I had hoped for one more hat free Sunday.  It was not to be. Like the trees in autumn the few became many, the many became a torrent and now a few remain.   Is it pride or fear that makes me want to cover up?  Not sure.  My scalp is too tender to take the wig, so a scarf it must be.

Sigh.

I hope the same effect is happening to the cancer cells.

Temporary blog photo achieved by juggling camera auto timer.  As you can see my eyebrows are showing greater tenacity thus far...! (And needless to say, I hope this is not the case for the cancer cells)

One year ago today (to the day not the date) was my Induction at the Gathering Place.  It was a very special day, the culmination of around three months of waiting since the call was discerned, issued and accepted.  It was, as I recall, a gorgeous autumn day and the place was packed with our people, my friends, the church's friends and not a few curious onlookers wondering just what a female Baptist minister might look like.  As we shared our stories and made our promises there was a mix of anticpation and trepidation - we were so sure this was of God, but what if we fouled up?  What if I didn't measure up, I wondered, what if I was 'found out' for the inadequate and not very spiritual person I really am?

The sermon on the day urged as to be kind to each other, words we all took to heart and have sought to live out since.

And as I look back over the last year, it is with a sense of pleasure and not a little rejoicing at what we have achieved, with God's help, together.  We have begun some new things and let go of some that were tired.  We have got to know each other better and have shared highs and lows along the way.  I guess, without knowing it, we have been being prepared for what comes next in our story.

This time a year ago I was looking forward to a festal day, wearing my red suit and my red shoes (something that had become something of a trademark for high days and holy days in Leicestershire) and pleasantly nervous.  It has been a great year, and I have loved every moment of it, at least so far as church and setlting into Glasgow is concerned.  God has not merely been good; God has been great.

No way could I have imagined back then that a year on we'd be where we are now.  Today I am slobbing around in old clothes, picking up increasing numbers of stray hairs and feeling increasing empathy for the trees over the road as I wonder just how long this process will take.  No way a year ago, even a little more than a month ago, any of us would have anticipated that I (and therefore we) would be faced with months of treatment for a life-threatening illness.  Today I am surrounded by the love and support of my people, and hope they are aware of mine for them.  The ideas I had begun to formulate for the next year may or may not find expression, but either way, there is a real sense of togtherness as we step into it, and a quiet assurance that God travels with us

Be kind to one another - I think we are being, and hope that what we attempt to model might give others a glimpse of God's immeasurable kindness.  As the old hymn says:

There's a wideness in God's mercy,

Like the wideness of the sea,

There's a kindness in God's justice,

Which is more than liberty.

For the love of God is broader

Than the limits of our mind

And the heart of the eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

Finally I've found someone with a good word to say for the India Commonwealth Games, and that challenges the attitudes of the wealthy nations.  read it here.  I think he's a little premature saying it is more uplifting than Manchester (not that I'm biased or anything) but thank goodness someone can see beyond the (lack of) Mr Sheen gleam to what I thought it was all meant to be about.

Still not clear if I'm meant to support Team Scotland or Team England this time, but I'm actually tempted to opt for Team India on a point of principle!

At various times I have sold bits and bobs on Ebay.  From assorted car spares to props from Holiday Clubs to, yesterday, a fridge freezer and a washing machine.  Anything I've advertised has sold, which is mystery enough, and shows that there is almost always someone looking for almost anything.

What mystified me, albeit very pleasantly, this time was how much people will pay for things, and how the last minute 'snipes' cause some crazy price rises.  With ten minutes to go I had very accpetable prices on both items.  In the last minute one rose by 25% the other by 50% and each is almost double what I would have put on an ad in a shop window.

I hope my buyers are pleased with their purchases when they collect them.

Of course the flip side is that already I have spent much of the money on soft furnishings for my living room, some of it on Ebay...