A couple of months since last update...sorry seems to be the only word. I am getting very bad at written updates in terms of their frequency but it is quality not quantity right? I thought so.

Firstly, let me say to all that read this and any friends of ours you are talking to that we sincerely hope you had an amazing holiday time and wish you a very blessed and dream filled 2007. The last month has been extremely busy for us in a number of areas. Let me explain.

At the end of November/beginning December, Margaret got to make a flying visit to Florida. A friend had made this possible for us to afford and so for her birthday and Christmas present she got to make the trip and stay with her best friend Jen. She got to see a few people but was generally flying below radar because the purpose of her trip was rest and relaxation as well as catch up with Jen and our Florida family, the Lawrence's. Meanwhile, I was at home with Eva and we got along just fine except for missing Mummy terribly. The trip was a success and Margaret got to indulge herself a little in what she loves to do most - shopping. She arrived home with all the Christmas shopping more or less done and I made a mental note to myself that this is a good and worthy thing to do in that it means I do not have a lot of dreaded shopping to do around Christmas.

I have continued my studies and speaking engagements and all is going well. I got results back from my candidates examinations that the church had me doing. I received a mark of 81% in the biblical studies paper and 73% in the theology paper and was very well pleased with these results as I have never achieved very highly in any examination I have done. Go me!!! The next stage of the candidates procedure that I am moving through is to have medical and psychological tests. These are both happening on the 9th January. As for the A level in Religious Studies that I have to complete for entrance into Queens University, I have two exams to sit this month on the 17th and 24th. I have been working hard for these for the last six weeks or so and am now at the final stage of preparation for them. I would ask for your prayers as these are important exams in terms of my academic progress. Preaching wise, I have had a couple of engagements at the start of December and then a nice break over Christmas and now have a couple more coming up at the end of this month and the beginning of February. The opportunities keep arising for preaching and I am very happy to take them. I have a particularly 'big' opportunity coming up in February, when I am speaking at an event called Mannafest (www.yfcni.org/index.cfm?id=23). This is the largest regular youth event that happens in Northern Ireland. I have been asked to speak on fasting - some of you may be laughing right now - and am in the middle of the journey of preparation for that in terms of both practice and study. Please pray that preparations for that night will continue to go well and that the 'big' stage will not be intimidating for me.

Christmas for us was lovely this year. It was our first at home for three years and much food and fun was had. Eva did not know fully what was going on in the run up Christmas day but when she got into opening presents on Christmas morning she got used to it pretty quickly. Her face was a picture every time she opened a present and saw what was inside and has been playing with everything since then. After opening gifts we got ourselves down to church for the Christmas morning service before setting off to get to my Mum and Dad's for christmas dinner. What a feast it was, if not a little over indulgent on my part - when I say over indulgent, I should say very over indulgent, in fact so over indulgent that I hurt after it (it was worth the pain though!!!!!) We enjoyed a lovely meal with my Mum and Dad and then later my brother and his wife and kids came and we had a lot of fun together playing games and generally enjoying each others company. It was a beautiful day. The next day is also a holiday here in Northern Ireland and it is called Boxing Day or St Stephen's Day. On this day we traditionally go to Margaret's Mum and Dad's house and have Christmas with her whole family. This was another great day with lots of eating!!! I have to say though, following the antics of the day before, I was a little less over indulgent - just a little!!!! We had a lovely relaxing day there and exchanged gifts together.

Yesterday, was New Year's Eve and this coincided with the last ever game of rugby to be played at Lansdowne Road in Dublin. lansdowne Road is the oldest international rugby stadium in the world and has been the head quarters of Irish Rugby for many years. The first ever game there was played over a 130 years ago between the two provinces of Leinster and Ulster. Ulster is my home province and a team that I regularly go to watch here in Belfast. Quite fittingly, the last ever game there was going to be played between the same teams that started everything all those years ago and so myself and a few friends got our hands on some tickets and made our way down to the ground to take part in a bit of history making. We had a great day together and watched our team play well in the first half. Unfortunately in the second half they forgot how to play and eventually lost the game. I will post a few pics of this occasion. Lansdowne Road as we know it will never host a game of rugby again but our current loss will be a future gain as the ground is to be re-developed and a new 50,000 all seater stadium is to be erected. They reckon it will be complete in 2008 and I look forward to attending games there in the future. For now though, it was a good feeling to be part of an historic occasion yesterday - even if my team got beat!!

Last night was relatively quiet for us. We normally host a party or attend a party on New Years Eve, but last night we stayed in. Eva had been a little ill over the last couple of days and we did not want to unsettle her any further, plus after all the festivities of the previous week we were probably due a break. It was nice to bring in the new year just the two of us together. We declared 2006 to have been a good year for us and now look forward to what 2007 will bring. My personal goals are to get through the A Level course I am studying and to continue in the candidating process for the church with view to starting university studies in September. I also want to continue building my preaching network up (If you know anyone that thinks I could do a service for them pass my number on!!!! I am willing to travel!!) In terms of my relationship with Christ, I hope 2007 will bring more depth and closeness, more questions and maybe even a few answers, a continued sense of call and purpose as well as the boldness to answer that call and fulfill that purpose. Together Margaret and I long for 2007 to be a year in which we grow as a couple and as parents. There are no New Year resolutions for us (apart from the usual 'lose the weight the holiday season helped me gain' one), just a desire to continue in our walk with God.

We really hope this year brings you all you wish for and a little bit more. Keep it real this year and walk closely and humbly with your God.

Blessings