Celebrations

Had such a fun type ‘holiday weekend’ this past 72 hours with lovely friend Jo (in the blue car!). We had been planning for ages to celebrate her “coming off of crutches/drugs” and so had a wonderful lazy lunch together. Was so good to have all that child-free/work-free time just to catch up properly, alongside another magnificent lunch – the diet definitely starts in June!!

Then came the highlight of the week for Eli as Jo had promised to be his bunk buddy one night. Still don’t think Eli can believe that she actually did stay over in his bunk bed – lots of laughs!

Royal Treatment

Sometimes in life special people get rewarded. I was so thrilled to see that our local community newspaper printed an article on my HOPE Home Based Care team. We were recently blessed for lunch by our friends at Taste Restaurant and the paper picked up on it. Let's hope we get some local interest, these amazing women do what they do for nothing!

Helderberg On Fire - Yet Again!

The Helderberg is on fire again!

After the horrific fires of two years ago when just about everything on the Hottentots Holland mountains was burnt between Gordon's Bay and Jonkershoek we'd have hoped we might have learnt our lessons.  Apparently not!

Word locally is that the Erinvale estate had a 'controlled' fire earlier in the week and today's fire is a result of a flare up from the controlled fire. So much for controlled, if it's true.

I May Be Wrong

Forgive me if I'm wrong here but...

I kind of thought that if one genuinely seeks restoration of friendship then one needs to acknowledge that friendship has broken down. If one acknowledges that friendship has broken down one needs to acknowledge that one played a part in that breakdown. If one acknowledges that one had a part to play in that breakdown then one needs to express a degree of sorrow or remorse for their part in that.

Surely then, if one then sits there and claims "I feel I have nothing to apologise for!" then clearly one is not genuinely seeking restoration.

As I say, I may be wrong, but I'm very open to discussing it. Share your thoughts in the comments box below.

Sans Enfants

This week has started on a high and I'm particularly excited about the rest of it.

The high just gets higher as today we're off for two nights without the boys. We're sloping off to our favourite retreat in Pringle Bay whilst the boys will be in the very capable hands of Chl - sorry not allowed to say! What I can say is we'll be incommunicado and loving it!

I'm also looking forward to a meeting on Friday. Whilst it's not a meeting I particularly want it should be a time of laying to rest a lot of the nonsense of the last few months.

To top it all off I've been invited to preach again and am really looking forward to it on Sunday. That'll be twice in a month which is a bit of a novelty.

Bring it on!

Heroes Of The Faith - Pt 3

Whilst getting busy with the scanner recently I came across a load of forgotten photos from our time in Tanzania. We loved our year there and ere really sad that we ended up resigning from the project just a year into our two year stint. However it was at this time that we really got to know the amazing folk in this photo and had our views on Catholics radically challenged.

Let me start by telling you a bit about these guys...

Blog Stuff

In the course of a bit of blog admin (you might be surprised at what is actually involved in maintaining a blog regularly for almost 8 years!) I was pleasantly surprised and a little puzzled by some of the recent stats.

After the recent relaunch of the blog and it's integration into Facebook I knew I'd have a better idea of how many folk were reading the blog and roughly where and how the blog was being read.

Tea On The Beach

With the onset of winter, shorter nights and cooler temperatures we thought we should make the most of it and have fish & chips on the beach again especially as it was only 30°C today.

This is definitely becoming a favourite family activity, but what's not to enjoy about a stunning beach, breathtaking views and one's favourite peeps in the whole wide world to share it all with?

The perfect end to a great day.

Amazing Morning!

You know the life of the church is healthy when the leadership can sit down, sit back and allow anyone from within the church to bring a word of encouragement, a scripture or a testimony.

This morning was about exactly that as no sermon was planned but folk had been asked to spend time seeking God with a view to sharing this morning. How good it was to see a willing flow of folk bringing some amazing  testimonies, words and encouragements. What a joy to hear so much of how God is moving in the lives of folk and extending his kingdom in Mitchell's Plain.

Labour Of Love In Action

I'm so impressed with my mate Alfred and what he's doing in Grabouw. I've had the privilege of knowing Alfred for several years and first heard his gospel music many moons ago. he's a very gifted musician and singer and has a wonderful gift for being able to bring out the best in others.

If you're in SA and can help, either contact Alfred directly or give me a shout.

The original article in Grabouw Ads can be found here.

Perfect Saturday

What a perfect Saturday!

Took my boys to watch Rango at the flicks which was great, all washed down with plenty of popcorn and sodas. A great film which really is wasted on children. The humour is great and very dark in places.

After a brief lunch at home I then decamped into the garage with my boys to paint their new toy chests. Joel chose a Prince Of Persia theme and was particularly proud of his Hassansins.

Renovations

Joel finally moved into his new bedroom this evening and is very excited about it all. He chose the colour scheme and we have to say that despite some initial reservations about Grapefruit Red and green curtains the room actually looks good and it works!

Our new bedroom and bathroom are finished too so we now have room for visitors!

Many thanks go to our dear friend Michael who has been a total legend coming each day and just getting on with painting etc. Without his help we'd be nowhere near finished.

A Little 'Taste' Of Heaven!

Sometimes God gives us an incredible little taster of the blessings that are to come one day for those who love Him and serve Him.  Yesterday was one such day as Paula was privileged to escort her 5 lovely ladies, four from HOPE Home Based Care, Chris Nissen Park and one whom we trained and sent out into Broadlands Park, to lunch at the fabulous Taste Restaurant, Somerset West.

Ceroplesis Capensis

We encountered this chap on the beach on Sunday evening (see: Supper On The Beach) and had no idea what it was. After a bit of web research we discovered that it is the Ceroplesis Capensis beetle which is part of the Cerambycidae (longicorn beetles, timber beetles) family of beetles.

He looks quite nasty with the red stripes but I guess that makes for an excellent deterrent.

So there you go, you learn something new everyday!

Supper On The Beach

One of the things we love doing as a family is going to Gordon's Bay in the early evening, getting fish & chips from the best chippy around and enjoying them on the beach as we watch the sun go down.

The boys simply adore exploring the environment and messing around in the rock pools and this time playing tug o' war with a washed up kelp plant.

A large number of dead jellyfish also held their attention for quite a while as did a nasty looking bug (see below).

Joel's 8th Birthday

After what has seemed like months Joel finally celebrates his 8th birthday today!

He has been so keen to reach this landmark and was so excited last night before bed that it took him an age to finally go to sleep! On Thursday his class came for a now legendary Joel pirate party and they all had great fun. It was so nice to see such a great bunch of children together - some of whom Joel has now known and been at school with for more than 4 years.

Fun With Family & Friends

The long hot summer we have been experiencing in the Cape has brought out the South African in us!! We are thoroughly enjoying time on the beach together playing in the rock pools, swimming in the sea, walking the beach (whilst the boys race mum and dad in the sea!), eating fish and chips and generally enjoying the beauty in which we are privileged to live.

Dangerous Trees?

This sign immediately appealed to my sense of humour as I could just picture someone getting mugged by a dangerous tree.

As I was scanning loads of old photos recently I came across this one taken in Greenwich Park in 1987.

The sign was erected after the hurricane in '87 and many of the oaks in the park were in a bad way, hence the need for Elf 'n Safety to wade in.

Love And Grace

We had such an amazing time with Love And Grace Church in Mitchell's Plain this morning!

What we really enjoyed was the simplicity of the meeting.

Bible based and open to the Holy Spirit. Doesn't come much simpler than that really! Everything was God centred with leadership that felt no need to draw attention to itself which was quite refreshing after our church experiences over the last few years.

It's always great too when God rocks up, meets with you and leads you on further into his purposes. We certainly came away feeling very encouraged and motivated to get on with the next step of what God has in store for us.

Valentine's Ball

So the big day arrived - Joel's school mini Valentine's Ball!  We thought he wouldn't be all that bothered, but, how wrong could we be!!

Joel had everything planned.  He spent the entire day before worrying about what to wear and then spent an hour making a card for his Valentine (we'll let you guess who that is from the girls featured below!).

From the moment he got home today, Joel asked on the hour every hour how much longer he had to wait and from 4 o'clock was dressed and holding "the card" in his hand!

Silence

Silence is a great thing.

It can be very telling but it can also mean absolutely nothing. Silence between real friends is comfortable whilst silence between colleagues or those who assume a degree of authority can be uncomfortable.

Read into our silence what you will, or email us.

What I can tell you is that I've been out for a great meal with the love of my life!