19 The call to flag

1st November 2023

By the spring of 2022, the world was opening up again after the prolonged closing down of the Covid pandemic and restrictions. We had managed a week in Croatia in the summer of 2021, as well as a week in the Peak District with our dear friends D & J. These two holidays were before I was diagnosed. I had symptoms during both trips, sustaining a fall in Croatia when I lost my balance and fell into the shrubbery. In the Peak District, I was recovering from a urine infection and an allergic reaction to the antibiotics. I was struggling considerably from balance issues and was perimenopausal which was not helping. Some years ago I was diagnosed with silent migraines and vertigo which are exacerbated by hormone levels and consuming milk products among other foods. I was not being strict with my diet at that time, so that was also something to factor in. Still, I made use of Dr Google and together we self diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis. I got that wrong, didn’t I.

So in February 2022, Geof managed to get away for a ski trip to his favourite resort in Switzerland. He was very happy. For just one week every year, he gets to live his best life.

Unique was approaching 17 and we decided this would be the last time we could enjoy a family holiday in Croatia again. This time we decided to splash out on 2 whole weeks near the Paklenika National Park and the town of Starigrad. Geof loved the sailing, Unique enjoyed hanging out with the youth and enjoying the sport and social activities. I was looking forward to lounging by the pool, but when we were packing, God prompted me to take my worship flags so I made a little bag for them, naturally. I decided to make the most of the time for reflection, restoration and recalibration while I continued to consider what God had in store for me next now that I was pretty much in working order. Give or take the odd tingle.

I had a few irons in the fire, as they say. I toyed with the idea of Maths GCSE marking or volunteer teaching, among other possibilities. I hoped that God would speak on these things and show me what he had in store.

On several evenings, when the exercise deck was not being used, I played worship music on my portable speakers and flagged and worshipped. It was incredible to be surrounded by God’s creation and to worship in that environment. God’s creation also worshipped with me. On different evenings God would highlight different aspect of his creation and I worshipped with them. One evening I worshipped with the setting sun as the tide rolled in. On another day, I worshipped with the trees as their leaves clapped hands in the breeze. One evening, I was joined by a collared dove who was distracted from her food finding task by her curiosity as to what I was doing. I was reminded how God provides for the birds of the air. The dove was not the only one who was curious. Many resort guests and staff saw me flagging and were intrigued by what I was doing and this led to a number of conversations and even one opportunity to pray for a guest and give a word of encouragement.

The resort is positioned right by the sea with the mountains behind it. The area is notorious for its storms and holiday makers lost a day of sailing because the sea was so rough. The long, cigar shaped bora cloud sat above the mountains ominously waiting to strike. This was the first holiday for many guests since lockdown who had come specifically for the sailing and now another day of sailing was threatened. I decided to face the mountains on this particular evening and worshipped God with my flags. The resort remained storm free for the rest of our time there. In fact the weather went the other way and was too hot. Record temperatures were being registered in England too, with the tarmac on roads melting.

On Sunday 17th July 2022, I was woken by what felt like the breath of the wind calling me to worship. I dressed and went out onto the exercise deck before the early risers. As I let my flags dance in the breeze, it was a joy to connect with God’s creation; sea, sky, mountains. The sun was being a little shy that morning, hiding behind the mountains. As I flagged, I watched a trail of very busy, but tiny ants in search of their breakfast. The contrast between the grand and the tiny, all worshiping God together was unmistakable.

During one afternoon as I was reading my daily scripture reading which was Luke 1, I was struck how random it was to have a traditionally Christmas scripture in the middle of summer. Not only that, I felt that God gave me a download and I ended up writing a message based on the contrast between Zechariah’s and Mary’s responses to their respective visits and announcements from the Angel Gabriel. This was so reminiscent of how God would reveal his word to me back in the day when I was a Methodist local preacher. Something else to pray about and reflect on, but still a door that remains closed at this time.

As much as I wanted to pretend that physically everything was perfect and that my body could cope with what I was expecting of it, I noticed that my arms and shoulders ached when I flagged. Menopausal symptoms were also not helping, especially in the heat. After returning from Croatia I needed time to recover from the physical exertion of the trip.