Re-charged/ recharging Friday Five

A few weeks ago my lap-top battery died, suddenly I found myself looking at a blank screen and was rather relieved to find that it was only the battery and not the whole computer that had failed. This morning a new battery arrived in the post, and suddenly I am mobile again!

After a week with what feels like wall to wall meetings, and Synod looming on the horizon for tomorrow I find myself pondering my own need to recharge my batteries. This afternoon Tim and I are setting off to explore the countryside around our new home, I always find that walking in the fresh air away from phones and e-mails recharges me. But that is not the only thing that restores my soul, so do some people, books, pieces of music etc....

So I wonder what/ who gives you energy?

1. Is there a person who encourages and uplifts you, whose company you seek when you are feeling low?

 

There are a number of people who encourage me when I am feeling low, friends who are able to listen first and speak/ advise later, but mostly I turn to my husband Tim. I love his company whether we are talking or not. No our relationship isn't perfect, and yes we argue and disagree, and sometimes don't like one another very much, but when the chips are down he is there, and he knows me well enough to cut through the cr*p and let me be myself! Right now he is the one going through a tough time, and even though I struggle to be there for him at times it is worth the struggle. He is a friend as well as a lover and a partner.

 

2. How about a piece of music that either invigorates or relaxes you?

 

 For relaxation I return to my old favourite, the Bach Double.... In my book it can't beaten....

 

But for music that makes me feel alive I have to thank my friend Mike for introducing me to Messian....

 

 

 

3. Which book of the Bible do you most readily turn to for refreshment and encouragement? Is there a particular story that brings you hope?

 

Either John's Gospel or the Psalms, I return again and again to John's account of the Samaritan Woman. I believe that we often encounter God on the edges of ourselves, when we feel rejected and untouchable, it is then that he seems to turn up. Perhaps it is then that we are at our most receptive, for we have no resources of our own. At a well on the outskirts of the town on a hot day the Samaritan woman found Jesus, and in him living water for her soul.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
Stephen Broadbent
Chester Cathedral, England

4. A bracing walk or a cosy fireside?

Both, it depends on the weather and my own mood.

5. Are you feeling refreshed and restored at the moment or in need of recharging? Write a prayer or a prayer request to finish this weeks Friday Five....

 

A bit of each for me, moving house and finding my feet in a new Circuit has been exhausting, along with stretched family finances with the change in our job situation. So I will leave a prayer request, particularly for Tim that he finds the right call/ work opportunity, and for myself that I God being my helper can fulfill the requirements of the work here.