Summer Slips Away

Melanie —  October 5, 2022

All 8 of us Meads together . . . a rare moment

 

We are thanking God for a really blessed summer!  It was such a joy to have Aliyah and Hannah back home and it was wonderful that Hannah’s fiance Noah could join us for a good portion of the summer too. The picture above was taken during a week of holiday that we had all together in Norfolk.  With everyone’s work and travelling schedules promising to be very busy, I savoured this week where we were able to be all together.  We took long walks in the surrounding countryside, played games, slept, read, enjoyed eating together and did lots of swimming in the heated pool on the property where we stayed. Here are some more photos from that week:

 

 

 

We are excited to announce that on May 19th, Noah Mozingo asked Hannah to marry him and she said YES! They plan to get married on 3 June 2023. We are absolutely thrilled that God has brought Hannah such a wonderful and godly man. He already feels very much part of our family.

The summer was filled with foreign trips for our older kids.  Mariah spent a month in Spain, studying Spanish.  Once Aliyah got back from her year on the Logos Hope and in Burundi, she travelled to Romania and Malta to visit ship contacts and then with Mariah and Joel to Albania for a ten day mission trip outreach.  They had a fantastic trip and I think they would all say it was a life-changing time.  Hannah and her college roommate Mallory were able to travel to Norway, Sweden and Denmark and thoroughly enjoyed it. Peter stayed busy with two Cor Deo intensives (Aliyah, Mariah, Joel, Noah and I were all able to attend one and were greatly blessed) plus our ongoing ministry responsibilities at Trinity Chippenham.  We continue to praise God for growth and are asking him to provide all we need to shepherd the growing church body. Lives are being changed and that is so exciting!

Here are some more photos from the summer/early autumn . . .

 

What a joy it was for us to have Aliyah home. Here she is with the younger girls at our favourite Bowood House photo spot.

 

Kaylah and Jessah have absolutely loved the art classes they’ve been attending with our friend Jupy. She is a wonderful teacher and the time they spend with her and their friends is a real highlight of their week.

 

 

Kaylah has also enjoyed the Hearts and Hands group at church (a group to encourage friendship and serving). Here are the girls with all the Bible verses they coloured and gave to residents at a retirement home. They were such a blessing as they sang and chatted with the residents.

 

Another creative endeavour . . . the Logos Hope built out of magnatiles in their bedroom!

 

We didn’t grow as much veg as in previous years, but we did manage to harvest and eat a bit. We still currently have tomatoes trying to ripen in our cool autumn weather!

 

The younger girls have been thrilled to be able to do some horse riding recently. It’s fun to see them improving and enjoying it so much.

 

Right before Aliyah, Hannah and Noah left, we had a wonderful evening as a family in Bradford on Avon, a beautiful town near us. Precious memories, especially for me as a mum.

 

The past few weeks have been filled with starting back to homeschooling and regular activities (music, Spanish and art lessons).  We actually started school in mid-August as we are anticipating finishing early next year due to Hannah and Noah’s wedding. It’s been an adjustment for all of us, but we are gradually finding good rhythms and routines.  Mariah recently got a job at a nearby retirement home which she’s very excited about. She’s also enjoying teaching music lessons and mentoring younger girls from church. Joel is well into his long distance running.  He’s done several 10Ks and runs a 5K park run every Saturday.  He’s doing so well with his schoolwork and staying on top of everything. They are both heavily involved in the youth group.  My parents came to visit us recently too and we had a week away up in Derbyshire with them in a beautiful rural location. They hadn’t been here for almost 4 years, so it was such a treat to spend time with them here in the UK.

 

 

Thank you for praying for our family as we serve Jesus here in Chippenham.  We have several church outreach events coming up soon and Peter leaves Friday for a weekend of teaching in Ireland.  Please pray that all of us Meads would lean hard on Jesus.  We all have different challenges and growth opportunities we are facing.  We need your prayers so much.