Voices of the Faithful

It is high time I wrote this review! Voices of the faithful is a devotional book. There is a page for every day of the year, with thoughts, stories and inspiration from Christians around the world who are serving the Lord in a missionary capacity. This is book 2 in the series.

Each month has a theme, such as 'Prayer the Priority' or 'Lessons from the young'.

Whilst this book will cause the reader to praise God for His great working, and will remind them of many prayer needs, it is not a book that is full of deep spiritual 'meat'. I enjoyed reading the daily passages and the words that accompany them. However it would not be a sufficient 'intake of the word' for the day. I know this is probably not the intent of the book and for what it is, it is is very well written and presented and reminds us of just how great and good our God is, and how much we have to be thankful for on a daily basis.

At the back of the book is an index for which day various scriptures are used, as well as information on missions, the churches role in supporting missions, and the two compilers of the book- Kim.P Davis and Beth Moore.

(This book review was written for Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Fancy dress and birthdays

I suppose it has been a busy few weeks here really. I had my scan last week (22 weeks tomorrow) and all is well praise the Lord. He really has been very good to us with our children's growth and health.

Last Friday, Daniel had a fancy dress day at school, the theme being Africa. My mum kindly made up an outfit from 'real African material' given to her, and my dad brought it down with him. I made a little hat (amazing what sellotape and cardboard can turn into!

Then at about 4.30 on Friday afternoon we decided we would all drive to London (David was going anyway for seminary). So I got ultra organised and the boys were fed, packed and in their pj's by 6.15. Then we set off. On Saturday we went and saw Verity's 'new' flat- and the boys had great fun climbing on her coffee table and chucking her cushions on the floor so trey could roll on the sofa :)

After that we went to visit 'aunty mimmy, Nathanael and Kezia'. The boys had fun......although the ladybirds who invaded the kitchen caused a bit of a diversion!

I even managed to get a picture of the 4 of them together- no mean feat with my children! Nathanael was obviously sharing some highly amusing joke with Matthew!

And then, to top it off, Matthew turned 2 on the Monday! We got him a garage from ebay which was a hit. His Nanny and Grandad came round for tea along with his friend Aaron. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but enjoyed the balloons and Daniel got to practice his present opening skills ('I'll help you Matthew...')

DIY with Dad!

A couple of weeks ago my dad very kindly made to 200 mile journey to Devon to help us with some diy. The boys loved seeing him too :)
These shelves used to be in my parents front room in a different formation. They now fit in our alcove and are ideal! We have been able to move our small bookcase from by the door and put it under the shelves which opens the room up much more. What is more, the preachers homiletic has left my bedroom! ...... only to be replaced by more books etc but hey...it is a start! Actually I now have quite a bit of sorting and re-arranging to do. This picture was taken out of the window hence the slanting bottom! The main project was the cutting down of lots of tree things (!) which made up our 'back fence'. (see left of photo- the right side had already been demolished by this point). By taking them down we have added a good few inches to our garden size.

Matthew entertained himself quite well sitting amongst the debris but was not impressed at being taken inside when the power tools were being used!This was just so cute! I have a lovely picture of them walking down the road together from the back too. Matthew helped David push the wheelbarrow round from back to front to load up the car several timesAnd this is what the bushes were replaced with- I know, I know, this picture was taken before it was all finished. It does now have a gate too! Next we need to sort out the mess that is our little back garden- we are thinking of turfing part of it. It is not particularly child friendly due to the concrete steps and two level lay out- but we can hopefully make it look a lot better.

There may well be another post this week (I know, shocking!) as have lots more pics to share :)

Etc

I have been asked for an update post with pictures of the boys. The truth is I have not taken any for quite a while...and I have to be on the ball to catch the boys- neither of them like posing for the camera. Daniel had us worried last night when his temperature soared and his breathing seemed a bit off- but by this morning he was pretty much 100% again and went off happily to school. We are so thankful that he is enjoying it and it is quite exciting to see the progress he has already made in such a short space of time. 2 weeks yesterday will be Matthew's 2nd birthday and 2 weeks today I will (God willing) have had my 21 week scan which I am looking forward to.

We had a happy day on Saturday when we had our church away day at Heatree Activity Centre on Dartmoor. The weather was good and the children had a lovely time ( as did the adults). David even got the chance to do a bit of climbing :)

Anyway, in lieu of any really up to date pictures here are a couple from our family holiday at the end of June (it feels like such a loooooooooong time ago!)

This was actually taken in August. Matthew looks very much like his cousin Luke here.

In the caravan

On the beach. We had fantastic weather.

One Week On

A week ago today Daniel had his first day at school- and he has not looked back since! I was concerned about the dressing/undressing for P.E (which they have for 1/2 hour every day) . The teacher told me that he got himself changed although he needed some direction and help with his socks (apparently he got upset and told his 'naughty toes' off when they would not go into his socks). Little tinker! Can I get his to change properly at home??!!! But he is slowly getting better. Anyway, we are thankful to God for such blessing on our dear boy. Once he gets the hang of all things school I will start thinking about some swimming lessons. It is a bit tricky as I do not know if I will have the car from month to month but I am sure it will work out.

David has had 2 days off although most of it has been spent in front of the computer preparing two new sermons for Sunday. I am quite excited that my Dad and maybe my mum will be coming to visit at the end of the month to help with some DIY tasks.

My pregnancy seems to be going well. I am almost 17 weeks. Last week I heard the babies heart beat at my mid wife appointment. I have not yet seen my usual mid wife as she has been off sick but I think she is back soon. Mind you, she did not deliver either of my boys. The sickness is past. It has definitely been less severe this time- although having the other 2 to look after does mean you just have to get on with it. I a getting pretty tired though. And my grey matter is getting constant workouts at the moment thanks to Pre-School. It has been quite stressful as our administrator died at the beginning of July (which was very sad), and I have had sooooooo much stuff to work out and sort through....and then there are the effects of the recession and lower numbers of children at the moment. Even the school is lower on numbers but of course it all has a knock on effect. Anyway, much prayer is needed to keep me going. But I took on this job so I had better suck it up and do my best!

So that is that! Matthew is as bositerous as ever and very loud of voice! But loveable all the same :)

An explanation for the silence

I have been feeling pretty rubbish. Tired everyday, feeling sick most days.....must be pregnant (like you didn't already know!)

But the Lord has been very gracious in enabling us to do what needs to be done- I was well enough to teach my Sunday School lesson and to attend the North Devon Show. David is pulling more than his fare share of household duties at the moment as well as working and his duties at church. The children are driving me slightly insane today, but overall the holidays have been good so far.

Pre-School business has been trying as sadly, our administrator died at the beginning of the holidays so there has been lots to learn and do in a short space of time.

Baby Berry is officially set to enter the world on February 20th but we will try not to get too fixed on the date as we know what these babies are like!...and no, I have no preference for boy or girl- in fact, I can 'do' boys and have all the clothes already.

Here he/she is in his/her first public appearance.

As clear as mud huh?!

Bugs

Just to say I am down with a bad tummy bug at the moment. Slowly recovering and would value prayers for Sunday as I am down to teach open school. (Also David on 12 hours sat and sunday)