Yesterday Ken and I spent the day with my sister and her family who are staying this week in Lyme Regis. We enjoyed eating and chatting and completing a jigsaw together. Today we will travel down to spend the day with our daughter Sophie in her home in Bovey Tracey.
MWiB has woven its way into each of these two visits. On the way to Lyme Regis I called on Doris in Sidmouth, to collect the picture created at the Plymouth and Exeter residential back in November. She took it to share the story of our time together with local women who were not able to be at Sidholme with us. Since then the picture has hung in the communal lounge of the Sanctuary Housing complex where Doris lives, and other residents there have added threads and ribbons to it. They are reportedly sad to see it go from the place where it has hung on their wall for the last few weeks!
Today I shall deliver the picture to Carol – we will meet at Buckfast Abbey for a cup of tea this afternoon and she will take the picture on to share with groups in the Plymouth area.
Alongside the picture we will place these words:
Interweaving Stories
This picture was created at the annual gathering of Methodist Women in Britain from the Plymouth and Exeter District at Sidholme in November 2016. During our time together we reflected on our own story and the way our stories intertwine with the stories of others. People whose lives have touched ours; people who have shown us glimpses of God; people with whom we have travelled parts of our faith journeys.
As we dare to share snippets of our story, including sometimes the stories from our own unique faith journey, we have the potential to spread the gospel in our circle of influence – to our family, our friends, our community, our world.
You may like to add a thread or a ribbon to this tapestry of intertwining stories, to represent your own story. Our stories are of course woven into the greater story, the story of the love of God for the world, told so clearly in the story of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. We can continue to tell that story of love and hope and forgiveness as his followers today!
