UK: 2nd leg of our Trip - Thurs 30/10

Woke up this morning to a spread fit for a king.

The breakfast table was jam packed with all sorts of cereals and toast and jams.... oh and it snowed last night... Isn't this view just awesome?

Spent the whole of today putting this blog together and making sure all you guys stay up to date with your friends ;-)

Missing home a little but am still too excited about the US to take that feeling too seriously :-p

UK: 2nd leg of our Trip - Wed 29/10

Catching a train trip to Birmingham isn't as obvious as one would like to think, especially when you're carrying the whole family's luggage :-)

You rush to catch the first train from Sutton to Victoria, get off at Victoria station then rush to the underground where you find a map that tells you to catch the West Bound Circle Track to Euston but in your hurry interpret it as East Bound. Rush to get on the train only to discover that your going in exactly the opposite direction... Saving grace - It's a circular route.

After recovering from your slight bout of vertigo you rush off at Euston to get the kids to the toilet only to find that the Loos take 30p and you have NO cash on you!! Besides the local currency comes in 10s, 20s etc so making thirty??? AAAAAHHH! After struggling to find small change to take the kids to the loo they say they don't need it and then to your horror after climbing on the train you find they have REALLY nice toilets that you coulda used in the first place! (Man these first world countries really get my goat!)

Arriving in Birmingham was wonderful. Debbie's folks are amazing! Such hospitality. We felt like kings! It made the trip worth it!

UK: 1st leg of our Trip - Sun 26/10

We went to Carshalton Baptist Church, close to where we were staying. The home of the Reverend Bob and Sue McKay. What an amazing bunch of people. They've been "leaderless" for a while as they're interviewing various candidate pastors to come take the reigns... it would seem that Bob left some BIG shoes to fill ;-)

UK: 1st Leg of our Trip - Sat 25/10

Back to Richmond Park for a picnic with Vic and Linda McKay joined us too. Great spending time together enjoying the park with all the beautiful deer. Amanda in her naturalistic way was able to even sit in amongst the herds of deer...

The girls went up to the "King Deer" and were beaming with excitement! They are beautiful creatures. Especially the males with their huge horns.

UK: 1st Leg of our Trip - Fri 24/10

Had a great lunch with Ryan and Melissa Matthews at Pembrook Lodge in Richmond Park. Shared our vision with them & they were very encouraging. Wish we could have spent more time with them but life carries on and they had to rush off to pick up kids... They are doing really well. They shared a couple of the hurdles they're facing as we did ours. It's awesome to see the global church in action.

UK: 1st Leg of Our Trip - Thurs 23/10

HARRODS & HAMLEYS - Need we say more?!

We just had to show these two massive stores to the girls... Well, Harrods anyway. Here we bought them each a little cute toy called a babaloo (Ask them to show you). Lee was the one that INSISTED we go to Hamleys... BIG KID!

So far the girls have been extremely well behaved and are like sponges soaking up all the changes, sights & sounds.

UK: 1st Leg of our trip - Wed 22/10

Vic had to work but the landlord, Lesley Powell, took us to the Library in Sutton where we could catch up on a couple of emails and the girls had fun in the kid's corner.

We explored high street with their international Market of European vendors displaying some really yummy foods and great crafts. We had good ol' fashioned "Fish 'n Chips".

UK: 1st leg of our trip - Tues 21/10

We went to the Tate Art Gallery on the Thames. Vic took us on a very looong tour around London on foot. He said he knew where he was going... mmm... he also thinks aloud and says things like " oh gosh, I shoulda gone that way." or "I thought that was a little closer?" etc. ;)

Eventually we arrived at Hyde Park where we were entertained by Squirrels who thought our legs were tree trunks!

To the girls amazement of course. Then there was the Natural History museum which was packed with interesting things, especially the "live" T-Rex.

UK: 1st leg of our trip - Mon 20/10

Arrived at Heathrow at 07:10 and only cleared out the airport at 09:30!

So many people... Vic was there to meet us & we were all excited to be in England. Went to Vic's place in Sutton and slept. Leon never slept a wink on the plane which is VERY unusual for him as he normally sleeps anywhere anytime... Vic took us for "Bangers & Mash" at a lovely pub in Richmond on the Thames river for supper.

Up, Up and Away...

Pressing on Toward the Goal

Philippians 3:12-14

"12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Living historically can be devastating especially if every decision we make is based on it. It will drag us backward to a point where we become totally ineffective in this world for Christ.

But learning from the past is another matter ALL together. As it can inspire us to reach higher heights and dream bigger dreams and remind us of how faithful our Loving Father is. The Israelites were constantly told to build alters as a way of remembering God's goodness to them and his promises that were still to come.

One such alter came in the form of a vision to both Amanda and myself. When we were young teenagers, at separate times and in separate places, during our quiet times we saw the word "Colorado" painted on the ceiling and wall. Nothing else. No words of wisdom, no special instructions, nothing... just the word.

To cut a long story short, here we are, 19 yrs later, on our way to a country that has intrigued and drawn us for many years.

We're pressing on toward the goal for which God has called us heavenward "in Christ Jesus".

This is not only some high spiritual journey, it's also fun. Our Father, in His almighty wisdom and playfulness has blessed us as we set out on our adventure that was in many ways spoken over us for many years.

We hope as we share our insights and experiences that you will find them both entertaining and enlightening.

We love you guys.

Leon, Amanda, Alythia and Talitha.