Nomad Online

A new bakery opened in our neighbourhood! Fresh baked bread for all who can afford it. The smell was delicious.

Our son also finally got his hands on a cello today. Hurrah! We are hiring it from his school. There was a time when they didn’t have any and we were desperately looking for other options. Thankful that they found one for us to use before the term ended.

Our son was able to get to his first London lesson with it this afternoon. I walked with him to his tutor’s home. She was very good and gently assessed his skill. I think he missed his music.

“Are you happy you’re able to play the cello again?” asked his father.

“Yep,” was his one word response.

I took a bus to Tooting this afternoon. I had an interview for a volunteer position at a local refugee charity. They do a lot of work with women and children who have fled persecution and conflict find their place in London.

It sounded like an amazing opportunity. The interviewer asked me why I was interested in volunteering. She said she understood our desire to help and contribute, but what was in it for me.

It was a good question.

There is great pleasure in contributing. I get as much out of volunteering as I give. I find people interesting and fascinating. I like exchanging ideas and understanding how others view their world. I find real joy working with children and seeing how they sort out the world around them.

We are all such complex people, made in God’s image and immeasurably valuable to Him.

After the interview, she gave me the website to enrol in their volunteer training program. If I do not get a full time job in the next three months or longer, I would love the opportunity to serve this community.

I braved the rain and visited the Kimono exhibition at the V&A museum. It opens tomorrow to the public, but museum members were allowed to view it today.

It was exquisite. So many stunning pieces from across the centuries were on display. But I liked the more contemporary styles with their bright colours the most.

Thankful for the membership I got for my Christmas present last year. I was able to see lovely things without paying the entrance fee.

“Come on! I need to go the post office! Get off that couch and let’s get out of the house,” I implored.

“No,” he was adamant. He was not going to move from the couch.

In the end I had to leave my son for a little bit and went alone.

I was so glad I did! The rain pelted down and sideways. I would have felt so guilty if our boy came along in that weather.

I almost didn’t go to church today. I felt so tired the night before. It was because our stubborn son said that he was going to go, with or without me, that I felt compelled to go.

I am so glad I did end up at church today.

We are still in the book of Zechariah. This time looking at his visions in chapter 6. What on earth was going on there? We had horses and chariots, a coronation of a priest. But our associate minister managed to make perfect sense of it all.

He reminded us, as Zechariah did the Israelites all those years ago, that God was Lord over all the earth. In a time of global pandemics, bush fires and wars, there was something profoundly reassuring about that. The second vision pointed to Jesus, who is both Priest and King, coming to call people from all nations to Him.

It was what my tired soul needed to hear. I was reminded that we were part of something much bigger than turning up to church on a Sunday. More lasting than the bricks and mortar building we were in. We were part of a world wide movement, a calling of people, to be part of God’s church to love God and one another as best we can until we reach heaven.

I may be feeling weary, but I wasn’t going to be weary alone. For that I am grateful.

“It’s nice to have lunch with you. Can I take a photo and put it on my blog?” I asked.

“If you like. But I’m not going to smile.”

It was my husband’s day off from work today. After my bible study, we were able to catch up for a date of sorts.

We bickered as usual. He can be such a frustrating and annoying man sometimes. He’s funny though. His caustic sense of humour usually cuts through my annoyance and makes me laugh.

“It’s my boyish charm,” he’s been known to state.

One day, maybe in heaven, we’ll sit together and have lunch without the need to tease or exasperate each other.

“Mum, did you know it would take three months for most of us to count to a million?”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

Our son came home early from school yesterday with a note. Two students who have returned from Italy are suspected of having COVID19. The entire school will close for a week while the grounds and classrooms are cleaned and disinfected.

Today, both my men are with me at home. We’re reading books, listening to music and on our computers. It has been a lovely relaxing day before I head to Tooting again this evening.

I will spend about two and a half hours at a volunteer induction for the local refugee charity I visited a few days ago before I return home.

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Project 2020 is a weekly roundup of images. It aims to capture moments of joy, pleasure, and thankfulness that are found on any given day. It’s an attempt at remembering the good things and being grateful for them. Thank you for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful day.