Last time I blogged I was one day away from the biggest weekend I've had with SCM, 'Called to be...' the Student Gathering in Manchester. You can read how we summed it up, or how two students found the weekend and the chance to explore vocation so I'm not going to go over that ground again, or at least that was my excuse for not blogging last week. I personally had a wonderful weekend, I got to chat to Timothy Radcliffe about my vocations, try out St Peter's House Chaplain Caroline's mindful movement session and get to know SCM members from near and far that little bit better. I also got to explore the Godly Play story of the Great Family and was blown away by the 'wondering' of the group. Most of my time since the weekend has been spent following up, sorting through evaluations, emailing people to say thank you and taking some time off to recover!
Last week at SCM Manchester we had two members of the Third Order of the Society of St Francis join us to help to explore vocation and bring together some of the activities from the weekend. One activity we did was to write all our vocations on separate cards, using different colours to represent whether they give life to us or take life and energy from us, or had a medium or calming effect. We then ordered these callings in order of importance to us. It was so interesting to see the many parts of vocations that make up all that I do.
On Wednesday I went to the SCM staff away day. It was amazing to see everything SCM has done in the past 12 months, and bring together the headlines and deadlines over the coming year. I'm still working out how my role is going to develop as the months go by. I'm a little bit more stationary at the moment which should give me time to plan ahead and see what else could be in store.
This week I got to skype in to the staff meeting for the first time. This worked pretty well and is another part of the jigsaw into how being a regional member of staff can work. This does mean my train count is down; currently 39 for March. I have averaged 62 a month so far. This does mean though I'm currently on 410 trains in total! For the real transport geeks amongst you, I did get to go on the new tram route through the centre of Manchester last Thursday night!
Current prayer points:
Finding ways to tell the exciting stories of the last few months in the North West so that we can continue to find the funding for the North West Hub.
For ideas, visions and plans, for what the North West Hub can become in the coming months.
Rach