Easter Sunday

Been asked to preach at Church on Easter Sunday evening. It is a privilege - although the fact is that The Ministry Team will by then be on their way to Conference . They are leaving after the Easter Morning Service. So I'm not sure if it's a mass exodus 'cos they don't want to hear me preach, or ultimate trust to leave the whole thing in my hands! Comments on a postcard, please....

I am still here...

Having a few problems with blogging at the mo - lack of time for one, and a few intermittent probs with the Network hub, so sometimes Net access is a bit tricky...

Otherwise - a bit manic at work, but then, in my job, manic is the new normal. Quite a few goodbyes at work as folk leave - some sad - others, well....

Reminds me of a quote I saw on a plaque ( shan't tell you where!), which says "Everyone blesses this home; some when they come and some when they leave"

Anyway, thanks for all the prayers and words of encouragement, both here and face-to-face. The Blogger will return, I promise - just as soon as the HSL is sorted....

Ongoing Sagas....

Hi folks

As of today, the HSL (Hall Stairs and Landing) have now had the right gloss on the whole skirting board, kneeposts, banisters, handrails….. on and on….. plus two coats of Ivory Lace Silk Emulsion on all the walls. My hand is suffering RSI from painting, but John has now labelled me “The Roller Queen”. Sadly, it’s not a Rolls Royce, but Mistress of paint rollers! I am shattered – a worrying number of people in church this morning told me I was looking very tired – but the flooring and carpet are on order, so hopefully, in the next few weeks, Chez Kennett should look considerably better.

The REALLY worrying thing has been all of the things we’ve put up with whilst decorating, that you would not normally consider – like the current sock box is in the bath (don’t ask…..), my kitchen is chock a block full of paint tins, paintbrushes, stirring sticks, coat hooks…. I have a stepladder in my bathroom….. and the house has been freezing as we have also painted the loft hatch – had to leave it open for the paint to dry!

All this madness - I think I must be getting something contagious from Helen Tween…

Dust...

Haven’t posted in a while – I’m sitting in my study waiting to follow in John’s wake, as we sandpaper our way through our Hall, Stairs and Landing. Major confession time – we have not decorated the Hall, Stairs & Landing (henceforth called the HSL) since we moved in 14 years ago!

Now I know why!

As mentioned in a recent blog, most of the walls had been artexed, but thanks to a great job by Andy Ormesher, they are now plastered over, ready for painting. However, before we paint the walls, we have to re-paint all the gloss work – and with an HSL that means we have to sandpaper back a tremendous amount. We are trying to do things properly – hopefully, so we won’t ever have to do it again!

We have great plans for the HSL, but at this stage of the game, every job that appears to be finished only raises a few more. For example, we realized that we would have to paint two ceilings – which meant washing them first – which highlighted how horrible the loft hatch was looking - and then of course, we have to get the doors ready for varnishing (all 7 of them) - as well as following Andy’s advice to VERY lightly sand over all the new plasterwork once it was dry – and I ache all over!

But I had forgotten just how much dust there could be…. Because as we have to sandpaper doors, it means that as we open the doors to get into the corners of them, all this lovely pale pink plaster dust finds its insidious way into all the rooms, into every wrinkle on my face (too many of them by far!), into clothes, into toothbrushes, bed linen, shoes… everywhere! Reminded me of how awful it must have been at the time of the Egyptian plagues. We read in Exodus 8:17 that “When Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats”. If every scrap of dust in my house right now turned into a gnat – URGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH!

I keep telling myself the end result will be worth it….

Pat’s Thought for the Day;
God is preparing us for an eternal life in His presence. For that to be perfect, it means getting us prepared now. If one job turns up another, then that has to be dealt with, too. And just like sandpaper, God often uses irritable people, events and circumstances to build up a friction, in order to smooth out all the rough edges. It’s irritating, and messy, and it feels like we will never be clean. But oh, how it will be worth it all, to be presented as a spotless Bride before the King of Kings….