to accept when The Curate became a curate. I spent the first part of his curacy living in our old house during the week and commuting back to live with him at the weekends. I had a job that I was not ready to give up and I guess it was a half way stage to letting go of our home. While The Curate is a curate, our house will always be a temporary home because curates are moved on. It was when I heard The Curate say recently, that we would never live in our old cottage again that the penny finally, and most definitely, dropped. I suppose I knew this but, somehow, I don't think I believed it. It has taken a little while to finally let go of our home and begin to work out what we should do with it. It would be good for the village to see another family in it,rather than it be used only occasionally for holidays. As I write, I know I am writing this to convince myself but I do know we are moving on. 

It was a strange feeling to visit the rectory that is to be our new home next year. We did not peruse the estate agents or any other properties as you do when you are house hunting. We did not even view it together.  We cannot make plans to change or adapt it to suit our needs. Back in the days when The Curate was in the Royal Navy, any house being viewed would be freshly decorated in magnolia coloured paint and we would be in and out mustered with tick lists and inventory. This time things are different and the work to be carried out on the rectory has to be decided between us, the parish representatives, the diocesan pastoral committee and the diocesan surveyor. It seems like a lot of people that have to agree before improvements can be made. And improvements do have to be made!

 

The Curate and I will be travelling back to Dorset to have a meeting with various people to discuss options this week. If there is major work to be done  - now is the time for the diocese to do it - while the house is empty. If it is decorating then we are all prepared to get involved. This will be our third move in four years and it would be good if, this time, we didn't move in with the builders. The time frame seems frighteningly short if we are to be there in February and The Curate licensed in March....and there is Christmas in between......and the prediction of snow this winter! "Have faith Curate's Wife, have faith!" I hear you all saying and I will try!

In the meantime, the puppies have all been found new homes to go to when they are old enough. At only four weeks old yesterday, there are still plenty of worries for Maggie's (the pups mum) owners to deal with and they are a lot of hard work! The pups are slowly being weaned - mealtimes are very entertaining and messy! As all dogs do, they live each moment in the present and do not worry about the future - or the past. Perhaps I should follow their example.

Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent and The Curate reminds me that Advent is about waiting for the future but living in the now. Perhaps I had better listen to his sermon tomorrow!

The biggest, the first (and the strangest looking) pup at birth

...has turned into this very handsome pup.

Sunday Morning

I woke at 4.o'clock this morning and listened to the road report on the radio saying that the M25 was gridlocked in places around London because of the snow. Lorries had jackknifed and cars were travelling too fast, the drivers were too keen to get their destinations with little consideration for others. This is the serious and unpleasant side to any snowfall in England. While I had played in the dusting of snow on Dartmoor on Friday and had hoped for more, those who have to travel today, are faced with disruption and delay in the south east of England. 

Sunday morning here is a different matter. I have walked the dogs without hat and gloves and I felt too warm to keep my coat fastened. Spring is back in business and the ground is covered in snowdrops, crocuses and early wild daffodils which yesterday, had been frosted and limp. It didn't seem possible that they would stand tall again, but there they were this morning. I was stopped suddenly by a rapid hollow knocking coming from the tree I was passing under on the way to the moor. I waited ....there is was again! It was right over my head and as I scanned the leafless branches, I caught sight of a flash of red. The woodpecker was too shy to stay around but it was thrilling to hear the hollow knocking pulsing through the clear air.

When we reached the moor, the dogs were released from their leads and they ran off chasing the scents left by the nocturnal creatures. Yesterday the ground had been frozen solid, today rivulets of water criss-crossed over the sodden turf. Only the few distant dog walkers would enjoy the sunrise with me and the clearing of the skies into brilliant blue, sliced by the wispy trail of two passing aeroplanes.

                                                       
In these surroundings, and while The Curate is at work, I can toss the new ideas for our future that arrived yesterday. Maybe this is my time of prayer. Time spent in the wide open countryside is certainly time when I have the clearest thoughts. We have another invitation to explore possible future employment. It  is exciting but unsettling. 

Will we know when is the right time to jump?  Will we both feel 'called' to the next change?  Do we play safe and wait to explore vacancies in known territories?  Or should we be brave and step outside our comfort zone?   It's too soon to be having to think about the next step, but as I said, an invitation is on the table(again). 

Not a job offer just an invitation to explore............... and it is exciting!

Changing skies

 

Hail and wintry winds blow across the open moorland. Between the heavy dark clouds, shafts of sunlight cut through the air and causing the slithers of quartz in the rough granite to glisten. The darkening skies are hostile and threatening until a rainbow arcs the gloom. 

This cycle continues - dark to light - light to dark. Underneath these changing skies, life on the moor continues as resilient as ever. 

The farms nestle in valleys away from the exposed moorlands.

 

The sheep continue with their grazing uninterrupted.

And camouflaged amongst the tan and grizzled grasses, the fox hounds run to and fro, seeking the earlier laid trail.

Reminiscent, perhaps, of a George Stubbs painting.

What will 2012 hold for The Curate and I? Will it be more of the same or changing horizons? By the summer, The curate will have finished year 6 of training and he will be beginning to think about applying for jobs in year 7. We have already been discussing this next move and it unsettles me although I know that the next move should be easier. We do not have a ' wish list' and so remain open to go where ever God calls us. (But having no well planned route seems a little scary to me right at this moment.)