Pickles

That time has come again where I have work to do and so decide to write a new blog post.

It was mum’s birthday in May. I bought her a trendy handbag which she loved. She approached me after the 'present opening' sesh to notify me honestly that she wasn’t keen on the purse.

“What purse?” I asked.

The purse that had been inside the bag. I told her not to worry as I had accidentally stolen it so we would have to return it.

 I’ve thieved twice now. Last year I accidentally stole 2 chocolate bars from a supermarket which will remain unnamed. When I realised I ate them both in a panic.

 

We went to Birmingham for our friends’ wedding last weekend. The sun shone and it was a lovely day. I was sat patiently in the church waiting for the bride to arrive. David was an usher so I wasn’t sat with him, but with his friend who I was just getting to know. I leaned forward on my pew and heard a frightening rip. I whispered into her ear,

“Something has just ripped.”

She tried not to wet herself and exclaimed

 “it might be your dress!?!!!”

which was very reassuring.

It turned out it was not my dress, thank the Lord, but in fact my mother’s brand new pashmina which she had kindly lent me. It was torn in two places and I spent the rest of the day trying to ‘ruffle’ it in the area it was ripped so people wouldn’t see the hole.

That evening we were waving off the bride and groom. Everyone was in good cheer so when I realised I couldn’t move and noticed my heel was stuck in a grid I simply slipped my foot out of my shoe discreetly and bent to remove it. [I had already had some heel-stuck-in-grass scenarios earlier in the day (standard), one resulting in me kicking a passer-by in the shin]. I lifted the shoe and, to my horror, the 2ft grate came up with the shoe, making a screeching/clanking noise to which the large group of guests turned and gasped. I returned the grid to its rightful place, shoe still in situ.

 

Not much else has happened of interest really, I’ve been too busy to do anything really stupid, so I will go serious on you for a moment.

The last 6 months have been (- in a word-) tricky. I think life is always tricky to an extent (I don’t know about you but mine is!!) but I have had some challenges thrown my way.

One aspect that has been tough is Uni. Due to unforeseen circumstances and me having to re-sit modules I am graduating a few months later than all my peers so while this week should have been the last of my whole degree, I will then have a week off before starting another 8 week placement whilst completing an assignment and my dissertation.

I’m so thrilled for my friends who are very nearly ready to don the cap and gowns, and get jobs(!), but part of me is very sad not to be completing the journey that I started out with them and I’m still planning my dignified gatecrash to the graduation ceremony (not joking).  

Some of this inconvenience is down to myself (least academic person IN THE WORLD) and some I have had no control over. Sometimes the worst feeling is being out of control. Not being able to change things can lead to serious serious frustration. But if you step outside of a situation for a minute and take a look in, things can often look different. This isn’t always possible when you’re in the middle of it…it’s usually a bit later on you can get the better perspective.

I’m coming to the end of a placement that I technically shouldn’t have had to have been on. In the past 7 weeks on it I have received more support, reassurance and encouragement than I could ever have asked for and it has been exactly what I needed.

Unable to find a final placement that could accommodate me over summer and with 2 weeks only to go I was starting to think I was going to have to wait another year to graduate. But then a lovely individual who didn’t even know me showed an interest in supporting me to find somewhere and a few days ago it was arranged. I met my supervisor and colleagues-to-be and they just oozed friendliness and support. They even made me a cup of tea purposely in a cup that matched my top and insisted that I ate some of their cake.

I couldn’t have graduated this month. For various reasons, I’m not ready. I found myself in a right old pickle and you just can’t jump straight out of a pickle. I trust God that I’m going to end up in a fulfilling job and that my experiences, both bad and good, will have put me in the perfect position to support others. If things aren’t going exactly the way we have worked out in our mind we come to the conclusion that we have somehow failed. This isn't true though. We think we know what’s best for us, but a lot of the time we don’t. And even when we do, we can't stop those other things that get in the way. But thankfully God knows what's good for us and can help us out of even the biggest pickles.

Abi x