Another good night, glad to be waking up to sunshine again, albeit a little later today as we edge toward the autumn equinox on Monday. We had a Saturday lie-in before breakfast, then Clare filled holes in the shed door with putty. I'll add another coat of weatherproofing paint later.
Kath, Anto and Rhiannon arrived with Owain mid-afternoon. The traffic was so bad that it doubled their usual journey time, so they arrived in time to pick him up from the station. Rhiannon presented a beautiful chocolate birthday cake she'd baked and decorated for her grandma. We're celebrating six days early, as next weekend was going to be less convenient for a family gathering. We took the cake with us to Stefanos' Restaurant in the evening for a family meal, and fed it into the restaurant's cheery birthday ritual, burning a Roman candle on top of the cake or ice cream pudding, and singing 'Happy Birthday to you', with some diners within earshot joining in.
After the meal, Owain took his leave of us, hastily taking a taxi to the station rather late, hoping to catch the last train back to Bristol. We were relieved to receive a WhatsApp message ten minutes later to say that he'd been successful. He needed time to himself, as he was in Berlin until Tuesday, then in London for a work conference on Wednesday, so he's still playing catch-up.
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination to the Diaconate. I've been working on tomorrow's sermon all week, and having printed it out, made more minor changes and printed it out again. I've decided for a change not to preach on the scriptures of the day, but on the meaning of the Diaconate as an ordained ministry. I think it's the first time I've ever done this.
Kath, Anto and Rhiannon arrived with Owain mid-afternoon. The traffic was so bad that it doubled their usual journey time, so they arrived in time to pick him up from the station. Rhiannon presented a beautiful chocolate birthday cake she'd baked and decorated for her grandma. We're celebrating six days early, as next weekend was going to be less convenient for a family gathering. We took the cake with us to Stefanos' Restaurant in the evening for a family meal, and fed it into the restaurant's cheery birthday ritual, burning a Roman candle on top of the cake or ice cream pudding, and singing 'Happy Birthday to you', with some diners within earshot joining in.
After the meal, Owain took his leave of us, hastily taking a taxi to the station rather late, hoping to catch the last train back to Bristol. We were relieved to receive a WhatsApp message ten minutes later to say that he'd been successful. He needed time to himself, as he was in Berlin until Tuesday, then in London for a work conference on Wednesday, so he's still playing catch-up.
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination to the Diaconate. I've been working on tomorrow's sermon all week, and having printed it out, made more minor changes and printed it out again. I've decided for a change not to preach on the scriptures of the day, but on the meaning of the Diaconate as an ordained ministry. I think it's the first time I've ever done this.
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