So sorry for not updating in the past month – it has been a busy time! We are in the process of getting our latest prayer letter out. We are long overdue a paper letter, thus it takes a few weeks to write, print, and send them all. We’ve been enjoying the heat of summer until fairly recently, although as I sit here there is thunder rumbling all around us.
In August we had a Cor Deo Intensive followed by our first ever “stay-cation” (or holi-stay if you prefer). We stayed home instead of going away and worked our way through a list of activities selected by each member of the family. Later in the month we were able to visit an old peoples’ home where some of our prayer partners live and share some songs and perform some music.
Crazy hair, Miss Kaylah!
September started with a quick trip to Bristol for me and the children. We stayed in my parents’ home while they were away and gave Melanie a full couple of days off to get some personal time. She has not been sleeping well at times in these weeks, so it was good to give her a real break, albeit just over one night.
Melanie with a church banner!
Then we had the first ever Trinity Chippenham church weekend away. That was such a blessing! While we missed a few who couldn’t be there, it was a special time for the majority who could. We thought about prayer as our subject for the weekend, which was a real encouragement. Each of the leadership team led one of the sessions – mine was looking at the book of Hebrews on the Sunday morning. So after a great weekend of fellowship and fun, we headed home.
Poignant moment for the family.
The 8th of September was our due date for the baby we miscarried back in January. As the date approached, its significance weighed heavily, especially on Melanie. We had talked about how to mark the date, but in the end a good conversation with Hannah and Aliyah guided our plans. On the evening before we watched an episode of a TV show the children love. We knew that episode would be tough as it showed the family in the show losing a baby during pregnancy. It felt right to watch that together, to cry together and to talk it all through. Then on the next day we had plans to mark the occasion by sharing letters we had written. A migraine for Melanie meant we had to postpone that time until the evening, but it was a precious time nonetheless. It is easy to miss the emotions in the children at a time like this, so we made sure they could be fully involved. We all read letters, wept some more, prayed together and then headed out to a nearby church where we thanked God for His faithfulness and released seven balloons to mark the moment. (Kaylah was not thrilled to see them go and didn’t quite grasp the significance, but it was a special time for the rest of us!)
It finally arrived!
Then Cor Deo’s first ever Level 2 Intensive was a great blessing, as was the arrival of my book, Pleased to Dwell – for more info, click here. The last few days have included performing a wedding, helping my Dad with getting home from Italy with a serious skin infection (and getting to the hospital, etc.) Please pray for my parents at this time. And that just about brings us up to date. Homeschool has started, the weather seems to be turning, and the house is as busy as ever. Thanks for your interest in our family, and hopefully you should be receiving our prayer letter any time now! (Thanks so much for praying for us!)
