Malshanger 2009

We had a long wonderful trip to the States over Christmas and New Years, and Brooks and I didn't return to the UK until January 10. After a week of settling back into our London life, in mid-January we went out to the English countryside with our Pastorate Group from our church, HTB. Our Pastorate has really become our family here in London. HTB is a big church, the largest I've attended with several thousand attendees on a Sunday. Given that and the typical "British reserve", I think we might have felt quite lost and alone in London without this community of friends. We meet weekly in either the larger pastorate or in smaller home groups, and study the Bible, and eat, and hang out, and pray, and live life together. It's been an amazing blessing.

So that's the who. As for the where, Malshanger is a country house and parklands owned by the Colman family, as in Colman mustard - anyone heard of them?


They're loosely connected to HTB somehow and have generously given half of their country house to HTB for the use of Pastorates and other church folks - just a big comfortable place to gather outside of London. What a fantastic privilege! Eric and I got to meet Lord Colman while we were there, and he was a delightful English gentleman, happy to hear that we were enjoying the house and eager to tell us about the previous day's hunting party...


So anyway, we drove up on Friday night and settled into the house and played games and cards until the wee-hours in front of a roaring fire. Note to self - "Star Munchkin" doesn't really cross international cultures as easily as one might hope, but then no one really minded.

The next morning we served a "big fry up" - bacon and eggs and whole bit and then had a wonderful discussion about Biblical Stewardship. We looked at over 20 passages of Scripture, dividing them up between small groups of 3 to 4 so we could study and discuss and then present the nuggets of related truth to the group. It was a wonderful way to cover a lot of ground and stir up many ideas from various contributors.

After lunch the group spent time strolling through the parklands, napping, and just hanging out talking. All three Wheelers napped for a while so I missed the big group hike but I decided to go out myself for a short walk and enjoy the beautiful afternoon and radiant sunset. I'm rarely by myself outdoors these days, so it was great to get some alone time with the trees and the wind and the birds and the sheep. I could hear the Colman's hunting party out on the other side of the property, shooting... It was a lovely restorative walk.





That night we enjoyed a yummy supper - everyone took turns prepping the meals and we spent lots of time cooking, eating and cleaning up together.


A bit later on, we gathered again for worship and more discussion time. Ross played guitar and I led the singing - it was a casual set-up but so great to look around the room and realize that we had more than 10 nations represented in our group. During the meeting time, Brooks and Abby enjoyed reading books and playing toys in the floor, right there in the middle of the room. It was somewhat distracting for their parents, but several single members of the group mentioned how nice it was to have the kids around all the time, and to not worry about them being into everything (which they were). Honestly, Brooks had a hard time keeping his hands off of Ross's guitar - I think that is the weekend that clinched his love of the instrument. Afterward, Eric got in lots of good conversation with our new friends from Malaysia, Yang Ping and Shireen while I learned a bit more about Texas Hold-Em style poker.

Late that night, we all watched the movie Slumdog Millionaire together. Yes, I enjoyed seeing it, yes I'm glad it won the Oscar for best picture, but why in the world was it billed as a feel-good movie?! I have no explanation for that. I felt uncomfortable watching parts of it and felt like the ending couldn't possibly overcome all the hard stuff leading up to it. I mean, the abuse, and the crime, and the treatment of women, and the poverty - there was so much sadness in that movie!! Am I the only person on the planet who felt like this?!?

On Sunday morning, we listened to a sermon download from Nicky Gumble, vicar of HTB, on Stewardship and enjoyed some extended worship time. After lunch and cleaning up a bit, it was time to say goodbye. Brooks ran around hugging everyone and being cheerful. At one point while we helped tidy up the kitchen, I found him curled up next to Katya, our Italian friend, who was reading him one of his favorite books.

I was sad that the social time had come to a close so quickly, but was thankful for the newly cemented friendships that a few days away produced. Weekends like that don't have to be too structured, if we're all looking for the same sort of connections. It was relaxing and relational and just about perfect.


Thanks friends for a wonderful time!