Filling in the gap of the past few weeks...

Well we have had intermittent internet contact for a few weeks and we really need to post an update!

Picking up the thread from our where we left off before….

We met up with our dear old friends the Butlers presently residing in Wollongong Australia to give them a dose of good old English culture. The kids (Elizabeth, Peter and Martha) have slipped badly into local Australian colloquialisms and could quite easily pass off as locals in due course.

We were subjected to a whirlwind of treats – climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge – Sleepover at the zoo – Kayaking down Kangaroo creek – surfing – BBQs – chilling – rain forests …… we realised how much we miss these dear friends. Now we can imagine what their life is like which colours in the picture. We all cried when these friends left our UK lives, we lived in one another’s’ pockets and shared deeply. We sort of felt like the advance party and encourage all their friends to book those flights and go see them!

Next stop was New Zealand for a spot of educational interest (volcanic – geothermal – steamy – geysery things) for a brief rest then on to the USA where we connected with our family.

We haven’t all been together in some time and there was great significance in us all meeting up before we attack the next phase of life. Paddy and Mary return to Sheffield in June and Nigel and Sue (+kids) follow in July. We had a super time and it sort of closed out our time of family travel before we establish our new UK home base.

During our travels we sold the Sheffield home and attempted to secure a home in Carlisle the OM team base. All the best laid plans fell apart and we have been blessed with time at Mary and Paddy’s flat in Sheffield. Ruth and Izzy have national SAT tests and their schools were kind enough to let them return to their classes (no small miracle) and so we see ourselves relocating in Carlisle after the half term break in early June.

Keith has started working with the International Coordinating Team for OM in Carlisle and will commute for a few weeks. So please pray as we tackle yet another period of change!

Initially Keith can keep up life on a skateboard travelling around to get to know folk within OM and getting a grasp of how the finance systems work. The challenge is how to hold family life together with a deal of uncertainty.