Waiting rooms of wellbeing

SO it’s here again... the season of advent, waiting for Christmas.

I’m not that good at waiting normally but this is waiting time I actively enjoy. The tree went up far too early, the mincemeat is made and present buying has started in earnest. Sorry if this is not for you but I’m a big Christmas person.

So: advent, the Christian habit of actively taking time each day to reflect on the story of the first Christmas and to wait with expectation for the hope that the message of Christmas brings is right up my street.

But, despite my Christmas jollies, I know this time of year can be the worst of times for many. I head up a mental health charity. We help churches set up Wellbeing cafes all over the UK. We started with one space, six years ago, in West Bridgford because I needed it for my own mental wellbeing... a lovely quiet, shared space where it’s OK not to be OK, where anyone can bring and share a hobby, where all are welcome. I often say when I’m training churches that the space should be like a shared front room at Christmas where everyone is present but not necessarily doing the same thing ...but ALL are welcome.

However, this cosy Christmas front room picture is really hard for those who have never known it, for those who have someone missing from the picture. So we also have a quiet room in every centre for reflection and to practice solitude and peaceful habits, a place where you can be on your own but not lonely.

This one simple Renew space in West Bridgford has, over the last few years, multiplied into more than 140 spaces across the UK set up by volunteers from churches in church halls, on allotments, in cafes and even in one case a disused betting shop. These spaces have at their heart a desire for all to have a space they belong, to feel at home, where all are known by name not label.

They are, if you like, waiting rooms of weakness and wellbeing that, if we are honest, we all need at some point in our lives.

I hope you have a place to belong, to be loved and known.

A safe place to wait and hope .. maybe you could host such a space for others. Check out our local spaces on www. renewwellbeing.org.uk. Pop in if there’s one near you.

Whatever you are waiting for, there can be strength in the waiting... the waiting room itself can be the place we find peace.

There’s a verse I love in Isaiah 40 in the Bible: “Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength.” Praying for your wellbeing to be renewed in this season of waiting.