About
The life and thoughts of Freda Marshall, a retired Church of Scotland minister living amongst the mountains and glens of Argyll.Pages
Faith
As surely as the tide returns to the shore,
the bird to its nest;
as surely as the sun runs its course,
so surely do I, your God and Lover
return to you.
I will not leave you bereft.
I will weep with you.
I will dry your eyes
on the sleeve of my robe,
release what binds and poisons
your mind and your dreams.
I will come to travel with you.
You are not alone.
Day Out
Having a day out with Son #3 and his girl-friend. Photos, food, laughter…..
And no rain please!
Misty and another haircut
How nice to be able to see those dark brown eyes!
Postal strike
On the news this morning regarding the postal strike – a postal executive was saying that the strike would only further harm the service, as people would resort to other methods, particularly online payment of bills. That is exactly what I am having to do today. Him Behind the Wheel says that good comes out of everything. I have been putting off the inevitable up to now, and now the day of the inevitable has come.
Coming and going
After all my moaning, the plumbers reappeared and the roof is practically finished. Very fine it looks too. I haven’t quite worked out how to do it justice on a photograph though.
We now await the elusive electrician.
They have gone
Joiners have gone – so has their power saw.
Plumbers have gone – so has their oxy-acetylene equipment.
Not good news.
The roof is not finished and the joiners say they will “bash on” when the electrician has been. And so another week begins. And this week I cannot even pretend there might be an Indian summer. It is definitely autumn.
Commitments
Due to a series of Sunday commitments I have not been able to attend our local church. Funny how guilty that can make me feel. I think it comes about because we are now two years into a vacancy situation. It seems that there is still a dearth of ministers who feel called to serve in rural congregations, especially where there are a number of church buildings ie preaching stations. The good side of this is that people get to hear different preachers and a wide range of views. The downside is that it is easy to be disheartened. There are a faithful few who keep things going, but gradually familiar faces are seen less and less frequently. And I don’t like being one of these.
I am well aware that it is more attractive to minister in a populated area with good schools and local services. But I also appreciate that having one service on a Sunday is a big incentive to prospective candidates. In truth the Church of Scotland is fast approaching the time when we will no longer be able to claim to exercise a territorial ministry in Scotland. A similar situation exists to centralisation of all sorts of social services. But having said all that, I still prefer living in the countryside. There is space to breathe and think. Perhaps that is the lesson we need to think about this Sunday………. finding God in the spaces in our lives; and that means in the midst of wherever we are, be it town or country.
Knitting
Misty Marshall – the cute cairn of Dalamory is getting clipped again next week. This is to try and keep her tidy till the spring. The trouble is that we are having hard frosts at night now, and even in the morning it can be minus 3 0r 4C. Hence the knitting. I am trying to finish a jumper for her.
Let’s hope it fits. And that she will wear it!
Posted in Blog
Leave a comment
Friday morning
Friday morning bright and clear.
Plumbers, joiners all are here….
Oh what joy!
Posted in Blog
Leave a comment