Exciting Times.

What exciting times we are living in!
Although Duncan has been poorly and off work we have had a very good week.
Yesterday, we visited Marion, the oldest member of our church. I say 'we' but by that I mean some members of the Women's Group went round to spend part of our time with Marion as she cannot come to us as she is housebound. We had a lovely time and then returned to the church building to continue our teaching on the Fruits of the Spirit. Patience was our subject and as we struggled to relight the gas fire in the cold building we certainly needed to exercise some.
Then we had a visit from Janet and her grandson, Finlay, who is a delight, and he entertained us as we shared a cuppa and discussed Janet's trip to Australia - next Wednesday she flies off to visit her daughters for three months. We shall miss her but are delighted that she has made her decision to obey the call of God and join our church on her return. Tonight we are having a carvery meal to say farewell, au revoir, and there will be nine of us sharing the meal together.
So we are excited as we anticipate the next season and a visit from one of our friends in Cape Town who is flying over to the UK for two weeks at the end of December; we are organising a joint meeting of Halifax and Birmingham Harvester Reformational Churches which will most possibly be on January 1st. 2012! How appropriate would that be!

A Previous Meeting when Janet was teaching Duncan  to  Waltz!

'Don't it make you want to dance?'

Oh yes!

It's Like Riding a Bike!

They say that once you've mastered the art of riding a bike you never forget. Well, I think 'they say' correctly. 
My first bike, a girls' 'sit-up-and-beg type bike, was my sister's cast off when I was too small to ride it without discomfort and great fear of falling off! But ride it I did and I so loved it, the sense of independence, the wind rushing past my face as I sped down hill.  The smell of the Germolene beneath the plasters covering my many scrapes and grazes! Nothing put me off, but then I grew up! Bikes lost their charm as makeup and boys took precedence and working up a sweat while getting to your destination was definitely not cool!
The next time I had a bike it was a new bike, it was a blue bike and it was my bike! A blue mountain bike with rugged tyres and NOT having the dreaded drop handle bars that I was scared of. I didn't want my head to be so close to the ground, thank you very much! So, my new bike came to me when Harry was young and his dad and I planned to ride the South Downs Way over two days. To say planned is barely truthful, to say prepared would be a lie, so the 70 mile off road, up hill, down dale, over tree roots, grass, stony tracks first day finished me off! Much more preparation was needed! I gripped those handle bars so tight all day that I couldn't open my hands for a couple of days afterwards, so Harry's dad completed the second day on his own!
So the blue mountain bike spent its days rusting away in the shed and was given away when Duncan and I moved from Dewsbury to a much smaller house here in Luddendenfoot.
When I retired we got rid of one of our cars, Harry took it off our hands! When Duncan began teaching 3 days a week in order to support us as we began the church I was left without the car 3 days a week. Now I have my own transport again as on Monday I bought another bike! A second-hand mountain bike which was a very good buy and enables me to nip along the canal bank and to get to church in about 10 minutes. Fantastic! Independence once again!
The canal bank is very muddy at present and the negotiation of cobbled bits beneath the canal bridges was scary as I was riding much too close to the murky canal; the lively dalmatian who, in the cheery words of his owner, 'loves to chase bikes' was also a challenge I could have done without on my inaugural ride, but I got there unscathed and feeling very good!
We bought a basket for me like the one in the picture so that I can carry file and Bible and bits and bobs for the Womens' group. I wanted a wicker one so that I could be a real 'Miss Marple of Mary Meed' but it really didn't seem to be in keeping with the mountain bike image!
So, yes, I think that once you've learnt to ride a bike you can always get back in the saddle. I wonder if the same is true of roller skates. I used to LOVE my roller skates; they too had the attendant odour of Germolene but they too were worth it!
Watch this space!

Update after Half Term!

Harvester UK - Leaders of Birmingham and
 Halifax  Harvester Reformational Churches.

291 hits on this blog yesterday, and as one of my faithful readers pointed out on Facebook, it has been nearly 2 weeks since I wrote a blog! So I am feeling very remiss as I begin to write today! 
First day back to college for Duncan so not an easy day adjusting back to the workaday week, (though easier for me than for him I suspect!)
Last week was hectic but very, very good! (I am smiling as I use the word, 'hectic' as our South African friends use the word in entirely different contexts to where we would use it...hectic steak, hectic reading matter and even hectic body lotion!!! Yes, that does make the mind boggle. Hectic!)
We had an excellent time with our friends from Birmingham Harvester Reformational Church. Graham and Annie Unsworth have been leading the church for over two years now and are the only other Reformational Church in the UK so it was very good to get together and feel encouraged by each others testimonies. 
Graham is a prophet and he brought accurate words to several people present and also spoke very well on prophesy, teaching and explaining in ways we all appreciated. Annie spoke a short but impactful word on dying to self, something she is familiar with and so can speak with authority and integrity.

They certainly left us with much to think about and we are even more certain that we are in the right place at the right time; square peg/square hole, and it is very exciting.


We were a little nervous about absenting ourselves from our Sunday meeting as we have not done so before but we had booked a 3 night stay in a cottage in the Dales and so prepared to leave the church in the capable hands of the body - if you see what I mean! Before we departed we visited Joyce's mum, Marion, and had a cup of tea and a lovely time of chatting and getting to know each other better; she is now the oldest member of our church! 87 and she is brilliant - so lively and interested to know what's going on; wanting to know more and more about the Bible and what God is doing in the earth these days. 

Those of you who do pray, please add her to your list. She is happy and content with her lot, even though she is housebound. Please pray that her inner peace will continue.
So Friday we packed, (less 'stuff' this time as I'm managing to convince Duncan that he can leave some of his books behind! Though he did sneak 5 tee shirts in for a 3 night stay - and 3 pairs of trunks!!)
The cottage was wonderful and we had the most idyllic time. In the heart of the Dales with fabulous views, comfortable accommodation and the use of a sauna and large, indoor pool, we were so happy to be there. We had the pool and sauna to ourselves most of the time!
So coming back was a bit of a struggle and going back to work an even bigger one for Duncan, but we do love our home, and we are looking forward to getting back into the routines of church - though routine is not really a word I would use in the context of our church! When we see what is happening, what God is doing in order to bring reformation to His church in these days, it is amazing. Reform the church to reform the land is something we first heard from Doctor/Apostle Andre Pelser and we begin to see that the church is actually God's Genius at work and when it reforms and comes into line with the plans and purposes of God, then the land will experience reformation too. These are exciting times. 
If you are reading this and you are interested in what we are talking about, you will be most welcome to chat to us at any time - via this blog or at the church building at Tenterfields Business Park, Burnley Road, Luddendenfoot, Halifax. We meet there every Sunday at 10.30am and Fridays for a teaching meeting at 7.30pm. We also have a Women's Meeting at 2pm on Wednesdays. 

Harvester Family Get Together!

Come and join us next Wednesday when Prophet Graham Unsworth and his wife Annie will be joining us to share from Graham's recent trip to South Africa where he attended the Summit Conference and spent time with other leaders. Graham and Annie are the leaders of Birmingham Harvester Church. We are really looking forward to seeing them again and hearing what God has to say to us through them! Do come and join us, you'll be very welcome.
Wednesday 26th. October at 7.30pm.

Tuesday, Tuesday!

There's something about Tuesdays! There always has been for me; 

Tuesday has never been my favourite day.

In my teaching career I was invariably on duty on a Tuesday. Wandering the corridors in search of miscreants, just close enough to the staff room to hear the guffaws of laughter and the buzz of chat that I was missing out on! Department meetings were on Tuesday, so Tuesday was also a loooooooooooooong day!
Tuesday - too far away from the weekend - the one just gone and its memory fading, or the one on the horizon - too distant a vista to begin anticipating.
When I went part time, only teaching three days a week, Tuesday was one of my days off, well, actually, as my other day off was split in bits of Monday and Friday, Tuesday was really my only other full day off, but as it was sandwiched between working Monday and Wednesday I never really got the most out of it.
Now, of course Tuesday is all mine! But as Duncan works Tuesday to Thursday in college we don't sleep well on Monday nights - it's like the night before a new term every week after four days away, so I usually burn the midnight oil on Monday night. But I can go back to bed when Duncan has gone! I am so blessed! That's what I did today and got up (second time around) at 11am! So Tuesday can begin in earnest now! 
We do tend to sleep very well on Tuesday night!

Faith Through A Lens!

Hello Readers
Duncan and I have entered a photography competition and the public are allowed to vote on line if you go to:

 http://www.faiththroughalens.co.uk/category/gallery/ 


We each have 2 photos and at present 3 are on the first page and a further on is on page 2 - though this may change as more photos are added.
The site explains all the judging process.
Hope you like the photos!


The photo on this blog is courtesy of Leigh Collins of Cape Town South Africa.

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That's the number of hits recorded yesterday for this blog!
Two hundred and twenty four!
More comments came in yesterday which was lovely, but I really don't understand this gargantuan increase in readership. Don't understand it but love it. So are we looking at the same numbers today I wonder?