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Posts Tagged ‘counting’

Numbering

Posted in Church, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 1 April, 2020| 1 Comment »

Today we went back down to the Secret Field with the boys and the Vicarage Hound, the tennis ball and the floppy frisbee ring. And I vowed to be a little less languid today, so I walked around the field in a rather more energetic fashion than I did yesterday.

Yesterday when we returned I checked out the pedometer app on my phone. And from a frankly embarrassing daily average, I had raised my game significantly by taking just a couple of laps. So today I increased my field laps and upped my step count. A better number. And now, of course, I will have to do another extra lap on tomorrow’s Secret Field trip so I can count more. Who knows how many daily steps I’ll be doing be doing by the end of the lockdown? I’m not sure I’ll match Martin Lewis, but perhaps I’ll get a taste for increasing pedometer scores.

There are so many numbers about at the moment – graphs and totals are filling my timelines, some people are counting days since the lockdown and calculating days to go until some sort of loosening of restrictions. Numbering something else feels like a good distraction: 4426 yesterday, 5062 today.

Right numbering is always important, but perhaps even more so in this season. I’m praying that I’ll learn how to number my strange days right and gain a heart of wisdom.

[Text over photo of cut tree trunk] So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

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Doing the Next Thing: the February Declutter Game

Posted in Church, Vicarage, tagged , , , , , , , , on 1 February, 2016| 7 Comments »

I am terrible at throwing stuff away. I can always see a use for it (the curse of creativity) and so the clutter slowly covers all surfaces and occupies all cupboards. So when a vicar’s wife friend started a declutter “game” on Facebook last February I joined it. The idea is to declutter on each day of February, starting with chucking one thing on 1st February, two on 2nd February and working up to 28 (29 this year!) things on the last day of the month. In a non leap year, that gives you a grand total of 406 items disposed of, and 435 this year, if you keep going to the end.

There are no formal rules, so today I chucked a load of out-of-date pulses out, and I’m counting that as one item. Later in the month I might have counted each individual extra wizened chick pea to make the total for the day (sometimes I found myself needing to stretch the numbers last year).

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No counting rules!

Last year I managed about half the month, and it was definitely worthwhile. Obviously you get most done in the second half of the month, but I still managed some fairly effective clearing out. I found the focus of getting rid of something every day very helpful. Counting is a good way to Do the Next Thing. This February I’m giving it another shot, and if you’d like to join me, I shall be posting progress on here.

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Anticipating Advent: Counting

Posted in Church, Faith, Family, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 19 November, 2012| 1 Comment »

I know it’s still November, but honestly, you might need to send off for some Advent stuff before 30th November in order to start things from the beginning. I speak from experience, you understand. So order today and be prepared!

So today I offer you some counting resources to arm yourself with for when Advent begins a week on Saturday (or Sunday if you’re being liturgical about it).  I don’t mean counting your funds for Christmas shopping, nor the hours available for mincepie making, but counting down to Christmas in a way which helps to focus our minds on Jesus. This year I am aiming for an Advent of anticipating Christ, rather than one of anticipating shopping and panicking about whether the Christmas cards will make it out of the Vicarage before New Year’s Day. I am also an optimist.

This year I have an Advent candle ready with numbers and the names of Jesus so that we can think of one as the candle burns. We didn’t get very far down the candle last year due to forgetfulness and busyness but it’s always better to do something badly than not at all. So we’re trying again, with hope in our hearts.

 Then of course, there are always Advent calendars, which everyone loves. Peeking behind the hidden window is a morning treat. If we’re awake enough to remember to do it, of course. You can get some great ones online, ones which tell the Christmas story brilliantly. Try these links:

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