FAMILY - here we come!

As soon as we reached the airport from the coach, we made for the airline desk and found we were able to check in and get our boarding passes for the morning’s flight. That saved us a good hour of extra ‘sleep in’ time and what was to have been a 3.30am wake up call! After checking in to the hotel we did a quick ‘re-pack’ of our bags - we tried to put equal weight in each to save any problems at weigh in the next morning, then in the early evening after a short walk from the hotel we found a typical English ‘pub’ and had a nice meal before settling back in our room for the night.

After boarding the shuttle bus from the hotel, we made it in very good time to the airport by about 4.45am. Our bags checked in, we had plenty of time to make for the departure gate at 6.30am. It was rather sad to be leaving England - we’d had a marvellous time there - but we were excited about meeting the family again. It had been some years since we had all met and we were so looking forward to catching up with our grandchildren and with the new puppy addition to their family.

Sidney

We had a long day of flying ahead of us. From London Heathrow, our next stop was Frankfurt, Germany. Our flight was very smooth and we landed in Frankfurt on time. Because it was still so early in the day, with few shops even open, we made our way to the departure gate to wait. And wait we did. Our boarding time came and went, and so did our departure time. Eventually we were loaded on to the plane an hour and a half late. We were soon told the reason - the smoke and ash from the volcano in Iceland had begun to create havoc with air traffic - planes were being diverted and consequently late in arriving at their destination. We were so fortunate we were able to leave when we did - we saw the dirty brown ash line as we flew south of England and on towards the USA. Our next stop was Los Angeles where we had to clear Customs and Immigration before we could board a domestic flight to Texas and because of our late departure, we were very much afraid we would miss our connecting flight. However, all went well and we were able to reach our departure terminal without further problems. We arrived in Texas on time but feeling very weary - it had been about 27 hours since we had left London - but even the heavy rain falling couldn’t dampen our feelings of excitement in meeting our family again.

Our DIL Rachel had made arrangements for me to go with her and some friends to a Womens Bible Conference being held in North Austin. We were to overnight at an hotel to save travelling once the Friday night session had finished and so the next morning I found myself packing my small cabin bag again with what I would need for the next couple of days. Lisa had already picked up Liz when she called for us in her vehicle and the four of us set off, excited about hearing speakers who were coming from California. It was a pleasant drive and although showery, the temperature was comfortable - which was rather enjoyable after the cooler UK days. Sheri Silk and Kim Walker-Smith were exciting speakers and kept the attention of the women during their sessions. Kim, a multi-talented young woman was the guest soloist on the Friday night and all who were there were thrilled at not only her voice but her Spirit-filled presence in praise and worship. Getting back to the hotel at the close of the session, it seemed rather strange to be sleeping in a room with three other women but the Lord took care of all the details and I think we all got our fair share of sleep without disturbance from any stray snores!

Rachel & me

Breakfast at the hotel then a ‘high maintenance’ call to a popular coffee shop to ensure we all were ‘wide awake’ and ready for the day. Another talented soloist, Bethany Martin accompanying herself on the piano, brought us into the Lord’s presence ready to worship. All too soon it was over - animated discussion while travelling back held our attention and in no time it seemed we were back to our family and catching up with what they had done while we’d been away. It was only just over 24 hours since we’d left but much ‘God Glorifying’ had been packed into those hours. I was so very grateful I had been asked to go - thanks Rachel, Lisa and Liz!

WORTH A LOOK

http://journeydeeperin2godsword.wordpress.com/about/


Blessings!

TIME FOR ANOTHER UPDATE

More than a week has passed since I wrote - the days are just flying past - I know people say that's what happens when we age but this is ridiculous! LOL

An update on BIL's health. His surgery last Thursday went well. The whole tumour was removed and now he is amazing the medical staff with his progress and recovery. The biopsy result won't be in for another few days but we are still praying that it will have been found to be benign. I'm sure his speedy recovery and progress are a direct result of him being uplifted to the Great Physician in prayer - plus the fact that his very new wife is paying him so much attention that he cannot help but want to get well and home. Haven't heard yet when that might be - maybe the doctors are waiting for the results of the biopsy. We still leave him in the Lord's hands.

Granddaughter E18 had her party on Saturday night. It was themed 'a character from a movie' so most of the younger set who attended dressed accordingly and there were some very good ones including 'Queen of Hearts' 'Zorro' (and his wife in typical Spanish getup including the rose between the teeth) Captain of a pirate ship, Cleopatra, Moe and Homer Simpson (Homer's large belly being attributed to a near due pregnancy) and Wonder Woman. Many others - Cruella de vil from 101 Dalmations made a grand entrance with her Indiana Jones husband - all were excellent. Small 'oscar' trophies were given for Best Couple, Best Female, Best Male and Most Outrageous. E18 had a ball and all in all it was a great night for her. DH and I were the first to leave at around 10pm - having had a heavy dose of allergy (hayfever) since the afternoon, by then the noise, laser lights and 'smoke' were adding to my very stuffy head.

I was very happy visiting the new doctor last week. She was thorough and pleasant to talk to. Blood work results need watching and I'll have another lot done in 3 months. Meanwhile a jab in each arm to fight against this coming winter's flu bugs plus pneumonia should set me straight as the season approaches, despite two fairly painful and swollen upper arms! All is good, the swelling has almost gone.

Runner beans are doing really well with heaps of pretty purple/mauve flowers but I'm not sure if there will be enough heat in the sun now that autumn has arrived to bring the bees for pollination. Even if that happens, I fear we will miss most of the fruit as we plan to be away soon. Oh well the neighbour will harvest them I'm sure. The few lettuce I planted out have all matured at once as I thought they probably would but there's only 4 left so they won't take long to consume.

Have a good week friend - blessings!

Granddaughter E18

18 Candles

Moe and Homer Simpson

MAKING CARDS

On Saturday I attended a pencil watercolour class and made some cards. I've used watercolour pencils before but never very successfully so I was looking forward to some professional help.

The three cards made during the class turned out really well although had I a choice of colour, I wouldn't have chosen brown however it was an exercise which I enjoyed and now feel more confident to do something else using the pencils. I really like the softness that can be created using this medium.

Sunday was also enjoyable. Our bible study group met for the first time in 2010 and we had a great time lunching together then opening God's word - this time looking at Job. It should be interesting as we get into it a little further and I believe God has something to say to each of us in the group from this study. Having recently heard about 3 friends having deaths in their families - two of them relatively young people - I believe now is an opportune time to learn more about this steadfast man of God.

Blessings friend!

GETTING BACK TO NORMAL

My first time back in church this morning since my surgery. It was good to meet up with friends again and be in the presence of the Lord in corporate worship.

Thank you Lord for your healing, blessings and mercies. I believe I'm on the road to recovery - and heaven!

Have a blessed Sunday!

IT'S GETTING BETTER

Three good nights makes the world of difference! Instead of crawling out of bed in the morning because I couldn't bear being there any longer, I've gotten out feeling at last I'm beginning to feel as though I can join the human race again. There have been times during the past few weeks when sleep has not been possible, mainly because of leg and back pain. All I could do was talk to the Lord and tell Him how I felt - of course that didn't immediately take the pain away - but I was comforted by the fact of knowing that He knew all about my pain and I did have faith enough to believe that it would get better - and it is.

Yesterday DH spent a busy day doing chores, washing and pegging it on the clothesline, making a big saucepan full of beautiful vegetable soup, mowing the lawns and as well drove me to the library to both return and pick up more reading material and DVD's. While out we picked up a few groceries at the supermarket and then headed for home. Probably we were out for a couple of hours - and I was totally pooped when we arrived home. But it was so good to get away from the house for even that short time.

Tomorrow I plan to start walking a little way. I think doing a circuit of our street will be enough to begin - normally I expect it would only take me about 4 minutes to do it however I am thinking I'll be lucky to make it in about 6 or 7 tomorrow. The weather should hold out - we've had a few days of beautiful sunshine after a couple of frosty starts and we are expecting more rain later in the week - so I think tomorrow I must make the effort and try to do a little each day. I am feeling stronger - and I know I'm gaining some of the weight I lost - so that is enough incentive for me to give it a try.

Have a blessed Sunday!

I'LL BE OFF THE AIR FOR A WHILE

While I'm not necessarily anxious to announce to the world, I wanted to let those of you who read my journal occasionally know, that I'll be having surgery to my lower spine next week. It's a kind of 'repeat performance' if you like, having similar 5 1/2 years ago - this time it's just in a different part of my spine. I have a very good surgeon and I have faith in my God that He will be with me and guide the minds and hands of all those who have responsibility for my surgery. It means though that apart from being in hospital for about 6 days, I'll not be tapping away at my computer for a bit after that. The rehabilitation is lengthy and last time I found it rather slow but sitting for long periods of time is a 'no-no' until my back gets a bit stronger.

This I will miss - I spend lots of time doing all sorts of bits and pieces - from family history, to corresponding and keeping up with my friends spread all around the world, and all sorts of other activities that internet surfing leads one to.

But I will be back! Just don't know how long it will take.

Meantime, take care my friend, and blessings!

AUTUMN - SUCH A LOVELY TIME OF YEAR

Autumn in Sydney is such a lovely time of the year. The heat of summer has now past and more gentle temperatures are here for a while before the cold of winter sets in. In this part of the world Easter is often the time we consider summer is over but our warmer days have persisted this year but evening and morning temperatures have certainly taken a dive down. Well, not that cold yet but it won't be long before the firewood will be brought in to warm the house.

Easter weekend was a blessing in many ways this year. Having spent the weekend before away in New Zealand for a reunion, I missed the beautiful wedding of our nephew but many of his rellies were still here in Sydney so it was great to catch up with some of them. Dinner out at a Greek restaurant on Thursday, and brother-in-law and his wife here for dinner Friday were lovely treats and a good time to catch up with each others news. On Saturday there was an unexpected phone call from another brother-in-law who had driven to Sydney for a couple of days so had the opportunity for him and his lady friend to come for a BBQ tea.

Easter Sunday was a celebration of the Risen Christ in our morning church service. How wonderful to know we serve the Risen Lord!

Last week E5 and L3 were here for two full days as it's school holidays here. This week will be the same before they return to school and preschool next week. Busy active days they were and I was pretty well pooped at the end of them but it was good to share with them - helping with jigsaw puzzles, going to the park, playdough, lego, draughts, drawing, Reader Rabbit - only a few of the things we got up to! And I guess we'll do it all again this week. But before that I'm off out today to see if I can get fabric to cover my rocker. It's only 6 years old but in constant use - if not by me, then by the grandies. Since today is a little cooler with showers predicted it seems a good day to make a start on it.

Better go before I lose the enthusiasm!

MY WISH FOR ME

“This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.” ~Unknown

Today I'm wishing this for myself. I'm really struggling with pain down my right leg which is caused by bulging discs in my spine. I've been waiting a couple of months for an appointment to see a specialist about it and it wasn't to have been until 17th April but I got a phone call this morning from his office to say there had been a cancellation for next Monday - would I like to take it? Would I ever??

So although I've been feeling miserable, I'm encouraged and grateful that I may get some ideas on how to manage the problem sooner than I expected. God is good and answers prayer!

A MOOCHING KIND OF DAY

After the searing heat of the past few days, today has been blessedly much cooler. The temperature did get to about 32C early in the afternoon but later a really strong wind has sprung up which has cooled everything down quickly. What bliss! I just don't handle these hot days very well and far prefer the cooler weather. A friend emailed me that it was -4C in upper New York State - now I'm not saying I want it to be that cold - but the fresh breeze coming in the back door now as I sit typing this, is just wonderful. I'm hoping for a better night's sleep tonight!

I have been busy though, despite the heat. Yesterday I completed an 8" x 8" scrapbook album I've made for my niece to record photos of her new baby and a visit to the shopping centre was successful in finding some little gifts to send to A9, our grand-daughter who lives in Texas and celebrates her birthday in a few weeks time.

Tomorrow I'm helping a friend assemble her wedding invites so there always seems to be something to keep me busy. Even when the heat outside is simply awful, I am grateful that I have somewhere to shelter me from the elements and I am reminded that my God cares for me and supplies my needs - I am so blessed.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

The lead up to Christmas this year seems to have been so much busier than other years. I really don’t know why but there seems to have been so many things to do, functions to attend, letters to write, cards to send, Christmas goodies to bake – the list goes on. Had ‘grandies’ to help put up the tree too – they loved helping – Grandma followed up putting decorations on that were’nt so secure – and the too high places.

Put a new set of ‘sparklies’ up outside under the eaves – this time a solar powered lot which are working well with enough sunshine each day to continue to power up the batteries.

While driving home last night (approx 35km) from a (rather cold) carols by candlelight combined bbq evening, DH and I commented to each other on the few homes we’d passed which had been lit and decorated for Christmas – compared to other Christmases. So when we drove into our street and did a circuit of our tiny area we were thrilled to see more Christmas lights (almost) than we had on the whole journey home! A couple in particular are magnificent displays and must have taken hours to prepare. There’s something about lights and decorated homes at Christmas that give me the ‘warm fuzzies’!

So with only 3 more sleeps before the ‘man in red’ arrives to deliver gifts to all good children, I was just thinking how grateful I am to be living in a country which still (despite pc) celebrates the coming of the Christ Child in the good old fashioned way of mangers, shepherds, Magi, gifts, stars – and yes, even trees and lights.

To any who may either deliberately visit or accidently stumble across this journal, my prayer for you is that you might have a safe, happy and peaceful Christmas. Blessings to you all!

HEIRLOOM HOMECOMING WIP and other things

Had a really busy but enjoyable weekend. BBQ lunch at North Avoca (NSW Central Coast) with 'Top of the Hill' friends. Rushed back to Sydney to change and head of to Artarmon for an engagement celebration of a nephew. Sunday went to church service and later to another BBQ lunch at Greystanes with friends for a casual bible study afternoon. A very satisfying weekend all round!

Work in progress - report. Heirloom Homecoming Sampler section 2 finished.

Coming up - hardanger. Not at all sure about how to do this - will need to seek some advice I think. Only attempted this stitching once before on a tiny bookmark. This will be a challenge for me.

Next pic should be the finished piece I hope but I'm really enjoying this one even though I am having to use a headband 'blow-fly' type of magnifying goggles over my regular glasses. Not sure how good that is for the eyes generally but will have to persist despite all my best efforts originally to do without it.

Maybe my next project should be a visit to the optometrist to order a new pair of stronger 'close up' glasses!

ON A DARK NIGHT

It started out so well. Our trip down was great – quick – smooth – no traffic snarls. We had a great day looking around the Capital. Lunch at Parliament House, visited the National Museum and the Mint. Checked in to the gas station just to make sure the water was OK – it was down a bit so we filled the radiator and for good measure put some product in which was supposed to stop leaks. At this point I should mention that the radiator had been ‘leaking a bit' in the previous few days but a bit more water added and it seemed OK.

All went well and about 6pm we pulled in to the gas station off the tollway to get petrol. Checked the water again – all OK. A quick cup of coffee and we set off about 6.30pm. By now it was dusk, sprinkling with rain, and the evening darkness was closing in quickly. We were looking forward to reaching home to have something to eat.

We’d traveled exactly 34kms from our last stop when the car started to make strange noises. The thermometer (or instrument which tells how hot the car is running) zoomed up to ‘hot’ and before a few more metres, the motor cut out. We were still about 100kms away from home.

Well there wasn’t much we could do – in pouring rain and darkness! I said a prayer asking God to keep us safe while we were in this situation we had no real control over. Thank goodness for mobile phones though. We called our roadside assistance – (thank goodness for membership too)! A serviceman would be sent out within the hour.

A short while later, the mobile phone rang. It was roadside assistance base. Would we walk to the nearest emergency phone on the tollway and report in our breakdown? At this time we had no idea where we were located – except for the 34kms from the last gas station and this call would give our actual location. The men grabbed umbrellas and jackets and one began the walk to the emergency phone and the other to see if a place locator could be seen.

Break-down reported to the operator – no place name located however, but we were informed we were about 8 kms from the nearest township. Now our situation had been reported, we could expect a tow truck within in the hour. By now it was pouring with rain and looking more and more like we might be there for a good while. Phoned our son who lived about 90 minutes drive away, who said he’d come down to get us. We had friends visiting from Canada with us and didn’t want them to be any more uncomfortable than necessary.

We began to sit it out – traffic zooming past us at 100kms or so an hour. Each time a truck passed, the car would be rocked from side to side. By now it was 8.30pm and the need to find a bathroom fairly soon was inevitable! Eventually two of us absolutely had to venture into the shrubs alongside the road – need I say more – raining and all, it was somewhat of a relief! A van had pulled up a short distance from us - also broken down - this poor young man had only purchased his vehicle a few days previously and this was the second time he had been in strife with the mechanical state of it. Now he was also waiting for a tow truck.

Eventually the tow truck arrived and hitched the car on the back. We all piled up into it’s generous cabin and within a few minutes we were arriving at the place where our car was to be left.

It was now 9.30pm in a tiny town it seemed we were going to be hungry for a while longer but decided to take a walk through the town while we waited for our son to arrive. When we spotted a little pizza shop still open, we realized how hungry we were. We were not disappointed! With full tummies we made our way back to the service station to find our son had already arrived. It was only a few minutes later that we were back on the road on our way home arriving about midnight.

An exciting day? – Yes. A late night? - Yes. But a memorable day – in more ways than one. Despite it all, it’s situations like that which we file away in our memories and remember them, not because of the good time we had together, but because of the unpleasant parts that happened. We arrived home and we were kept safe, despite the experience – and yes, we will make sure the car is in good running condition before we venture out on another day trip – especially if we have overseas guests with us!

The footnote is that the car is not going to be ready for a week and it’s going to have it’s head gasket and radiator repaired at a cost of $2,900.

JESUS IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS

J E S U S had no servants, yet they called Him M a s t e r
Had no degree, yet they called Him T e a c h e r
Had no medicines, yet they called Him H e a l e r
He had no army, yet Kings Feared Him
He won no military battles, yet He Conquered the World
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today
I feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us!
AND HE IS COMING AGAIN!!!!