After the Weekend

Our weekends can be quite busy, especially when the Royals are playing at home. The boys earned a draw at Plymouth, whose Chaplain is the Pastor who conducted our wedding 30 years ago. Jeff Howden was Pastor at a little church in Shinfield and is a good friend. We had originally planned to go and stay with Jeff and his wife, Janet for the weekend just gone - so we could then go and watch the game. Things didn't work out so we had to settle for the highlights of a 2-2 draw. Charlton at home tomorrow - another easy game!? I don't think so.

At church yesterday we had Vernon and Jenny Orr with us and Vernon spoke really well. Vernon is vicar of St Agnes Church in Whitley - as well as two other churches in the area. It was special to have them with us and we enjoyed a time that is symptomatic of a strong level of relationship and unity across many of the Reading Churches and Christian organisations. At church Anita did SO well in sharing very openly and personally about her journey through chemotherapy. I was very proud of her and the impact of her life in many lives around us seems to be considerable. Going back to Vernon's message to us, he encouraged us to move into the destiny God has for each one of us by;

• Welcoming prophetic insight and messages
• Receiving impartation from others whenever we can
• Aligning ourselves - getting positioned to receive from God

Vernon urged any of us who might be carrying disappointment in God to face into this and deal with it. For anyone interested in hearing Vernon's talk it can be ordered from our church office (Tel: 0118 9664474) and soon our talks will be available on our new church website.

Just before the weekend we heard that a builder we have been speaking to is able to start some significant structural work and decorating in our bedroom. Our bedroom sits on joists that were originally designed as ceiling joists and not mean't to carry the weight of a super-king bed and all our bedroom furniture. The challenge is that he is going to start work this coming Friday and so today we have been busy clearing out what has taken us nearly 20 years to gather. You can imagine what its like. We have to empty our bedroom and move downstairs for a couple of weeks. Anita goes into hospital for an operation on April 3rd so we're hoping that the work will not present any major hitches. Anita is tiring and beginning to ache following treatment last Friday. Afew days of taking it easy now this week for her.

Today we are grateful for: Having a home that we can work on and relax in together, for children who help us, for friends who keep in touch and encourage us, for kebabs for tea that still taste OK

Today we pray for: God to meet the needs of our children and their families, for sleep, for side effects to be minimal