I woke up to bright sun. A welcome change after the torrential rain of yesterday.

Avril read from ‘Awakening to Wonder’. Jospeh had fed the donkey so we sat down to breakfast. Avril just had coffee and drinks lots of it!

Avril has had to go to the doctor’s so I am sitting quietly again and reflecting back over the last year. How afraid I was when the angel appeared to me and told me I was highly favoured and that the Lord was with me and then my shock when he told me I was going to have a Son who was going to be great the the Son of the Most High.

You can imagine this was worrying news to me as I was a virgin and bethrothed to Joseph but the angel explained that the Holy Spirit would come upon me and my baby would be the Son of God.

At once I felt an inner peace and I accepted gratefully the will of God. I said Yes in my heart.

Jesus has just given me a kick and I recall one of the sentences that Avril read this morning from the prayer of St Benedict – Patience to wait for You. So my dear Son, I wait in joyful anticipation of your arrival. I love you now and I will love you forever.

We are now to continue our journey to a new destination as we move ever closer to Bethlehem.