That Was Blighty

Such is the modern world that I'm sat here at over 10,000 metres up in the sky and a little over 3,000kms from home but still able to access the internet via on board wifi.  I wrote that on the plane and then fell asleep and forgot to post it, so here is the blog post I wrote...

Well our long anticipated and planned for trip is over, we're just a few hours from being back home and it's been good to spend a few hours reflecting on the last five weeks.

The biggest joys of returning to Blighty are always seeing family again and reconnecting with many friends around the country. Besides spending time with family in Sevenoaks were in Cheadle, Sheffield (with a sneaky night away in Eyam), Worcester, Abingdon and Wimbledon and it all felt like a bit of a whirlwind. Many of you asked if we could pop in and see you but sadly time didn't allow, but hopefully you might make it out to stunning Cape Town and we can meet up then.

As our trip drew to an end the most obvious question we were asked was whether our trip had been successful? This is always a hard one to quantify. In the cold light of day the answer would appear to be no given that we've not received a single new supporter via Stewardship. Please, if you took a form and said you would we'd be very appreciative if you'd follow it up.  That is a very simple answer to a very complex queestion. We've received some great support for our Homework Club which is thrilling! We;ve been blessed beyond measure by some great friends who really get mission and what it means for us, and that is priceless!  It's also impossible to quantify the relationships that have been rekindled and new ones that have been established. It's also impossible to measure the quality of time spent with family, especially watching our moys with their brilliant cousins.

I guess the real measure of sucess is knowing just how much prayer is going up on behalf of The Gathering and our members, the messages of support for them have been brilliant and we can't wait to share some of them with The Gathering on Wednesday evening.

Choosing the best moments of this trip or the best photos is a mission in itself, so here are a few to be going on with...

It turns out that Parakeets are a lot more common in UK gardens than woodpeckers are. Who knew!


View across Rivelin Valley in Sheffield


Enjoying Lisa's pool


Seriously?!?


Crazy cousins at Christmas dinner


Enjoying our Secret Santa pressies after a sumptuous Christmas dinner