Sad days in J'bay!

I'm gutted to say that this last week has been a bit of a sad one in the Bay. Our Church Sunday school was broken into and the small TV among other things was stolen. Then on Thursday three of the ladies in our Church who were having a small group ladies meeting, in the same Sunday school building were held up at gun point by two guys. It was a horrible experience for them all, particularly for Caryn our associate pastors wife, she was their with her young daughter Kylie. The ladies had pepper spray sprayed into their faces and had things like mobile phones stolen. All four are thankfully fine but are still dealing with troubling memories of the event. I understand that the two guys have been caught by the local police and have admitted guilt. The bad news just kept coming; one of the couples in our small group, Mike and Lynda have just lost Mike's brother. He died very suddenly, the news has really shocked the family.

Their has been a lot of activity in my road this last week with one of our neighbours moving out and what looks like a new couple moving in, removal lorries have been back and fourth shaking the ground as they do.

Our front garden also has seen change and is really starting to take shape; I've been working hard in my spare time moving plants around, Louise and I are really enjoying how it looks. I know I keep saying so, but I will take some photo's soon so that you can see.

I've been busy with preaching at Church lately, I'm down for three straight weeks with the middle Sunday seeing me preaching at the morning service (cool). Together with this, I've been completing my application form for the South African Baptist Union. The Church has now called me to serve as a student pastor, this means that I'm able to approach the union here for interviews and hopefully to be accepted onto there list of student pastors working towards accreditation with the BU.

Monique's birthday braai

It's been a lovely few days in Jeffrey's.

I've been trying to get back into my routine of getting up and walking the dog early since I've been back home.

I went out very early with with him on Friday, even before the sun had risen.

We headed for the beach and were treated to a beautiful sun rise and an opportunity to watch some guys surfing. I've included some pictures.

Today Louise and I went to a lunchtime braai to help celebrate Monique's birthday. A number of us from Church got together and had a great time despite the weather (a cold front has come in, bringing with it some pretty cold wind and rain). Thankfully the weather couldn't stop the great fire that Jacques got going and we all eat very well. Its nice to get together like this, fun was had by all.

Hey, I'm looking forward to the tail end of this cold front!!

My return

I can't believe that its been two weeks since Louise and I left the UK. In my mind it feels like its been ages since I left my mum and brother at the departure gates of Heathrow (thankfully not terminal five!). I've returned home to find that I'm missing my family even more now then I did when I first came out to SA. I guess I had all the frill of being in a new country to occupy my thinking the first time. I keep playing back memories of the time I spent with everyone and wishing that I could just have a bit more time, but it can't be and I have to get myself right back on the saddle and life in J'bay.

To that end both Louise and I have returned to work. Louise has been very busy catching up with her work and I've returned to my studies. This last weekend saw me preaching at our Churches evening service which was great though I have to say, I felt quite dry when I arrived at Church. I did have two brothers in the faith pray for me and then the very stepping up into the anointing that comes from God brought everything together and my dryness gave way to joy. Remember, God equips us for everything He calls us to do, He also looks for us to step out in faith, trusting that He will make things happen (I wonder how many people down the centuries can testify that God always comes through, more then the number of stars in space I would imagine).

I've also been doing a whole load of work in the garden since I've arrived home but I'll save that for another post.

To all my family and friends, I love you all, I miss you all and I pray that God will strengthen us as we deal again with the distance between us.

God bless ya.

Talker or a doer!

Am I a talker rather then a doer?

I don't want to let people down by offering much but not coming through.

We are taught to let our yes be yes and our no be no, isn't this to prevent disappointment?

Lord, please keep me from letting people down!

Family & Friends

I hope that you can see from my recent entries that our time in the UK was great and that we really enjoyed the various things that we did. The highlight of our time has to have been family and friends. We stayed with my mum in her nice new flat. It seems to be new homes all round, Trevor had me over to stay with him and Clare in their beautiful new home as did Jack and Susan. London was our base but we did get to Devon as well. Dad and Pat let us stay with them for a week. Catching up with all my family and doing fun things with them is something that Louise and I are very grateful for.

Friends, real friends are those that remain no matter how far apart we find ourselves. I found getting together with old friends like Jason and Steve to be like we had never really been apart. Jason has three great kids who have grown loads, I got to see them all on a number of occasions and I have to say that I'm proud of my mate who as a single father of three is doing an amazing job. What can I say about meeting up with Steve, again it was like we had never been apart. I met up with Steve for football and for a really nice meal with his wife-to-be Clare.

The four of us enjoyed a night out in "Zizzis" (Louise and I went their on our wedding night) a great Italian restaurant in Sutton.

Our time in the UK also gave us an opportunity to catch up with old friends from Mordern Baptist Church which was great. Kevin and Ellen had us around for a lovely meal, we also went out with a number of friends from our old small group for pizza.

Louise took the opportunity to catch up with her old friends Desiree, Pieter and there children. Louise enjoyed a weekend at their new home and came back with loads of exciting news about the things they all did together.

Gary and Ruth as well as Lesley and Stephanie came around to my mothers flat to share a meal with us. I really enjoyed meeting up with them all and finding out what's been going on in their lives.

If all we could have done in the UK had been to catch up with family and friends then I have to say that for us both that would have been more then enough. Thanks guy's for all of you who went out of your way to catch up with us. We love you all.