Helen Monkton

Between my ears

The space between my ears has been well used today. To concentrate when someone is speaking another language to you ALL day is really hard, and I’m fortunate that I can understand the most part of it. Even so, arriving home this evening I just crashed! The thought of making polite conversation at the dinner table is daunting, especially when the previous nights’ topics had been   challenging to say the least.  I’m not sure I can discuss the political implications of the new French president’s policies in English, let alone French! Nor do I feel qualified to give the opinion of the entire British nation as to whether Charles will ever be King!  We did converse around the subject of the new prime minister and having just spend a couple of days involved in the parliamentary prayer week, I felt  a little more clued up about giving insight into that those affairs.

En retard et incommunicado.

Late and without communication. Not the most marvellous way to start our trip. The Eurostar kindly delivered us as far as Vauxhall before sliding to a halt and giving us a delightful view of a building site for the next hour. Things began to look dire for us making our connection in Paris, but on the up side, we are almost guaranteed a free trip out of their lateness! It was, i guess,  a good way to get to know the people I was travelling with. Shared experiences always bring bonding.

It’s good to talk.

In the last two days I’ve been through more security checks than in all my flying last year.

I trained it off to London on Sunday to stay with the delightful Togwell family (thanks for giving up your bed Megan!) to be involved in a small way in the Parliamentary prayer week.  I love stretching my horizons and doing things out of the ordinary and this was certainly that.

Silence (Golden?)

Blogging just doesn’t seem to have happened of late. And it’s not because I’ve been bored or idle. The book ‘ In Praise of Slow’ that seemed like so much sense last year is now but a distant memory that I desperately need to reconnect with .

A life busy is palatable, a hurried and frenetic one is something I simply no longer wish to follow.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought recently to the things that I give my time to. I do a lot of things. Mostly, I love it. Right now I feel like a piece of cling film that’s just about stretched as far as it will go. I’m trying to cover too many things.  I need to return to my Father and ask him. He knows best.

I love my Kids

I looked around at the children I was teaching today and thought... you know... I love these kids.

They know very little about me and yet the fling their arms around me, make me necklaces to enhance my dress sense and draw me pictures that make me smile in their simplicity.

Today we made Noah's Ark. We made it a living story by finding our partner toy animals, filing into our 'made of chairs' boat ,two by two. We discussed what life would have been  like crammed in surrounded by filth, and we all scattered around the playground chasing paper leaves on which we drew rainbows.  GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES, we wrote. Simple truths, yet so meaningful.