The finding of cover continues slowly but steadily, only four services left to cover!
After working out the practicalities of leaving the parish for three months the next thing to tackle in the way of preparation, is to get our bodies in shape!
Lesley has been a member of our local gym, Pinewood Park Leisure Club at Bodham, since we first moved to Norfolk.
Lesley had been trying to persuade me to start going to the gym as well, but I had always seen it as on a par to having teeth removed without anaesthetic!
About three or four years ago the gym had started to offer Power Walking classes. I decided to give them a try and enjoyed going out into the countryside on a power walk, but was adamant that I would not go into the gym. Sally the instructor then started Nordic Walking classes and I joined these as well.
On starting to read about the Camino, the advice seemed to be, get fit, and keep weight to a minimum, both in your rucksack and on the waistline. So eighteen months ago I thought perhaps its time to try out the dreaded gym and try and loose some of the excess pounds I carry. Sally started me off on a program of lots of cardio activity and then six months later, I was given a new program by Tonya the other Nordic and Power walking instructor and six months later I progressed to my third program.
After 18 months do I like the gym now? Well no, I still think of it a some barbaric form of torture! Have I lost any weight? Again the answer in no, I am still the same weight as I was when I started.
However, on the bright side, I look as though I have lost weight as I have put on muscle and got rid of some of the lard.
I have also been working on strengthening my leg muscles for walking, my shoulders and back for carying a rucksack and my overall level of fitness and stamina. This has been a success and should help me immensely when we start the walk itself. The down side is I now tend to walk a bit to fast which is a problem when leading Brides into Church for a wedding and coffins into Church for a funeral! But my thanks go out to both Sally and Tonya for their support and encouragement in helping me get fit for my Camino.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Work preparation continued …..
Everything seemed in place and all we had to do was get fit, sort out transport to Le Puy and do lots of reading about the route and other peoples experience.
But as the say the best laid plans of mice and men….
Sadly just before Christmas Michael was diagnosed with Cancer, and in the early part of this year had a major operation. Thanks to excellent surgeons, lots of prayer and the grace of God he is recovering well and getting stronger every time I see him; which is the most important thing; but it was back to the drawing board for cover.
For Sundays there are thirty four services to cover and so far I have got people to take seventeen of them so only another seventeen to go which hopefully won’t be to hard to achieve.
My local colleagues have said that they will help with cover for midweek services, and I have a fantastic group of Churchwardens and others who I know will visit those who need visiting and looking after, and will generally keep the show on the road while we are away.
I’ve now just started to list of things for work that need to be done before we go and it seems to get longer and longer.
But as the say the best laid plans of mice and men….
Sadly just before Christmas Michael was diagnosed with Cancer, and in the early part of this year had a major operation. Thanks to excellent surgeons, lots of prayer and the grace of God he is recovering well and getting stronger every time I see him; which is the most important thing; but it was back to the drawing board for cover.
For Sundays there are thirty four services to cover and so far I have got people to take seventeen of them so only another seventeen to go which hopefully won’t be to hard to achieve.
My local colleagues have said that they will help with cover for midweek services, and I have a fantastic group of Churchwardens and others who I know will visit those who need visiting and looking after, and will generally keep the show on the road while we are away.
I’ve now just started to list of things for work that need to be done before we go and it seems to get longer and longer.
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Early preparation
They say the key to success in any endeavour is good preparation.
Going back one step, the first thing after we had the idea was to discover if we could get the time to do the walk all in one go. After ten years in the ministry I am allowed to apply to take a sabbatical break of up to three months, the question was to find out if walking the Camino was the type of thing that a sabbatical could be used for. I talked the idea over with the necessary people from the diocese who said yes it was possible but that I would need to talk to my parishes and organise some cover.
That very night one of those things happened that some would say was a coincidence or I would call a God incident or a God send. A friend, Michael phoned up, he’s a retired priest who lives locally and suggested that we meet for a coffee. We met the next day and in the course of the conversation I talked about the sabbatical and he offered to look after my parishes for the three months we were going to be away. It was an answer to prayers, even before I had time to start to pray them.
The next step was for Lesley to talk to her bosses, who thought about it and then produce a company sabbatical policy to enable her to take the time off. So Lesley has paved the way for other to follow where she has lead.
Going back one step, the first thing after we had the idea was to discover if we could get the time to do the walk all in one go. After ten years in the ministry I am allowed to apply to take a sabbatical break of up to three months, the question was to find out if walking the Camino was the type of thing that a sabbatical could be used for. I talked the idea over with the necessary people from the diocese who said yes it was possible but that I would need to talk to my parishes and organise some cover.
That very night one of those things happened that some would say was a coincidence or I would call a God incident or a God send. A friend, Michael phoned up, he’s a retired priest who lives locally and suggested that we meet for a coffee. We met the next day and in the course of the conversation I talked about the sabbatical and he offered to look after my parishes for the three months we were going to be away. It was an answer to prayers, even before I had time to start to pray them.
The next step was for Lesley to talk to her bosses, who thought about it and then produce a company sabbatical policy to enable her to take the time off. So Lesley has paved the way for other to follow where she has lead.
Friday, April 3, 2009
How a seed was planted
Some times an idea is planted in your mind that like a seed in the ground sits there apparently doing nothing, until one day it bursts out of the ground, a plant grows and it eventually bears fruit. And that’s how the idea of walking the Camino de Santiago came about.
That seed was planted in me back in the early 1990’s when we had an inspirational pair working in our parish, Christine and Colin Mylne. Christine was an Accredited Lay Minister who was attached to the church I went to, and Colin her husband was the Curate of the neighbouring parish. Each Lent and Advent they lead fantastic quiet days and organised a couple of parish trips to Lindisfarne Island, and looking back now I can say that between them they had a profound influence on my spiritual development. At some time in their ministry to us they gave a talk with slides about the Camino and how they were walking it in stages over a number of years, and I though one day I fancy doing that. So seed was planted to be left to germinate and bear fruit one day in the future, its cumulation being in September of this year when Lesley and myself will start at Le Puy-en-Velay and walk the 1518 KM (943.2 Miles) to the Cathedral Church of St James at Santiagao De Compostela.
During the weeks ahead as we prepare and then as we walk the Camino this blog will be a record of how we get on, and a record of the places and people we meet along the way.
That seed was planted in me back in the early 1990’s when we had an inspirational pair working in our parish, Christine and Colin Mylne. Christine was an Accredited Lay Minister who was attached to the church I went to, and Colin her husband was the Curate of the neighbouring parish. Each Lent and Advent they lead fantastic quiet days and organised a couple of parish trips to Lindisfarne Island, and looking back now I can say that between them they had a profound influence on my spiritual development. At some time in their ministry to us they gave a talk with slides about the Camino and how they were walking it in stages over a number of years, and I though one day I fancy doing that. So seed was planted to be left to germinate and bear fruit one day in the future, its cumulation being in September of this year when Lesley and myself will start at Le Puy-en-Velay and walk the 1518 KM (943.2 Miles) to the Cathedral Church of St James at Santiagao De Compostela.
During the weeks ahead as we prepare and then as we walk the Camino this blog will be a record of how we get on, and a record of the places and people we meet along the way.
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