Llandudno seemed not too far along the North Wales coast but nicer than Prestatyn.After the recently blogged about Travelodge experience – a B and B it was to be, and after a few furtive hours online search in Java Coffee, I found a B and B that could fit us all in for a reasonable price.

We couldn’t really believe it – it was like being in a scene from Heartbeat, Noddy, and Balamory all rolled into one!

Our B and B room, looked over the curving bay, edged with an immaculate sweep of pastel Georgion buildings, (not even one ugly tower block or 1960s effort in the view at all! – not one!) and a wide red tarmac promenade, punctuated nicely with an elegant column at one end.

On the first day, you walk up the street to where the cute little coloured cable car cabins swing above a park onwards up The Great Orme, (a small mountain rock peninsula place creating one end of the curve of the bay), unfortunately quite expensive for the 7 of us but still nice to look at!  You reinvigorate the children with promises of an extra £2 each to spend in the gift shop at the top of the mountain, and walk up the waymarked Summit Trail, past the Ski Slope – yes the Ski Slope!  My husband says the British Ski Championships are held there – but I cannot believe that – but like I said it’s all a bit like a fairytale!  There is a tobaggan run too.  On past a herd of wild white goats and you can then marvel at the smart trams passing each other as they journey also up to the Summit.

At the Summit, there is a play area and a small lively centre with bar, toilets, gift shop, cafe, and vintage photograph booth where your family can dress up and be photographed as a Wild West family – that sort of thing.  And then there is also an exellent quality free, but not too onerous in size, Visitor Centre where you can find out about the stone age burial site, and wildlife etc.  And then you can find your own fossils nearby, and walk back down to the town past the Ancient Mine – sort of Craggy Island Fair type publicity.

Anyway, we went on the beach for lunch, and in a small not crowded area, all just the right size the kids enjoyed pony rides; a traditional Punch and Judy show, and a walk down the pier -with lots of quaint little stalls on it and small rides – and nothing anywhere was garish or ugly or too commercial!  I couldn’t believe it.  Normally there is a huge massive Arcade, or fair, or Morrisons or just carpark on the seafront but there wasn’t any.

And there was also a toy train that runs through the town, and a 1960s brown and cream curved shape bus doing tours, and a bright red open topped bus.  And from a jetty nearby there were jet boat rides, sightseeing tours, and fishing trips, all by just one operator so no lines of five different companies sandwich boards.  But he sat in a red and white striped deck chair on the prom with a Megaphone and did ‘Lunchtime specials’ where the trips were £2 rather than £3.

And the shops in the town centre are only a few minutes away and they are nice too.  On the second day the emergency services did a life boat demonstration on the sea, an a helicopter winched someone from the sea, to a watching crowd of about only 400, and the Red Arrows did a fly past! (On their way to Rhyll airshow actually but still!)  And as we looked back on the evening sun lighting up the beach from our B and B window, the sound of singing drifting in through the window too as the Beach Mission team did Songs of Praise seemed to roll the credits on a perfect but strangely ‘make believe’ sort of a day.

And there’s no way to make fun of it being an old fashioned seaside resort because it was so lovely and so rare and precious, I’d given up hope of that sort of thing still existing.  What I guess is the real romance and wonderland of what I’d read about in Museum Exhibitions as the magic of the old fashioned British Seaside Experience, but never quite experienced myself.

So if it really wasn’t a dream I had  – go there in summer and see for yourself.

(But be quick because unfortunately, I just can’t see how it is going to be all financially viable for many more seasons.)

My first time speaking at K2 so pray God will be able to use some of the stuff I’ve prepared to help transform lives.  It’s certainly transformed my life as I’ve been preparin it!  Better go and find some socks and water the plants and try and get someone to look after the kids rabbit!  Help!  Oh plus packing up for 2 weeks camping and all that.

Site for Lead for England has new entrepreneurs on it too – so check them out and see if you can be an investor.

For example: when we were needing somewhere to a stay for a night for a friends wedding in Bangor, (when we weren’t going to have the kids with us – hint – there’s a clue here!), why on earth did we choose a £19 Travelodge room rather than a B&B?!  (I can’t restrain myself from saying – I would not personally have been able to go through with the final click, as on about 3 wasted surfing occasions before, but I do take responsibility for saying ‘OK then’ at one point to my husband.)

So in one sense it presumably would have been a risk to choose a B&B – not sure what the people would be like?  What the room would be like?  At some level then we must have been afraid of people’s individuality and unpredictabilty, so we choose the bland awfulness of a ‘branded fleece-clad’ garage style ‘assistant for the check in experience after our long tiring journey instead.

£19 seemed better value, but what price do you put on conversation with a local Bangor couple; interesting if unpredictable individuality of their home, warmth of their welcome, and the richness of connecting with another community rather than a factory, and the promise of having a breakfast, any breakfast, the next morning?  Maybe I’m being optimistic but right now sitting in the Travelodge room – this stuff is all I can think of!  Surely all that stuff is worth the extra £30 – £40 we would have paid …

It’s basically dehumanising and awful and I just want to go to sleep quick and get out of here as soon as possible and get back to the real world.  However scary and strange people are it will always be better than this!

Seemed appropriate in January blues to finally post up my sermon on “Broken things getting fixed”  Amazing Jesus can fix everything!  there is no better good news than that!

Carol

Broken things getting fixed John 9-11

I love these words from Isaiah  – they are just so moving.  We kept wandering away from God but He set in motion a Secret Rescue Plan  to come and get us back.  To save us from ourselves.

Every Christmas can be just a reminder that we are one year closer to death – thats what we’re all most afraid of at Christmas.  And yet in Jesus death is beaten!  Really!  Death is beaten  – it has come untrue for those who are in Christ Jesus, who showed the way is clear to heaven by coming back from the dead!  Awesome!

Jesus Storybook Bible.

Well had lovely weekend with my 5 children back with my mum and dad where I grew up back in Malvern. Was lovely relaxing time just pottering around, (as much as you can with 5 under 11s). Did 2 Christmas fayres in church halls where my 2 younger daughters were excited by giving an old lady their one (£1) coin and getting the little doll or plastic brush or sunglasses as well as lots of coins back!! I’m not sure quite how well the ladies did only charging 5p for things but I think they did OK overall from us. Dad and I got 3 big pieces of lovely Victoria sponge, 2 teas, and 5 squashes for £3.70.  Good value when you’ve come from London.

I also began passing on an important Bray family tradition of playing ‘Chartbusters’. Don’t know if anyone else ever played this? Dad got it from a jumble sale when we kids and me and my brother and dad loved it and spent hours playing it. Basically you’re a rock star and it really brings out how risk taking you’re prepared to be in life! Anyway my older two children enjoyed their first game and I’m secretly hoping they’re as hooked with it as I was/am!

My two year old loved walking round in the snow with his grandpa, shouting “Grandpa I need you”

My daughter did her homework at my old MFI desk in my old room looking at the same great view that occupied hundreds of hours of my teenage daydreaming/ A-level revision memories.

DEAR CAROL AND BARRY, SORRY I DID’NT COME 2 CHURCH 2 DAY BUT DUE 2 BEING ON PRESCRIBED VALIUM, PROZAC AND ZOPICLONE 3X DAIY, I WAS STILL SEDATED UNTIL2PM, HOWEVER I SHALL B AT CHURCH ON SUNDAY ALSO WOMENS BIBLE STUDIES, HOPE 2 C U BOTH VERY SOON, AT THE MOMENT I’M DROWNING MY MISERY WITH A BOTTLE OF COGNAC. C U BOTH SOON, GOD BLESS, LUV FROM LOUISE XX

JUST TO QUICKLY SAY I AM SO GLAD AND PROUD TO HAVE MET YOU BOTH AND SOMEHOW/SOMEWAY U BOTH HAVE PUT ME OFF ANY SUICIDAL AND SELF DESTRUCTIVE THOUGHTS THINKING OF WHAT JESUS WENT THROUGH 4 US THERE IS NO WAY WITH YR TUITION ON THIS THAT I COULD GIVE UP ON THIS WONDERFUL GIFT OF LIFE, AND RESPECTFULLY I ASK PLEASE DON’T GIVE UP ON ME AS I DO CARE, VALUE, AND RESPECT U BOTH VERY MUCH INDEED, GOOD NIGHT AND GOD BLESS U ALL THERE.  THE HARDEST THING TO DO IS 2 FIND A FRIEND WHO IS TRUE, THOSE WHO BRING SUNSHINE INTO THE LIVES OF OTHERS, BRING SUNSHINE INTO THEIR OWN.  GOD BLESS LUV FROM LOUISE, XXX

And I think that has given me strength for today. :)  Thank you Jesus – please don’t give up on either of us!  And I thank you that I can know you don’t and you won’t.  Thank you Jesus for bringing sunshine into both our lives through what you did 4 us.

Please Jesus give all us Christians a heart for all out there who are totally at sea and drowning their misery in lots of places.  And I can’t thank St James 20s 30s group enough for their brilliant Secret Restaurant event that we both had a lovely evening at.  Matt and Philippa and Zahra u rock!

Where do you drown your misery? 

Let’s all be honest with each other and then call out to Jesus to help.

I love this video – no-one who looks at life honestly laughs at God.  No-one in life who sees their own misery laughs at God.

I grew up in a Christian home, went to Uni at Sheffield to study Landscape Architecture.  And it was at Christ Church, Fulwood in Sheffield, a big student Anglican church, that I met my husband.

The student group there showed me that I could really enjoy stretching my brain in studying the Bible as much as I was enjoying stretching my brain in my degree modules; and it was so exciting seeing God’s word in a new way, and all the treasure that is in there.

I wanted to share what I was learning and helped set up and lead a new small group, as well as the odd time preparing 5 min talks for the student group, leading 121 Bible studies and helping Dave Fenton with the 14-18 group Sunday night Live.  But I knew that as a woman that was as far as things would go in terms of teaching at Fulwood at that time.  And I had a deep dissatisfaction about that  because I knew I had skills in analysing, understanding, and communicating the messages in the Bible, and I had a passion for this that I knew was never going to go away.

I always went to all the seminars on Women’s ministry or women and teaching, and one time on Spring Harvest there was a seminar on Women and teaching.  And after the usual worthy talks on how God has a special complimentary role for women, and how different women feel called to different things, (note Carrie Sandom, Carrie Sandom all Bible believing aspiring young women – she is ordained but feels called not to teach men!   Awkward moment when the man in the seminar puts up hand and asks in a lovely nice gentle way if she would like him to leave!), in the question time one forty year old women said she had trained as a Lay Reader and it had given her lots of opportunities to preach and to grow in that calling.  I thought – that’s what I need.

By this time we had felt God calling us to move to the North East, where my husband is from, so had given up jobs, house, and friends, and were now living in Gateshead.  I was working at Gateshead Council and my husband was working voluntarily for a church in very deprived bit of Gateshead and getting experience while exploring his calling to be a church leader.

Another woman, and a man in the church were going forward to start the Lay Reader course and I was able to also get selected and begin the course with them.

And the introductory session of that course was the most liberating and sensible experience to my calling as a women minister that I have ever had.  The Course Leader said that Lay Readers are not part time, or second class preachers / church workers, but they are special because of all the other varied roles they have in life – because unlike church leaders, they can bring what God is teaching them in these other areas into their preaching and connect in a real way with the congregation because of it.  And that is so true and so brilliant that it has been the bedrock of all my ministry ever since.  I’m not a minister on top of being a wife, mother, or working a job, but my ministry is stronger and indeed relies on what God is also teaching me in all these other areas as well as the theological study course I’m able to do part time, and my preaching needs to use my experiences from the whole of my life.  And I’ve been so encouraged when people have been moved to turn back closer to God through sermons I have preached – that is such a privilege and joy and motivator – that God is glorified more and more.

And there are women teachers and leaders in the Bible and they cover the whole spectrum of roles and characters of women:  Deborah the judge, Esther the brave and beautiful Queen, Huldah the prophet, Lydia the businesswoman, Sarah, Leah the ugly rejected wife who is loved by God, the John 4 cohabiting woman at the well, and evangelist.  .. etc .. etc..  So we need just to be obedient to what we feel God calling us to do and not worry what other people think of that, at all.

And now having given up a high powered career to work more hours in God’s kingdom, both in the 5 children part of it , the St James New Barnet part of it, and the helping others “LeadforEngland” (see website) and for God part of it; looking back I can see that God has been totally in control of all the previous events in this testimony, even down to very small details.  And I am humbled and amazed at how amazing and awesome he is, and am so excited because despite all my failings, I know that he has appointed me and my family to be in London now  for a purpose, just like Samson.  Who despite a lot of contrary and hard to justify weaknesses was appointed by God for a purpose at that time to help save God’s people from their enemies.  And I’m left desperate just to be obedient to God cos I’m rubbish but he is amazing and he has a big plan to grow his kingdom that is working!

Had challenging and rewarding time at Keswick as part of the K2 team. We had a great programme of teaching for 20s 30s at Keswick, some great speakers, worship leaders, and cakes!

I spoke on Overcoming Pagan Gods, was on Question Panel with Liam Golligher, did The Innovation Callenge brainstorming Event, and did the Introduction to Revelation, K2, and my newness and nervousness to old core K2 er’s I think!! But Hey God was working in the lives of the people who came, and I was learning! The main talk challenged many on how christians are headlong into worship of pagan gods so I pray that will bear much fruit in the lives of people there. The feedback scores will probably determine whether I get invited back! – though as one complimentary old K2 er said, after I gave that answer to his question of whether I’ll be back next year – I don’t think it should go on the feedback scores.  And he’s right …

 I wonder what feedback scores Amos would have got from the ladies of Israel; or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or Jesus even?

Join the Feedback scores stink campaign! Says me having started using them in our Kidschurch! S’pose they are OK at uncovering major failings perhaps, and checking you’re connecting with people at some level, and they will be good at uncovering my weaknesses I presume. But not quite sure we can get from Bible that people would vote for things they need. People, including me, don’t know what we need! Thank God that He does.

And I pray as a preacher that I will keep trying to preach what I feel God calling me say through passage and never never what I think people would like to hear about – not a preacher then by definition I guess.

Time has gone – have to save getting conned, and coming rays of dawn for another post!