Tag Archives: Holy Adventures

HALFWAY THROUGH!!!

I’ve made it to the midway point. Until now there has always been more days to go than the ones I’ve done but from today that balance shifts, and I couldn’t be more excited! In honour of this momentous day, I thought I would take a break from the usual style of blogging and share with you twenty things about #quarantinelife

  1. Location of quarantine? The Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel, room 2422
  2. Length of stay? 14 days (1st – 15th September 2021)
  3. Best thing(s) about the room? The view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge 😍 and the enormous bed which has marshmallow-like qualities
  4. Worst thing(s) about the room? No bath, no opening window, no fresh air, no visiting humans!
  5. Best meal so far? The vegetable fried rice, with crispy tofu, one lunchtime
  6. Worst meal so far? ALL of them on day 5, culminating in the worst dinner ever – like I didn’t even know what the ‘vegetable’ was, but it smelled super bad and was impossible to cut into…
  7. Best day? Yesterday was a great day – fresh bed linen, new clean towels, a supermarket delivery, a move around of the room to get a better view of the Bridge, and 13,000 steps!
  8. Worst day? Day 5 – I don’t know why (I mean, the food didn’t help, but it was already bad before then). I was just watching some rubbish on Netflix and tears started squirting out of my eyes, followed by some real ugly crying. I felt far away from the whole world, apart from the people who are the size of ants, wandering around 24 floors beneath me… 😭
  9. What am I reading? Well, as my dear friend Jenni would say, I have a bit of a book tapas thing going on right now. A veritable smorgasbord of books on the go; Three Women, by Lisa Taddeo (brilliant, really brilliant); The Book of Two Ways, by Jodi Picoult (she’s my favourite author but all the Egyptology is making it a bit of a chew to get into); Signs of Life by Rick Fabien (a gorgeous Jesus-book, about worship and justice and love and welcome, and all the other things I love about The Church) and I read The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman on day zero – all in one day – and absolutely LOVED it. Highly recommended.
  10. What am I watching? I’ve done a good dose of true crime docuseries viewing, with one called Sophie (a murder of a young French woman in Southern Ireland – deeply sad, strange, pretty disturbing) and another called The Case of Keli Lane (incredible, unbelievable, this one will live long in my memory, like The Staircase and Making a Murderer). I’m enjoying exposing my eyeballs to the utterly brilliant trash that is My Unorthodox Life while I eat meals – all of these are on Netflix. I also watched two Storyville documentaries that I had downloaded on the iPlayer (my brother will particularly enjoy my use of the phrase ‘on the iPlayer’!) – one about Hillsongs Church and one about a dreadful disease that leaves people locked in. Terrifying, both of them, in very different ways.
  11. Who am I working out with? I do two workouts each day (easier now I’ve cleared a bigger floor space…although, go figure, it was today when I bumped into the bed the hardest and thought I had broken a toe!). I’ve discovered the PopSugar range – which is good because there is a clock counting down in the corner, so you know how close you are to being done. But my old favourites remain the same – Les Mills (not songs from Les Mis as my sister first thought!! I mean, how much of a sweat can you build up to ‘On My Own’ or ‘One Day More’??) – Les Mills Body Combat is the best there is, although today I discovered Body Jam and found I smiled and laughed my way through an amazing hip-hop dance routine… (I’m super grateful that I found the window blind on day 2 so that the workmen across the way can no longer watch me working out!)
  12. Highest point so far? When an unexpected delivery of vegan cheese and crisps and crackers was delivered to my room, from a Perth Clergyperson, just to say, ‘welcome to Australia, I’m really glad you’re here’ (I love you already, Caro) 💚. I’m also very much enjoying saying a very simple mass each day. It’s totally life-giving. The arrival of Dettol wipes also featured pretty high! 😉 🤣
  13. Lowest point? It was actually day zero (I mean, knowing you’re on day ZERO is pretty soul destroying in itself!), when I found myself lying face down on the carpet, hideously jet-lagged, staring at the pattern on the floor. It was probably only for a minute or two, but that required some serious self-talk to get myself into line!
  14. What have I given up in quarantine? Apart from fresh air, outdoor activity, and other people (!), the big one was alcohol (way easier than I thought it would be), of course all my family and friends and job and home etc (a stranger feeling than I expected it to be). I’m also trying to give up multi-tasking, and just concentrating on one thing at a time. Incidentally, and accidentally, I’ve also given up waking up early, which is an amazing thing about the Giant Marshmallow bed.
  15. What have I taken up? Lots more workouts (these replace my daily dog walks…man, I miss Maggie 🐾), a slower pace of life, more gazing at beautiful views, more ‘wasting time’ with God, LOTS more drinks of water – so many – like, I actually might drown here!
  16. What am I most looking forward to? Obvs, seeing Craig, holding his hand, kissing his face! But I’m also super excited to stand in a wide-open space, breathe fresh air very deeply, stretch, put my feet in the sea, BE OUTSIDE…and I expect my first glass of cold fizz will be very delicious too.
  17. Anything I’m not looking forward to? Hmm…Not really. I think opening that bedroom door and walking out and hearing it close behind me (they don’t give you a key when you get here because you can’t come and go), will be a very strange thing. Negotiating Border Force at WA might be tricky too (Please God, could you sort that?)
  18. Things I’m glad nobody got to see? My stretching routine that strangely turned into liturgical dance this morning. I’m sure it wasn’t pretty. Also, my ‘unique’ method of doing the laundry, whilst in the shower!
  19. Things I wish someone had been here to see? My amazing hip hop dance workout this afternoon – I *swear* I looked like one of the professionals!! 🥴
  20. The one thing I am most grateful for? I would like to say something profound and Godly, particularly as it’s the last question, but the bottom line is that I am super grateful for Wi-Fi – it means I can facetime friends and family, speak to Craig all the time, wile away time on Netflix, workout, connect with the online congregation for mass, receive contact as well as make it, basically connect with what is beyond these four walls. Sometimes it can feel like there’s nothing, or that everything happens there without me, but actually neither of those are true. And, of course, I am enormously grateful that God is holed up in quarantine with me. Phew.

Let’s hear it for the midway point; home straight, here I come!! 🥳

Day Zero…

Do you remember that famous love story where boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, they plan to get married and a global pandemic hits and keeps them apart for nearly two years?? No, me either. But that’s my story; that’s our story; and that’s why, I find myself here, in a hotel room at Sydney Harbour, on “day zero” of my 14-day quarantine, just waiting to begin the next chapter in the rest of my life.

Maybe I should introduce myself (in case anyone ever stumbles across this blog who isn’t a Facebook friend or family member!)…

I’m Gemma.

A priest in the Anglican Church.

A lover of food and Jesus, and particularly fond of combining the two.

A proud dog-parent to Maggie (she will be a feature. Guaranteed).

A daughter, a sister, a friend, an auntie, a relative and a soon-to-be wife (please God) of the boy from paragraph one. My Craig.

I first met Craig way back in about 2004; this tall, bald-headed, potty mouthed, builder was standing and speaking at a Christian conference-type-thing, and I thought he was pretty special. In my own, awkward, way I tried to flirt (awful). He didn’t notice (standard). He mentioned his family and their plans to emigrate to Australia and there he was, gone (gutted).

And then nothing, for around 15 years

Fast forward to 2019 and our paths crossed again – virtually – via Facebook Messenger. Time had moved on, things had changed. I had got ordained. Craig had a great life down under and it would have been a completely stupid idea to fall in love, wouldn’t it? 10,000 miles apart? Both of us really happy where we lived and worked and neither wanting to move? Yup, that would be a completely stupid idea.

So, why am I sat on the 24th floor of the Sydney Harbour Marriott hotel with my capsule wardrobe (that’ll feature too; game changer), a pile of books, and a countdown to fresh air and human contact?!

In short, the answer to that is two-fold: the simple matter of a Global Pandemic and a tricksy God with an invitation I couldn’t turn down.

The thing about a pandemic being global means we’ve all experienced it, so you don’t need a(nother) blog to talk about cancelled travel plans, closed borders, postponed weddings, not seeing loved ones and how that combination creates the perfect storm to change perspectives. That’s a given, right?

But the Tricksy God thing might need a bit of unfolding.

There have been times in my life where I can, hand-on-heart, say I believe I have heard from God. I don’t say it lightly, nor often, because God is like Almighty and the Creator of the Universe, and all.  But sometimes I have felt called, or drawn, or led, or nudged, or booted up the backside, by that Source of All Life.

A while back I made a crazy promise (learn from me; don’t make promises like this lightly or you too might find yourself somewhere you never imagined). Anyways, a while back I kind of promised and kind of bargained with God a bit (again, risky). I said to God, ‘God, if I ever think you’re asking me to do something, I promise I will do it. If I’m not sure what you’re asking me to do I will do what I want to until you guide me otherwise’. It had a theological basis – check out this gorgeous prayer from Thomas Merton – https://reflections.yale.edu/article/seize-day-vocation-calling-work/merton-prayer – and I really meant it. Not in a ‘I’ll do what I want unless you stop me’ kind of way, but in a ‘I really want to do your will, if you will show me, Lord’.

During the UK lockdowns I had some pretty incredible moments with God. I realised for the first time that I am utterly loved by God – not for doing anything or being anything but just because. That was a great moment (and continues to be). And I also heard this call. It went something like this… ‘Babes (that was a new lockdown thing too – I know, it’s kind of odd to me too, but I like it so…) do you want to come on a holy adventure with me?’

God, in God’s infinite and warm grace and welcome was holding God’s hand out to me and inviting me on a holy adventure. I had never heard God speak to me like that before and it was kind of intriguing to start with. But God went on, ‘we can cause holy chaos together! I would love you to come. Come if you want!’

Come if you want? God was letting me choose? But how could I ever pass up an opportunity to go on a holy adventure, cause holy chaos, holy mischief even, with the King of all Kings? Particularly when God had been so kind as to extend the invitation!

God said so much more and has opened doors and borders where it didn’t seem possible but I’ll stop here for now. If I am going to be a Holy Adventurer, I need to kick this jet lag into touch and get some sleep!

Oh, and I’m determined to blog something on each of the 14 days of lockdown, and then regularly beyond that, so please keep me company. It’s pretty lonely up here!