Wedding Celebration!

This weekend we were blessed to be a part of K’s & D’s wedding! The weather was warm and sunny which added to this joyous occasion.

Years ago, my husband and I got to know K through a mutual friend here in England. And where he didn’t show much interest spiritually at first K eventually he attended my husband’s pub Bible study which introduced him to Jesus. Along with attending a local church and Ryan going to the gym with K (afterwards they would have long discussions about the Bible) eventually K came to know the Lord! Then Ryan helped baptise him and four years later we met with him and his lovely bride to be for pre-marital Bible discussion. And yesterday Ryan was blessed to officiate their wedding and us to share in the joy of the celebration of their union!

Prior to attending, it was requested we test for Covid and unfortunately Titus came up positive (…with two tests to verify and no symptoms. However today he is Covid negative, Praise the Lord, so we are thinking he had it more during the week.) That threw us for six (as the British say) and we made the difficult decision of leaving Titus here whilst we drove to Manchester with Cora and attended the wedding. Thankfully, Titus was able to watch the wedding on YouTube along with many others who could not attend. And Titus kept sending me text comments for interaction, which was helpful for him.

Ryan gave a lovely sermon about marriage from John 15. We were so very blessed to be a part of this special celebration which was four years of the Lord bringing them together and engagement.

After seeing the bride and groom off in their hired Rolls Royce, we went to the Golf Club. This venue was decorated beautifully and we were welcomed with drinks and starters. Cora, Ryan, and I took some photos on a provided iPhone attached to a black and white printer. We printed the photos and placed them on a collage for the bride and groom. We chatted with other guests, signed the guest book, wrote a message for them to read on their year anniversary, and filled out a word search before gathering for photos.

Then we unfortunately felt we needed to say our goodbyes before the wedding breakfast (the first meal shared as husband and wife) because of not wanting to leave Titus on his own too long. This day may have started off in a less than desirable way, but we were thankful all of us were still able to participate in one way or another. Congratulations, K & D!

Brontë Waterfall Walk

Yesterday we spent our day in the sunny and beautiful West Yorkshire moorlands of the Brontë sisters. There is a lovely, under three mile, walk from the Penistone Hill Country Park. The views of the Victorian reservoir and rolling green hills were breathtaking!

We took our lunch with us and enjoyed eating it listening and watching the beautiful waterfalls. I highly recommend this walk (only a 50 minute drive from Leeds) for those wanting to enjoy the Yorkshire countryside whilst not walking for many miles. It is easy to see why these authors loved writing stories set within this beautiful landscape.

Birthday Sunshine & My Favourite Drink!

This past weekend marked that another year had passed and it was once again time to celebrate my birthday. This year was a bit subdued because our teenage daughter had the flu, not Covid, and was feeling so ill she stayed in bed all day Saturday. 🙁 Therefore we left her for only a few hours to rest whilst we enjoyed some brief time with friends at Kirkstall Abbey (at a friend’s birthday party).

We chatted for a bit and made our way to our favourite pie (meat pie) shop before landing at our favourite coffee shop. We are getting to know the owners of the Plant Collective in the Cross Gates borough of our city. They made my son and I the tastiest dirty chai (my new favourite drink; chai with a decaf shot of espresso and oat milk). The owner even crowned Titus’s drink with homemade Chantilly cream! 😋

After a lovely chat, we ventured on to Temple Newsam for a beautiful walk in the sun and a wander up towards the Manor House. It seems as if spring is on its way!

Sunday we enjoyed worship and preaching at our local church. Since Cora was too ill to attend, I called her so she could listen in on the worship music. After a church prayer meeting and a homemade lasagne lunch, the three of us walked from our house to a local coffee shop.

Later we coaxed Cora out of bed to join us for homemade carrot cake (Titus helped me make it), tea, and presents. We also enjoyed a new film titled “The Adam Project” from the comfort of our lounge.

Cora has returned to school today (after having yesterday at home) and we pray she will be well enough this weekend (and the rest of us too) to continue enjoying some delayed birthday celebrations. Thank you to everyone who sent birthday cards and Facebook greetings!

Love:Nations

Love:Nations is the name of our local church’s annual mission conference. This weekend our family participated in many churches bringing hundreds of adults and children together for worship, prayer, guest speakers, and more! This was quite rejuvenating post-covid.

Our venue was St. George’s C of E building in Leeds city centre…and it was breathtaking inside and out! What a blessing to hire this space for our worship together!

We enjoyed seeing more people we do not have the opportunity to see often. And we enjoyed getting to know people, with whom we already have relationship, even deeper.

In the late afternoon my husband and I helped with the younger children whom were also leaning about world missions. Our group enjoyed playing with this parachute; one of my favourite games as a child!

Sunday all Mosaic sites met together for worship at a south Leeds high school. Cora and Titus were asked to come up front to share what God taught them at Love:Nations this weekend.

The guest speaker challenged everyone to break out of our comfort zones to befriend people whom are different than us. We had many times of prayer for nations around the world, including the Ukraine. We continue to pray that, Jesus, the Light of the World would go forth and bring people to know Him personally and fill them with His peace!