UK Mothering Sunday

Today in the UK is Mothering Sunday... Look at the beautiful flower my wonderful children bought me.....
The immediate family joke was... oh, i wonder how long it will take mom to kill it?  A sad but true reality for my children!

Easter Outreach Team

Spring Outreach Team Thank you to all of you who have been praying for the preparation and planning for the University Group from Minnesota.  The eight of them arrived yesterday without any issue and have now settled in and are even feeling like they are in the right time zone.  We are still waiting for two to arrive this afternoon from Ireland. Today (after morning service at St.Pauls) they are off to Speakers Corner this afternoon before attending the Oasis Church plant. Please continue to pray for rest, strength and energy as the week goes on.  To help keep the team away and adjusting to the correct time zone we took them for a walk in the English weather.... yes, for those of you wondering that does mean a walk in the rain! A quick pic of our team for the week!

Pittsburg

After leaving Ottawa we had our first of the many "long drives". The kids did well but as all new things there were a few moments where the little ones just didn't understand why we were still in the van! 

We arrived in Pittsburgh and had lots of fun! 

The older three kids helped out with the Orchard Hill Church "Kids Fest".  It was the third week that they were running it and there were 350 kids attending. We were really impressed with the ministry, very well planned and reaching and impacting a huge percentage of children and families in the community.  

The younger two and Aaron and I spend the days with our friends Rick and Nancy that we were visiting.  Below are some fun pics of our day at the Aviary! 

Ottawa

We made it!  Summer for us has officially begun.  We are spending one week with our Canadian family just relaxing and enjoying being with them. 

The above pic is of Jeremiah. He is at his aunties pool but needs a full life jacket rather than floaties as he seems to have no concept of how dangerous water can be... That paired with his lack of ability to swim means a full life jacket!! He doesn't seem to mind though! I personally think he likes to be scooped out of the water by the handle on the back! 

Summer Travels Begin...

Well, our summer travels have started! This is a pic of just a few of us on our flight over. 

The flight was uneventful, we were thankful to arrive and be all together again. 

As we start our journey please do remember to pray for us as we will have many, many hours in a van together. 

and... Calebs finished!

Caleb has now officially finished his GCSE's.  We won't receive the results of how he did until the end of August.  We know he worked hard and did his best.

In September he hopes to start 6th Form which is the final two years before university.

We would value your prayers for him as he waits for his results to come in and also works through all the summer reading and assignments he needs to have completed by September, this is a little harder than normal when you are travelling all summer.

Facing your Giants

The slender, beardless boy kneels by the brook . Mud moistens his knee. Bubbling water cools his hand. He is searching for rocks. Stones. Smooth stones. The kind that stack neatly in a shepherd’s pouch, rest flush against a shepherd’s sling. Flat rocks that balance heavy on the palm and missile with comet-crashing force into the head of a lion, a bear, or, in this case, a giant. Goliath towers above them all: nine feet, nine inches tall in his stocking feet, wearing 125 pounds of armor, and snarling like the main contender at a World Wide Wrestling Federation championship night . He wears a size 20 collar, a 10 ½  hat, and a 56-inch belt. His biceps burst, thigh muscles ripple, and boasts belch through the canyon. “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other” (1 Samuel 17:10). Give me your best shot.

What odds did David have against his giant? Better odds perhaps than you give yourself against yours. Your Goliath doesn’t carry sword or shield; he brandishes blades that only you can see.

But what am I telling you? You know Goliath. You recognize his walk and wince at his talk. You’ve seen your Godzilla. The question is, is he all you see? You know his voice – but is it all you hear? David saw and heard more. David’s first discussion, although it was about Goliath, was on the Lord. “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he defy the armies of the living God?” (1Samuel 17:26) David shows up discussing God. The soldiers mentioned nothing about him, the brothers never spoke his name, but David takes one step onto the stage and raises the subject of the living God. He does the same with King Saul: no chitchat about the battle or questions about the odds. Just a God-birthed announcement: “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37). No one else discusses God. David discusses no one else but God. A subplot appears in the story. More than “David versus Goliath,” this is “Godfocus versus giant –focus.” David sees what others don’t and refuses to see what other do. All eyes, except David’s, fall on the brutal, hate-breathing hulk. All compasses, except David’s, are set on the polestar of the Philistine. All journals, but David’s, describe day after day in the land of the Neanderthal. The people know his taunts, demands, size, and strut. They have majored in Goliath. David majors in God. He sees the giant, mind you; he just sees God more so. Look carefully at David’s battle cry: “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel” (1Samuel 17:45)

David sees the armies of God. And because he does, “David hurries and runs toward the army to meet the Philistine” (1Samuel 17:48).

David’s brothers cover their eyes, both in fear and embarrassment.   Saul sighs as the young Hebrew races to certain death. Goliath throws back his head in laughter, just enough to shift his helmet and expose a square inch of forehead flesh. David spots the target and seizes the moment. The sound of the swirling sling is the only sound in the valley. Sshhhww. Sshhhww. Sshhhww. The stone torpedoes into the skull; Goliath’s eyes cross and legs buckle. He crumples to the ground and dies. David runs over and yanks Goliath’s sword form its sheath, shish-kebabs the Philistine, and cuts off his head. You might say that David knew how to get a head of his giant. When was the last time you did the same? How long since you ran toward your challenge? We tend to retreat Try a different tack. Rush your giant with a God-saturated soul. Amplify God and minimize Goliath. STOP TELLING YOUR GOD HOW BIG YOUR GIANT IS AND START TELLING YOU GIANT HOW BIG YOUR GOD IS! Download some of heaven’s un-squashable resolve, Giants you’re going down. How long since you loaded your sling and took a swing at your giant? One might read David’s story and wonder what God saw in him. The fellow fell as often as he stood, stumbled as often as he conquered. He stared down Goliath, yet ogled at Bathsheba; defied God mockers in the valley, yet joined them in the wilderness. An Eagle Scout one day. Chumming with the Mafia the next. He could lead armies but couldn’t manage a family. Raging David. Weeping David. Bloodthirsty. God-hungry. Eight wives. One God. Acts 13:22 reminds us that God said that “David was a man after God’s own heart.” A man after God’s own heart? That God saw him as such gives hope to us all. David’s life has little to offer the unstained saint. Straight-A souls find David’s story disappointing. The rest of us find it reassuring. We ride the same roller coaster. We alternate between swan dives and belly flops, soufflés and burnt toast. In David’s good moments, no one was better. In his bad moments, could one be worse? The heart God loved was a checkered one. We need David’s story. Giants lurk in our neighborhoods. Rejection. Failure. Revenge. Remorse. Giants . . . We must face them. Yet we need not face them alone. Focus first, and most, on God. The times David did, giants fell. The days he didn’t, David did.

David made only two observations about Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. One statement to Saul about Goliath (v.36). And one to Goliath’s face: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (v.26). That is it. Two Goliath-related comments (and tacky ones at that) and no questions. No inquiries about Goliath’s skill, age, social standing, or IQ. David asks nothing about the weight of the sword of the size of the spear. It is time that we stop telling God how big our giants are and start telling our giants how big our God is. But he gives much thought to God. As we read David’s words again, we can count nine references to the Lord. God-thoughts outnumber Goliath-thoughts nine to two. How does this ratio compare with yours? Do you ponder God’s grace four times as much as you ponder your guilt? Is your list of blessings four times as long as your list of complaints? Is your mental file of hope four times as thick as your mental file of dread? Are you four times as likely to describe the strength of God as you are the demands of your day?

The whole matter may be summed up with the following couplet: Focus on giants – you stumble. Focus on God – your giants tumble. Which do you want to tumble . . . You . . . Or, your giants? Lift your eyes, giant slayer. The God who made a miracle out of David stands ready to make one out of you.