I turn my head; I hear the plop; a little tern in free fall hits the streaming waters; ah, it’s found a wriggling, silvery fish. And there, an oyster catcher’s anxious, plaintive call; has it lost its nest and young to this high, sweeping tide? An old gull sits with watchful gaze upon its post and, with outstretched wings, flies away to caw and cry; another answers - some strange language I do not know – maybe it’s about me, warning its mate that I’m around; I mean no harm.
I drop anchor, splosh, my little boat swings and tugs against the flooding tide.
Ah yes, I know this boat; she’s older than me and I first learned to row her when I was perhaps six or even seven. The smell that always was, is still there, salty, varnish-y – from swelling, clinkered planks, warmed by the summer’s sun. I position myself on the worn floorboards and sit and watch and listen. Downstream I see the mill, the sluice and far away, I’d like to feel, is civilisation. I love it, how I love it; alone with my thoughts and they’re not very deep because, because I’m distracted by the beauty. That sky – a wide and open sky, a painting above my head of varied hues and strangely textured clouds; there’s no hideous buildings here to block my view.
Yes, the tide is tugging, tugging, wanting to pull this craft away but the anchor proves too strong. I’m here to stay, that is, until I pull up anchor and this I feel reluctant to do.
The tide is turning, I must go .. soaked in the beauty, the grace of tide-drenched marshes and swathes of purple lavender; up anchor now and man the oars, off and away until another time …
Inside too … there’s stillness, the tugging tide subdued, I realise my Anchor will hold … another day….
I'm feeling a bit more confident today and I’m not the MC this time – that’s Marie’s job – and we learned a lot from last time. Yes, and I think confidence is one of the main themes of the day – actually, confidence and courage. I believe we find confidence when we step out of our comfort zones .. and lots of us will be doing that today.
This time there’s a buzz from the start, an excitement (woe betide us if there’s no excitement about following Jesus .. me thinks when/if this happens we’re getting tired and old!)
So much said … and again it’s been a great day: here’s just a few highlights .. there’s a great feeling of women being together worshipping … after all, we’re devoted to Him and we’ve got a great legacy to follow … yes, we could do with a Miriam to show the way … we’re a little stiff and we need a leader in dance and expressive celebration. Miriam, where are you? There’s no reluctance to worship, though .. we’re all raring to go.
Mick, our main leader, outlines his vision for new creation women, not to be crushed but to be confident; he sees us as a sailing ship – the sail is being lifted, it has begun to rise but now it must reach its position as a full-hoisted sail and today is part of that… yes, we are to live in our new creation .. not women marked by shallowness and gossip or insecurity but rather we are to like ourselves. God wants to bring us back into an undivided devotion to Him, whether married or single. O yes, and we‘re to keep young! The secret? Following Jesus!
Mick encouraged us all to have six good relationships – a mixture of 'upward', 'sideways' and 'downward' ones and spoke of what he calls the big challenge: initiating, building and sustaining relationships.
Yes, we’re women with a vital part to play, to complement, to be confident and not crushed … courageous women. It’s a day for the ‘C’ words today!
Hey, it’s time for a chat and we love doing that (another C word.) Next time we need to make that lunch break longer.. and here is Mamfi’s photo of our fabulous cake stand (o dear .. another C word.). Now don’t get the wrong impression, will you .. Accelerate is not just about cakes and icing and … more cakes and … more icing and …. cookies too. We do get down to the serious stuff …. in-between our breaks…!
Rhoda isn’t here as she’s ill …… that’s a shame as she is a superb teacher … but Anita ably stood in her place. She reads this saying out:
sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny
Georgia, Mim and Gill, representing three generations stir us to step across those generational barriers and Debs and Deborah (with great hilarity) challenge us out of our insecurities and into mature attitudes and relationships with the men who shepherd us (covering comes out of friendship with respect.) Janet produced such excellent tips on building relationships that I think everyone should read them..
Seminars .. I love it, just to see people express themselves, overcome those nerves, wow … why? People like Toni, Yvonne … I heard you … you’ve got something really worthwhile to say and I don’t want you to sit on it but to say it.
Then there’s a time for exploding myths: ‘you have to have children to be fulfilled?’ Definitely not ..well, I’m glad about that because I’m a celibate..
Particularly interesting was Ro’s seminar on singleness: I’m planning a blog to share what she said so watch this space! Ro is one of those people you don’t hear much from but she’s certainly got some well-thought out viewpoints.
Hey, Accelerate was great, really great. The sail is rising; the gaff with sail needs to reach its upright position, resting erect, high against the mast. Let’s help each other get there, that’s what its all about .. and don’t forget, we need a Miriam. Where are you?
I turn my head; I hear the plop; a little tern in free fall hits the streaming waters; ah, it’s found a wriggling, silvery fish. And there, an oyster catcher’s anxious, plaintive call; has it lost its nest and young to this high, sweeping tide? An old gull sits with watchful gaze upon its post and, with outstretched wings, flies away to caw and cry; another answers - some strange language I do not know – maybe it’s about me, warning its mate that I’m around; I mean no harm. 
