Read Month One (September)
Read Month Seven (March)
Read Month Eight (April)
Read Month Eight (April)
Hello June, and hello blog post for May! The month began with the CMM annual dinner which featured a delicious three-course meal, followed by Roger's speech on the workings of CMM over the previous year, which he managed to make quite interesting! The next day I worked an extra half-day in the office, before heading off to Northampton with Helen (and little Michael) for the Women's World Day of Prayer YPray conference. Over the weekend, I played my oboe during some of the worship slots that Helen was leading, was the 'official' childminder for Michael (although I did have to explain to a lady from another group that he wasn't mine...), and ate a lot of chicken. The guest speaker for the weekend was Emily Owen, whose story of deep faith despite life-changing health issues was inspirational.
A fun office job this month was browsing Roger's photo collection trying to find the most embarrassing pictures of him for Helen to put into a slideshow which those of you who were at Tamworth on the 19th will have seen. What I'm not sure about however is whether Roger thought that this was a worthwhile use of my time! On the subject of Tamworth, I have already written a blog post about that so I will direct you to that for my take on the day (click here), however I will say here that I thoroughly enjoyed the day and I think it was a fitting birthday tribute to Roger.
May ended with the music week at Abbot Hall, Grange-over-Sands. It was lovely for me to see some familiar faces there, as well as meeting lots of new ones (including Anthony, who took some top-quality photos and requested a shout-out: hi Anthony!), and the Cumbrian weather surpassed all my expectations, allowing me to wear shorts every day and providing a warm and sunny backdrop for a truly great week. The musical we learned and performed was Jailbreak, with the choir trained by Sharon Collins, and the orchestra brushed into shape by Annie. The schedule for a music week is well designed, so if you haven't been on one before, I would highly recommend it! Mornings feature times of worship and teaching followed by rehearsals, then there is free time in the afternoon which gives the opportunity for exploring the area. Evenings consist of a variety of different activities – this particular week included a DVD, a 'Heart & Soul Radio Roadshow' and Abbot Hall's infamous 'Floor Monopoly' which, as Monopoly is prone to do, revealed some unexpectedly competitive natures! Despite all the frivolity, the message of Jailbreak was preached well throughout the week, both by Roger in his morning teaching slots, and through the final performance on the Friday evening – in Jesus Christ, we are set free!
The music week spilled over into the beginning of June, and the start of the month brings the realisation that this is my penultimate monthly blog, which means that in just a few short weeks my time with CMM will draw to a close. There is however, the rest of June to go, including a couple more gigs, so I will be making the most of the time I have left!
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| Team Orchestra at Abbot Hall |
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| Jacqueline du Pré eat your heart out 😀 |
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