the best is yet to come....

what a year.........well today was stuarts last day at SST church as their youth director...........over the last few weeks we have said all our goodbyes to all the different youth groups and leaders and church as a whole.....and as we step out of 2008 and bravely into 2009...we step into a whole new realm......our first time not in full time youth work.........and in the new year i take up a new post aswell...........so its all change..........we are so excited to see what God is going to birth in 2009...He has guided us so clearly this far........and we know the best is yet to come...................



HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone.......may 2009 be packed with blessing, revelation and amazing testimony..........

new picture..............

hope you all like my new header picture......it was taken by my talented husband over the holidays...it is an early winter morning on portstewart strand beach....which is on the north coast of ireland......... where we got engaged 10 years ago.....its a very beautiful and special place.........

what does he do differently?.........

do you ever wonder how something doesn't work for you...like a DVD......or some other electrical object...and you are sure you have followed all the rules and done everything correctly...but still nothing...it refuses to co-operate.......then i mention it to my hubby.....who walks straight to it......puts a hand on it....and guess what....it works.......then i receive the ................look.........which means....what on earth were you doing.....just use it properly...................i don't undertand....i really do try to listen and do as i am told......any one else have this happen...or is it only appliances that gang up against me in my house........

its mr perfects fault.............

well its all this little guys fault...i know its mr perfect you ask....how could he possibly do anything wrong...well i will tell you........night before last stuart and i called down to visit my mum for the evening...we brought some foodie treats..enjoyed snaking together and watching the movie..Wallace and gromit...curse of the were rabbit.....occasionally nodding off and having random conversation....when stuart announced it was time to go home.....so the obedient wife that i am ....i gathered all my bits and pieces from the kitchen table and followed him out to the car..jude tucked underarm.......we had been home about an hour happily snuggled in front of a roaring fire...when the phone rang and a distressed mum....said...did you happen to see my car keys when you were over earlier.....i thought for a moment ...confidently replied...no.......she said she had torn the house apart of over an hour without success....i helpfully gave her a few spots to check..said goodbye....carried on enjoying my fire and watching some TV.....another hour passed...phone rang........panic stricken mum.....voice shaken...says...i am trying not to panic..to late i think...but i have walked the garden with a torch..emptied the bin onto the garage floor looked under and above every object in the house...they are no where to be found......remembering to myself that i was known as the best finder in my family growing up...i decide to stay on the line and talk her through different hidy holes.....imagining all the places they could have sneaked to......after about 30 mins of my services......mum says..there is no way you could have taken them...NO.....i say to be ridiculas...while i walk to the kitchen ....i was only wearing my jacket...as i stoop to put my hand in my pocket..and in the same motion pull out a set of keys.....stunned and silent i stare.....these cant be yours i ask....with a mr perfect key ring.....YES.....she screams...they are...................i said a few words i cant recall................i had them all along..................as i said its all mr perfect key-ring..........i bought it for stuart years ago.....and for years it was on his car keys...and a few months ago.....we gave mum a spare key to our house and i stuck it on his old key ring................mum joined it onto her car keys and the rest is history.............needless to say i had to out my shoes on and drive to her house and return the keys..............as they were the only set...............sorry mum..............

people watching.........

one of my favorite pastimes is..........people watching....i never tire of it...........it was a rainy cold saturday today so stuart and i hid out for a while in one of our most loved cafes ‘open house’ not only do they make great coffee...but they have the biggest floor to ceiling window with seats all along...perfect..... you can sip away while observing..........such sights pass by...........today we had a lady getting so cross cause people kept bumping into her oversized umbrella....never mind the fact she was almost taking their eye out as she walked down the middle of the street with her umbrella shielding her vision.......


this started stuart of on one of his pet hates....the dangers of walking in crowded streets in the rain.....apparently protective eye wear should be issued ...so he feels........and many interesting fashion statements.....one in particular sticks in my mind was two young girls wearing thigh high illuminous socks with shorts...each to their own i say...makes for interesting viewing...............i love trying to imagine what people are up to and what kind of life they lead...and conversations they are having...stuart says i am wasted and should have been a detective..............take time out to see what sights pass by your window today.........

memories...........

tonight was the last night of our 20's cell group.....its so hard to believe......i have to admit it has been one of the most special parts about our time spent at SST....we have been blessed sharing our lives with this amazing group and seeing how God shaped it and all of us.....they blew us away tonight...with the most amazing 'memories' scrap book..that i think is one of the most precious gifts we have been given....and a giant wicker hamper stuffed with so many wonderful treats...and Thai spending money 'well elephant riding money'......for the first time in a very long time i was ...speechless......words could not be found tonight to express how much we love and will miss these guys...and how the memories we made together will be threads woven through our tapestry of life....... you all know who you are...keep running the race.....don't give up.......never settle for the ordinary..keep standing out in a world that wishes you would blend in ...but desperately needs you not to.....

toot...toot..........

today was a day to remember.........we added a new addition to our family........a new car for me.......this is my first very own not shared cute little car..............we got up early this morning and went to collect it..and there it was all shiny....bright eyed and bushy tailed and waiting to come home with us and keep our other car company in the drive at night..........incase you wonder what it looks like imagine peppa pigs head turned upside down and there you have it....






cute..a little cartoon car all for me........toot toot..........

the Great I Am..........

God was so right when he said 'I Am'.....He is not the God who dwells in the past or waits in the future but lives in the right now with us...............sometimes i find it tempting to visit the place of the 'what ifs'.......which of course is only tormenting as 'what ifs' are impossible...........we cannot live only in the future with our hopes and dreams.......and we most certainly will not find life and freedom if we only choose to dwell in the place of the past.........the place God reminded me to dwell last night is in the 'right now' with him.........as he holds my future and guides my steps.............and promises to use my past experiences breakthroughs and mistakes to bring hope to others in this broken world.... and lead them to Him........

hot cordial...........it works..............

i have had the rotten flu the last few days...so not even been up to blogging...i know shocking............stuart says that i am the worst patient ever.........not sure i agree :-).........well my mum rang me this morning to say that she read in the newspaper that drinking hot fruit cordial helps fight of cold/flu virus .......something my mum used to always give me if i was sick............so stuart nipped to the shop and came back with a bottle of ribena and as i sipped on a cosy mugful.......it was like my childhood comforts came flooding back...................so maybe its not really that it helps medically....but more like it bring us the comfort and safety of childhood memories when we are feeling a little vulnerable and weak....................so for the rest of the day i will be working my way through that cordial bottle......staying cosy under lots of blankets.......and looking forward to feeling me again...........................

favourite things *3

one of my most favourite things are my beloved 'uggs'...let me tell you i could be a very successful sales rep for these squishy, cosy delights...i got my first pair over two years ago and i have to confess...my other shoes......hardly get a look in.....they have been my extra special friends over the last few days of below minus temps...brrrrrrrrrrr.......but my toes are always snug.........

change part 2*

well for some reason today feels the day to share another blog i have been writing for about a year, check it out here

as you will see we have been on this adventure for over a year now....and as its such a long process in this country ...lasting a few years...we felt it better to wait until we have moved along the process a little first..........please forgive many spelling mistakes..as up until now it has been a diary so we wont forget any dates and details........