This was the first ‘official’ walk our pups were about to take. As you can see, their straps are still a little loose around their bodies. Taking them out made us realise how small they still are. Both of them were nervous and a little reticent to move. Once they were on their way, their eyes, ears and noses were twitching at the speed of light!
Bea and Millie were exhausted at the end of their first adventure…
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Carla with Millie and Bea
Zoe has finally named her two Yorkie pups – Beatrix and Emilia. They will be known as Bea (or Baby Bea) and Millie. For those of you who’ve seen the film, Bea was named after Beatrix Potter and Millie after Beatrix Potter’s friend.
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Zoe has just bought two new Yorkshire Terrier pups. They’re a lot of fun and already getting up to high-jinx.
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Here was some good news from an email sent by Sue:
Hello dear friends,
Just had a call from Daniel, so heard his voice at long last. They are safe and well away from he earthquake area now. He has just been able to pick up his emails and this is what happened to them.
Daniel’s email of his earthquake experience…
“We had just seen the pandas in the panda breeding centre and had gone back to the room to watch a dvd, relaxing and taking it easy when the bed started shaking and Laura tells me to stop shaking the bed. I think that she’s winding me up and shaking it herself. Then the whole room starts shaking really badly, so badly that we’re being thrown around.
We happen to be on the 4th floor of the hotel and quite far from the stairwell, but we start running as fast as we can. The walls are cracking around us and there’s really loud rumbling. It was like we were running in slow motion as the tiles were flying off the walls and all the plaster was smashing on the floor everywhere. We make it outside to complete panda-monium. The electric cables are being stretched and huge blue sparks are shooting out, one women got run-over by a car. People are all crying and getting hysterical.
We made it out of a factor 8 earth quake completely fine, after waiting for an hour or so in the road, decided to go back inside to see the damage, the building was cracked from end to end and top to bottom with massive chunks of wall on the floor. And then another quake hit and we were back up on the 4th floor again. Feeling a tad stupid we ran again for our lives.
Everyone was shook up, loads of people had fled to the train station and airport but everything was cancelled. So the remaining brits all ended up getting drunk together and then went to bed hoping it was all over. We had moved down to the 1st floor which was lucky because at 4 in the morning another one hit, this time we had to run down the shaky old metal fire escape. This was even more scary than before, so decided to sleep in the garden.
Couldn’t get out of Chengdu for 5 day and no phone or internet possible, but we’re now on the other side of the country away from all the mayhem. Safe and sound. over 34000 died and 1/3 of all the buildings collapsed, so we were quite lucky.
PS. the pandas were really cute”
Thank you for praying for Daniel and Laura’s safety and for this phone call that I so desperately needed. Thank you also for the prayers that kept me going throughout this very worrying time. It was very much appreciated and I certainly felt the power of the prayers. Please thank all those from your churches, your friends, etc who also covered us all in prayer.
God bless you and thank you
Love Sue
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Sue, a friend of ours, is desperately waiting for news of her son Daniel, and his girlfriend Laura, who have been caught up in the devastating earthquake in China. They had been visiting the Panda reserve mentioned on the news only a short while before the quake. So far there is no news.
So please pray for -
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I read this article on spirtual friendship today at christianitytoday.com. It was a great reminder of the valuable friendships I’ve enjoyed down the years, and continue to enjoy. I dedicate this to my friends.
You can read it here.
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This little chappie came to celebrate Carla’s birthday as we ate a picnic lunch on the Wirral Way at Thurstaston.
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I took this with my camera phone of the futuristic looking viewing tower at Victoria Square, Belfast.
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For those of you who know my good friend Geir Tjelta from Norway, you will be please to hear that I have had some good news at last.
If you remember Geir has been fighting a battle with Leukemia. He was doing very well and then had a relapse. I’d tried to emailed Geir and his church to find out some news, but I didn’t hear anything back. I was beginning to feel a deep concern about his welfare.
Over the weekend, I found a mobile phone number he’d given me some time ago. I decided to have a go at sending him a text to see if it was still connected. Within minutes, it was a pleasure to receive a reply!
Geir is currently at a retreat centre called ‘Montebello’ in Lillehammer, Norway. He’s very thankful for our ongoing prayer support, and has asked that we send love and hugs to his friends in Wales.
Please keep praying for him.
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“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Some weeks back, at one of our regular staff retreats, Lyndon Bowring spoke to us about finishing well. Paul, the apostle, often refers to the idea that our life with God should be lived like that of the Olympic runner. We should run the race well, with perseverance, and make sure we run to win – finishing well!
With my mum’s death, I’ve been doing quite a bit of reflection. I did the same when my father passed away.
In my dad’s latter years, he still felt he had a lot to give in the service of his Lord. However, because he’d been retired by his denomination, he had to endure the indignity of younger, active ministers regarding him as either a threat to their role, or that he was too old to be of much use. I don’t see any of this attitude as being compatible with the teachings of Scripture. What I do see is that we are encouraged to honour the old and to give them a place.
My dad didn’t let this stop him though. He applied himself to serious intercessory prayer for his family, the church, his town and the nation. He also became well loved, and was an encouragement to the people in the community he lived in. He consistently did this until he had a nasty fall that took him home to be with the Lord.
My mum was a shy person who gave the best of her ability to serve alongside my dad in ministry for many years. She gave sacrificially to her family as we grew up under her care. She used her skills in homemaking well, even though my parents had a limited income. For her though, the last fourteen years of her life were lived in the misery of vascular dementia. Something she could not fight against or have any control over. Those who cared for her on a daily basis gave her great care and dignity. They are to be commended.
How will I finish my race? It’s my aim to run it “with perseverance” and to finish well. It’s my hope that when my turn eventually comes to walk through that door into eternity, I’ll hear the Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! … Come and share your master’s happiness!”
So, what will I do with my life in the meantime? I want to live it in obedience to God, using my gifts and skills for the benefit of his glory. Leaving something of the presence of Jesus in the lives of those I come into contact with daily.
This sounds a bold aim, but with a lot of God’s help and the encouragement of others – I want to do it!
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