Winding Up The Pig by Kathleen McAnear Smith
Winding up the Pig
Going through my photos, I realise I’ve lost the pig picture. I need this pig. The little pig that I very much need for this blog was the one that made that Philippians verse “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” go from my Southern Baptist memorising head to my half-British Baptist heart.
This wind-up, flying pig lived at the Northumbria Community, in the dining room. At every meal, while on retreat, I would see this little pink plastic pig complete with wings; hanging on a string. I would also see a post-it note on the Community dining room bulletin board. It said, “ You’re not in London now, pet.” I mean, this place was just full of truth and at least I still have that photo.
Having moved people from all over the world to London and New York, I was a city girl (Level 4- read my book) learning how to live in Surrey, and on retreat in Northumberland. I nodded my head, “yep, Lord; but what’s with the pig?”
I watched retreatants wind him up, and he’d spin a circle in the dining room, this flying pig. My church’s Snappers group understands that I expect God to speak through Visio davina. So I took a couple of photos. Then I videoed the cute little thing spinning around. If God was speaking to me, then of course I could take home the photography and ponder. I can’t even find the video.
I love Northumberland. It’s kind of wild. Big beaches. Castles. Hiking. Tea rooms. As my prayer partner and I walked and talked, the Philippians verse kept circling my mind. I was longing for God’s strategy for how to get my books sold; not focus on a verse and a pig.
Back at Community lunch, I had an opportunity to chat with one of the leaders.
“So what do you do?” She asked.
I decided to be bold, and claimed my passion. “I’m a writer.”
She asked me to tell her about my books, and I told her. And she listened. Glory to God, the whole table listened. At the end of lunch, I realised It really was time to have a little wind up. As that pink thing spun around, wings flapping; I pondered, “Time to speak about my books? To more than six people at a lunch table?”
I’m back home now, and still not sure about how to speak about my books; but what I do know as I write this is that I still need the pig photo.
I called the Community. “‘Oh dear, “I was told, “ did you know the pig died?”
“‘Oh no, no no. My blog post is due,” I said.
“But not to worry, the lady you met over lunch went back to her home country and got another one! She’ll be in tomorrow and I’ll see if she can send you a photo from her phone.”
I love a modern monastic community that’s not too busy to send photos of a flying pig.
****
ACW will be holding a Writer’s Day for speaking about our books. Check the Facebook page and website.
About the author: Kathleen McAnear Smith has written three books, two with Destiny Image Europe (now Evangelista Media) and one with Sovereign World. As soon as she completes her certificate in Theology from Spurgeon College, she will get back to writing her first novel entitled “Black Hawk Not Down.”She loves grandparenting in two countries, England and Italy; and being a sister, aunt and great- aunt in Georgia, USA. Her accent IS a mess. She also adores her husband but as he is English he would truly rather her not say.
Going through my photos, I realise I’ve lost the pig picture. I need this pig. The little pig that I very much need for this blog was the one that made that Philippians verse “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” go from my Southern Baptist memorising head to my half-British Baptist heart.
This wind-up, flying pig lived at the Northumbria Community, in the dining room. At every meal, while on retreat, I would see this little pink plastic pig complete with wings; hanging on a string. I would also see a post-it note on the Community dining room bulletin board. It said, “ You’re not in London now, pet.” I mean, this place was just full of truth and at least I still have that photo.
Having moved people from all over the world to London and New York, I was a city girl (Level 4- read my book) learning how to live in Surrey, and on retreat in Northumberland. I nodded my head, “yep, Lord; but what’s with the pig?”
I watched retreatants wind him up, and he’d spin a circle in the dining room, this flying pig. My church’s Snappers group understands that I expect God to speak through Visio davina. So I took a couple of photos. Then I videoed the cute little thing spinning around. If God was speaking to me, then of course I could take home the photography and ponder. I can’t even find the video.
I love Northumberland. It’s kind of wild. Big beaches. Castles. Hiking. Tea rooms. As my prayer partner and I walked and talked, the Philippians verse kept circling my mind. I was longing for God’s strategy for how to get my books sold; not focus on a verse and a pig.
Back at Community lunch, I had an opportunity to chat with one of the leaders.
“So what do you do?” She asked.
I decided to be bold, and claimed my passion. “I’m a writer.”
She asked me to tell her about my books, and I told her. And she listened. Glory to God, the whole table listened. At the end of lunch, I realised It really was time to have a little wind up. As that pink thing spun around, wings flapping; I pondered, “Time to speak about my books? To more than six people at a lunch table?”
I’m back home now, and still not sure about how to speak about my books; but what I do know as I write this is that I still need the pig photo.
I called the Community. “‘Oh dear, “I was told, “ did you know the pig died?”
“‘Oh no, no no. My blog post is due,” I said.
“But not to worry, the lady you met over lunch went back to her home country and got another one! She’ll be in tomorrow and I’ll see if she can send you a photo from her phone.”
I love a modern monastic community that’s not too busy to send photos of a flying pig.
****
ACW will be holding a Writer’s Day for speaking about our books. Check the Facebook page and website.
About the author: Kathleen McAnear Smith has written three books, two with Destiny Image Europe (now Evangelista Media) and one with Sovereign World. As soon as she completes her certificate in Theology from Spurgeon College, she will get back to writing her first novel entitled “Black Hawk Not Down.”She loves grandparenting in two countries, England and Italy; and being a sister, aunt and great- aunt in Georgia, USA. Her accent IS a mess. She also adores her husband but as he is English he would truly rather her not say.
I love this, Kathleen! The pig is great.
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