I'm back!!!!

Forgive me - it has been 15 months since my last confession...

Such a lot has happened in that time, and even in 2017 itself.  

Let me take you on a journey to fill you in on events since we last met, and pick up a few key words along the way:

Turmoil...

Mr Tup had both of his kidneys removed in January 2017 - genetic polycystic kidneys, which were doomed anyway, became infected... They went at the end of January - and along came dialysis.  3 times each week, for 4 hours each session.  Work life went from full time to part time, clothes now hung off him (he'd lost the equivalent of 2 bowling balls when the kidneys came out), and a restricted diet made eating out too big a challenge.  But, he was alive.  

Grace...

On 5th December 2017 we got 'The Phonecall' - a kidney had become available, and Mr Tup was the best match for it.  They met at the hospital - both had travelled well.  The kidney is still going strong, 15 months later - and is a living reminder of Grace.  Somewhere, a family stood by a bedside in a hospital, took a deep breath, and said 'Yes'.  

Wrestling...

No, not the WWF kind.

A deep dissatisfaction with Vicar-ing, and the direction it was going in... Throughout the first 9 months of 2018, I wrestled with my conflicting priorities - one which brought me joy, and one which didn't:

Vicar of 2 parishes.  

Doing more and more talks on disability, access and inclusion (and turning down a few along the way)

And of course, the one which brought me joy didn't bring me a salary!  And I couldn't see how there would ever exist the role which would bring me joy and pay me...

So, stay where I was in what I was doing and at least be stable (house and income)?

Or, stop.  

Trust...

I stopped.  I resigned. Letter sent 7th October 2018.  And went public 14th October 2018.  3 months notice, and at the end of it there would be no house to live in and no income from me.  It was a relief!  Mr T and I had a tangible sense of God being in this, and God knowing what would happen next even though we had no idea.

Surprise!

5 days after going public with my resignation, and 5 days of saying to people, "honestly, I don't have another job to go to, I really am just stopping", an advert appeared in the Church Press....

And that's a whole other story, in a whole new blog post!!