Well, that’s a Wrap…

At midnight on Thursday, I unlocked the front door in Perton, receiving a very warm welcome from Missy! Paul was out to work early Friday, so was fast asleep. The final window shots, of Tel Aviv and the UK…

It’s now Sunday, and it’s the first chance I’ve had to come up for air and write some final words. Thank you so so much for following my blog. It’s hard to convey in words, but I genuinely have felt that people have been travelling with me, journeying to Melbourne; on a road trip around Tasmania; spending time with Em and Jeff north of Sydney; and on to those incredible, rich, challenging days in Israel/Palestine. Thank you for accompanying me, and for all your messages. 

As I return home, after five and a half weeks, I have so many experiences and encounters to ponder ~ not to mention, rather a lot of photographs to sort out! My sabbatical continues for a few more weeks, based largely at home, and I hope to do some of that pondering. I titled this post, ‘Well that’s a Wrap’, as this marks, the end of my (almost!) daily blogs, but you never know… there may be further thoughts and adventures to share!

The last couple of days have continued to be so full, but rather different! Just three days ago, I was still in Jerusalem, packing… and thankfully all the travel plans worked well, leaving the college at noon on Thursday, and opening the front door, 14 hours later, at midnight ~ for those wondering about my maths, there’s a two hour time difference to factor in! 

It was moving to say farewell to those on the course ~ we came from different nations spanning the globe, and all got on so well. So many adventures and experiences, such deep conversations and sharing of our lives. Sometimes it’s easier to talk to those you don’t know well, yet with whom are share common ups and downs of life. The group of mainly women formed a strong sorority, which was an extra gift above, and beyond that of the course itself. I do hope we’ll be able to stay in touch…

I got home just in time for a very full weekend. Paul’s old friend, also called Paul, had flown in from Dublin on Thursday morning; and his lovely sister flew in Friday morning. They joined Paul and myself, and two other friends, as we went to Villa Park to see The Boss!! What a phenomenal evening… as usual, Bruce Springsteen played a three hour set, without a break, and the atmosphere was amazing! Paul had also arranged, through a local funeral director he knows well, to hire a limo and driver, who basically took us door-to-door in fantastic style!

As if that weren’t enough, yesterday, I met up at five of my amazing women friends. The timing was perfect, being again with a group of women and continuing the middle eastern focus with a fantastic lunch at Damascena in central Birmingham, before going to the matinee performance of, “The Beekeeper of Aleppo” at The Rep, which was phenomenal, an incredible adaptation of an excellent book, deeply moving. 

Today, Sunday, it’s begun to feel a bit more like being back up ‘normal’ ~ except of course ‘normally’ Sunday means serving and Church! But normal in the sense of doing laundry, dog walking, going to the supermarket and, very importantly, to the pet shop to buy dog food! 

And on that very normal note, that really is a wrap… thank you again my amazing friends and family xx