Wedding Day

We were privileged to attend another very special day in the life of the church as we celebrated the wedding of the daughter of two of our cell group members.  Taswald and Chrisandre have been coming along to Grace for many months, and we have enjoyed getting to know them a little bit.  Chrisandre's parents, Chris and Veronica are very special to us and we enjoy them and their input - albeit Chris is a Chelski supporter!!

The wedding was beautiful... perhaps the simplest we have ever attended.  The pastor was 'spot on' and the bride and groom's love for one another was so evident, they adore each other!  Perhaps the loveliest part of the service was the prayer at the end for all marrieds - we all had to hold hands with our spouses - aaahhh!

Daft Drivers

As I was driving into Macassar this morning with Michael we noticed this pair of legs sticking out of the back of the lorry. At first I presumed it was a joke pair until Michael pointed out that there was a hand holding the door closed. So I passed him the camera and he got a pretty decent shot of it.

One can only wonder at why someone needs to sit and hold the door closed and marvel at his bravery (or should that be stupidity) for actually doing it.

The Good Life

I finally finished my compost bin this evening, putting the door on and covering the sides with chicken wire to make it dog and rodent proof or at least rodent resistant. I'm quite chuffed and think it turned out well, even if I do say so myself. Now I just need to get an old bit of carpet to put on top to help the composting process.

It's made from old pallets and apart from the latch and the nails for the chicken wire everything else is recycled so I can feel a bit smug about helping the environment.

Ups & Downs

I think it's fair to say that I'm not known for my administrative skills, in fact I would go so far as to say that I actively seek to avoid such unpleasantness but there are times when it is simply impossible to ignore the stack of jobs that just won't do the decent thing and go away.

This morning was a rare morning in that not only did I get a lot of the yucky admin jobs done but they seem to have been done quite well (even if I say so myself). I guess time will be the better judge of this but I'm optimistic that my efforts will stand the test.

The Blog Is Back In Town

We're back!

So here's the revamped blog in all its glory.

First things first, a MASSIVE thank you to all of you who took the time to enter the Renaming Competition. We had some great ideas but were really struck by Facing The Mountain suggested by Katie Machell.

Entries Close Soon

Well I'm very excited about the relaunch of this blog.

I've got a totally new template with some neat features in it.

I've almost got a new name, there is a clear frontrunner at present but there's still time to stick your two-penneth worth in so go on and give it a go. You can submit your ideas via any of the following: blog comment on this post, Contact Us button at top, Facebook or good old fashioned email. Now if that's not enough options you need help!

Life Is Messy

The nature of the work we're involved in is completely relational and as such it tends to be quite slow with many ups and downs. All too often the downs are more noticeable than the ups but that is the reality of many people's lives and as we get to know folk and walk with them we experience their highs and lows with them. Obviously this brings joy and sometimes heartache but we love what God has lead us to do. It's a real privilege to get to know certain folk intimately and to be there for them as they walk the narrow path with God.

Leadership Facing Up To Reality

We heard recently that our dear friend Pete Smyth (known to most as PJ) had been diagnosed with  a cancer known as Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Pete is now undergoing a six month course of chemotherapy as the Dr.'s seek to destroy the cancer.

Cancer really is the word no-one ever wants to hear and is a word that can truly crush even the bravest soul, so as I was reading Pete's Personal Blog I was really encouraged by his positive outlook on the diagnosis and prognosis.

Competition Update

Thanks for your comments, emails and encouragements.

Maybe I should clarify one issue; I have no intention of giving up on the Blog. What I am intending to do is revamp it as after 6 years of blogging it feels like time for a change.

Air Powered Car

On our last trip to the Sciencentre we got a kit for making an air powered car with a coke bottle so this afternoon I set about having some fun with the boys seeing just what this air powered car can do. As you can see from the video below the results weren't stunning although we did have some better successes later on. The main thing we found was that the harder we pumped the car the better it did on the grass.

Competition

So here's the thing; I'm bored of this blog!

I'm bored of the way it looks, I'm bored of the name (more on that in a mo'), I'm bored of the layout and I'm fed up with the lack of interaction from you our readers, assuming that anyone is actually reading this stuff given that hardly anyone ever leaves a comment.

Back To School

Today is the last day of the school holidays and we had a lot of fun with the boys as we took them to one of their new favourite places - the MTN Science Centre in Cape Town.  This is always a great fun and educational day out for the family - and they do great coffee, which is a bonus!!

We certainly have 2 very different boys, 1 is thrilled at the prospect of school re-starting tomorrow and the other is very non-plussed... no prizes for guessing who is who!!  Despite that, both are very much looking forward to seeing friends again and mum and dad are thrilled at the prospect of life returning to 'normal' again and being able to get on with work without having to dance around the other in terms of child care!

Happy Birthday!

Today Paula celebrates her birthday so to help her we all piled into a coffee shop in The Strand for lots of coffee, milkshake and cake.

It's been such a lovely day that we just had to take a stroll along the beach to ensure we all had sufficent room for the cake which seemed to work well.

Paula has been pleasantly overwhelmed by the number of sms's and phone calls from friends wishing her a happy birthday and feels particularly loved by our family at Grace!

Spain v Portugal

I had the pleasure of enjoying my last World Cup game last night and have to say it was a joy to watch the game as a neutral. Whilst I started off hoping Portugal might win it after their demolition of N.Korea, it quickly became apparent that a different Portugal team had rocked up for this game. I reckon the best I can say about them is that Spain were brilliant! Apart from Torres who's been ineffectual through most of the tournament the rest of them were great and what a pleasure to watch the likes of David Villa in the flesh. He really has been impressive in this World Cup.

The Family Of Grace

As is becoming an increasingly regular occurrence, Grace Community Church could not get the Civic Hall to meet for church this morning. Not to be put off by this, we all agreed to meet in the home of one of our members and, as one of our friends commented, you might be able to close the venue down but you can't stop God's church!!

We had an absolutely fantastic time together.The atmosphere was so free and open and everyone felt able to be vulnerable and to share needs etc. The Holy Spirit was given huge freedom to move among us and we experienced an amazingly intimate touch as God ministered amongst us.

Portugal v N.Korea

No doubt the TV and newspaper pundits have said just about all there is to say on Portugal's fantastic win over N.Korea so I'll not add to them. All I will say is that N.Korea had a reasonable first half and were somewhat unlucky not to be level at half time but that is probably academic in the face of what happened in the 2nd half.

For fear of repeating the post below I'll not say too much here, rather I'll let the pics do the talking, click the link under the last pic for the full album. Suffice to say that we had a great day which was rounded off nicely by Ronaldo et al.

Goal Fest!

Having left the house just before 9.30 and getting home at about 6.30 has made for a long day but man it was so worth it! Despite the best efforts of the rain in the morning and the fact that we got soaked we had a lot of fun and were rewarded with a stunning goal fest by the Portuguese! What a pleasure to see Ronaldo and co at the top of the game and playing for the sheer fun of it. Definitely a memory to treasure.

England v Algeria - Oh The Shame!

I love it when England play because it allows the rest of the English footballing fraternity know what it's like being a Palace fan. You have a great team with brilliant potential, you should win every game and play your opponents off the field and yet somehow you manage to make it all look like really hard work and have very little to show for your endeavours. That's what it's like being a Palace fan, but as Palace fan I got used to that a long time ago. Sadly for the rest of the England fans the reality may just be dawning.

Despite Rooney et al's best efforts to ruin our amazing evening they thankfully failed in their quest. Yes the game was a turgid affair and we made the Algerians look good but it was still an amazing vibe and the Cape Town stadium still impresses and it was great to share the evening with our mates Jo and Mark!

Toad Slobber

We're enjoying one of South Africa's many public holidays. Today is Youth Day which is a really important date in SA's history. We first became aware of this holiday whilst in Tanzania where today is celebrated as the International Day of the African Child. The date was deliberately chosen to coincide with the massacre of children during the Soweto Uprising in 1976 when on June 16th about ten thousand school children marched in a column more than half a mile long, protesting about the poor quality of their education and demanding to be taught in their own language.

Italy vs Paraguay

Just had another fantastic evening in Cape Town enjoying the World Cup spectacle. This evening I went with my mate Gary to watch the Italy v Paraguay match and we had a lot of fun. Sadly the game wasn't the best, though it was a dramatic improvement on Friday's! The best bit about the game was that both goals went in right in front of us so we were well pleased with that. Despite the game, the vibe in Cape Town and the stadium was just brilliant once again! It's a real privilege to be able to see so many games live and to soak an amazing carnival atmosphere on the streets of Cape Town.

World Cup Vibe ========<() !!!!

I'm not really sure how to begin to describe the feelings from my first ever World Cup experience, it really was a stunning event and for me, only the first of six and maybe even seven of the Cape Town games.

From having stressed about the best way to get to the game and what time to set off Michael & I decided to go with Daniel and Zelda (Daniel leads Grace Community Church) to Grand West and get the park n ride shuttle from there and it all went perfectly though a bit of a hiccup on the way home as the promised bus never materialised and we had to take the train which was interesting!
30 Jun 202012 Jun 2010