Another Job Done!

So, we now both have International Driving Permits. Our photo-booth photos are very severe as the automated voice was most insistant that we did not laugh, smile or move a muscle that would indicate we were actually alive!
So that's another job done. Another box ticked. Another day nearer to Cape Town!

Books! Books! Books!

I can't believe how many books we have. It isn't until you have to move them that you realise how many hundreds you have. Actually, it's only when you move them that you see books you didn't even know you had! Forgotten gems purchased a life time ago when you really wanted to read about such and such! It's only when you move them that you find multiple copies of the same volume but with different, updated covers!
Because of the aforementioned replacement skylight in the study we had to move all our books out and box them up while the work was completed. We then had to put them all back. I say "we" but it has been me doing the last of the humping this morning!

We had the added problem of having to find shelf space for all the books we had to clear from Duncan's office in church!
Still, it is done! The mountain of boxes that were stacked in the corner of Harry's bedroom have now found a home on one of our many book shelves.

There will be trouble ahead though. I have tended to shelve them where they fitted according to size not content! Also there are multiple layers on most shelves!
I can hear the cry from Duncan now..."Beverly, do you know where my Wiersbe commentry on Romans is???"
"Erm..........................."

But the room is more like a bedroom for our guests now!

Raining again!

Having an enormous skylight window in our loft bedroom is wonderful for letting light in but it has its disadvantages when it rains. For a start off it is so noisy! Also, we can't have the window open properly either! So the rain seems to be magnified somehow.
When we go to Cape Town we will be arriving in their Autumn time but I suspect that the weather may well be much more clement than we are experiencing here in England. Still, I know that it is the rain that makes it the "Green and pleasant land" the poets have written about.

So, my Sister's visit seems to be hitting problems. Debbie may have to work so thay will have to get here on the train or by hiring a car. I have been looking into the relative costs - do you know how much it would cost for 3 adults to travel from London to Halifax?? The car hire choice would be much cheaper and more sensible, especially as I've just remembered the proposed Rail strike on the very days they are due to travel!

Currys Getting Fit!

Well we did remember that we had to put the clocks forward but then woke up at 8ish having then forgotten, so it was really 9ish! Then Duncan called downstairs: "Shall we go for a run?" So, I'd lost an hour, I had a piece of pork the size of the Isle of Man in the fridge - (Our version of the fatted calf as Harry is coming to Sunday lunch!) and here was Duncan in track suit and raring to go, as it was such a lovely day! It was, and still is, very windy, but the gauntlet had been thrown so running shoes on and off we went on our little circuit.
I should perhaps explain - we are only very much beginners and are training - run a bit, walk a bit, run a bit, walk a bit more and more.....building up, you know! Well that's what we told the very fit bunch of runners who called "We saw you walking!"

Both Duncan and I have been runners in our past.
Both have run and completed half marathons in reasonable times but we have a long way to go to get anywhere near that level again. But everything has to start somewhere! We have begun. Tomorrow is another day. Run a bit...walk a bit...run a bit more...walk a bit more and more... It's an analogy for life really!

Q:How do you eat an elephant?
A:One bite at a time!

Booked!

We've done it! We have booked our return flights! It's official - we're going to Cape Town for three months.
WOW! We're going to Cape town. We're going to Cape town! We're going to Cape town!

Churches very much together!

There was an Anglican, a Methodist, a Pentecostal and a Roman Catholic having dinner together.....sounds like the beginning of a joke doesn't it? Well there was fun and laughter last night as we had a farewell dinner at Father Kevin's but there was much, much more.
Duncan has been meeting regularly with the other ministers in Sowerby Bridge and these weekly prayer times have become a very precious part of his life and he will miss them when we are away. But we know that we will remain in the hearts and the prayers of this group of people, this group of friends. We have our differences but we have our God and our Lord Jesus Christ in common.
We had a lovely meal and, as Stephen said at one point, Jesus has indeed worked a miracle in all of our lives and He has enabled us to see and understand beyond our doctrinal differences; to see that the most important thing is that Christlikeness be formed in us. There was a Methodist,a Roman Catholic, two Anglicans and two Pentecostals around the dinner table and one God joining our fellowship in a very real and loving way.
Thank you for a lovely evening.

Hiccups!

Duncan had the hiccups last night - and he had them/it (?) badly! And loudly! We were just settling off to sleep when it started and it went on for over 2 hours! That was annoying enough but - he insisted on having his arm around me so I was shaken every 30 seconds but worse than that - HE SLEPT THROUGH IT! "Hic... ahh... hic... ahh" as he snored away! Consequently one of us is a bit more alert and chirpy than the other this morning!

The one that got away!

Share and share alike!

They may be Duncan's specs but I can share them!

More glasses than I don't know what!

Well Duncan got the all-clear from the hospital but they said that ideally he should wait another 4 weeks before having his eyes re-tested at the opticians.They did however suggest that if he could get some reading glasses that would help out in the interim and wouldn't be detrimental to his eyes.
So...off to the Poundshop and 3 pairs of specs later we tripped into some more in Wilkinsons, so had a pair of theirs too; then, off to Sainsburys for food shop and lo and behold, more reading glasses so we now have a proper selection. At present he's sporting the Sainsbury's ones which are the best ones for laptop use (apparently!).
The 4 week wait is in case his eye should "settle down" further and his vision alter again, so we think we will go ahead and 'risk it' and get the show on the road. Pam and Pete think we should too!
So, tomorrow the opticians and then a couple of weeks, maybe three, for the new glasses to arrive. So our proposed departure date seems possible after all!Watch this space! And do, please comment. You have no idea how excited I am when someone comments!!

Let those who have eyes...

Duncan has his post-op check up at the hospital this morning and we have booked an appointment at the opticians for tomorrow. This is all a bit quicker than the literature on cataract operations suggests but we are praying that he will be able to have a sight test tomorrow and new prescription specs ordered. As soon as he has them we can go! All you Christians out there - your prayers would be very much appreciated!

We have a home in Cape Town!

Thank you Chantal, you are a wonderful friend. Thank you Lord, we prayed yesterday that we would not worry but that we would trust in You, that You would find the perfect place for us to live for our three months and we have just had a text from Chantal - The Dolphin Beach apartment is lovely and it is ours! She is sending the contract and we now have somewhere to live which sounds so lovely.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

The dream begins!

Finding Nemo!

Last Sunday we visited our friends at Birmingham Harvester Church and had a wonderful time of fun and true fellowship. On the Sunday evening Graham and Annie suggested we watch Finding Nemo and were surprised we hadn't already seen it. What a fantastic film. I want to watch it again. Although there is the tear-jerker start the rest of the film is so very, very funny and we laughed outloud, real belly-laughing laughs for the rest of the evening. Then we spent at least an hour recalling bits we particularly liked and quoting..."Mine!" "Do you speak whale?" and my favourite: "I wish I could speak whale!" If you haven't seen it and need cheering up, or even if you have - watch it again and be uplifted and cheered. There's something wonderful about facing anything in order to be with the one you love! Something encouraging in thinking our worst fears, the ones that keep us awake at night sweating under our duvets,might just turn out to be much less threatening than we think. The sharks in counselling were actually overcoming their beliefs that fish were food - no "friend not food!" If we don't step out we will never know.When we begin a fearful journey we must have the faith to believe that the One who sent us is there with us, every step of the way! Nemo was worth the search. What or who is worth the search for you?

Mr and Mrs Sharp!

What an exciting day. My sister, Chris has written a comment on our blog, as have several other people. This is definitely the way to keep a record of our trip to Cape Town (or our life in Cape Town!)This is a photo of Chris and Phil taken last year in Turkey. They live in a lovely little place called Hisoranu (?) on the Turquoise Coast. There's a lot of TV advertising for that coast line at the moment.Chris probably won't like this photo but it records a memorable night when she and Phil had organised a bar full of people and run a quiz to raise money for Jackie, Chris's younger daughter, who was going to India for several months to do voluntary work with special needs people out there. Good on you Jack, and on Chris and Phil for working so hard to support her! Looking forward to seeing you all in a couple of weeks.

Beverly at the Summit, 2009

Having fun at the Summit, 2009

It's all on account of the Bathroom

Paul warned us! He said: "If you have your bathroom done you know what will happen!" When we were in Dewsbury we had our bathroom done and it took A VERY LONG TIME!! By the time it was finished (8 months after the start date!!!) I had lost the will to live never mind wash. Then, as I began to appreciate the joy of a jaccuzi bath and lovely large shower we moved to Luddendenfoot. So, as soon as Paul heard we were visiting plumbers and bathroom shops he was very wary. And lo and behold, he was right. (Well, he would be, his nom-de-plume is Wise Owl after all. So , thanks to David and Stephen our fantastic workmen, we now have a wonderful bathroom and we are leaving it! But Janet, our good friend who is at present in Australia, will enjoy the use of it as she house-sits for us during our three months away.

Duncan at Harvester Church

Very First Comment

I'm so excited - we have a comment! This is such great technology! I can see I will be spending many hours blogging - if that's the correct terminology!!

New Beginnings

So, we are awaiting the all clear from the hospital about Duncan's left eye. He had a cataract and could hardly see. He can now see better than he has since he was 11! He needs new glasses and then we can go. So the flight booking is pending.
Our friends in Cape Town, notably Chantal Pelser is very busy finding us somewhere to live for the 3 month stay and we await news on a place in Dolphin Beach. Doesn't that sound lovely? So lovely in prospect that Duncan has promised we will be going for early morning runs on the beach!
We are going to Dewsbury Elim Church on Sunday evening to give our testimony, so it will be lovely to see our friends there again and share all the exciting things that God has been doing since we left. We hope to see Harry, and possibly Lucinda on Sunday too.
My sister Chris and her husband Phil are coming over for 2 weeks, from Turkey where they have lived for the past 6 years. They are staying in London with Debbie and Jackie but will be coming North for a couple of days so we are looking forward to that too.
Then we hope to fly to Cape Town (Optician pending) for our 3 months with Harvester Reformational Church.We have much to learn and are excited and very eager to get there. That said, we are also a bit nervous!