After a brief period of blogging for a few months under false pretences (I was a curate’s wife at the time) the name of this blog truly reflects my full time occupation. My husband is the vicar of a multi-cultural inner-city parish in the West Midlands and we have now been serving in this part of the world for over 12 years.
On and off you’ll find us occupying our Victorian Vicarage with three children, the Queen, now a university student, and the Joker and the Engineer, who are at secondary school, a large lurcher known as the Vicarage Hound, and a succession of attic lodgers – over the years the inhabitants have included the homeless and addicted, those thinking of going into ministry, and a baby. Our garden is full of weeds, there are cobwebs in nearly every corner, rips in the carpet where the Vicarage Hound has scrabbled, too much laundry and books tumbling in piles everywhere.
Before becoming a full time mum I was a chartered mechanical engineer working in the water industry, mainly designing water and sewage treatment plants for the developing world. This background has not been totally inappropriate for my current role.
A few years ago I wrote a book, much to my surprise. ‘The Ministry of a Messy House‘ was published by IVP in October 2013. Even though it’s a Christian book, it is quite funny (I hope) and has pictures and everything.
I hate housework and love talking and baking. Welcome to our Vicarage.
The Vicar's Wife 
Ah! I thought this was you. But then I was confused and decided it must be the actual vicar’s wife. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging.
My dad said I shouldn’t have called it the vicar’s wife, but I wanted a name that would last!
Just found this and it is brilliant!
I am a the daughter of a vicar and the wife of a curate (due to be ordained 5th July).
I am also in the West Midlands.
I have a feeling I am going to become addicted to this blog.
🙂
Very pleased you like the blog, Shiv – welcome to the Vicarage. I pray that the next couple of months go well for you as your husband begins his curacy.
Great to meet you. I come from Hagley – West Midlands. Thanks for the twitter follow – I’m following you too. I like your style.
God bless you and your ministry
Rachel at Re vis.e Re form
Lovely to meet you too Rachel. You’re very welcome to our busy Vicarage. I’ve been reading your blog on and off and always enjoy your comments on the Ugley Vicar.
Speaking as a bloke, but one who has worked as a lay officer in the CofE for many years and been part of inner city parishes where I spent a lot of time hanging around in the vicarage, I can totally see where you’re coming from (or should that be: coping with).
Is having “the largest garden in the neighbourhood” a blessing or a feature that further alienates the locals from the Church? (i.e Why should the vicarage be any different from the terraced or council houses?) I can see that with a young family and their friends you use it to your advantage, but it still sets you apart.
By the way, have you come across the Messy Church movement yet? http://www.messychurch.org.uk It could be helpful with engaging the local families and your work in the parish.
May the Lord give you the strength and love to cope and survive in your role!
Best wishes,
Graham
Welcome to the Vicarage Graham and thank you for your comments.
We always tell folk that the house comes with the job, and that it costs a bomb to heat, and so far people haven’t been resentful at all. It’s wonderful to be able to bless people with the space we have and so far I think the house has been a gospel asset rather than a hindrance.
I was just looking at Messy Church the other day and thought they had some interesting ideas. I think we are already doing some similar things already – feeding people, creative stuff etc – our monthly All Age service has puppets and refreshments, though it’s always good to think about how things could be more effective.
Hi
My husband has just started training at theological college so I thought I would see what’s in store for me!!!
Welcome Suzanne. I hope you enjoy reading. And enjoy college too – we had a great time in training.
Hi just wondering about your website. Has it been set up using the wordpress blog free web host or is it stand alone site on a server. Great sight and a good read. I am a member of the holy trinity church Oldhill bye the way. Nice talking to you.
Hi The writer. Just realised that I’ve not yet replied to you. This is a wordpress.com site – ie a free blog. Glad you like it. I’m not clever enough to anything more fancy blog-wise!
Thanks for the reply. Keep up the great work you do.
Hi, this is Mrs T from Cornwall and I have an inspired idea to put to you. Is it possible for you to email me.
Hello Mrs T
Have emailed just now 🙂
i am on nites at work and have read your blog and would like to say how refreshingly entertaining it is.. have chuckled my way through it.. It also identifies what a busy bee you are and yet you look so “calm and refreshed all the time” im amazed
on a more personal note, thankyou for your support of late and numerous cups of tea. only 5 hours to go and yes i am so very nervous..
clare x
Welcome to the online Vicarage Clare. So pleased you are enjoying the blog. What a lovely day we all had today in the real Vicarage – thanks for being such an encouragement to us.
I notice you need to update your About page on this blog! It’s got a reference to Happy the Apprentice when in fact it is now Rocky (have I got the name right?).
Anyway, as you can’t do much housework due to thumb damage you could update your profile 🙂
Thanks Icklesis!
Hi there, I’ve been frantically Google searching for good UK Christian mum and wife blogs and they are very hard to find! Loads in the US. I’ve recently begun my blogging journey. I look forward to reading more of your posts!
Hi
We produce a daily religious news service for subscribers which not only lets our subscribers (mostly UK Baptists) the latest Christian news but a selection of interesting blogs. We posted your ‘How to cope as a Vicar’s Wife – the top ten tips’ back in July and thought that you would like to know that it was the most clicked story of the year.
Have a great Christmas,
Chris Hall
Communications Writer, Baptist Union of Great Britain
Hi Chris – thank you very much for letting me know – I hope it was of use to some folk – or at least made them smile. Happy Christmas to you too.
Hello there,
You might know, I’m about to launch a blog called the King’s English – a kind of evangelistic / devotional adventure – blogging through famous phrases from the King James Bible (jumping on the 400th anniversary celebrations).
Anyway, just wondered if you’d be willing to give it a plug. The snag is that the website isn’t quite up and running yet. But it will be at: kingsenglish.info and I’ll be blogging as of new years eve. If you’d be interested in linking, let me know and I’ll point you to the right page.
Many thanks 🙂
It’d be a pleasure Glen. I had a sneaky look and thought it looked very interesting already!
Hi
Love the site! And thanks so much for linking to and supporting me – much appreciated.
Emma
Glad you like it Emma – love yours too – always very stimulating reading. Keep up the good work.
Hi
I’m a vicars wife of many years and have just come across your blog, it brings back many memories of our time in an inner city parish. We are currently in Rural Cumbria but we move to Essex on 1st Feb for my DH to take up a new Parish there.
Love your blog
Hi Jackie and welcome to our Vicarage. So glad you like the blog 🙂 Do you have any top tips for going the distance in ministry?
Top tips are always difficult because they seem like cliches but that being understood I have a couple
Keep your Faith fresh, make sure you get “fed” on a regular basis as it’s all too easy to be the giver all the time
Make sure you and your husband get some time to just be a couple, easier said than done I know but you do need that space from time to time. If it’s really difficult due to pressure of the job put some time in the diary and do your best to make sure you both stick to it
I don’t know your situation but I know my hubbie is very bad at taking his day off so I have to try and make sure he does take time off it’s also very important for you as a family to have time together.
Hope this helps and I apologise if these are things yu already have in place
God Bless
Jackie
Thanks Jackie. Those are great tips, and have inspired me to blog a little about support and keeping going. A post should be up soon…
I stumbled upon your blog just after I started blogging ( haven’t got to grips with Tweeting yet) – and have found it great help. At the moment it is a bit like looking in through the window at a life I am still getting to grips with. Have you considered setting up anything like the American site – Pastors’ Wives Thriving in the Fishbowl?
( http://www.pastorswives.org/home). I see a need but don’t have the know how!
Hi Harriet. I don’t have the knowhow at all! I’m happy to start discussions if there’s something you’d like to cover, though – do make some suggestions.
I don’t know where you are theologically, but if you’re an evangelical I can’t recommend the Proclamation Trust conferences highly enough. There’s one in the summer for wives of clergy who’ve been fewer than 5 years in full time ministry. They cover lots of the issues that first hit you in parish, there’s terrific bible teaching, gorgeous food and no washing up!
Hubby is about to take up ministry in the C of E, moving from another tradition.
When he was last in ministry we weren’t married so the adjustment to married ministry is going to be challenging for both of us.
As he has not been through recent training we’re not part of a college group and don’t have that support network.
Do diocese have support networks?
Are there networks such as the proclamation trust offering support in the more liberal catholic end of the candle?
Sure i’m going to have lots more questions as things progress…
Hi hotpot and welcome to the Vicarage!
Some dioceses do have a network for spouse support. Ours certainly does. When my husband was first ordained he was in a support group for new curates and the wife of the chap who organised that made herself available if I needed any help. I was fine, as I got on well with my husband’s boss’s wife and already had a network, but it would have been brilliant if I’d been in your situation. There is also a more organised programme of events in our diocese arranged by the wives of the bishops and archdeacons. Sounds like it might be worth your husband asking a few questions of your future diocese/incumbent about networks for support.
As far as I am aware only Proc Trust and New Wine run events for the support of clergy spouses. I suspect that others either aren’t up for conferences etc or just tap into what the diocese runs and find that sufficient. I’m guessing you’ve already read the thread on the main homepage about this. If there is a gap in the market, I guess it’s up to the folk in those sections of the church to start something. Or you could always try PT or NW – they might not be what you expect and everyone is always extremely welcoming!
I wonder if you would mind us reproducing your review ‘Books for Camp: Deadly Emily’ (and any others you produce on children’s books) in our Parish of Walthamstow in house magazine which is circulated among the four churches in our team? We are fortunate to have a large number of young people. We review adult books, but rarely those for children and I believe your piece is worth wider circulation.
Many thanks
hopeeternal
‘Meanderings through my Cookbook’
Of course! I hope it will prove useful.
Much appreciated – thank you. (I always think it is important – and polite – to get permission!)
h/e
Dear TVW
As the husband of a Vicar in the Westcountry I was wondering if there is any specific support for clergy husbands who must be a growing phenomenon.
We have our problems too!
twitman
Welcome to the Vicarage twitman. As far as I know there isn’t any specific support for clergy husbands. And it’s only Proclamation Trust who run specific conferences for ministers’ wives – the New Wine events are for ‘women in leadership’ to cover the ordained/paid and those married to ministers.
Diocesan spouse support is for both wives and husbands, so you could tap into that – and maybe network with the blokes who want to support each other. You might need to start your own blog for Vicar’s husbands! Or see if you could organise a retreat with men in similar situations. Or perhaps a Christian men’s organisation might be able to help? Christian Vision for Men springs to mind, although their main role is evangelism. My husband arranges his own retreats a couple of times a year with a small accountability group. A blog or Twitter would be good places to start networking though.
Sorry I can’t be more help! Hope you find the support you need.
Hi from Wellington in NZ. Got hold of your blog through our vicar. Great to be in contact through a blog with the wider world. I’m hoping to glean great info on your children’s ministry – a role that I lead here at All Saints in Hataitai.
Yvette
Welcome to the Vicarage Yvette. Hope you enjoy the blog! We have a small children’s ministry at our church, but there are a few resources up here on the blog – and links to other people’s. And I keep on wittering on about teaching the bible to kids (my own and other people’s) and helping them grow in their Christian faith – it’d be great to have your input too!
Re your tax comments on twitter, our charity’s accountant is also a C of E Priest and also specialises in tax calculations for other clergy – he saves people a fortune, try him http://www.nomoreproblems.co.uk He’s the Rev’d Paul Robinson
Hello what a lovely blog, I have just found you and am delighted to read, music to my ears … I too am a vicars wife, mum of 3 busy teenagers, full time teachere (to bring in the money) and crafter … HELP!
Heather (The Patchwork Heart)
Hello, I am new here-though i have followed you on twitter for a while.
I am a youthworker at a Methodist Church in Wolverhampton and have 3 children also.
I find your blog informative, funny and very moving in places…you have an awesome family.
Many Blessings,
Clare x
Loving the blog!
In the sidebar, the Churches Holy Trinity link looks a bit old and broken…
Hi Ian and welcome to the Vicarage! Thanks so much for pointing out the broken link. We junked our old website and have a shiny new one now (which is updated intermittently – one of my tasks for today in fact).
Hello Vicars Wife! I lived in England in the early 90’s and was lucky enough to attend The Round in Cambridge. Mark and Fiona took in this American and her husband like one of their own! Do you have contact info for Fiona? I have tried Nick on FB, but i am no longer on there anymore…..if you could email me her info i would very much appreciate it!
thanks,
Michelle Dunn, Louisville Kentucky
Hello vicars wife! Thanks for your blog – and I enjoy following your tweets! Apologies in advance but a bit of shameless promotion just in case you might be interested…. we have Ruth Valerio coming up to Langley here in the West Mids in April to engage with churches about faith and consumerism. It might be something you’re interested in – we’re not charging for the event and details can be found here: http://ruthvaleriomustard.eventbrite.com/ (again sorry to promote and feel free to delete if not interested!)
Welcome to the Vicarage, Carlo. I don’t think I’ll be able to make the event, but I’m happy to link to it. Hope it goes well.
Thanks a lot – just added your blog to my RSS feeds too – most blogs I read are from pretty much all over, so it’s nice to have a more local take on things….
Hi there,
I’ve just found you, and I hope you don’t mind but I’d like to pilfer some of your posts. I’m an ordinands wife and have somehow managed to be the one organising the ‘spouses retreat’….I’m looking for material about our future lives and your posts about the vicars wife job description and how to cope as a vicars wife are excellent. Do you mind if I copy and edit them slightly? I want to use them to generate discussion.
Also, if you happen to have any experiences of spouses who are not involved in church life (I think a couple who are coming are not planning on being involved much, if at all) I would live to hear about them.
Thanks
Sam
Hi Sam. Do please use the posts! Spouses not involved in church life are not something I have much experience of tbh. Obviously, not everyone is able to be at home fulltime and get involved as much as I am, but every spouse can pray for their Vicar, and be supportive – even if it’s just dealing with the junk mail or thinking of good things to do on a day off. You have to work with time and gifts that the Lord makes available to you. Plenty of fulltime working Vicar’s wives help out, even if it’s just making sure that kids are cared for whilst the Vicar is working in the evenings. Vicar’s working husbands are not something I know much about either, but I get the impression that plenty manage to get involved in ways that suit them.
We feel very strongly that effective ministry includes an open home, where Christ’s love is modelled and shared with parishioners. “Church life” doesn’t have to involve flower arranging – it might just be making a cup of coffee when people arrive for counsel. Or having the Sunday school teachers over for a pizza.
If people are not planning *any* involvement, they need to make sure that they’ve talked that through with their husband (or wife). Before you get to parish, you might think that there’s nothing you can offer, but when you get there you often realise you can do an awful lot more than you thought.
Enjoy your session!
Thanks for that. I think we feel the same as you do in terms of an open home and using the gifts we have (I certainly won’t be flower arranging, partly because I am completely colour blind!)
I think we will probably work quite well together because we are pretty open with each other and can sit down and say when we feel annoyed or over worked.
I am a little concerned for some of th other families, particularly those who do not have the same (or any) faith. I worry that they will not be able to keep things as separate as they currently expect. I know several ‘vicarage families’ and have seen how they operate, but for those ordinands who are fairly new o faith themselves and have not ‘brought their families with them’ so to speak, the realities of vicarage life may be quite a shock….hence me trying to pull in as much information and experience as I can so we can talk about I while thy are still training.
Thanks again for he blog
Sam
Hi – I love your blog and find it a great source of inspiration and encouragement. My husband has been offered a place at theological college and is going through BAP later this year. I have a few questions I would like to ask you regarding my role in this – would I be able to drop you an email?
Thank you
Feebs
Hi feebs – mail me at thevicarswifey [at] gmail [dot] com. Will be happy to help.
Hi there
I have just found your blog! I too am a ‘vicars wife’ originally from the midlands but now in Scotland. It’s great to be in touch. Hope you have a good weekend.
Julie
Welcome to our Vicarage Julie! Thanks for saying hello 🙂
Hi! I’m glad I found your blog a few months ago and I do check it regularly – well – semi-regularly if I’m honest! My wife was ordained about 10 years ago and is about to be licensed as a Priest in Charge in a very rural benefice.
I’m wondering if you’re the same vicar’s wife who wrote a couple of very helpful books (some of the passages seem oddly familiar!) – initials CF by any chance? I learnt most of what it’s like being married to the clergy from those, so if you are the author, thank you soooo much (and if not, well you can take the credit anyway!)…
Hi Tim and welcome to the Vicarage! I am very honoured that you think I write like CF – I love her books, but I am not her. She has her own blog and is also blogging a novel in a chapter a week this year. Lots of fun. You’ll find them by googling her name – she also tweets as @fictionfox. I pray that your rural adventure goes well. Some friends ministering out in the depths of Sussex had their heating oil stolen last night, so I know that rural life isn’t all scones and village fetes!
Dear VicarsWife Do Take Heart !!!!!!
My precious childs GodsMother is also a Vicars Wife…
We all having shared friendship and many happy times meals and laughter prior to such additional yummy responsibilities of children.
Her darling Hubby being addressed at the Christening by two large suited hatted 70 year old Glaswegian Great Aunts appropo The History and Rights & Wrongs of Church of Scotland and Church of England Ministry – Ye Ken?! & That’ll learn Ye…!! This amazing lady ran one of the largest canteens on the Clyde during the World War 2 & took NO nonsense. Poor wee Rev…….!!
The advantages of the Church Of Scotland being that as a child you were given – inserted into your mouth- an ENORMOUS toffee which paralysed your cheeks and told DONT MOVE (it being utterly impossible & FAR too scary) whilst the ‘minister’ despatched fire and brimstone big time from the pulpit!
Ever wondered why the Scots had such poor teeth??……!!
Twenty One Years down the line she is still GodMother and my dear friend – Whoopee. But -with apologies for grammar- she is now an even happier and far more relaxed bunny as her hubby is now retired and hung up his collar! So no longer a Vicar Wife. Parishoners and parish life – no more!!
So take heart… Enjoy all your blessings and VicarsWifes Roles,Tasks and other peoples opinions with a light smile and the Royal response “How interesting” when fazed or shocked!! Because this wonderful challenging time won’t last forever and even bigger joys are to come in retirement!!
To Clarify… member of the C of E since 9 years old – more years than I care to remember…. because it makes me feel really old!!
Happy Sunday… Breakfast eaten and Church calling. Shall I wear a Hat ??!!
Hi Ann – welcome to the Vicarage. And lovely to hear stories of Glaswegian Great Aunts. I hope you enjoy reading.
Looking forward to the book!!!
Great to meet you recently! Very interesting blog, Thank you for so honestly and amusingly sharing some of your learnt wisdom. Looking forward to the book coming up and hurrying to sort out the laundry. Sunday is a working day for some!
have been looking for a “decent” blog to follow for a while…..and this seems to be what I like! thank you! when does your book release?
Hello recent commentators! Thank you for your encouragements. The book is officially released on 18th October Katy. I have copies in my living room already though 🙂
Just stumbled across your blog, someone was following both yours and mine. Really enjoyed reading through it. What caught my eye were West midlands, Mechanical Engineer and the Water industry, I live in the West Midlands, am a Mechanical Engineer in the Gas industry so we immediately have a connection. Keep blogging, its great to see how God’s fingers touch real people. A lady in our home Group says she finds the big stories of amazing miracles hard because they are so far from her experience but the small day to day stories really resonate with her.
In case you are curious our blog is http://kolkataadventure.wordpress.com but it has been put to bed for another year. We return in September.
Hi closep – I had a peek at your blog yesterday. Lovely to see the work going on in India. Very glad to hear you enjoy this blog.
Hello Amanda
Such fun reading about your life in the vicarage and in the parish,I have just ordered your book and can’t wait to read it , its so brill reading a blog that is so honest and reflects normal family life.
Keep up the great blog you never fail to make me think, reflect and smile
Jacky
Hi Jacky. So pleased to hear that you enjoy the blog. Hope you find the book an encouragement too.
Hello Amanda,
I bought your book for my kindle and read it on holidays. You must be living my life, just where the weather is colder! Thank you so much for sharing and the inspiration to keep going. I too have struggled welcoming people into my home, when it is not like the window of a department store, but do so anyway because God (and people too) doesn’t care that the silver isn’t polished.
I wanted my dh (the Vicar) to read it too, so read it aloud as we drove from Melbourne to Sydney on hols. we laughed and said that’s us all the way.
So God bless you and your ministry, may you find joy in the mess and hope to share with others,
(must go, i have to fill out a first aid booklet for a training day tomorrow and I spilt coffee all over it)
Hey downunder. Thank you for your lovely comment. In a messy way, I saw it and forgot to reply. Blessings on your messy ministry too!
I am a Baptist minister’s wife of mixed religious inheritance. By husband has taking time out to study for a PhD. I have two WordPress blogs, one focusing on our cat activity (madlamb) and the other on faith reflections (faithbites). At school (a long, long time ago) I wrote an essay on the effect of government cuts on sewage works. So I feel a strange affinity to you. Blessings
Hi! Enjoying your blog – wondering if helping other vicar’s wives (and husbands!) to reflect and pray would be your thing? Is there any way I can message you privately? Thanks x
Hi jo. Glad you enjoy the blog. You can message me through the FB page or at thevicarswifey[at]gmail[dot]com. We can chat further there. Blessings.
Hi there – last week I spotted The Ministry of a Messy House, and knew it was written for me! I haven’t had time to read much of it yet, but I am LOVING it, and read page 35 to our home group – who know me soooooo well! We always feed our group a meal before we join together to study and discuss, and they (I think) happily put up with my clutter and mess, because I feed them, welcome them and love them! So, thank you for writing the book for me 🙂
I bought The Ministry of a Messy House at Koorong (Christian bookshop) today and was thrilled you are English! English and Australian humour is so different to American and I know I am going to devour your book. Greetings from Sydney Australia on a sunny winter’s day, Julie B (married to an Englishman, who’s been here 40 years)
Hello
Came across your blog when looking to promote a new book from Messy Church.. ‘Extreme Crafts for Messy Churches’ – gets away from the traditional, dainty idea of crafts and uses construction skills, science or are arty on a bigger scale. For boys, men – any who want their crafts to be adventurous! http://www.brfonline.org.uk/9780857461629/
Would love to get permission from “Liz” to use her pumpkin carving (Light of the World: Jesus) image in an email to our subscribers (churchgrowth.org).
So sorry Cindy – have not been on the case with my mentions on here. Am guessing it’s a bit late now…
Hi Amanda! As it happens, I’m currently reading your book ‘The Ministry of a Messy House’ and cannot put it down. I love the way you write, and find your words so inspiring and such a relief because it’s as if you are reassuring us that even though we all aspire to be perfect and have pure, loving and compassionate thoughts and try to be Christlike all the time, at the end of the day, we are all human and make mistakes, and we do fail, time and time again (well I do anyway!). Although I’m not a vicar’s wife (or married to a vicar in-training), I am an ex military wife – my hubby left last year after 22 years of service in the RAF. After moving LOTS (which I believe you know a fair bit about), we are now at last trying to settle and put down some roots, which is both odd and lovely at the same time! At long last we have been able to find a church family who are amazing (we’d never received such a warm welcome before than when we first walked), and we really hope that we can grow in learning and faith alongside these wonderful people. I’m so pleased that I’ve found your blog, please keep going! And thank you for your wonderful book. Love, hugs and prayers, Ruth x
Hi Ruth and thank you for such an encouraging comment. So lovely to hear that you’re in such a great church family. Apologies for the recent blog drought – life seems to have a habit of intruding on writing headspace!
Ah bless you! Well to be honest, you’re not alone as I’ve started two blogs and haven’t kept up with them for ages (not something I’m proud of though). I begin with great intentions and then as you say life does seem to have a habit of getting in the way at times. Sometime though for me I think no one really wants to hear what I’ve got to say lol, but I think that for you people really do want to hear what you have to say! I’ve got a friend who is married to a vicar-in-training, and they are currently living at the training college near us aka ‘the vicar factory’ lol. I was thinking that she would probably love to read your blog and book so will have to tell her about you. 🙂 Take care and I hope you manage to find your way out of the drought soon. Hugs x
I’ve just finished reading your book. It was a Christmas gift, given to me by a good friend. I laughed when I saw it and thought she took a risk giving it!
It’s a brilliant book. Its like I just read what has been bubbling around in my head for ages but could never verbalize it. It has inspired me, encouraged me and reminded me of who I am, and that I’m actually doing ok by the grace of God.
Not followed blogs before but going to try and follow yours….. If I can work it out!
Thank you
Lucy Griffiths (messy mum of 3, messy house, messy church, messy community, messy food and messy life 🙂 )
Hi Lucy and welcome! I’m so glad to hear you’ve enjoyed the book. I hope the blog following blesses you. I am aiming for more blogging this year – 2015 was a little scant on the writing front…
Just found ur blog
I’m a vicars wife in inner city east London w 4 kids!
Bless u for doing this!
Thank you!
My husband is currently at BAP and I came across this blog looking to see if anyone had documented their experiences as the wife of a (potential) ordinand 😊
It’s great to read about your experiences. I will be getting a copy of your book shortly. Thanks for sharing your stories.
Not been checking my comments for ages, but thank you!
I’ve just discovered this, – too late I fear! I have been encouraged over the past year by a couple of American women (Emily P Freeman and Shannan Martin) who blog, though are more present on Instagram, and who are writers (and I know you’ve written a book though I’ve not yet read it). I’ve been bemoaning there not being anyone here in the UK with such gifting – and here you are, right here in West Bromwich and I’ve even met you! Do you still write? I’d love to encourage you to do so based on what I’ve read here!
God bless you Amanda!
Lois x
Thank you for such a lovely comment Lois. Alas, I keep meaning to write and failing to do so. I still put lots of words on Twitter! Just not in paragraphs…
It’s been so encouraging to read your blog this Lent, through what’s turned into such a crazy time for us all. I must have subscribed to this when I read your book a number of years ago so it’s been a lovely surprise to receive! I just wanted to thank you for writing them
A year later I catch up with my replies! Thank you for this encouragement!
This sounds like a rather good blog to me. Out of pure curiosity – what denomination are you and your husband? Doesn’t REALLY matter, I’ll follow regardless… but extra points if you’re Lutheran. Lol
A late response, but sorry to tell you that we’re Church of England here. Not many Lutherans about in the UK!
Great to see your blog. Look forward to seeing more!!
Hi Rachel! Hope you enjoy reading…