We are 36 hours from leaving for our holidays. Tomorrow will be a frenzy of packing, taking cats for their holidays, organising holiday money, and packing food for the trip so we don’t have to pay service station prices. We are making our annual trip to France and on this occasion returning to a house we’ve stayed in before. However while the holiday is much the same, it is longed for and certainly comes with the knowledge that life will be changing when we return home.

Over the last 8 weeks I’ve been trying to improve my fitness, and have gone from being a relatively fast walker to this evening being able to run for 20 minutes. I’ve been following the couch to 5k programme and have been genuinely amazed at how the podcasts have pulled me on to the next level. Can’t say I’ve noticeably lost weight yet, but I’m consoling myself with the fact that muscle weighs more than fat, and that my legs and backside seem to be reducing in size. Now if the stomach and other areas would follow that would be good. At the weekend I signed up for “Parkrun”‘ and plan to take part in that following completing week 9 of the running plan. Hopefully that should mean I would complete a 5k run in under an hour.

Life is changing for my eldest as he move from primary school to high school. The last week of school was full of emotion as they were encouraged to grasp the maturity and freedom they were offered. There was dancing, fun on the beach, and parades round the playground – all with tears from children and parents. His year group are a fairly amazing bunch of young people, who seem to enjoy each others’ company, and who have all charmed their teachers.

But life is is more turmoil than that in our house. For the Holy Spirit seems to be dancing. It has been unsettling and unnerving for us all. And we wait for the dance to end. That still lies ahead I think.

As a family we’ve tried to support each other. Parents assuring that all will be well, while amazing children offering assurance that they have more trust than could be hoped for. There is nothing more touching than your children’s belief in your abilities.

Hopefully we will return from our holidays refreshed and willing to face all that might lie ahead.