I was just speaking to my sister Christine about this. Ever feel like the old saying is really true that when it rains it really does pour? They are in the process of refinancing their house, selling their car, buying a new one and taking care of two kids plus work, family, etc. Alan and I are in the process of moving out of our house, moving in with his parents, getting ready to move to Germany in January, visit Germany in October, go to orientation with Pioneers and then go home for two months to raise our remaining support, celebrate both our birthdays, go to Disney World with the family and celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. We also need to figure things out like where we're going to live come January and where we're going to get our health insurance from, etc. There's more going on but those are a few of the highlights.
Still God remains so faithful to us. Always watching over us, caring for us. Alan and I have been reading a bit of I and II Kings and I Chronicles and I'm like Alan when we start reading the Old Testament it's hard to put it down. Story after story of Gods amazing grace and his heart being so good to his chosen people. We read about Elijah and the cave and God not being in the wind or the earthquake or the fire but in the quiet whisper. We read about King Josiah and how when he read from the book of the law how his heart was responsive and how he humbled himself and how he renewed the covenant to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul and how God was good to Him as a result. God wants our hearts to be responsive and he wants a relationship with us where we follow his commands not because God is trying to limit or control us but because the commands are for our good.
The last few weeks have been very busy. Mom and dad visited Wales with their good friends Happy and Lynn Dicks. They wanted it to be a missions oriented trip so they spent a great deal of time visiting Young lifers around Wales and seeing the work they were up to. They also spent about four or five days with us touring around and also playing golf up on the wirral. Alan and I had them over at our house the last two nights they were here for dinner and everyone seemed to have a good time. On the Sunday we celebrated Mom and Dads 45th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe they've been married that long or that we as their children are that old!!
Alan is still working every day at the church and the amazing work they've done on the guttering is really going to be great for the church long term. I'm down here today primarily because I was bored out of my mind at home. I've been busy packing and taking care of details for our move to Germany but with all the rain I've felt like I was going stir crazy and just had to get out of the house. This weekend we hope to pull the boat out of the water and fix it up so it can be sold. We have a guy really interested but it may just be messing us about too. He's called about a dozen times on the boat, gone to see it half a dozen times, etc. I told him we weren't going to take less than what it was worth but still he keeps calling. We'll see.
Only a week and a half to go before we move out of our home and move into Alans parents house. We spend ten days there and then we go to Germany for five days, then two days back then five days at orientation then two days back and finally eight weeks in Georgia. If you're reading this we would really appreciate your prayers for the following: 1) selling our boat 2) getting health insurance for Germany 3)finding a place to live in Germany 4) raising our remaining support 5)doctors appointments in the next few weeks 6) stress in moving and really good organizational skills.
We are so thankful for all our friends and family. I am also so grateful for my wonderful husband and for a God that I can have a relationship with on a daily basis. A God that created me for a purpose and that makes every day worth living.
Friday 24 September 2010
Tuesday 7 September 2010
Hillside Christian Centre
Two weeks ago Alan and I began his full-time and my part-time work at our church, Hillside Christian Centre. I'll try and take some pictures and post them so you can see the work we've done thus far. Basically it's a huge brick church built in 1860 that is falling apart. The guttering was never done properly so the walls in the big hall (which is currently used for storage and a one day a week charity shop) is infested with dry rot and was falling down in multiple locations. On the outside of the building there are large bushes growing out from the brick where water has dripped for the last decade without attention. There are also at least a dozen pigeons that have taken up roost in the tower of the church due to windows being broken from vandals in the area. In the past two weeks we've managed to knock down about 75% of the affected plastered walls and bag the rubble into last count 75 rubble bags. Those we've then lugged to the tip in small loads as we couldn't afford to rent a tip for a week. So our work continues but basically, it's a mess.
Alan started work right away on the guttering on the sides of the church and also in the alleyway that runs between the two buildings of the church that has been overgrown with more plants, more pigeons, more grime and more muck. Fortunately he's cleared all that out now and cleared all the guttering and has started the big job of replacing what needs replacing as well as putting up steel panels to protect the gutters from kids trying to climb them. Unfortunately this area of Birkenhead is prone to a lot of vandalism and destruction. The garden area the church worked so hard on was at least partially wrecked by a kid in the neighborhood only a couple of days after it was completed. Sad.
In addition to the work at the church I've been busy working on stuff for Germany. Sometimes it's hard to believe how much there is to do before we go but on a good note, our good friends Simona and Mihai from Romania are going to rent our house starting October 5th. Great, in that it's rented so we can feel free to move... not so great in that we have to be gone in a month and I've got a to do list a mile long! Anyway, it'll get done eventually I know :).
This morning we drove to the Manchester airport to see my mom and dad and Dr. and Mrs. Dicks at the Manchester airport. They are off to Welshpool for a few nights to stay at the young life castle for a prayer week before going to south wales and then back up along the coast. We'll meet them in about 9 days in Conwy in North Wales where we'll tour around with them for 2 days before they'll come here for 2 days. Should be fun :). Tomorrow we think we'll drive to Welshpool to see them and spend the day.
Right now we're gearing up for moving out, moving in briefly with Alans parents, going to Germany for about a week then orientation and then Georgia. Support raising is going well. My latest inspiration was to try and find 100 people who will give $10 a month and 100 people who will pledge $5 a month so that we can raise the remainder of what we need. In any case we're trusting the Lord that He'll give us the right number of prayer and financial supporters so we can do our work in Germany without too much stress over finances.
God is good and we are blessed!
Alan started work right away on the guttering on the sides of the church and also in the alleyway that runs between the two buildings of the church that has been overgrown with more plants, more pigeons, more grime and more muck. Fortunately he's cleared all that out now and cleared all the guttering and has started the big job of replacing what needs replacing as well as putting up steel panels to protect the gutters from kids trying to climb them. Unfortunately this area of Birkenhead is prone to a lot of vandalism and destruction. The garden area the church worked so hard on was at least partially wrecked by a kid in the neighborhood only a couple of days after it was completed. Sad.
In addition to the work at the church I've been busy working on stuff for Germany. Sometimes it's hard to believe how much there is to do before we go but on a good note, our good friends Simona and Mihai from Romania are going to rent our house starting October 5th. Great, in that it's rented so we can feel free to move... not so great in that we have to be gone in a month and I've got a to do list a mile long! Anyway, it'll get done eventually I know :).
This morning we drove to the Manchester airport to see my mom and dad and Dr. and Mrs. Dicks at the Manchester airport. They are off to Welshpool for a few nights to stay at the young life castle for a prayer week before going to south wales and then back up along the coast. We'll meet them in about 9 days in Conwy in North Wales where we'll tour around with them for 2 days before they'll come here for 2 days. Should be fun :). Tomorrow we think we'll drive to Welshpool to see them and spend the day.
Right now we're gearing up for moving out, moving in briefly with Alans parents, going to Germany for about a week then orientation and then Georgia. Support raising is going well. My latest inspiration was to try and find 100 people who will give $10 a month and 100 people who will pledge $5 a month so that we can raise the remainder of what we need. In any case we're trusting the Lord that He'll give us the right number of prayer and financial supporters so we can do our work in Germany without too much stress over finances.
God is good and we are blessed!
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