At home with Eileen West

Today we hear Eileen West describe aspects of her 'new normal'. 



Introduce yourself
I am Eileen West - born and bred in Colne (a Lancashire lass). Widow of Gerald who went to be with the Lord in 2011. I have three children (one in Australia, one in Wales and the other in Sunderland), five grandchildren and one great-grandson, with another due in July in Mexico! I became a Christian aged 20yrs at a Salvation Army Young People's rally in Preston. I was a magistrate in London for 25yrs before retiring to Warwickshire and joining Myton Church in 2006.

What impact has the current lockdown had on you?
Living alone I have kept very strictly to the self-isolating rules and had lots of plans for working through a list of  'things I need to sort out' now that I have all this spare time! Very little seems to have been accomplished after an initial burst of energy. Lockdown is a strange and lonely experience. So many people now stay in their apartments so it is not often that we meet up and we are not supposed to invite people into our homes.  

What does your ‘normal day’ now look like?
A normal days starts and ends late - 9am and 11.30pm. Includes a thorough reading of a daily newspaper and prayer for our world. A series of exercises, deciding what I can bother to cook today, and two walks round the garden where I live.

Tell us one encouragement you’ve experienced whilst in lockdown?
One great encouragement has been the time to talk to people about God. Several have been asking 'where is God in a coronavirus world?' and I have been able to show them the book of that title produced by John Lennox. Also having been dragged into the 21st century by my family I can now talk to them by Zoom and I am really enjoying the Sunday morning service and our Tuesday Home Group. I have had some lovely verses in my daily readings of the Bible which constantly turn me back to Jesus. I am so very grateful for the love and care shown to me by my Home Group and for the many friendships grown from the Myton 'OASIS' group.

Give us something we can pray for you.
I would value prayer for the most difficult part of self isolation - the loneliness of not having family nearby. Pray that we will all keep well. 


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