Four days since the guys returned to the USA - they went straight back into school like the day after they got in - yuk!! I hope that jet lag did not mess them up too much!

For us it has been a case or returning to normality since they left. By that I mean Eva and I have been able to return to more of a normal schedule. I don't think she had ever spent so much time in the care as she spent when we were going from town to town to see everyone. It has been nice to get back to normal, but I miss everyone again.

So I got to call Rich yesterday and play catch up with him. When we lived in Florida, Rich and I would spend a lot of time talking many things through - mostly issues facing the church and Christians. Yesterday was exactly the same - it was like we have not been apart in terms of our conversation. One thing that I did leave the phone call challenged about was the fact that my reading and study has been crap recently. Rich asked what I had been reading and I was hardly able to think of what I have been reading recently and while I was thinking this Rich was telling me of a couple of books that he has been reading recently. I was very inspired and am going to purchase one of the books he recommended and we are going to talk it through.

I talked with Stevie about feeling this way after the phone call and he said that he was feeling very similar. It is good to not be alone in the struggles we have - but it is also good to have someone to work it out with.

I have received a number of invitations to speak at services and weekend retreats in the last couple of days. The Summerserve training sessions gave me some good exposure in terms of preaching and I have been invited to do some more training for Youth For Christ in September. Between now and then I have a number of Sunday services in churches including a trip to England to preach in my Uncle's church. I also just got asked to speak at Mannafest in February. Mannafest is a large Christian youth event run by Youth For Christ which gathers hundreds of young people for worship every month. It is a big opportunity for me as well. I am excited about all these opportunities in that one of the major reasons I came home from America was to build up the preaching side of my ministry. It seems that it is working out in terms of opportunity - I hope I can follow through on it by being faithful in every place I am called to.

Eva is learning more and more words every day. If she is not able to say them, she can recognize them - it's pretty cool. I will say, "doggies" and she will turn and point to them. She also knows mummy, daddy, Fred, brandy, light, chair, door, arm, right foot, ear, hair, nose, mouth and a host of others.It's very cool to watch her take things in. She has also developed an ability to climb on everything. We have a coffee table in the middle of our sitting room and she loves to climb up on it and stand for a while before walking over to the edge and looking at us as if to say 'catch me!' She now climbs up if we are on the other side of the room or in the kitchen and she will let out these whimpers making you think something is wrong. But, what she really wants is for you to drop everything you are doing and come and 'catch her'. It's her favourite thing to do in the world at the minute. She is also learning that not everything goes her way all the time. She has also learned that she can cry and throw tantrums when she does not get things she wants immediately. It is hard work but we do our best to communicate that tantrums will not get her anywhere with us or anyone else in the world. It is weird watching as our little bundle of perfection develops conscience and thought processes and no longer agrees with everything that we do for her. She is such a little individual already - its amazing.

Anywho, I should go. I have a sermon and powerpoint to do for Sunday night.

Blessings