Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Wow! Almost a month since I last blogged - I took the various comments and e-mails from some readers as a hint that it was time to write again. This will be long as I have had my parents here and we have done heaps. I also have some extremely cool pictures to add - well truth be told, lots of cool pictures.
It is hard for me to cast my memory all the way back over the last month. Just after my last entry, I was invloved in a Men's retreat called the Walk to Emmaus (www.upperroom.org) where I was one of the music team co-ordinating worship for the weekend. I was playing with another guy frfom the Emmaus movement called Ray and he could play. We clicked from the first team meeting and since that moment I did nothing but learn from him. The weekend itself was amazing and all the men participating got right into it. I came back from it with a real hunger to see the Walk To Emmaus birthed in Ireland somehow. You can imagine how blessed I was to find the Dublin Emmaus Community's website shortly after my return from the weekend. They had just completed their first retreat in February 2005. Now my dream is to see a community born in the North. We'll see what happens after next March.
That's probably the next thing I should write about actually. As I said in one of my last updates, Margaret and I have made a huge decision to return home next March. Telling people here has been extremely hard on both us and them. All along Margaret and I have planned to be here longer and so you can imagine the shock it has been to our church. However, though they are shocked and saddened, they have been nothing short of encouraging and loving. First UMC, Port St Lucie, is simply the most loving and affectionate community of faith I have ever been a part of and I don't know how we are going to have the void filled in our lives that will be created when we leave. It is a trust thing though isn't it. God has not ever let Margaret or myself down this far and we are sure that he is not intent on starting that now so in faith we move on. The plans for the move are starting to come together and I have to say that we are starting to be reminded of the huge undertaking that a trans-Atlantic move is. It is not that we had forgotten, we just really were helped so much by our families three years ago that we never really got to know the ammount of work it is to make this all happen. We have dogs to get imported, books and belongings to ship, university places to sort out and on top of all that we have to get all this done as a family of two adults and a young baby. No doubt it will all work out, we are just conscious of the amount that needs to be done and the cost of it all, so keep us in your prayers as we climb this little mountain to begin the next chapter of our story.
Having Mum and Dad here over the last two weeks was an amazing time. it was the first time they had got to meet Eva and to hold her and kiss her and hug herand all that good stuff. She loved them both from the minute she met them and for the two weeks they were here Eva always had a smile and a laugh for them everytime she looked at them. Together we all made a long, long trip to North Carolina into the beautiful mountains there in the west of the state. The weather and the scenary were simply breath-taking. We were extremely blessed to have the use of John and Renee's house there for the couple of days. I will let the photo's speak for themselves so you can understand what I mean when I say that the views and the beauty of it all were quite remarkable. We visited Grandfather Mountain and walked across a rope bridge that is a full mile above sea level. Margaret was nearly sick as we drove up the bendy little mountian road to get there(she was also in much prayer!!!!!!!!) but we made it and loved it. When we returned from North Carolina, we just drove around South east Florida and finished off bits and pieces of shopping. Of course we made it to the beach and I got to swim with my Dad in the Atlantic Ocean - which for him is a big deal given that the equivilent in Northern Ireland means swimming in the water off the Strand in Portstewart (f-f-f-f-f-f-f-freeeeeezing). Swimming there made me realise how much I take it for granted and definitely gave me a hunger to swim a lot more in the sea here before returning home in March.
Last Sunday at church we took delivery of between 4000 and 5000 pumpkins for our annual pumpkin sale. This is a major fundraiser for our youth mission trips each year. We had over 60 volunteers show up to help us with the unload and I am sure we set a record in getting them all off the truck and onto the patch in around 2 1/2 hours. For the next month now our youth group is charged with selling these pumpkins and being the farmers that look after them. It is a lot of fun until we have to take out the rotten pumpkins. I would rather clean up pig crap than clear rotten pumpkins of the patch, they are disgusting!!!!! But it is all a part of the work Lots of piccies were taken and I will share them with you.
Eva has grown a lot since I last blogged. She is now oer 20lbs in weight and is a handful to lift - definitely a chip off the old block eh??? She continues to smile a lot and learn what her lungs and voice box can actually do. She does not cry a lot, in fact she is an amazing baby - but when she does let out a gulder it is immense. I don't think she will have any problem making herself heard in the future!!! I have lots of pictures to share of her with her Granny and Granda Charles as well as a really cool one wee took of her with Fred. Jen took some cool ones at the Pumpkin patch and I will share them with you when she shares them with me.
Okay, I think you have read enough - it is time for pictures.
Blessings
It is hard for me to cast my memory all the way back over the last month. Just after my last entry, I was invloved in a Men's retreat called the Walk to Emmaus (www.upperroom.org) where I was one of the music team co-ordinating worship for the weekend. I was playing with another guy frfom the Emmaus movement called Ray and he could play. We clicked from the first team meeting and since that moment I did nothing but learn from him. The weekend itself was amazing and all the men participating got right into it. I came back from it with a real hunger to see the Walk To Emmaus birthed in Ireland somehow. You can imagine how blessed I was to find the Dublin Emmaus Community's website shortly after my return from the weekend. They had just completed their first retreat in February 2005. Now my dream is to see a community born in the North. We'll see what happens after next March.
That's probably the next thing I should write about actually. As I said in one of my last updates, Margaret and I have made a huge decision to return home next March. Telling people here has been extremely hard on both us and them. All along Margaret and I have planned to be here longer and so you can imagine the shock it has been to our church. However, though they are shocked and saddened, they have been nothing short of encouraging and loving. First UMC, Port St Lucie, is simply the most loving and affectionate community of faith I have ever been a part of and I don't know how we are going to have the void filled in our lives that will be created when we leave. It is a trust thing though isn't it. God has not ever let Margaret or myself down this far and we are sure that he is not intent on starting that now so in faith we move on. The plans for the move are starting to come together and I have to say that we are starting to be reminded of the huge undertaking that a trans-Atlantic move is. It is not that we had forgotten, we just really were helped so much by our families three years ago that we never really got to know the ammount of work it is to make this all happen. We have dogs to get imported, books and belongings to ship, university places to sort out and on top of all that we have to get all this done as a family of two adults and a young baby. No doubt it will all work out, we are just conscious of the amount that needs to be done and the cost of it all, so keep us in your prayers as we climb this little mountain to begin the next chapter of our story.
Having Mum and Dad here over the last two weeks was an amazing time. it was the first time they had got to meet Eva and to hold her and kiss her and hug herand all that good stuff. She loved them both from the minute she met them and for the two weeks they were here Eva always had a smile and a laugh for them everytime she looked at them. Together we all made a long, long trip to North Carolina into the beautiful mountains there in the west of the state. The weather and the scenary were simply breath-taking. We were extremely blessed to have the use of John and Renee's house there for the couple of days. I will let the photo's speak for themselves so you can understand what I mean when I say that the views and the beauty of it all were quite remarkable. We visited Grandfather Mountain and walked across a rope bridge that is a full mile above sea level. Margaret was nearly sick as we drove up the bendy little mountian road to get there(she was also in much prayer!!!!!!!!) but we made it and loved it. When we returned from North Carolina, we just drove around South east Florida and finished off bits and pieces of shopping. Of course we made it to the beach and I got to swim with my Dad in the Atlantic Ocean - which for him is a big deal given that the equivilent in Northern Ireland means swimming in the water off the Strand in Portstewart (f-f-f-f-f-f-f-freeeeeezing). Swimming there made me realise how much I take it for granted and definitely gave me a hunger to swim a lot more in the sea here before returning home in March.
Last Sunday at church we took delivery of between 4000 and 5000 pumpkins for our annual pumpkin sale. This is a major fundraiser for our youth mission trips each year. We had over 60 volunteers show up to help us with the unload and I am sure we set a record in getting them all off the truck and onto the patch in around 2 1/2 hours. For the next month now our youth group is charged with selling these pumpkins and being the farmers that look after them. It is a lot of fun until we have to take out the rotten pumpkins. I would rather clean up pig crap than clear rotten pumpkins of the patch, they are disgusting!!!!! But it is all a part of the work Lots of piccies were taken and I will share them with you.
Eva has grown a lot since I last blogged. She is now oer 20lbs in weight and is a handful to lift - definitely a chip off the old block eh??? She continues to smile a lot and learn what her lungs and voice box can actually do. She does not cry a lot, in fact she is an amazing baby - but when she does let out a gulder it is immense. I don't think she will have any problem making herself heard in the future!!! I have lots of pictures to share of her with her Granny and Granda Charles as well as a really cool one wee took of her with Fred. Jen took some cool ones at the Pumpkin patch and I will share them with you when she shares them with me.
Okay, I think you have read enough - it is time for pictures.
Blessings
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Just a few days since our last entry and they have again been filled with stuff to report. On Sunday we got to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary. It was a typically crap one – I say typically because any birthday or special anniversary that falls on a Sunday is shot for us because of who I work for. We were at church most of the day – and that was not the worst of it – on top of that we chose this to be the day where we told the rest of the church congregation that we are leaving in March. It actually was not going too badly – the people of the church were shocked and somewhat upset but they were also very supportive of what we are doing and encouraged me to go fully into my studies and to give it everything. You know for two years this church family has done nothing but love us and make us one of their own and in many ways it was a harder decision to leave here next year than it was to leave home. And now, even in their own ‘loss’ and ‘struggle’ with our decision they are supporting us and choosing to love and understand us. I don’t know if the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Port St Lucie will ever know how much they have impacted and influenced our lives, all I can say is that their part in molding and shaping us as a couple and now as a family has been nothing short of huge.
We got to celebrate our anniversary tonight when Jen graciously offered to look after Eva while Margaret and I went out and had some us time. That’s just what we did – we were going to go to this nice wee restaurant that Jen suggested but when we got there it was closed. So we ended up in Olive Garden and had some really nice Italian food and had a McDonalds ice cream after (classy I know, but lets be honest – McDonalds ice cream is hard to beat!!!!!) We just had a good time together and talked about what going home will be like and how things might work out. It is another scary step we are taking, but it in faith we are making it, knowing that God holds us and goes before us.
Eva has just got funnier and funnier over the last couple of days. Her face just grows more and more expressive with each 24 hours. I have some cool pictures for you to look at of her when Margaret was reading to her and her face is so funny in some of them. The coolest thing though happened this morning when Margaret went in to wake Eva up. Somehow in her sleep she had maneuvered herself over to the side of the cot and had managed to move her arms in between two of the wooden bars and it was hanging over the edge of her bed. It looked so funny and again we have some pictures to show you how she ended up and how she woke up. I will let those pictures do the talking.
Next week Eva will get to meet half of her Grandparents when my Mum and Dad make the journey across the Atlantic to visit for a couple of weeks. We are so excited to see them and we know that they are also excited to meet her. During their stay we are going to take a few days up in North Carolina in the mountains there – not only will the temperature be a bit cooler up there but it will also give mum and dad the chance to see some of the beautiful mounts in NC. The leaves on the trees will just be starting to turn in colour and it should be pretty special. I cannot wait to share the photos with you all and whoever else reads this blog of mine.
The other major event to happen in the last week is this. Little Northern Ireland which is extremely poorly ranked in the world footy standings managed to take on the glamorous millionaires of the English game as they played England at Windsor Park in Belfast last Wednesday night. The unbelievable and impossible happened as Northern Ireland’s green and white army beat the English 1-0. A great display apparently by northern Ireland and a great goal by David Healy on 74 minutes sealed an historic result on an historic night in Belfast. I must confess to having felt a little homesick as I repeatedly updated the ‘live’ results page on the BBC website (I also felt remarkably sad that watching international football has been reduced to mouse clicking for me!!!). What a wonderful night for the game and what a wonderful night for Northern Ireland.
It is ironic somewhat that since then the nation has been in turmoil as the bigotry and hatred that has marred our nation for hundreds of years took over as scenes of riotous violence replaced the scenes of sporting celebration and unity. Some will argue that it is small minded and ridiculous, some will argue that it is the only way to get the process moving along (in their direction), some will even argue that it is justified as one group has reached the end of its tether. Whatever your viewpoint on it all, I think we agree that it is definitely a step back when a nation is united in song and celebration on one Wednesday night only to be divided in hatred and bigotry 48 short hours later. But such is the state of Northern Ireland – it truly is a nation that beholds simultaneously amazing, glorious beauty and deep, ugly hatred. Who knows where it will end up – but me? I am holding onto what happened at Windsor!!! Its always good to beat the English!!!!!
We got to celebrate our anniversary tonight when Jen graciously offered to look after Eva while Margaret and I went out and had some us time. That’s just what we did – we were going to go to this nice wee restaurant that Jen suggested but when we got there it was closed. So we ended up in Olive Garden and had some really nice Italian food and had a McDonalds ice cream after (classy I know, but lets be honest – McDonalds ice cream is hard to beat!!!!!) We just had a good time together and talked about what going home will be like and how things might work out. It is another scary step we are taking, but it in faith we are making it, knowing that God holds us and goes before us.
Eva has just got funnier and funnier over the last couple of days. Her face just grows more and more expressive with each 24 hours. I have some cool pictures for you to look at of her when Margaret was reading to her and her face is so funny in some of them. The coolest thing though happened this morning when Margaret went in to wake Eva up. Somehow in her sleep she had maneuvered herself over to the side of the cot and had managed to move her arms in between two of the wooden bars and it was hanging over the edge of her bed. It looked so funny and again we have some pictures to show you how she ended up and how she woke up. I will let those pictures do the talking.
Next week Eva will get to meet half of her Grandparents when my Mum and Dad make the journey across the Atlantic to visit for a couple of weeks. We are so excited to see them and we know that they are also excited to meet her. During their stay we are going to take a few days up in North Carolina in the mountains there – not only will the temperature be a bit cooler up there but it will also give mum and dad the chance to see some of the beautiful mounts in NC. The leaves on the trees will just be starting to turn in colour and it should be pretty special. I cannot wait to share the photos with you all and whoever else reads this blog of mine.
The other major event to happen in the last week is this. Little Northern Ireland which is extremely poorly ranked in the world footy standings managed to take on the glamorous millionaires of the English game as they played England at Windsor Park in Belfast last Wednesday night. The unbelievable and impossible happened as Northern Ireland’s green and white army beat the English 1-0. A great display apparently by northern Ireland and a great goal by David Healy on 74 minutes sealed an historic result on an historic night in Belfast. I must confess to having felt a little homesick as I repeatedly updated the ‘live’ results page on the BBC website (I also felt remarkably sad that watching international football has been reduced to mouse clicking for me!!!). What a wonderful night for the game and what a wonderful night for Northern Ireland.
It is ironic somewhat that since then the nation has been in turmoil as the bigotry and hatred that has marred our nation for hundreds of years took over as scenes of riotous violence replaced the scenes of sporting celebration and unity. Some will argue that it is small minded and ridiculous, some will argue that it is the only way to get the process moving along (in their direction), some will even argue that it is justified as one group has reached the end of its tether. Whatever your viewpoint on it all, I think we agree that it is definitely a step back when a nation is united in song and celebration on one Wednesday night only to be divided in hatred and bigotry 48 short hours later. But such is the state of Northern Ireland – it truly is a nation that beholds simultaneously amazing, glorious beauty and deep, ugly hatred. Who knows where it will end up – but me? I am holding onto what happened at Windsor!!! Its always good to beat the English!!!!!
Thursday, September 08, 2005
The last update I made was on 31st August and much has been going on since then in our lives. I think I made reference in a previous update to some things going on in our life which I could not yet publicize and that situation has now changed and I am in a place where I can communicate what was going on.
It is hard to believe that we are already almost in the middle of September. Where did the summer go - I really feel like summer 2005 has just passed us by in a flash. Between the birth of Eva and mission trips and the visit of Stevie, it just feels like there was no summer - but there was. In fact I have to say that this summer just passed was one of the most amazing, fruitful and memorable in my life for all the same reason that made it fly by so quickly.
And then now, right on the end of it all we have had to watch the horrid scenes of lives that have lost everything to the effects and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The pictures and footage that we have seen on our televisions over the last week or so have been gut-wrenching to say the least. To see citizens of the biggest and richest country in the world literally walking through their own waste to get to the very little aid that has been provided for them is not a pretty sight. Rumblings are being made about the absence of federal and state help in the affected areas and these complaints would seem to be justified. If anything good is coming out of all of the atrocity it is the evident spirit within people to help others in their time of need. Stories of the journeys people have made to bring water and diapers and canned food, tales of the millions of dollars that have flooded in to help those that are in need have done nothing but encourage me. Our own church has gathered many items and thousands of dollars to bring aid to some of the affected areas - we will also be making arrangements to take a group of missionaries into the situation in November to see what we can do. While the federal and state officials sit around scratching their arses, wondering what to do - the people of the USA are united in their efforts to relieve suffering. It strikes me that as people of faith this is an opportunity to put into action what Jesus commanded us to do - to go and relieve suffering - to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to house the homeless. This is a time to show the people who have lost faith or who consider what we believe to be a crutch or some kind of club that we mindlessly belong to that this is a heart felt faith and that we put our money where our mouth is in terms of our actions.
Anyway, enough about the disaster. Personally, our lives have been okay - I have been sick for the last week with some kind of chesty/throaty/nasaly/sinusy bug type thing that has made me into a walking coughing heap. Last week and over the weekend it just felt horrible to be in my body. Thankfully though it is now clearing up and is on its way out - hopefully I will be able to return to full activity and functioning. We are also extremely thankful that my germs did not pass to Margaret or Eva - they both seem to have come through it unscathed - I would hate either of them to have to go through what I was going through over the last number of days.
Our big news that I mentioned in paragraph one is regarding our immediate future after our visa expires. When we left Northern Ireland just over two years ago, we were granted a three year visa which would take us through until march 2006. As we have walked through this leg of the journey it has always been our intention to apply for an extension to that visa for another couple of years. Right up until a few weeks back this was still our intention. However, as we approached the end of our third year we thought we ought to continue praying and seeking wisdom. Part of this process was to ask some friends at home to pray and get back to us with what they felt God was saying. The came back to us and said that we ought to be mindful of the fact that Margaret still has her job right up until May 2006 and that if we returned home she would be able to work and I would be able to think about going to Bible College for a degree in theology. To put this in a bit of perspective for those of you who don't know me that well - I am a bum. I dropped out of teacher training in the third year out of four to seek employment in youth ministry. That was back in 1998 and since then I have never had the desire to study until I moved to America. Over the last couple of years I have tried many times to get into different courses in different institutions and all to no avail. Each time the door was closed on me it really felt as if a burden had been lifted and that the time was not actually right to go back to school. When Margaret and I started to talk about this, we actually found ourselves talking about it in terms of it actually happening. We went to bed that night and slept well and woke up the next day and just kind of knew that this was a God thing and that we would have to face the prospect of coming home next year. We let the decision rest with us for a couple of weeks before telling people and felt nothing but more confirmation that this is the right step for us to take. One of the confirmations is the sheer peace and excitement I have about studying - I have never ever had this - not even when I was at school and uni before (especially not then)
We told John and Renee of our plans and though they were upset at our having to leave, they were also understanding of the reasons and the call in this direction for us. They know that studying will be good for me. Renee in turn informed the SPPR committee at church of my thoughts and plans and they were also understanding and saddened to hear of our going. The hardest moment in all of this was last Thursday night when we had to break the news to our youth group. This news came out of the blue for Margaret and I so you can imagine how it was for our wonderful group of teens. I think the words shock and heartbreak come to mind as I consider what their response was. Over the last couple of years we have worked so hard at getting close to these kids and they have learned to love us and trust us and they have grown so much in their faith journeys and for us to tell them that in six short months we would be leaving them was literally stunning for them. There were a lot of tears and a lot of hugs and there will be a lot more in the coming months as well as private conversations with those who need to talk with us. The prayers of Margaret and I both is that we can communicate to our youth how much this decision has broken our hearts as well as how much we really feel that this is God's call on our lives for now and that we must follow. I guess we have spent two years trying to teach them that following God is the single most important thing in life. Ultimately now the biggest lesson in that will maybe come from us actually doing that in our own lives - even though it means separation from those we are teaching. Following and serving God is the most rewarding and important thing we can do in life - it is never easy though and it is always sacrificial. Our sacrifice is to move away from the most loving and amazing bunch of teens I had had the honour to work with.
Eva just continues to amaze us and we continue to notice the very small things that she grows in daily. This week she showed us that she can recognize things with her eyes and hit them with her hands. She is also now able to hold her head up on her own. We find her to be extremely social - she loves to be in conversation with people and have people talking to her. She love to be sung to and her favourite songs are, Somewhere Over The Rainbow sung by Margaret and, Old MacDonald sung by me - she loves anything on the guitar. We have also noticed that she loves to be able to see everything that is going on - everytime we go somewhere, she is always looking around and trying her best to take everything in. She has developed a loving relationship with the TV - we know this from the way she gazes at it. This is also to the chagrin of Margaret who can frequently be heard saying, "Stop watching TV Eva!!".
All in all she is amazing. This weekend sees our fourth wedding anniversary and Eva is the best gift we could ever have given each other.
Blessings
It is hard to believe that we are already almost in the middle of September. Where did the summer go - I really feel like summer 2005 has just passed us by in a flash. Between the birth of Eva and mission trips and the visit of Stevie, it just feels like there was no summer - but there was. In fact I have to say that this summer just passed was one of the most amazing, fruitful and memorable in my life for all the same reason that made it fly by so quickly.
And then now, right on the end of it all we have had to watch the horrid scenes of lives that have lost everything to the effects and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The pictures and footage that we have seen on our televisions over the last week or so have been gut-wrenching to say the least. To see citizens of the biggest and richest country in the world literally walking through their own waste to get to the very little aid that has been provided for them is not a pretty sight. Rumblings are being made about the absence of federal and state help in the affected areas and these complaints would seem to be justified. If anything good is coming out of all of the atrocity it is the evident spirit within people to help others in their time of need. Stories of the journeys people have made to bring water and diapers and canned food, tales of the millions of dollars that have flooded in to help those that are in need have done nothing but encourage me. Our own church has gathered many items and thousands of dollars to bring aid to some of the affected areas - we will also be making arrangements to take a group of missionaries into the situation in November to see what we can do. While the federal and state officials sit around scratching their arses, wondering what to do - the people of the USA are united in their efforts to relieve suffering. It strikes me that as people of faith this is an opportunity to put into action what Jesus commanded us to do - to go and relieve suffering - to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to house the homeless. This is a time to show the people who have lost faith or who consider what we believe to be a crutch or some kind of club that we mindlessly belong to that this is a heart felt faith and that we put our money where our mouth is in terms of our actions.
Anyway, enough about the disaster. Personally, our lives have been okay - I have been sick for the last week with some kind of chesty/throaty/nasaly/sinusy bug type thing that has made me into a walking coughing heap. Last week and over the weekend it just felt horrible to be in my body. Thankfully though it is now clearing up and is on its way out - hopefully I will be able to return to full activity and functioning. We are also extremely thankful that my germs did not pass to Margaret or Eva - they both seem to have come through it unscathed - I would hate either of them to have to go through what I was going through over the last number of days.
Our big news that I mentioned in paragraph one is regarding our immediate future after our visa expires. When we left Northern Ireland just over two years ago, we were granted a three year visa which would take us through until march 2006. As we have walked through this leg of the journey it has always been our intention to apply for an extension to that visa for another couple of years. Right up until a few weeks back this was still our intention. However, as we approached the end of our third year we thought we ought to continue praying and seeking wisdom. Part of this process was to ask some friends at home to pray and get back to us with what they felt God was saying. The came back to us and said that we ought to be mindful of the fact that Margaret still has her job right up until May 2006 and that if we returned home she would be able to work and I would be able to think about going to Bible College for a degree in theology. To put this in a bit of perspective for those of you who don't know me that well - I am a bum. I dropped out of teacher training in the third year out of four to seek employment in youth ministry. That was back in 1998 and since then I have never had the desire to study until I moved to America. Over the last couple of years I have tried many times to get into different courses in different institutions and all to no avail. Each time the door was closed on me it really felt as if a burden had been lifted and that the time was not actually right to go back to school. When Margaret and I started to talk about this, we actually found ourselves talking about it in terms of it actually happening. We went to bed that night and slept well and woke up the next day and just kind of knew that this was a God thing and that we would have to face the prospect of coming home next year. We let the decision rest with us for a couple of weeks before telling people and felt nothing but more confirmation that this is the right step for us to take. One of the confirmations is the sheer peace and excitement I have about studying - I have never ever had this - not even when I was at school and uni before (especially not then)
We told John and Renee of our plans and though they were upset at our having to leave, they were also understanding of the reasons and the call in this direction for us. They know that studying will be good for me. Renee in turn informed the SPPR committee at church of my thoughts and plans and they were also understanding and saddened to hear of our going. The hardest moment in all of this was last Thursday night when we had to break the news to our youth group. This news came out of the blue for Margaret and I so you can imagine how it was for our wonderful group of teens. I think the words shock and heartbreak come to mind as I consider what their response was. Over the last couple of years we have worked so hard at getting close to these kids and they have learned to love us and trust us and they have grown so much in their faith journeys and for us to tell them that in six short months we would be leaving them was literally stunning for them. There were a lot of tears and a lot of hugs and there will be a lot more in the coming months as well as private conversations with those who need to talk with us. The prayers of Margaret and I both is that we can communicate to our youth how much this decision has broken our hearts as well as how much we really feel that this is God's call on our lives for now and that we must follow. I guess we have spent two years trying to teach them that following God is the single most important thing in life. Ultimately now the biggest lesson in that will maybe come from us actually doing that in our own lives - even though it means separation from those we are teaching. Following and serving God is the most rewarding and important thing we can do in life - it is never easy though and it is always sacrificial. Our sacrifice is to move away from the most loving and amazing bunch of teens I had had the honour to work with.
Eva just continues to amaze us and we continue to notice the very small things that she grows in daily. This week she showed us that she can recognize things with her eyes and hit them with her hands. She is also now able to hold her head up on her own. We find her to be extremely social - she loves to be in conversation with people and have people talking to her. She love to be sung to and her favourite songs are, Somewhere Over The Rainbow sung by Margaret and, Old MacDonald sung by me - she loves anything on the guitar. We have also noticed that she loves to be able to see everything that is going on - everytime we go somewhere, she is always looking around and trying her best to take everything in. She has developed a loving relationship with the TV - we know this from the way she gazes at it. This is also to the chagrin of Margaret who can frequently be heard saying, "Stop watching TV Eva!!".
All in all she is amazing. This weekend sees our fourth wedding anniversary and Eva is the best gift we could ever have given each other.
Blessings
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