I don’t know what you associate August with. For me it’s usually a month of relaxation, anticipation, hope and anxiety. Plans often come to fruition in August, with a holiday and household jobs on the to-do list and the simple pleasure of enjoying the carefully planned and nurtured fruit and vegetables from the garden. However, already some of that is not as expected- one particularly kamikaze bird has got under netting to strip the redcurrants off the bush! For those awaiting exam results it’s a time of anxiety and hope, dreaded and wanted in equal measure. A time when the future might head in the anticipated direction or be jumped onto a different path. For parents and grandparents, the school summer holidays are here - inspiration, energy, and patience may be the order of the day.

When things go as we expect, the day goes well and life is easy. However, not every day and every task turn out as expected. Even if we’ve willingly said “yes” to undertaking something we may not find it is how we anticipated it. At these point, turning to God for support and trusting in a plan unseen for all of us is not usually our first line of thinking – mine is usually panic and stress first and prayer later, if I’m honest! But I am trying hard to change this. I’ve spent two years on a steep learning curve on the Reader training course with a group of nine others from across Lichfield Diocese. Our backgrounds and churches are very mixed, but we’ve really got on well and learnt much from one another’s approaches to challenge. We have all stepped out of our comfort zones knowing we felt God calling us to this vocation but often feeling at sea in the reality of the things we were being faced with. Like those leaving school or jobs, we’ve needed to trust our instincts and the advice of others. This has guided us through taking each task gradually, climbing step by step. Hope remained at each frustrating point of confusion although anxiety often clouded the way forwards.

Fittingly, one of last assignments had us investigating Joseph (singing the musical through was not enough unfortunately!). His story is in Genesis chapters 37-50 and is remarkably modern in its themes and relationship problems. The basic Andrew Lloyd-Weber storyline holds up well. Joseph’s life sees highs and lows as he is favoured by his father, left for dead in a well by his brothers, sold into slavery, found to be a brilliant dream interpreter and ultimately (with a few more twists) ends up vizier of Egypt. Surely, he could not have anticipated any of this. Life must have been full of anxiety; plans made and shattered; hope bubbling up at times as he tried to find a way out of his situation to live as he wanted; and then unexpected success. God had a plan. Joseph complied by trusting and doing his best even though initially he does not seem to have acknowledged God there with him.

God has the big picture but trusting we have a place in it, and he has a plan for us, is hard. Perhaps next time you feel you’re being taken out of your comfort zone, trust your instincts and other’s perceptions of you and have a go. Life is full of new beginnings and unexpected challenges, but you can be sure who you face them with.

Have a good August.

Stephanie Goodwin

Reader-in-training, Uttoxeter Area of Parishes