Lent discipline.

This year's Lent Breakfast series in Balsall Common is on Wellbeing and so far we have heard from a respiratory consultant from the local hospital and a retired psychologist who is also a local preacher. In the Elmdon circuit some of the churches are having a sermon series based on the York course, "A Rich Inheritence" and at Dorridge we are following this up with bible study each Wednesday. This week I had Lent Breakfast last Saturday, sermon on the Holy Spirit on Sunday, housegroup on Tuesday (we are also studying A Rich Inheritence but without the sermon series) and then bible study at Dorridge on Wednesday.  I could also have taken part in Solihull Methodist's bible study as I usually go to Space there on a Thursday morning but Holly came home on Wednesday evening ready for going camping with Misbourne this weekend so I stayed at home with her and while she was home I took her with me to aquafit on Friday to take some pictures of me with my oxygen.



My oxygen sits in a plastic box to stop the case getting wet!



I cannot move too far but I can do all the exercises

 I am trying to cut down on cakes and snacks for Lent and eat more fruit instead - losing weight and exercising will hopefully stop my knees hurting. Aquafit is good because the water takes the strain off my knees.

It's a nice day!

I've realised it is a long time since I posted on here - I've been quite busy! The other weekend we had a weekend in Stratford for Network. Alison Judd talked to us about her time as a Mission Partner in Barbados and we thought about getting alongside women in mission. We had a great time but it was very tiring. Since then I have had a cold and chest infection which does not help my breathing.

Yesterday I went to Papworth for a check up and they seem pleased with the fact that I haven't deteriorated very much and said that my fitness seemed to be improving. The critical thing now for being on the transplant list is my quality of life and at the moment, allowing for winter blues, it is quite good. There are restrictions obviously, but there would be other restrictions if I had a transplant. My osteopath has said that the aquafit is making me more flexible in my chest and upper back area. The main problem at the moment is that I have put on a lot of weight over the winter which I now need to lose.

Today is what my daughter used to call 'a nice day' - cold but with blue sky and sunshine which definitely improves the feeling of well-being so hopefully we can put the winter blues back in their box. We were woken at 7 by a phone call from my niece in New Zealand wanting to sing Happy Birthday to her uncle Nick before she went to bed. My sinuses are feeling more comfortable so hopefully my cold is on the way out and normal service can be resumed. I'm not very good at what the doctors call 'pacing' myself - if I feel better, I do things and then don't feel so good, so today I think I will have a gentle day to save myself for District meeting on Thursday. One thing I need to do today is order my oxygen for a weekend at Swanwick before Easter.

I am reading through a wide selection of study books as part of creating a library for housegroups at church and trying to produce a booking out system. This seems a suitable occupation for a quiet day!