Friendship is a precious gift

Here's my advice  ...

As you go through life, make friendship a priority!!

I'm not a poet and I really don't have the words to express how blessed I am to have some amazing friendships that have lasted the test of time and distance.

Penny spies her
welcome committee,
who had been waiting
at the wrong part
of the station 😏

I have just had the most wonderful long weekend reunion with friends from far and wide.  Louise now lives in Plymouth, but we hadn't seen each other for 24 years!!  Penny lives in Louisiana and I'd not seen her for 16 years!!  Joke (pronounced yo-ka) is from the Netherlands and we have visited each other a number of times over the years.

Penny was the last to arrive, and after a circuitous drive from Abbey Wood station, because the A2 southbound was closed, we headed straight for coffee.

Me, Penny, Joke & Louise

Sadly, Louise was only able to stay two nights.  On Monday, I worked from home whilst Penny & Joke went off to explore Rochester.

Don't think I mentioned it, but Monday 19th was my birthday. So later on, along with Pauline, we went to see the Bob Marley: One Love movie, which was excellent; and followed that with a truly scrumptious Turkish meal at Taze Restaurant in Chatham 😀

Tuesday was a day off and we took ourselves to Bateman's House, which was the historical home of author and poet Rudyard Kipling.  If you don't know the name, he wrote the famous children's story 'Jungle Book' and a well-known poem entitled 'IF'.

We thoroughly enjoyed the day, exploring the house, having coffee & scones in the cafe. and an extremely muddy woodland walk, which we had to abandon half way around.

It was Penny's turn to leave on Wednesday, initially to spend a few more days with Louise.  Whilst Joke had the 'privilege' of coming to help with our weekly World Cafe, where we fed and watered 160 students.

What an absolute privilege it is to not have seen someone for one year, 16 years, 24 years and yet feel so utterly comfortable and at home in each other's company.

But Joke, too, had to leave this morning

...  and then there was one 😢😢😢

Thought for the week ...

Our Love Is ... tree

This week many will celebrate Valentine's Day. My week began with one of my regular Chaplaincy Chill 'n' Chat sessions in the Drill Hall Library, where over 50 students helped to decorate our 'Love is ...' tree 💕💖💝

Some really beautiful things were written by our students 😀

The tree will hopefully be in the library until Wednesday,

if you wish to go and add your thoughts.

Bowling

Sunday afternoons have proved to be a fairly good option for a bowling trip.  As usual though, it was just me and Sachini representing the girls, in a mostly male trip.

Thanks oodles to everyone who came ...

L to R: Chanaka, Sachini (& daughter), Himanshu,
Jon, Chehan, Ibrahim, Sunera, Phillip, me, Jeff, Joshua.

This is just to prove that, in our first game, I got two spares and finished with the bronze 🥉  Even though I got a strike in the second game, I didn't get anywhere near the podium 😞

Sunera was overall the best scorer, winning the Gold medal twice!!  Well Done 😀

Thought for the week ...

Congratulations CCCU students

 

I simply LOVE being part of the Graduations.  It is so wonderful to see students receive their degree, especially those who you know have faced difficulties and challenges and maybe, at points, been tempted to give up.  

My role in Canterbury Christ Church University ceremonies is made extra by having the honour of praying for our students, thanking God for all that they have achieved and praying that He will lead and guide their next step in life's journey.

It was a great privilege last Friday (Feb 2nd, 2024) to celebrate with Anushka and Jane, who have both been a special part of my life over the last year or two. Along with Anushka's family and Jane's husband, Aaron 😀😀

Gracie and I, having fun in the restaurant 😀

Once again, CONGRATULATIONS, Jane & Anushka!

But also to Shereika and Anita, and everyone else who was celebrating that day.

Thought for the week ...