Another really warm and sunny day in Rome. This morning I went to worship at the Ponte Sant'Angelo Methodist Church, just beside the Vatican.
The visiting preacher was someone I had known over thirty years ago at university, and had not seen since graduation. He is in Rome for a week with his wife, someone I also knew at university.
This led me to wonder about the passing of time - where have all the years gone? It seems like only yesterday that I was an undergraduate and the most important thing in the world was whether or not I would pass those final exams. It also reminded me that we seem to weave in and out of lives as we journey through life. We never sever the threads that bind us all together, and occasionally, long forgotten people reappear and awaken memories we had consigned to the depths of our minds.
It was lovely to reminisce and remember the times we had all spent together, when we were young.

Today is Friday, the end of a very long and tiring week. Alfie and I are now settled into the apartment in Rome and he is getting used to living in a flat and alongside the many feral cats in the neighbourhood. - Quite a challenge for an outdoors-loving, cat-hating lurcher!

Monday was a difficult day. We were flying to Rome from Heathrow and we set off from home at 1 am. The flight took off on time, with Alfie in the Hold. Two hours later, we should have been in Rome, but a fault on the plane meant we had to turn back to London. Several hours later, on a new plane, we took off again.

Arriving in Rome, it took us over three hours to locate Alfie! He had been sent to Cargo City, with general freight. Finding Cargo City was difficult enough,but we then had to see several different people (World Cargo, Customs etc)in several different locations. We had to complete various forms, in Italian and hand over various amounts of money. While I was straining to understand the Italians we met, I realised how important it is to actually listen with complete concentration if we are to understand the meaning behind the words. It is no good simply hearing a message if we don't understand it. I was reminded of the Transfiguration story in the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 17) and God's exasperated intervention when Peter seems to have missed the point,"Listen to him!"

May we all listen attentively!

As I get older, I notice that Time seems to be flying by at a tremendous speed. It seems hardly a minute since Christmas and the thick ice and snow that covered much of England, and here we are, trembling on the threshold of Spring, with the promise of fresh green shoots and crisp, blue skies and Easter on the horizon.
Life is very busy for me as I prepare to spend much more time in Rome with my husband. So many "essential" items to take with me, so many things to put in place before I travel on Monday - I have been quite breathless!
But, suddenly, we are in the season of Lent, and I am relieved to take a break from the business of every day life to stop, to reflect on my relationship with God, to journey through the wilderness with Jesus, then on to Jerusalem and the cross. A journey that doesn't end in a death, but in a Resurrection and hope for mankind.
So deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Jesus in his suffering. Be rejected, killed - and raised on the third day. Choose eternal life - love the LORD your God and live!

This morning I enjoyed a peaceful walk up to the Bellmount Tower, a "folly" in the park surrounding Belton House, a NT property near Grantham.
There was a touch of frost and it was not long before my hands and face were very cold, but the air was still, some deer were in evidence and there was an air of tranquillity.
It was very easy, in the quiet of the countryside, to connect with God. So much easier to listen for his voice there than in the busy town where the noise of the traffic blocks out the sound of the birds. It made me realise once again how important it is to make time and space to bask in God's presence and rest in him in prayer.

We are already into January of a new year - time seems to be galloping ahead at a furious rate!
I have begun the new year with a resolution - I know, very corny! So much time spent reading and studying over the last few months has left me stiff and very "unsupple" so I have determined to exercise three times a week with the aid of a fitness dvd (in addition to the normal dog walks)
The first couple of sessions have found me stiff, inflexible and ungainly, so I am hoping for gradual improvement.
I realise that it is not enough to exercise my "spiritual" muscles if I fail to keep my physical body in shape - we need to look after the whole person!